I'm not new to catfishing but have never hooked a decent sized flathead until recently. Now they got me hooked. I went out and bought a 7' Ugly Stick Catfish baitcaster rod (med. heavy action) and put my Shimano Calcutta 400s reel on it. I spooled it with 40 lb. Powerpro and rig it carolina style w/ size 3 barrel swivel and 50 lb mono leader and 8/0 circle hook. I plan on fishing w/ live bream and crappie for bait. I got a few questions regarding the tackle y'all use for big flatheads.
1. Is mono ok or should I be using flourocarbon for the leaders?
2. Is what I described sufficient for flatheads 40 lb and over?
3. What type knots do you use for mono that heavy (uni is what I tied)?
4. Is the basic Carolina rig the best way to go?
5. For river and large reservoir fishing with slow to moderate current how big and what type of sinker are y'all usin with live bait.