I’ll teach you a trick. Go get a beef liver from a butcher shop. Sometimes the livers are not good so they toss them. Then go get a gallon paint straining bag, 3 # 10 trebles. I make my own steel leaders with materials from Bass Pro. Place hooks in the liver with one barb on the outside. Place liver in bag and munch it into a ball. So now you have a basketball shaped, sized bait. Drop in a 5 gallon bucket to ripen. Use accordingly. The smaller cat will hit it but only a large one can mouth it.
Good Luck
I use live bait, flatheads don’t usually bite dead bait but they all like live bait. I use black saltys or goldfish about 3 inches long.