Our Flatheads just keep getting bigger!

[DTro]

What a year for big cats so far!

I don’t care what anyone says, our surrounding rivers in south central MN are where it’s at for trophy Flathead catfish! I for one am so happy to see not only such great fish in our area, but fishermen who are willing to have an open mind and understand the fact that we not only need to protect them but also practice a very strict selective harvest if we want to keep catching these giants. Please pass the word to new folks starting out. Let’s keep this thing rolling!

With that said, river contest time is once again approaching, and nobody likes to be a preacher, but I really do hope that people take the time to make sure as few as possible fish are killed during these events. I am not anti-contest, just anti unneeded fish kill. Good luck to everyone participating in local tournies. I understand they are a long tradition and people have a lot of fun with them.

Hopefully we can make sure that shore areas are picked up afterwards as well. Nobody wants to fish in a landfill.

A while back somebody asked when are we going to start catching 60’s? Well, my friends, the time has come!!

[Scott K]

That is some huge fish! Very nice! Just remember, "Let them go, so they can Grow"!

[Larry FlatCaster]

Impressive!!!!!

[bchevycaprice]

Ive only kept a 19inch flathead this year or ever because of a verry bad gut hook,my question is whats a smart harvest?With other types of fish its good to keep some small ones but have no idea about flats I dont really like eating fish but would just like to hear people weigh in on this,obviously most of us would want everyone to let them all go but we know not everyone will,so thats the reason i ask this question

[DTro]

Not a question I can answer i know that, but I do have opinions.

Smaller fish are plentiful compared to the bigger fish. Obviously if all the smaller fish are harvested, there won't be any to grow bigger. So there is that.

The bigger fish have "beat the odds" so to speak, so I feel it's more harmful to the size population to harvest those.

Nothing wrong with letting them all go either. Fresh halibut at the grocery store tastes 10 times better and probably healthier.

But to make a claim about what is better for the fishery, I'd have to defer to someone more qualified.

[hanson]

A while back somebody asked when are we going to start catching 60’s? Well, my friends, the time has come!!

So how many of those "beyond a shadow of a doubt" broke 60lb? One??

[Carp-fisher]

The fact is that the MN just doesn't get the pressure of most other flathead rivers in the country. I used to fish the DM and Raccoon rivers down in Iowa and just about every decent hole has a resident ditty pole or trotline or 3 all season

[DTro]

So how many of those "beyond a shadow of a doubt" broke 60lb? One??

Who knows....

I know I didn't weigh any of them, but I did weigh a 57 pounder that had smaller dimensions than several of those fish, so I can make a pretty safe assumption.

[aanderud]

Nice fish everyone! Wow, lots of 50 inchers this year. I like it. A guy has to assume that the 48 inchers that were being caught last year are 49 to 50 this year. The ones that get chucked back this year will be 51 next year! All I can say is wahoo! Keep up the fun pics, fellas.

What is "smart" harvest? Heck, from a 'biology' perspective, there are probably very few who can tell you, considering the lack of much studying on flatheads in the body of water under question. Judging by almost every other managed body of water, I'd have to say a "slot" limit of sorts makes sense, if you want to just shoot from the cuff. Think about it, that's what they do for every other species (and even for cats there's only one over 24 inches). Keep some small ones for the pan, throw the mid-size guys back, and then if you get a real trophy -- either keep it if you want to mount it, or throw it back if you don't. That's why lakes like ML have a "one over 28 inches" style slot -- so you can keep that trophy to put on your wall and keep the taxidermists busy Think of all the years he got to spawn while he was in the 18-28 protected slot, though. Trust me, I've thrown back plenty of >28 inchers up there, because I didn't feel like mounting it, and I don't think it makes sense to eat one that's just a couple inches shy of being someone else's wall-hanger.

I've heard some claim that big fish are past the spawning age, so throwing them back doesn't help the fishery at all from a biological point of view. Whether a 40-50 pounder that is thrown back is better for the biology or not, I can tell you from experience that it's sure as heck more fun to catch him again rather than watch him cook up in a frying pan. I've seen the same fish caught multiple time by multiple anglers in the same season enough times to know that if those fish were all kept by the first guy who caught him, we'd all have fewer stories to tell. If they get caught multiple times when they're 40 lbs and 20 years old, just imagine how many times they've been caught in their lifetime.

[blakeb]

And its only 6-17-10

[MinnesnowtaWild]

Well put Brian...nobody really knows the true situation of the Minnesota River. Not even the DNR has much info.

I don't eat fish, and even if I did I wouldn't keep a Flathead. Yeah the Minnesota is littered with them, but we really don't know the extent of how well off this fishery is.

All we can do is continue to spread a Catch & Release message.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

So how many of those "beyond a shadow of a doubt" broke 60lb? One??

Even if you put the length and girth measurements aside, just looking at all the big fish pictures this year puts things into perspective that this is a great river for fishing and it appears to be getting better (or maybe just more people are fishing but still there are plenty of big fish to be caught).

[Brad B]

It is nice to see all the big flatheads. now if we could only get the size of the channel cats up. here in the mississippi north region that would be nice since the biggest I have caught myself has been only 24 inches. there may be bigger ones but they are far and few between by monti. it seems that the 24 inch mark is about it for this area.

[Gordie]

Like I said before it wont be long and there will be a new stae record caught. The importance of wieght is one of no concern to me and I will alway refer to it as my Personal best or the BIG one that didnt get away anyway these are some great fish and they as far as I know are ALL still swimming in the minnesota river waiting to feed again.

[smnduck]

I wonder if the effort was put into pike like the cats, we could have the same sort of fishery for them also.

[bchevycaprice]

I agree 100 with catch and release and will be doing just that with flatheads in my boat but i wanted something productive to say to people that want to keep them,so thanks guys for giving me your opinions

[bronzeback]

I wonder if the effort was put into pike like the cats, we could have the same sort of fishery for them also.

the DNR is doing what they can-imposing slot limits on a lot of the state's lakes to try and make that a possibility. Check out the DNR's long range plan for pike and muskie for more info on that. I'm sure it'll be a few years before we see any impact on the improvement of pike fishing though. Size-wise at least.

now onto the subject of the fish in this thread:

whales. all of them.

[new_kid]

I agree with the catch and release 100% i love fishing the river since it is only 1 mile away I just wish I would meet more people with your views on this subject i have run into a few people at the landing that were from out of state and seen them takeing home 30 to 40 + lb fish and when I ask how they are cooking something so big I have been told more than once "I dont eat them I just take them home to show the friends then feed them to the hogs" I at that time wanted to do nothing buk kick the Sh@t out of those that have told me that. I think they need to invest in a camera for a nice cpr I just want to see what you guy are seeing with the bigger fish every year as other than this year around my area I think we had been going backwards for a few years but that is only my opinion

ps those are some sweet pictures best in my boat this year is a 35 and a 47 which was my friends new personsal best

[rbs]

Yep nothing against out-of-stater's but I agree with you Wade....I would like to kick some of them as well. I actually wish it was a total catch and release fishery(flatheads). No need to take them home and not eat them anyways....a big fish like that probably glows in the dark after you fillet them anyways! Just my humble opinion!

[DTro]

That second picture of your friend........he looks familiar

Nice fish guys!

[mplspug]

I don't think you can apply selective harvest to flatheads. It works well with plentiful species where the younger generations have very high populations. But no matter what age group you are talking about for flatheads, the numbers just aren't there where selective harvest will do anything but remove another potential 40# fish.

Quote:

I've heard some claim that big fish are past the spawning age, so throwing them back doesn't help the fishery at all from a biological point of view.

Not sure what they are smoking, but there is no spawning age limit in fish. I don't know of any species of fish that loses its ability to reproduce at any point in life and no one has studied flathead reproduction (if it has ever been) enough to make this assumption.

Most of the time you see a picture of a freakishly large trophy fish, any species, it is engorged with spawn.

[DTro]

I'm pretty sure there have been several studies that show a certain age class (or slot) has a better chance of reproroducing healthy young. Not sure about cats, but other species.

[mplspug]

I agree that is true in a lot of cases, but that's different than someone saying they don't reproduce at all. The females may not produce as many eggs or healthy eggs as when they were younger, but those eggs and their genes are a lot more valuable and proven. If they produce less young and those young have less of a chance of reaching adulthood because of numbers, that is still better than no chance at all.

[Carp-fisher]

I think we should lobby the DNR to put a complete no kill reg on MN river flatheads.

[blakeb]

pool two also please.