So you say you want to catch a flathead catfish eh?

[DTro]

I hope you are patient.

as a lot of you know, the post spawn bite on the MN has been very tough to say the least this year. Now that Aug is complete I went back and took a look at the numbers. They are not good. So these are numbers from my log recorded for every fish that was caught in my presence. Most times there were 2 guys in the boat, sometimes 3 and a few times 4. Fishing schedule did not change all year. Most weeks it was 5 or 6 nights. Sometimes 4 and sometimes 7.

Total number of Flatheads caught YTD 89

Total by Month

May 32

June 40

July 10

August 7

Total number of 40 inches or bigger YTD 12

11 were caught before June 18 1 was caught after.

Largest fish caught 49x31.5 or about 55lbs

Smallest fish caught 19x10 or about 2 lbs

Average fish YTD 30.38x18.15 or about 10lbs

Estimated days on the water 90

Estimated man hours on the water 1237.5

Estimated man hours/fish YTD 13.9

Estimated man hours/fish May/June 8.59

Estimated man hours/fish July/Aug 36.4

Estimated man hours/40” fish or greater YTD 103.1

Estimated man hours/40” fish or greater May/June 56.2

Estimated man hours/ 40” fish or greater July/August 618.5

To put that into perspective. Here are the numbers from our recent trip to Lockport. I realize this is a small sample and the law of averages would eventually skew these numbers a bit, but still fun to look at.

Total number of fish caught 97

Largest fish 28lbs

Smallest fish 5lbs

Average weight of fish. 15.3

Man hours 192

Man hours/fish 1.9

Looking back, I can’t believe we fished the entire month of July and August and only boated 17 Flatheads. I know 1 of 2 things. I’m either ready to go back to Canada, or start Sturgeon fishing.

[TruthWalleyes]

Nice read Dtro. My flathead count for this year is still Zero! But my hours on the river are only about 50, and i'd say 40 of those was during flood heights.

You've got me planning a trip to canada next year!

[Gordie]

Good stuff as usual

No Matter what Dtro you still post up some great numbers thanks for sharing

[Alagnak]

It should read "So you want to be in 1st of KOTC eh?". There only a few who put in those numbers. Yes, you could get lucky and catch three 45 pounders in a week, but more than likely it's a lot of time AND a lot of luck.

[bobbymalone]

almost makes me think I don't suck as bad as catfishing as I thought I did...

Or maybe we all suck?

[DTro]

It should read "So you want to be in 1st of KOTC eh?". There only a few who put in those numbers. Yes, you could get lucky and catch three 45 pounders in a week, but more than likely it's a lot of time AND a lot of luck.

I guess the intent of the post was to point out how many hours it takes to boat those kinds of numbers. I feel the higher sample size yields more accurate results. Notice I didn’t say anything about me personally (although I was part of the sample). It’s always a combined effort and the numbers I posted are based on the people in the boat, not an individual angler. Heck I didn’t even keep track of who caught what, other than the 3 that I know I caught for the KOTC.

What stood out to me most was that in 618.5 man hours, we only caught 1 flathead over 40”. That is just crazy.

[harvey lee]

Realizing how slow the flathead bite has been this summer, I decided to search for eyes instead of flats.

After looking at the numbers of fish caught per man hour, I am glad I decided to go after those other bottom feeders as it has been a very good year for eyes on the Minnesota.

I like to chase those flats but I personally would rather go after the eyes espically when the eye bite has been very good and the flathead bite so slow.

The eye bite will only get better on the river in the coming weeks.

Good luck on those flatheads.

For others looking to catch some eyes this fall, yes the old jig and minnow work very well.

I have used the newer Lindy River Rockers this summer in both the lakes and river and I can say this, you are missing out not trying the new Rockers as they have some awesome colors for the river.

Very tight wobble with this lure and it does catch fish.

I have caught eyes, pike, smallmouth and crappie on the #3 rocker's and have yet to try the #5 rocker but I will be using them this fall when the eyes put the feed bag on.

Try em out and you will like them. A very well built lure that also tracks very well.

[Jarrid Houston]

One thing about using the old jig n minnow is ya really can catch anything,. Especially fishing a river...

[DTro]

Having said that, I'd rather "fish" for Flatheads and catch nothing, then "catch" walleyes any day of the week. They make for a good way to pass the time in the late fall when the kitties go to sleep and to get a few from the cold water for a meal, other than that.....bleh.

[Jarrid Houston]

hahahaha Dtro. I wish all fishermen were like you, then there would be a ton more walleyes for me to chase after!!!

[DTro]

hahahaha Dtro. I wish all fishermen were like you

A lot more out there than you think.

[Carp-fisher]

Well those are sobering stats on the flatheads. My season has been poor...I think my biggest flat is at 33" with about 20 or so in that 30" and under range. That being said, the channel cat bite has been great. In fact, this year has been my best year ever.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Having said that, I'd rather "fish" for Flatheads and catch nothing, then "catch" walleyes any day of the week. They make for a good way to pass the time in the late fall when the kitties go to sleep and to get a few from the cold water for a meal, other than that.....bleh.

I'll second that! Flatcaster or bust!!!

Thank goodness I have a hard head....cause the wall is hurting more than me!!!

I hope?!?!?!

[Gordie]

A lot more out there than you think.

Best t-shirt I ever saw said '

"If its got scales it must be BAIT" Thats a T-shirt of a flathead fisherman

[goblueM]

i went back thru the sampling data from this summer, and we had about 1000 hook-nights using live baits like creek chubs and bullheads, and caught 51 flatheads, compared to 86 channel cats. They are definitely not an easy target!

Thats a tad over 12 fish per 100 hook-nights... not exactly encouraging when you think about 3 guys in a boat with 3 hooks for 6 hours.

[aanderud]

Wow, 1 flathead per 20 hook-nights on sampling trotline. That's what, 8+ hours for a hook in the water per night? So, about 160 hook-hours per flathead?

That sounds crazy (especially considering you probably picked some prime locations for those hooks), but maybe it's not unusual if you think about the fact that once the hook has gotten one flathead, that hook (and probably several nearby) can't get another flathead that night. Often times when fishing we notice that when the fish are active, there are multiple fish willing to bite, and you sorta miss that opportunity for multiples with a sampling trotline that is already occupied.

[goblueM]

yeah, you nailed it - there is no chance for a hook to catch multiple fish, and all the hooks on a given line can't be in "THE" spot. Often all the fish will be on consecutive hooks, and the rest of the line will be empty. I figure you miss out on quite a few hook-ups because is a passive gear as well.

[Scott M]

Sometimes one fish attracts a crowd. Often times on the Minnesota, trotlines will get several fish, and other lines will get 1 or 0, and they're both in primo spots. I know some Fisheries offices bait hoops nets in the prespawn time period with females to catch more flatheads.

As far as hook and line goes dtro, it sounds like time well wasted to me

[Scott K]

Scott you should probably add that trot lines are illegal in MN, and you are doing it legally for the state!

[Steve Foss]

I get the sense that those post-spawn numbers of boated flatties are atypically low. Is that the case, or is the late summer bite always noticeably slower?

[MinnesnowtaWild]

It's usually slower in August and September but not very often is it THIS slow.

[DTro]

Yep, what Jeff said. Slowest post spawn bite for me since I've been chasing these things.

But....guess who will be at it again tonight? LOL

[fishuhalik]

geez darren! you must be single or have a real understanding lady! when do you work/sleep?

[fishuhalik]

geez dtro! you must be single or have a real understanding lady! when do you work/sleep?

[MDNRMetroRivers]

You know what's sad, I've only tagged 83 catfish this year...and that is channels and flatheads COMBINED. Between the shutdown, not having a crew at times, chasing after ghost silver carp, and all the other stuff I had to do, I didn't have a lot of consistent sampling days to tag fish. Only had one week I could run hoop nets and ran less than 70 trot line hooks.

On the positive side, looks like there will be some good catfish diary information this year. Also have had 4 tagged catfish reports from the St Croix, 7 from Pool 2, and 1 from the MN River.

If you guys keep fishing for catfish, be vigilant with the diaries. Probably too late for encouragement if people have abandoned recording their data in late summer, but these slow times are important to record how many hours it takes to put a fish in the boat. All about getting a data set going to track it over time and see what trends develop.

Joel