Belle Plaine Contest

[Hubcat]

We caught a 13#,23#,28#,29# flats starting from 6:00pm all they way till 6:00am. Bites were far and few between.

We did not enter them in the contest because we knew we needed at least a 35#+ to cash and we did not think it was worth stressing the cats for a chance at a odd prize.

We did use the decoy bag for this tournament and the bobbershop tournament and the the fish were nice and livly when we released them.

[vern]

I checked out the weigh-in from about 12:00 to 1:30. In that time I saw 3 cats belly up, 2 big boys & 1 smaller fish. There were 3 or 4 big fish that were still in good shape though, including the 51 lber I believe. One did a nice tail kick, drenching a few on-lookers. Saw a nice 15 lb channel come in too. The water in the tank wasn’t overly cold, but they still need a better aerator system. It looked like it was just a pump that re-circulates the water. They need something that actually puts some oxygen in the water. I haven’t used it yet, but something like the Oxygenator sold on this site sounds way better than what they have. I know there are some great products out there these days. Even my small Frabill Aqua-Life or an aerator with some airstones would would be better. Also, if they are going to keep the fish in the holding tank, they should have a designated person available to release them as soon as they show signs of distress. If it wasn’t for a few concerned fisherman, I bet most of those fish wouldn't make it. When someone asked about taking those big cats back to the river, the guy that weighs the fish said someone was coming at 4:00 to do that. He didn’t seem too concerned. This was about 12:30 with 2 big cats already belly-up! No excuse for that when the river is just a few blocks away. Well the guy asking did take a couple of the cats back to the river & hopefully revived them. Nice job! Anyway, it’s fun to see some monster cats, but it’s always a bummer to see them being mishandled & in bad shape. There were lots of nice fish weighed in, but there weren’t too many people around while I was there. Maybe some of the bad publicity took it’s toll on this tourney. Hopefully, as catfishing gains more popularity & respect the tournaments will improve. Vern

[169Sportsman]

As of 12:00 a monster 51 pounder was in the lead with I believe 3 or 4 others between 40 and 43. That's a lot of big kitties to be caught in one night. Supposedly the 51 pounder was caught on a half a sucker, so much for big and lively bait lol. The biggest channel was 17 pounds. The holding tank looked pretty good water temp was about even with river water at 7:00am when i stopped there, and they had two aerators running. I know one cat that some kids had up there at 7 probably wasn't gonna make it, it was tipping pretty bad, it's too bad, it was probably in the mid 20's. I tried convincing people to use the decoy bag method but not many people tried it. Hopefully that one will be the only casualty. I will update if i hear any bigger ones.

Tom

[Guest]

If they have already been weighed in....WHY the HELL hold them in a tank at all?

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Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

Backwater Guiding "ED on the RED"
701-281-2300
[email protected]

[Guest]

what was the biggest weighed in

[Guest]

I agree with backwater. Why hold them in the tank if they have already been weighed in? This is a tourney not 3rd grade show and tell!

[Rainman]

the 51 lber took the tourney!

[169Sportsman]

Just for the record they don't make anybody leave there fish in the tanks a lot of guys just leave them there so they don't have to mess with them and to show off there big catch. I believe the reason they started haveing the tank was to prevent people from weighing the same fish twice, which i still personally saw happen a few years ago. I agree they could have a lot better system than what they do and should limit the number of fish in the tank, but i think most of the fish that die are weak and half tipping when they come in. I helped as much as i could keeping an eye on the tanks and reconnecting the aerators after the anxious kids kept knocking them off, but i wasn't up there until about 2:00 after most of the big cats were there. I guess I'll have to keep working on the guys that run it and see if we can get some changes made.

Tom

[Guest]

we weighed a 24lb 15ounce cat at 7:30 and ut was cought about 1:30 still nice and lively used a decoy bag and tied it off till morning also has a great release swam away perfect it pays to take care of them beuties why did they quit haveing the weighins at the landing in belle plain that way they can be released right away take a poleroid shot of the fish and put on a board for people to see let the fish go it takes to many years for them monsters to get where they are get back as soon as u can they deserve it tehy give u a hell of a fight they earned the right to live i think the smaller ones are much better any way to eat i personaly keep three fish about 1 to 3lbs best to eat anyway

keep fishing and practice good catch and release and our kids will have something to look forward to

[korn_fish]

Heres a new idea for next year.

1. Have a guy working the tournye down at the landing in Belle Plain release all fish. All fish must be live at weigh in...right....extend that to all fish must be released, and must be live when released. The person at the landing can observe the release, communicate back up to the park via a walkytalky or something. If the fish do not survive the release, the fish does not qualify. If someone tries to release the fish without the "tourney official" observing, then that fish is also disqualified. You would probably need two or three "officials" observing the release so people do not have to sit in line to release the fish. At ther weigh in, hand the individual with the fish some sort of ticket or something that would then have to be given to the official at the landing for proof of release. This ticket can then be used to communicate back up to the landing by the official that the release was succesful or not.

2. The holding tank that they have at the park should be for emergency revival use only and the individual with the fish would need to be warned that if the tank results in negative effects of the fish's survival, that the tank can not be deemed responsible for the fish's health and for an unsuccessful release that causes the fish to be disqualified.

I think the only time someone would re-weigh a fish is because of the dumb "100th" biggest fish prize. The above rules would totaly remove the possibility of a re-weigh and should help in keeping the condition of the cats better before they are even brought in. (hopefully).

[korn_fish]

DUCKMAN - way too many people to have everyone try to weigh in at the landing. Plus you would see a lot of people hanging around congesting the area trying to watch. If you have the weigh in at the park, and force them to release at the landing, you may still get some congestion at the landing, but the biggest congestion will still be at the park.

[DARK30]

I stopped in at the park before heading out of town on Saturday. I only saw one smaller Flathead that was dead and that could have been fisherman related...don't know. The water seemed to be cool but not too cold. The river is pretty warm but I don't know the exact temp either. If they could just come up with a larger tank and a regular rotory aerator, things would be much more appealing.

I think the main concern is people transporting the fish correctly. I heard the winner was weighed and released right afterwords as were some other nice ones. I did see one Flathead about 10 lbs laying in the back of a truck with its gills moving.....I hope it was at least eaten. I think this contest could become a good one in the years to come.....There still are issues.

The beans were great!

WET NETS!

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cast,cast,cast,cast......

[Guest]

I agree with korn_fish's thinking on immediate weigh in, and immediate release.

Once officially noted and verified there is no need to detain any of the cats any further.

If these big flathead events are not promoted as release events we will see the waters quickly depleted. Depleted like so many Southern waters have become.

A once healthy trophy Flathead population down the drain, lost forever the valuable genetic stocks. And in the end, nothing but big dead catfish pictures to prove they ever existed.

This has happened to many a top Flathead fishery in the Midwest and South, it can easily happen here.

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Ed "Backwater Eddy" Carlson

Backwater Guiding "ED on the RED"
701-281-2300
[email protected]

[Ozzy169]

For my true opinion call me

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Puff-Puff-Pass