Waters and Woods

[DARK30]

Right on Rob!....and very true Hanson! "Releasing big fish makes big fish bigger" The Minnesota River is unique among rivers let alone lakes. The object here is to manage the Sota for a big population of big Mudeyes! We want the Minnesota River to be known for great flathead action just like the lower Red River is known for being a great Channel Cat fishery.

I load flatbed trucks all day. I get to chat with a lot of good ol boys who when you say "catfish" don't think I'm such a bad yankee after all. They're usually amazed at the pics I show them of our northern catfish. I explain that we don't hang them up and cut the tail off...we try to release them to fight another day.

(Again) I say mandatory CPR on all Flatheads in the Minnesota River. Those cute little stunted babies may someday get big enough to eat your sister in-law We want to raise the new Minnesota State Record Flathead Catfish and the Minnesota River is a great place to do it.

[mplspug]

Mandatory release of all Minnesota flatheads! In my selective harvest rant, I forgot this was about flatheads. When you start talking flatheads and muskies, the only reason they exist is because they can reach a size where they are no longer preyed upon. They are not prolific breeders. Some mature females don't even spawn every year. I think I saw 20% in a study. They naturally create less competition amongst generations so that they can attain larger sizes faster and get to the top of the food chain as fast as possible. Plus, northern flatheads have the hindrance of a shorter growing season.

So I agree. Minnesota should protect flatheads from any harvest. Currently you can keep 2 I believe, so we already do a fairly good job.

[sparcebag]

I dont think too many minnesotans fish cats for the table.But I do think a 2 fish limit should also have a size limitation of under 8 lbs and of course a trophy fish like other fishes,whatever 8lbs. length would be.and then make the upper size a true trophy 55 lbs or better.

[hanson]

I wonder how many people actually know that the regs allow for the harvest of 1 cat over 24"??

I know when I'm keeping channel cats, I've almost been guilty of keeping too many over the 24" mark.

24" cat is not 'that' big, in flathead terms, thats about a 4-5 pounder if that. In channel cat terms, a 24" cat will rarely go over 4lbs.

I guess I would love to see no cats over 24" kept. Protect the trophies. The guys on the Red River would love this as the big channels would have protection, but you could still keep plenty little ones for the table. For us MN River flatheaders, that obviously protects our large fish as well.

As a compromise, I wouldn't mind seeing that number creep up to 26", let you keep a little bigger smaller ones. That allows for solid 5-6lb fish in your bag, really, not that big of a deal IMO.

2 flathead limit doesn't bother me too much as long as it allowed for the protection of big fish.