big fish

[hanso612]

There was a glaring omition from todays Outdoor News in an article about a giant Sturgeon. The article listed the 98 pound sturgeon from the Kettle as the state record, then listed a big carp and a big musky as the next biggest fish.

Dtro and I have both caught bigger flatheads than those carp and muskies. So little respect for the flathead.

[DTro]

No respect....I tell ya

They probably did that just to rile us up

Records are a funny thing. I'm pretty sure that Sturgeon record has been broken many times over, but due to catch and release it hasn't been "officialy" broken. Heck it might have been broken three times this past weekend

[Scott K]

Just like the musky record I am sure has been broken several times in the last few years! I am sure there has been some questionable cats that have been caught in the record range that get released as well because of the regulations to make it official! The dnr should change those laws to make it up to date. Something where the fish wont have to die!

[crazyice]

I agree, I think that it is stupid that one has to basically kill a fish to get the recognition of catching a state record. I know for sure that there were atleast two new "record" sturgeon caught this past weekend.

[mplspug]

Don't complain, encourage disrespect. Keep the numbers (fishermen targeting flats) down!

[HuskerBen]

 Originally Posted By: mplspug

Don't complain, encourage disrespect. Keep the numbers (fishermen targeting flats) down!

Exactly.

[sparcebag]

Heres a short story about that sturgeon:::

I was in the moose Lake bar at that Time,In comes a guy braging bout a sturgeon they just caught,tellin a story about the low water and they saw this HUGE fish locked in a pool,it was I believe the Moosehorn river upstream from the Kettle,He explained how they coraled the fish and caught it by hand!

I never thought anything of it later till I saw in a news paper Mn. record Sturgoen caught.This story and the guy frequented all the local bars so the story was a common tale in the area for a few weeks.

Then the artical of record fish! I thought WOW what someone would do to get their names in a record book.

[AceintheHole]

Flatheads who would want to catch those big, ugly, tackel busting, make you heart drop when you see it fish.

[Shack]

I have been doing dome reading and research on both species of fish in the last couple weeks (not just magazine stuff either). When it comes to flatheads, time and time again (in unrelated articles) I was finding researchers saying the flat head is a very pretty picky fish when it comes to food, where’s the channel cat is a kind of “if it fits, I will eat it”.

To most, to be able to catch a 20lber is an awesome feet, where’s to others it is petty cash. I encourage people to try and fish for these fish (with out a guided trip). On the lower Miss. and MN rivers, 99.9% of the people who try just for flats get skunked. I figure once opener hits or people get a couple skunk trips, the drive slowly moves to other aspects of fishing for most.

Hence the saying, “one mans garbage is another mans gold”.

I know some members on here make this brand of fishing look easy, but it is nothing of the sort. You have to pay your dues and spend many hours starring at a motionless rod tip, confined in a boat. Plus like last weekend on pool 2 shore fishing, had to spend an hour or so smelling really bad sewer gas, deal with weirdoes in the woods and wondering if the blown down homeless guys tent a couple yards from were we where fishing contained a dead body. All this to get skunked.

I do love cat fishing.

[AceintheHole]

Well said shackbash. It takes some thick skin a positive attitude and time served to call youself a true catfishermen or women. I can tell that right now I'm not that tough yet but I'm working on it and thats what makes it fun.

[Shack]

Thanks Ace! I hope you get into some big fish this year.

My last post was directed at the topic of crowds of people flocking to the river to get these monster fish. I just do not see it happening.

As much as we true "Cat" fisherman have praise for these fish, the majority of the anglers in MN think we are nutz and really I think we are to a degree. The whole aspect of cat fishing is opposite of what most angling in MN is about. First, the hours of fishing, second the baits (bullheads and messy cut bait) and tactics to get our fish, third, the fish them selves (for most they are disgusting and what other fish takes a dump the size of dog in your boat). What other type of angling in MN does the fisherman come home after a skunk trip, smelling like he just rolled around the hold of a tuna boat? Not many if any.

Down south, it is a different story. They have been raised and breed for catfishing. Up here, we are raised on the walleye.

I am sure on a June or July night downtown, I will only see the usual trucks and trailer and still be able to get a parking spot closest to the launch.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Cmon Mates!

It can be challenging at times. You just have to be smarter than the average fish.

Take Aanderud for example. (I'm able to identify with him because my experience was very similar.)

Never caught a Flathead prior to last year. Learns about it from the websites or someone else. Gets interested, hopes to have someone experienced show him the short cuts. Decides that he just needs to dive in and learn for himself. Gets skunked a couple times out of the gate.

Keeps and open mind and stays determined....... Starts bagging big fish. This was his biggest by alot when I caught him on film. You have to check it out. I think that Jack was Pumped most of all.

Brian, you got him warmed up for Pointing Flats this summer?

[DTro]

Popularity is a two way street.

While yes it does increase fishing pressure and at times make finding a spot a real bugger, it also brings attention to the great fishery we have here and steps that need to be taken to protect it.

The musky guys seem to be doing pretty good with all their popularity. Yes there is a lot of Musky water in the state, but the MN, Mississippi, and the Croix is also a lot of water.

I’ve received my fair share of grief for sharing so much and bringing more attention. I don’t doubt that others are thinking the KOTC is ruining the river.

To me, it is my way of paying forward all the things that were shared to me in the past. Without that, I might still be out flinging spinnerbaits to the weed edge on some local pothole.

All I can hope for is that people are out having fun and protecting the resource so the next generation can enjoy as we are.

[Shack]

 Quote:

I think that Jack was Pumped most of all.

LOL, is that Capt. Jack . I have learned you fish with him pretty often.

I have fished for cats on a pretty regular basis now for about 15 years. Prior to signing on last year and being involved in this forum, I look back and consider my self just fishing.

 Quote:

You just have to be smarter than the average fish.

That is the key. Learning how these fish move and live threw out the year makes a huge difference in the end result. I am not much of a reading guy, but I have been doing my fair share in the last couple weeks on the life cycles and habitats of catfish. I figure what else I could do, besides work on the boat and not being out fishing.

I lived the post when Aanderud got his first flatty last year. That was a high light of last summer and it is those posts that get us pumped.

I think this year will be a good year for us all.

[hanso612]

When I first started catfishing I had many fishless nights. I was lucky enough to be fishing out of a very comfortable boat and catfishing was just a sideline to drinking and chasing girls. If not for the fun of those other things, I might have been discouraged after a few fishless nights.

Later I settled down and fishing became the primary focus, I found a very consistant patern and initially brought a few monsters home to stroke my ego. I then kept secret as not to spoil my sure thing. Twenty years later I'm convinced I can talk all I want and not hurt the fishery. Partly because of the firm belief in CPR but mostly because of the reasons listed below.

After twenty years, it is clear to me that all night catfishing trips are never going to be the rage. There are just to many barriers.

Try to find a ramp on the Croix that lets you park a trailer overnight. That one barrier alone severly limits the casual fisherman from starting.

Zebra mussel rules prohibit travel, so even if you are lucky enough to have a slip you can't run your boat to the good holes.

Vast stretches of the Minnesota river are very difficult to access and running at night is high risk becuse of deadheads and sandbars. Overnight parking at ramps is limited as well.

Catfishing is more fun and safer as a group, but it is very difficult to arrange work and family schedules around all night fishing.

Weather seems to throw a wrench in best laid plans. It's not easy to pull up stakes and run back to shore at 2 a.m. and any trouble is compounded by the shere fact no one else is up.

To be a good consistant flathead catman doesn't take fishing skills. It takes a completely different skill set of prioritizing your life around the sport.

For these resaons catfishing is never going to take off like musky fisherman. It will always be a sport for vampires and creatures of the nigh who are not afraid to sleep out under the stars with storms and bugs - or freezing cold.

The fish are out there and most never see a bait. The information on how to catch them has been public knoweldge for thirty years. Many skilled fisherman have been told by In Fisherman and other Magazines and shows, and sites like HSO, exactly how and where to do it-yet it is still a vastly underfished resource. Not true with muskies in the same time period.

My bet is that it is going to stay that way-and that's just how I like it. It takes a certain type to be a true catman and there are fewer of us than we care to admit.

[Shack]

Dtro,

I think they will be naysayer’s to anything that is done on FM. It is a fact of life on this site.

I feel how you and others conduct this forum (and other forums for that matter), is only helping our great past time of cat fishing. Maybe it has, maybe it has not, but I feel these types of forums have helped bring the catfish up a notch or two in down town St. Paul. Just a thought.

[Shack]

Hay Larry,

You video file is really getting me pumped, I have seen Dtro's many times, but always nice to see some new stuff .

I like the Sailfish one?

Thanks for sharing.

[AceintheHole]

Theres nothing better then sitting on the river bank till all hours of the night with some friends and beer waiting for the almighty catfish. I'm have learned a great deal about catfishing from FM and would like to thank all of you for sharing your knowledge and experences with us. This has been my most productive year so far and its only the end of april.

[hanso612]

The biggest regret I have over the years is taking too many 20 to 40 pound cats. With consumption advisories,sport value, and the reproductive potential of these fish there is no reason to keep one.

I did it it early in my catfishing carrier because I thought these fish were huge, the were certainly my biggest, and bigger than most any other fish in Minnesota. The urge to bring the first one home was tremendous. They needed to be seen. Boy was I wrong.

I want to urge all of you who have yet to get a bantom weight flathead to fight that urge and hold out for a true heavy weight.

Keep the 5 to ten pounders for the grill or eat the channels, but let the rest go.

Forums on sites like these can help spread the knowledge of to catch the fish, but they can also help to promote preservation.

There are few of us out there, so we have to be vocal, otherwise we will continue to be just a blip on the Minnesota fishing seen for the reasons I mentioned on my last post. Without being loud we will never get the respect on the capitol floor that the walleye and musky guys are so accustomed.

Look at how the musky guys have been able to control the urge to keep their fish. I would love to see a protected slot of 20 to 40 with only one per summer over forty. We could even do a stamp that allowed you to take another over forty for the record book if you were so lucky. The stamp money could go to river access and for overnight parking areas. Hans

P.S. love the king kat tourny and think it can only help.

[Shack]

Hans,

Good post!

[Larry FlatCaster]

 Originally Posted By: shackbash

Hay Larry,

You video file is really getting me pumped, I have seen Dtro's many times, but always nice to see some new stuff .

I like the Sailfish one?

Thanks for sharing.

That one was done by my friend Ted, I liked the part with the smoking boat and the Jaws music. Kinda cheesy.......... but most vids are.

[ec30_06]

I just hope that all the attention the catfish are starting to get that the DNR will start to think about how to protect the fishery. Look at the muskies for example. It is nearly impossible to legally keep a muskie, and I think it should be the same for flats. I have no problem promoting the sport and sharing information with people that want to get into it, as long as they are willing to speak out in defense of the catfish if legislation ever does get rolling to better manage the cats.

[dsm95]

I fished the MN river for many years before even realizing the big daddy cats were in there. Now that I do know they are there it makes the river fishing experience even better. I caught two 20+ pound flatheads and a handful of channels close to 10 pounds last season and I took their picture and threw'em back. Like it was stated above I also spent many nights on the river not catching anything but the prospect of landing a big flat out weighs just sitting in the dark on a river bank. I'm new around here and I'm glad my passion for fishing is shared on this site. The real thing that bothers me is people who don't clean their site after fishing, I fish along the judson bottom road a lot the garbage along the stretch I fish is terrible.

Brent,

Mankato

[mplspug]

Yes, the garbage is a shame. It really disgusts me to no end.

To be clear, I WANT the sport to get promoted and to see more people doing it. My first reply was tongue-in-cheek. The more people, the bigger the pool of partners to get out there with and with night fishing it's a requirement. Like Hanson says, it's not safe to be alone from shore or in a boat. It's also not the easiest kind of fishing to schedule around, so the more the merrier.

[katchaser]

Hanson

You forgot a couple of reasons flathead fishing would not get too popular.

One is that most people expect instant gratification and several nights of hard fishing for one fish does not fulfil that desire.

More importantly, when someone asks the size fish I catch and I report mostly 40+ pound fish they kind of grin and look at their friends and wink. Everyone knows there aren't fish that big in the lakes we fish

I presume they think I am starting a lying contest because the next thing I hear is a diver at the dam story.

I do believe that if I told them exactly where and how I caught the fish they could not duplicate the catch. But last year I seemed to find the same boat occupying whichever spot I had fished the previous weekend. I hope by now they have decided I didn't now what I was doing and I can fish better spots