MN River Monster Flathead

[Lowblazah]

Great fish Borch and Dtro...I need to hook into one of these bigguns already...been too many skunked outings already this year.

[audemp]

Wow! What an awesome fish! In a few years we will be starting to see some 60's posted from the MN I think!

[Tim Boomgarden]

Awesome fish guys!!!

[dsm95]

Where were these fish on friday Darren? J/K Nice fish.

[mplspug]

Few years Marc? I have a feeling no more than 2 years. I think that record is not going to stand forever either with more people targeting them and the water cleaning back up.

As for PS backgrounds, Bob Moore was able to recognize a spot last year where I purposely avoided any cover in the background of the Photo. There was just a small branch and the opposite shore line to go on.

[Team Otter]

Great looking fish Borch!

I think I want to give that a try some night...

[hanson]

In a few years we will be starting to see some 60's posted from the MN I think!

That would be awesome! You do hear about one every now and then when you start talking to people. Still quite a few local river rats on the river who aren't apart of the internet fishing community who are great anglers, and catch BIG fish. I think there are a lot more big flatheads caught on a given night than many of us realize.

Seams like in MN, and specifically the Minnesota River, the upper end size really tops out at 50-55lbs for a big flathead. There is always the occasional big one you hear about but you know how the rumor mill works. I think if 60 pounders were to be common on the upper end size, we'd be seeing them already. These fish have been in the river longer than I've been alive and many of the reports of big flathead catches come from the rivers past, decades ago.

One thing that will insure future prosperity of these fish is Catch & Release. Let them big girls go, heck... let them all go. The MN is truly a special river for the flathead catfish and if we all want to continue sharing in this thrill of catching big catfish, we have to handle them carefully and let them go.

[Scott K]

I have seen 2 60lbs cats come from the MN. The most recent was 2-3 years ago. Now this one wasnt caught with a hook, this one I found trying to swim up a creek, it was in about 6 inches of water, and about 200' up the creek. I grabbed her and carried it back to the river and let her swim away! It was 95 and sunny that day, that was a workout. There wasnt much skin left on my hands by the time I got her back into the river, but it was well worth it to me!

The other one was caught with a hook, but this one was 20+ years ago, it was caught by a friend of mines uncle, I helped him land it. Now I have been fishing the MN river 50-100 days a year since I was 12, and that has been a few years ago so there is not to many bigguns in the river I would have to say!

[DTro]

There’s no doubt in my mind that these fish are capable of approaching 100lbs. The only real predators they have are man and mother nature.

[mplspug]

Reading this again, I think I have to temper my enthusiasm. But I think Hanson you said you see a good number in the 10# class right now and my hope is that is indicative of the water cleaning up.

[Scott K]

There’s no doubt in my mind that these fish are capable of approaching 100lbs. The only real predators they have are man and mother nature.

One can only hope there is a flattie out their roaming around close to 100 lbs, hopefully with my name on it

[DTro]

4WE, you do know about the documented 153lb fish out Henderson right?

[Scott K]

4WE, you do know about the documented 153lb fish out Henderson right?

I think you forgot to put the . in that! 15.3

[DTro]

Nope, didn't forget anything:

"The flathead catfish is one of our largest, and some may say, ugliest fishes. The fish's name aptly describes its very wide and compressed forehead which appears to have been "flattened." For several years, the state record flathead catfish had come from the Minnesota River near Henderson in 1930. The fish weighed an incredible 153 pounds, but because it had been speared, a revised hook and line rule forfeited the crown to another fish less than half this size in weight. "

[crazyice]

Hmm hadn't heard that story before.

[Scott K]

Interesting, I live here never heard of it, I will do a little digging. Although a little before my time! Any word who speared it, or where the person lived that speared it?

[Scott K]

I found the story (Minnesota River Fish Tales), but there are no details. I am going to do some digging into this and see if I can find out if its fact or fiction. Interesting to say the least!

[Shack]

It is definitely true!

I will throw a little more up from that article!

Quote:

The flathead catfish is one of our largest, and some may say, ugliest fishes. The fish's name aptly describes its very wide and compressed forehead which appears to have been "flattened." For several years, the state record flathead catfish had come from the Minnesota River near Henderson in 1930. The fish weighed an incredible 153 pounds, but because it had been speared, a revised hook and line rule forfeited the crown to another fish less than half this size in weight.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resource's Heritage Program "tracks" the status of the native flora and fauna found in Minnesota. Rare species are reviewed for Endangered, Threatened, or Special Concern status. The blue catfish, shovelnose sturgeon, lake sturgeon, paddlefish, and American brook lamprey have all been reported from the Minnesota River and designated Special Concern fishes.

The blue catfish is another large fish which closely resembles its much smaller and more common cousin, the channel catfish, but is blue in color and lacks spots. Both have forked tail fins and are handsomely streamlined in comparison to the very obese flathead catfish. There is only one early written account of the blue catfish from the Minnesota River near Hanley Falls. This fish must of been another impressive sight weighing in at 160 pounds.

[Scott K]

Do some searching on this, Konrad Schmidt is the only person that has talked about this fish! Odd, I have tried to get contact info to see who took this fish, and where he was from, there hasnt been any return answer yet. I am digging, I want as much info for this. If anyone else is bored, feel free to find anyone else speak of this fish, even the dnr. I am going to place a call to the historic museum in Henderson to see if there is anyword, pictures, names ect..

[Tyler Holm]

Do some searching on this, Konrad Schmidt is the only person that has talked about this fish! Odd, I have tried to get contact info to see who took this fish, and where he was from, there hasnt been any return answer yet. I am digging, I want as much info for this. If anyone else is bored, feel free to find anyone else speak of this fish, even the dnr. I am going to place a call to the historic museum in Henderson to see if there is anyword, pictures, names ect..

My experiences with Konrad have all been positive. He's a roughfish expert.

[Shack]

I found Native Fish web site and this article while doing research on catfish this spring.

I thought I had found another piece on the speared fish on th MN, but I can not find it now. I should have saved it to my fav.'s

He seems to be a stand up guy and knows what he is talking about.

[Scott K]

I am by no mean trying to discredit him. I was just stating that besides his article, or other people talking about it and referncing his article. I havent found any word of this monster. I hope it is true, it gives me hope. I have some emails out to some resourcefull people of the history of Henderson, I will get to the bottom of it. I also emailed the dnr and asked them for info regarding it as well.

Let me know Shack if you find anything else!

[Larry FlatCaster]

Well lets take into consideration back in the day. Media was pretty limited, and fish stories along with hunting ones probably did not make front page except for how many it would feed.

I would love to see if you could uncover any additional information, unfortunately given the rural area and the time that the fish was caught, that will probably be the only info out there.

Where is a time machine when we need one.

[Scott K]

I realize it happen a long time ago. I guess what I want to know, how did Konrad Schmidt find out about it? How does he know its true? If there isnt any other info on the web, then he must have gotten the info from the dnr, or from the "Henderson Media", or a story backed by someone. I am assuming he wasnt there when it was caught, so where did he get the info from? There has to be some record somewhere other then his story, right? Thats the info I am in search of.

[mplspug]

Konrad Schmidt has done some very interesting work. He has researched the Knife Lake reclamation project to see what critters would make their way back into the system. It's an interesting read if you Google it.