Blacksportsman
Ralph the Noober
and
Fisherdave
I’ve been fishing a few times with these “Urban Experts” for a few weeks now. They are good guys with catten on their minds!
I’m really looking forwart to seeing some P1 Mississippi reports/pictures with these fellas joining IDA.
Welcome aboard guys! 
Welcome to the board Fisher Dave, Blacksportsman, and Ralph the Noober. 
welcome aboard guys
Welcome aboard!! we will have to get a line wet sometime, unless mealy work aka braink has already warned you about me 
CA
Welcome aboard the board…or something like that!!
Yup, these guys know their way around those big city kitties alright. Its always a pleasure to get together with um. I was gonna go last night but ended up down in Mankato short notice…I got skunked myself (so I didn’t need to put my gloves on 
)but we got three fish in the boat 10,17, and 20# all on Fisherdave’s left over bullheads from last week.
Welcome aboard Dave, Ralph, Manny! Good folks here and a good site to hang out on!
dd
I fished with Manny, Ralph, Sheri(sp?) and Dave one night. I actually started off catching the bait with Dave in the afternoon. What a great introduction to real catfish, sorry, flathead fishing. A special thanks to Dave who let me use one of his poles and allowing me to get rid of some weights and swivels that were weighing his tackle box down . 
I caught a Flathead just under 8 and although she wasn’t a monster, it was a great start. Now that I know what it takes I will be gearing myself up and hopefully catching up with these guys again, as well as others I haven’t met yet.
I may have to change my profile picture to me holding a cat.
Thanks for the warm reception. Everyone I’ve met and fished with from this site have been great company and I look forward to meeting more of ya in the future! Here are a few of my recent cat pics:
36lbs 5-22-05
30lbs 6-5-05 
18lbs 6-10-05
Thanks to Ralph the Noober, my photographer 
Manny
Nice fish Manny…looks like the wife fenced you in until you caught the 36 pounder…. 
great pic’s!!
CA
Great fish Blacksportsman! 
I really appreciate the warm welcome to the site… its always a pleasure to be around fellow catfisherman… and in this case.. many of the *best* river rats I know of.
Welcome guys hope you have fun here. Hope we can help out and hopefully we can learn something from you guys too.
http://www.tanglingwithcatfish.com
Welcome one and all!
Thanx guys i made it..
here are some pics…
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manny those pics look great!!!!
Ralph and Manny,
With all those pictures of flats…I’m glad you guys return them to the water! If you made them all into flathead stew, the fishing might not be so good up there! 
I am kind of mixing my posts, but can we use a 8# Flathead as bait for a bigger flathead if we don’t tranport them? 
Got to add the bananna, I love that guy
Manny, Dave and Ralph be sure to PM when you guys go so I can come down and bug ya! Also, send me the pictures before posting them and I can remove the landmarks from the background!
Only above St Anthony Falls….
I will try to add in some pictures from this year later today.. if I can slip it in between the fishing schedule.. I dont even want to try to guess how many fish have been landed between Black-sportsman and myself…
If bullheads had the intellect to have religeon.. I think they would have a picture of me taking the part of the 
I thought you blessed each one before casting??? 
THESE ARE A FEW DAYS OLD. THE FIRST WAS A 14LB SECOND WAS A 21LB. I GUESS I WAS LUCKY… 
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Couple of dandy mudcats Ralph!
Word on the river is that a BIG one got a way the other night. Were you there?
Ralph wasnt there when my Mrs lost the big one. Dark 30 was witness to it, along with a local guy.. and quite a few people that collected when they were walking by.
Last night was terrible at that spot.. not a run to be had until late… when Ralph’s friend put on a sucker he had a little action with one smaller channel, and a baby flathead of about 2 1/2 pounds.. which unfortunately.. went home in a bucket????
Anyone want to see *Fisher Dave* get furious?… that will do it. I dont ever want to see that fisherman in any of my spots again.. that is the equivelent of someone keeping a 14″ Muskie.. it just shouldnt happen period.
There goes a 30 pound fish for my 4 year old son when he is a teen.. 40 or more when he hits his 20’s.
Way to go Ralph’s friend.. I hope that ghetto kitty was concieved in a nuclear power plant.. or had herpes(sp?) or something..
Dave, because I fished with you…what I think I’m hearing you say is that no one would know of this spot..if you wouldn’t have let them know. You would prefer that folks that you told wouldn’t take fish home….
Anyone’s intitled to take 5 fish home…a two pound or a 50 pound…but since you’ve controled who knows about it…you’ve only let catch and release folk in?
Or am I totally off her? I guess if you have to take a fish home, it’s better to be a 2 pounder…not sure if I would take anything home from that area….
forever trying to be the peace keeper and keeping it “PC” Brian, Dave has every rite to be upset, he shows someone a spot and very soon there are “meat hunters” there I realize it was just a baby, but what would of happened it he brought in say 3-5 30lb fish.
CA
Brian.. actually.. I dont have a problem if a person harvest a fish or 2 here and there. I have defended people many times on the issue of being able to keep fish when others feel that we are not supposed to harvest anything anymore… the law states on cats the limit is 5, no more than 2 can be flatheads, and only one over xxx inches.
I guess I should have been way more specific, and further described why I am angy at the individual.. I have fished with this individual before.. He is solely a meat fisherman.. every fish he catches within what he see’s as a keepable size will be harvested.. this is a non issue with some species, or most species… because he doesnt fish that often.. unless the fishing is good.
Ok.. that doesnt explain that much until we take other things into consideration.. now that he knows of the spot, and how to be successful, he will be there as much as his schedule allows.. probably every night he has off… and he will harvest every fish of keepable size in his eyes..
If this were channel catfish.. it would be no big deal, there are lots of them in the area and there are plenty for the taking.. In the eyes of someone looking for a fillet of any size, what flathead is not a keeper fish? The spot we were fishing, it would not be a problem to harvest 3 or 4 fish even for the most novice fisherman per weekend.. this will start to add up in a hurry, and it will greatly reduce the number of decent fish in the near future. The flatheads in the direct area we are fishing have only created a fishable population in about the last 7 years.. before that it was a rare occasion to hook up… so now that they are finally in numbers to start to have successful spawns and create even a better fishery for many years to come.. instead… lets have a few people come in and harvest every fish they catch legal by law.. and put a serious dent in the population of baby fish… or fish that would be of more reasonable harvesting size in a year, or 2.
In this case this is a single guy with no family who will create a freezer full of fish… he did it this spring at another location with a different specie of fish that was reasonable for a heavier harvest.. channel cats.. I through a few fish in the bucket for him on the 50 fish days.
Flatheads are a good eating fish.. I’ll be the 1st to admit that.. I know that because I do harvest one fish on a rare occasion (1 fish to 3-4 years usually).. but if we are going to keep one(or whatever suits that individuals needs within boundaries of the law) to eat, wouldnt it make more sense to harvest a fish that had some meat, and was still young? One fish in the 8-10 pound range is a very young fish, and it has some meat.. a whole lot more meat than a 2 pounder packing a couple *fish sticks*.
On a side note.. the stretch of the river we are fishing is 1 meal/week .. or as good as anything gets.
I just I am just in an uproar because a known *freezer stacker* was introduced, and now has one of my most dependable, very easy access in his sights.
Sorry if I put a scare into anyone.. I dont want anyone to think I am against keeping fish.. that is definitely not the case.. I am strongly against careless, and over-harvest however… none of us, including the people that are doing it, want to ruin the fishing of the future.. but some people just dont understand the damage of taking excessive numbers of fish.. especially when its a particularly rare* specie of fish for the area its being caught.
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