Pool 4 Cat snaggers

I’m posting this at BrianK’s request:

I was out on Saturday getting my kicked by the eyes and saugers, and finding little happening downstream I decided to head up to the dam area to close out the day. I witnessed something that really bothered me….deliberate snagging of flatheads.

Now, I’m not talking about a walleye guy accidentally sticking a cat or a sturgeon with a jig. I’ve done that. Lots of us who frequent that deeper water in the dam area have done that too. I watched one guy in a white ProV get towed around for quite a while before they landed a monster flattie on Saturday afternoon. Accidental cats or sturgeon happen….it comes with the territory.

I’m talking about two guys deliberately out to snag ol’ Mr. Whiskers. Here’s the situation: two young guys park themselves in some deep water. They pitch big, I mean BIG, blade baits on heavy baticasting gear downstream. They wait until it hits bottom, and then RIP the blade back to the boat. Cast, wait, RIP RIP RIP, repeat. I grew up in Chicago (but I’m feeling much better now…), I saw lots of salmon snaggers on the lakefront as a kid, and these two guys with the giant sonars were snagging.

They were pretty good at it too. The first one I saw them net was likely an “honest” 20 pounder. Saw two smaller ones over the course of the next 90 minutes. I don’t know how many they “caught”, or if they kept any, but this was as deliberate a snagging trip as I have seen in the recent past.

At that point I had seen enough. Picked up my cell phone to call the TIP line….dead battery!!

You two guys who were doing this….if you’re enlightened enough to use the internet and you’re reading this, stop harassing the cats. It’s no secret where their wintering holes are…leave ’em alone! And if you don’t, and I see you snagging again, I’ll be sure to have a fully charged battery to call the TIP line. I’m sure the warden will be happy to meet you at the launch to talk about your trip.

There is also a red Lund with a Mariner on it with WI tags. They do the same thing in another area which I wont disclose. I have seen numbers of cats on the camera there. Whenever I see them, I make it a point to ask them if they have SNAGGED any cats? They always say “Nope!” “Fishing for walleyes.” Yeah, right. I do it to let them know that I know what they are doing, whether they want to admit it or not. Tough call.

Thanks for touching on this brooktrout! I have such a love-affair with catfish, and especially big catfish, that it really pisses me off to witness this activity. I hate the thought of snagging a catfish so much that I don’t even allow bladebaits in the boat….not saying everyone that uses them is trying to snag fish, just that I don’t even want to take the chance of it happening in my boat.

As for the guys in the white lund, if you are talking about the 3 guys that fought that 20-25lb. flathead for about a half an hour, in all fairness to them, I was right there and watched the whole thing unfold. That fish was hooked in the mouth when it came up. The fellow said it hit hard, and by the looks of the whimpy rod and 4# test he had, I have a hard time believing otherwise….not a good combo for deliberately trying to snag cats!

I would encourage all of you with cell phones to do the same as brooktrout and call these violators in when you witness it….hell, shout at the top of your lungs “Cat Snaggers Over Here!!!”. Truly a classless act!

People like that don’t deserve to be on the water.

Thanks Brookie. This is why I’m in favor of a closed FLATHEAD season.

Although the MN DNR feels that the flat population isn’t in danger…and snagging is against the law already…I don’t see it happening.

As stated above, the fella out trying to catch eyes and hooks into a flat whether in the mouth or snagged…well, it’s going to happen. It’s the folks that target them because they are easy at this time of year are the true bottom feeders.

I was reading the WI laws today. Snagging anything is against the law on P4.

My question is why would anyone knowingly break the law in such a high visability area? Anyone boating by that knows anything about fishing would know they are snagging…something.
I’m not down there enough to answer that question..any help out there?

Couldn’t agree more on the closed season deal. I like catching BIG fish..Muskies, Sturgeon, Catfish.etc.. There should definitely be some kind of protection on big flatheads. They are an awesome and elusive fish that are few and far between when it boils down to the true giants and they deserve the protection that these other old geezer fish have in place already.

Briank,
In regards to why people risk doing this in a high visibility area, two main reasons….1. They’re lazy, they want instant “success” with minimal investment. 2. Because they get away with it. They know the rest of us are too busy trying to fish to bother doing anything about it. They gamble that most of us value our precious free time on the river and won’t waste it chasing them down or turning them in. Sadly, in most cases they are right! Sure, someone might say something to them about their behavior, but they shrug that off. It takes law enforcement and people willing to make the call, film em in the act, get boat numbers, etc. to make a difference.

I don’t know, maybe when we witness crap like this we should all just gang-up and go over and break their rods or swamp em, who knows? I am kidding, but the thought has crossed my mind.

I for one am proud of you BrookT! Blade baits can and are very effective but I have seen the same RIP up the rod as hard as you can stuff…it is definitely not the right technique and makes one suspicious!

The blade is slowly lowered to the bottom then pulled up just fast enough to feel the blade vibrate or cast and slowly worked back… inspite of how you choose to use them(I prefer pitching plastics or hair) if you snag a fish it legally should br released.

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.1. They’re lazy, they want instant “success” with minimal investment

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Slip…you just described ME!

I hear ya.

Tom, you’ve fished blades..alot? Not talking about casting, but ripping them up…are more fish (eyes) snagged or are they actually caught..in the mouth?

I catch many eyes in the mouth with blades. That is why it is so hard to enforce.

Would you say half?? I’m just asking opinions.

I have one in my tackle box…just couldn’t ever figure out which hole to put the line through!

Like anything, it depends on how you use them. I do not jig them anymore. But if you jig them like a Super Doo, you WILL get bit. Pitching shorelines in ALWAYS a mouth bite. Jerking it back along the bottom is snagging. IMO.

I am a fan of Blades and Jig N Raps. I‘m not going out to just snag cats but, when the are piled up for the winter and boat traffic is thick, it happens

Also remember, certain times of the year, huge Flatheads slam blade baits. It can be a very effective technique in catching these fish at the dam.

As far as snagging on purpose, turn there butts in!

Bret, when you jig them for eye’s what would you say the percent is snagged? In your opinion. Just courious.

I’m not looking to condem jigging/ripping blade baits.

This time of year you can get into them thick at the down side of the scour hole. Yes, there are guys that hang right over the top of these cats and snagging a high percentage. When just drifting through the percentage drops. I snag a cat (I would say) 20 percent of the time drifting through.
Most of the time the way the channels stack up tight together, you can avoid them by paying attention to where they are. They will light up a flasher like a christmas tree.