I always thought the limit were close to the same for the MN/WI boundry waters…’sippi and St Croix….not so!
MN – Flathead/Channel Cat 10 either or combined.
WI – Flathead/Channel Cat 25
Why did I think there was a limit of two flats?
I understand that there are more bass fisherman that catter’s, but really! Even 25… 3 pound cats could feed a pretty large family!
Now moving over to flats…25 small 10 lbsers would produce 75 pounds of meat at a minimum! I’m assuming that the fisherman is fishing alone and not very good at cleaning fish!
Excessive?????
Tim said it. You didnt look at the regs any further than the inland on catfish.
The limits are a bit excessive.. but I dont see them changing on border waters unless WI and MN both did something.
Regs like that could leave your *Cottonwood Tree* a vacant place in a week.
Quote:
could leave your *Cottonwood Tree* a vacant place in a week
Gez Dave! You better smile when you say that!! 
Not an expert, but do people really keep Flat Heads, and even with the channel cat we only keep 4-6 max. As for Flat Heads (mudcat) I can’t believe the guys that are really good actually keep any. The thrill is they are tough and fun to catch, not eat.
Fishy…
Although I’ve never eaten a flat…and I do keep saying I’m going to one of these days… we have pleanty of meat hunters in the area. I didn’t actually count the fish in a few photo’s of fish that were caught at differant times…but there were more than 10 in the photo…I also don’t know how many anglers this was for either.
Another point to consider is that these came from an area that gets hammers ALL year for walleye/sauger for years without any apperent ill effects on them.
I think I just confused myself! 
I have kept 3 flatheads in my life.. all around 10 pounds(little ones). Where I fish there is little or no fishing pressure, and I am sure I didnt harm the population. There are some areas I know of the flatheads are just starting to establish a population and harvesting any would likely have negative results.
The areas you fish Brian(pools 3&4).. I am not aware of much pressure on 3 other than a few regulars fishing a few different areas, pool 4 I understand has a little more pressure. Theres a whole lot of water in 3 and 4 comparing to the number of people who fish to harvest cats.. Is it even realistic that a few boats keeping a couple fish are going to do any long term damage?
I dont know the answer to that one.. and I wouldnt dare guess. I know it takes a long time to grow a big flathead, but at the same time, that big flathead makes a lot of babies every year. I am primarily a catch and release flathead fisherman.. but once every few years I keep one to eat. I dont think I would be irresponsible to keep 1/year.
The border water limits are way too high, but maybe it was set this way with hopes from the DNR that the few boats fishing could put a slight dent in the population, or try to avoid over-population. The mississippi river is obviously an important walleye fishery and they may see these as a threat? How big do you think a walleye or smallmouth has to be to be safe from a 40# flathead? I would be willing to bet a 5# walleye doesnt have much hope, and a smallie would have no chance at all if it tucked under the wrong log.
Im in no way a fisheries biologist, but I could see what problems an overpopulation of flatheads could cause. At the same time, flatheads might have a direct link with the quality size of walleyes in the river.. I have no doubt they eat plenty of smaller ones?
I, in no way promote anyone to harvest a bunch of flatheads. In fact, I will yell at you if your harvesting babies(2 lb fish). A picture is all we really need of the big ones.. if you dont have a camera along.. let it swim and catch it another day!
If anyone out there is catching 25 flatheads per trip, I want a space in your boat!
But seriously, I’m less concerned with the number of fish in the limit than the lack of a size limit. I think there should be an upper limit consistent with what’s reasonably safe to eat mercury-wise. This would coincidentally help the trophy population without a doubt. One person taking one 40 pounder home has more impact than one taking eight 5 pounders home IMO.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
