Flatheads from last spring

Heres a few photos from last spring that I thought you guys might like to see. I know its cold and everybodys anticipating the warm weather, including me and thats just around the corner. This was pre-spawn for flatheads and the channels were also on a major pre-spawn bite at this time but we were fishing flatheads off the dam here in town this night. The night of this bite I know there was over 300 lbs caught by various people on the dam and probably more. Its something to look forward too. We pull our poles, lawnchairs, bait coolers with aireators and batteries and whatever else we decide to bring, for the night on the dam in a wagon I have so we can just sit and wait the bite out. Also during this time its very good channel fishing out on the river and ditty poles and trotlines are very effective and a good time to put fish in the freezer or too give to friends, its almost here. I don’t know if the dates visible but it was the 18th of May and a very good bite, Ready to go Rich? (Redneck) It’ll be around this time when its good to go, maybe a little sooner, I’ll just have to see what the bites doing leading up to this date. The guys in the pictures are friends of mine plus other guys I know that fish there.

Do you eat flatheads that big? I would think they would taste nasty being that old.

Yes we eat them and thier good. The belly meat is the prime rib on flatheads, on channels its the fillets. No one around here complains that thier not good too eat, in the fall thier a little stronger but by spring thier systems are like any fish thats wintered over. None of the fish went to waist.

Nice to see you go by the rule “The only good catfish is a dead catfish.”

The only danger to flats and channel catfish in Iowa is NOT catching and eating. It will be the loss of habitat and polluted water.
I don’t think you northern guys really understand what we have here in Iowa for a catfish population. Nearly every stinking river, lake, pond, slough, and drainage ditch has a population of catfish of one breed or another.

Your right Herb, they even walk across gravel and blacktop roads when the waters crossing them during high water, I’ve seen it on both. For the guys that like to pole fish channels useing crawdads, just put one on the bottom next too some willows at night where catfish normally feed, a regular feeding area when the waters up, then have your hands next to your pole. I’ll get some pictures when we go fishing ditty poles this spring. Herbs got it right on about the amount of catfish we have here. If we don’t fish them and take them home the population will be stunted. Hey Herb which fish do we have more of, catfish or carp? I don’t know forsure but I choose catfish around here.

Heres a few more pictures. The first pictures a home made bridge net from an dip net and bicycle rim. The second is a younge guy who has fished this bridge since he was 12 years old, by himself, holding a nice one. The third picture is of an older guy who caught a 42 pounder on that night also, with Tim and Jeremia in the background, Jeremia has a flathead on his pole. The forth picture is of a large flathead that Ed just Landed, E’ds on the right, his friend on the left holding the fish. The last picture is the same stringer of fish, diffrent perspective. That building in the background in Ed and his friends picture, is Quaker Oats, the worlds largest ceral mill. In Ed and his friends picture Ed’s holding the fishing line, it just looks like rope, you should see the size of his reel, that he used to land this fish.

I’m glad to hear that you didn’t throw any meat away. Beyond that I’ve got nothing positive to say.

I am ready and chopping at the bit Dan. Of course we will have to practice catch and release—-catch and release into the grease that is I grew up eating catfish and I refuse to be embarrassed or ashamed that I actually catch a fish now and then to eat!!! In the early Spring the flesh is firm and the flavor is excellent and I am excited to catch and eat a few with ya

Bring both your poles for bridge and river fishing Rich and I’ll furnish the rest. We have no sleep bites here, hope we have one again this spring, probably will, we do every spring.

Don’t be to hard on these guys In iowa alot of the fishing is called put and take wich means the IDNR stocks the fish expecting them to be harvested. I don’t know about the flatheads but channel cats, large mouth bass, and blue gills are stocked by the IDNR in every pond they can get to. If you think seeing these cats harvested is bad come down and fish walleyes in our small rivers and see how many stringers a day of 12″ eyes you see go home. The IDNR refuses to put a leangth limit on walleyes because they put them in the rivers and lakes so that people can harvest them.

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The only danger to flats and channel catfish in Iowa is NOT catching and eating. It will be the loss of habitat and polluted water.
I don’t think you northern guys really understand what we have here in Iowa for a catfish population. Nearly every stinking river, lake, pond, slough, and drainage ditch has a population of catfish of one breed or another.

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Dear Herb,I was born and raised on the Cedar river just north of Cedar Rapids and used to buy bait at your folks shop in Lansing.Small cats are great eating,but a 30lb fish will eat a whole lot more little cats alive than dead and are a much better management tool than guys killing a bunch of big cats.
Whens the last time you heard of a 70lb cat out of Iowa?The potential is there if guys would stop killing the 20+lb fish.
Its not illeagle just ignorant.

I know they do Mike and they make a major effort to stock everything they can like you said and have for many many years. The Maquoketa river is a perfect example of small river fishing for walleyes that were stocked by our DNR’s stocking plans. That river is smaller then some creeks here and has very good walleye fishing in it. I’ve gotten them as big as 5 pounds, not big but considering the size of the river thats a nice catch. The upper reaches is trout water and down a few miles is where the walleye and good smallmouth fishing begins. The DNR here does a great job with its stocking programs and every small body of water that can hold fish does and alot of its because of them.

Thier here Stuart just ask the guys who break 80 lb. test every spring at the dam. I could tell you stories about fishing with huge ditty poles that were 8′ too 10′ long that pulled out of the bank, 30 lb’ers won’t do that, especially with door springs attached to them. This spring I’ll tie off the poles to a sapling or tree to try to land a couple big ones, didn’t have a whole lot of time the last few years to seriously fish where the big ones are but this spring I will. Besides who cares if flatheads eat those fish or we do. People catch alot of big ones all the way down too pan friers.

For what it’s worth, catfish don’t stunt, and in a flowing water situation will never starve. Catfish are like pigs, meaning they can survive and even get fat on sewage or what ever you want to call what they are eating at any given time.
And yes, I’ll eat a river cat anytime if taken care of properly. I’ve also been know to eat chit and bark at the moon some nights but that’s all you need to know about that.
I don’t look at flats as a management tool for channels although they do feed on them. The channel doesn’t need managing, period. With the catch limits on lakes and interior rivers, that’s all the management they need. There is no limit on the Miss. River. The reason is there are simply way more than could ever be harvested, especially with the 15 inch law for commercial fishing.
I’ve seen one 80 plus pound flat taken in commercial gear many years ago. A lot of 40 to 50 or better from the Iowa river on bank poles. But in reality most people, rod/reel or commercial don’t set up for the giants. But they are here.
If the U.S. record is not in North or South Carolina, I’m a believer it will come from Iowa.

I know your right Herb. It’s a special setup for big flats when it comes to an area and you have to be able to recogise that small area. I do know when going for that spot on spot as some call it you can setup 75 feet eighter side of a hole and you’ll get smaller fish, especially if the water shallows up. To setup right in the hole you have to know what your doing and be able to recognise that small area where these fish are going to make regular visits to feed.

Log jams next to deep water and an open spot in the logs right along the bank weather it shallows up or not is Ideal. It may only be 5 feet wide and 10 feet long but thats one of the places where they feed in a log jam. Take a half dozen log jams in about 3 blocks length of deep water and you will hook into a few nice ones in a weeks fishing dittypoles. If theres any smaller pockets, not the big swirling ones eighter but the ones with almost dead calm water with faster water around it, along that bank between those logjams is where they also feed. Alot of times you have to get right on top of these little pockets in order to be able to see them. 100 feet off the bank in your boat and you won’t see them. You will see the logs but you have to get right in the logs to see these special pockets. Little pockets with maybe one deadfall stump or a single log and your in luck, it doesen’t even have to have a dead fall in it to attract flatheads.

Another good area is deepwater next to a point with shallower water on the other side of that point. That point if theres not too much current on the river side and on the other side in the shallower water is another ideal spot. Add in some logs and deadfalls and look out for the big ones, especially if some of those logs hold crappies and bluegills. Any water that holds crappies and bluegills and is next to deep water is a good spot for flatheads and for big channels too and is also a good place to pole fish too. Bobbers and a big bluegill at night within 20′ of the bank around logs on a calm night and it’ll be watch your pole and don’t make any noise.

Fishing the daytime under log jams with big bluegills is good too but I personally think its better at night when they feed more. If a guy spends a few days fishing under logjams during the day and has done pretty well and he feels the bites getting better, fishing at night can only be better. You can feel a better bite coming on if you fish that spot enough.

I’m pretty sure we went through this whole thing last year when you first posted this pics Dan….and I think for the most part we came to the conclusion of absolutely nothing.

I sure don’t want to disrespect you in any way. We are all fisherman and have our own opinion on things. Just because I believe in Catch and Release doesn’t make it right, it’s just how I feel.

But, I must say that I cringe seeing those photos. In fact I’m involved with a couple of sites that wouldn’t even allow those as they violate our forum policy.

Aside from that, there are just WAY TOO MANY examples of fisheries being decimated by overharvest. When do we learn that we simply can’t keep doing that? You can tell me different until you are blue in the face and I’m just not going to buy the goods you are selling and I’m sure vice versa.

When it comes to a thread like this though I just feel compelled to remind everyone reading that Catch and Release DOES work and we should try to be selective on fish we harvest. Those big girls lying lifeless on the concrete, beat the odds to get that big…. well that is until they ate your bait.

If we can continue to educate people to release the bigger fish, we will (as a result) see bigger and bigger fish being caught each year and you can say that isn’t a big deal to you, but if it wasn’t then you wouldn’t have made sure to mention to all of us the part about catching 300lbs. Just think how much fun a 500lb night would be!!

Good luck this spring Dan and please consider releasing a few of those fish this year.

Your scenerio is right DTRO and I know your right with knowing your conditions on the rivers you fish. I’m not argueing eigther. What some guys don’t know that this river all the way up and down its length isn’t fished that hard. The only dam here in 100 miles of river is the dam in downtown here. The rest of the river is all free range with alot less pressure then below the dam here. So what I’m saying is that all the flatheads and channels don’t end up here below the dam where people can catch as many as they want. It dosen’t happen that way. Theres many many miles on the river here that see maybe a couple boats a month and then theres stretches that don’t see any boats at all. Theres just not alot of pressure combining the whole length of this river. Theres plenty of big flatheads in the river here that rarely even hear the noise from a motor, let alone have someone drop a hook close by them. It would be totally diffrent if there was the same amount of boats here as you guys have there, then I too would be concerned about catch and release, but there isn’t that many boats on the whole length of the river. Take into account the amount of serious flathead fishermen and you have even less pressure, theres not alot of those guys eigther. Most fishermen here, except at this single dam, are just fishermen who fish from the bank and a 5 pounder or two during a nights fishing is all they catch, thats not alot of pressure. I know it sounds to you guys, with no disrespect that were taking way too many big ones but were not considering how many there are within that hundred miles. It may be kind of hard to understand the pressre that there is here but its not even close to what a major metropolitan area is like, like where you guys live. The trees along the banks here nudge eachother when a boat goes by and they say to eachother,,,we haven’t seen one of those in awhile have we. Each and every mile of this river holds big flatheads and I’d bet 95% never feel a hook. How can there be that much pressure on a river when theres not alot of boats on it. If it was as densely populated along the river here as it is up where you are then I too would be more for catch release. Ya theres alot of nice and big catfish here but the pressure has to be there to do any damage to the system and theres just not enough people to do it. I hope you understand.

BTW I’ll have more pictures coming this next ditty season and I’ll post those. And I’ll be fishing in an area way up river where hardly anyone ever goes, especially in a boat. We’ll be ditty poleing for flatheads and channels with maybe some trotlines too. The area there is if anything underfished and thats why I’m going.

You’re right dtro this has been hashed over in the past and I apologize for breaking my rule of not letting myself get caught posting in these threads. I will say that personally I won’t keep the big ones. Not because it;s right or wrong but because I like to eat fish and the smaller ones are to the liking of my taste buds.
Stuart, how old are you man? That baitshop was a long long time ago.

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Stuart, how old are you man? That baitshop was a long long time ago.

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52,my folks got us fishing at a early age.

Dan you make it sound like a world class fishery down there yet every year I see scads of Iowans at the landings up here looking for big flatheads to take home with them. I wonder why?

When it comes to fishing, you have folks that want to catch fish and folks that want to eat fish and then the majority of us that do a little of both. To me a healthy population of a mixed size of fish would be ideal. This is the whole premise of selective harvest. Seriously, do you need to keep EVERYTHING you catch?

A perfect example is up in Manitoba on the Red River. They realized they have something special up there and people starting flocking to Selkirk from all over the US to catch trophy channel cats. They knew they had to do something before it got out of control, so strict harvest laws were passed and now there is a good chance that our grandkids and their grandkids will get to experience the same type of fishing we have all got to see up there.

I know what your saying Dtro, I don’t know why they are saying that, evidently they live in areas where there isn’t that many big flatheads. There are alot of smaller rivers that don’t hold bigger flatheads because theres not enough water or holes deep enough to hold them, you guys would probably consider them creeks. The Cedar around here, The Iowa just south of here, the Skunk has some I’ve heard and the Des Moines are just about it for the rivers that Have them. The smaller rivers like the Wapsi, Maquoketa, north and south Skunk don’t have them in the upper reaches, down twards the rivers they empty into they may have a few, I haven’t fished those areas. If theres not any big flatheads here then how come guys I know including myself can go out and target them and catch them, nice ones too. They must live in areas where the attraction of a big river like the Mississippi makes them think they have to go that far, I don’t know. Theres more to fishing flatheads then just sitting in a boat by a logjam and getting them. Alot of times especially during summer its a waitng game with fishing a few log jams hard and still maybe only getting a few smaller ones. If I can do it so can they, all they have to do is fish the rivers that hold a better population of them and do it at the right times. Most importantly they aren’t like channels that will feed most of the time, flatheads feed when they need too. After they have eaten a meal they will lay up until they get hungry again. Smaller flatheads are like smaller channels and will feed all the time but after the larger ones have eaten they don’t have to eat again for awhile. I’d personally like to talk to a few of those guys who go there to fish big flatheads and get thier take on the ways they fish them and where they live to find out why they don’t catch them. Flatheads are here, big ones too but a guys got to know where and what too look for. I don’t take home evrything I cach, I personally don’t lke the taste of the larger ones, even after they have wintered over. The bigger ones over 25 pounds I throw back expecially in the warmer months after thier flesh has oiled up some and thats after July. I usually fish channels after june and haven’t targeted flatheads after they spawn for quite a few years, but I do know where they lay and feed if I wanted too.

It’s funny… I was told just today that this site was better than lake link because of the lack of comparisons and bitching about people and there fishing habits.. So far I hear all the same.. I’m from Madison and I eat the fish I catch depending on the season and the size, seems like yous.. The cats?… Same exact theories you all go by. Flatheads, deelish because of what they eat no matter what the size, belly fillets and cheeks absolute gold! Channels seem to be a little better smaller, cheeks like scallops! Don’t discriminate against “the north” I guess I shoulda asked what you meant anyways, but ya know, I am more northly than yous so…

Welcome to the site Abe. Don’t take this discussion wrong as its just that, a discussion we’ve had before. Theres very few arguements hear and a whole lot fewer heated ones because those threads get shut down right away and there are fewer of those. What both opinions are saying is just that, thier opinions and the pros and cons of both. It may read like an arguement but its not, a through dissusion is all it is. Feel free to talk about anything you like, its informative.

Welcome to Ido Abe!

Personally I view these discussions as educational for newer folks getting into catfishing…or fishing for that matter. It’s a great way to see both sides and the newer person to make up their own mind.

There are plenty of reasons to harvest fish and plenty of reason to practice catch and release.

Posts seldom get shut down unless they are political (and not hunting/fishing related) religious, of name calling nature, or threatening in anyway.

You might find more info in our Species Specific Catfish/Sturgeon forum.

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I am ready and chopping at the bit Dan. Of course we will have to practice catch and release—-catch and release into the grease that is I grew up eating catfish and I refuse to be embarrassed or ashamed that I actually catch a fish now and then to eat!!! In the early Spring the flesh is firm and the flavor is excellent and I am excited to catch and eat a few with ya

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PLUS ONE~

I have had this conversation and heard both sides of this debate before. I tend to lean towards a C&R approach in my normal life, but understand why people will keep fish.

I for one would love to get on the river for a night, learn about ditty poles, trot lines, and those things as I have no knowledge what so ever on the subject. Mossy, if you are ever in need of a guy to help run lines who has a strong back, weak mind, and doesn’t mind staying up all night, send me a shout. It would take another item off my bucket list.

Sure Brent, your not the only one with an occasional weak mind or the symptoms thereof lol, My doctor says you’d have to have staying up nights on end with no sleep catching catfish. One thing I can do is catch catfish, especially during the prespawn, thier everywhere trying to fill thier stomachs and just about anyone can when shown how. Rich (Redneck) is coming down sometime mid May and eigther side of that you could make it down this way too, the boats open. I’m open for ideas. I’m watching the river right now and will be too see how the bites shapeing up so I’ll know when the times right. I didn’t see Pierbridges reply, hel- if he can make down this way he can come too, I don’t know if he was talking eating or catching or both.

How awesome it would be to have those kind of guaranteed nights on the rivers in MN!