First of all, hello Manny! 
I could be wrong, but I thought FisherDave said that they were slowly expanding their range up the river? I think he said he never saw them in Pool 1 or that he started catching more and more every year?
This makes me wonder what would hit an 8″ bully if left out overnight in the area. I caught my biggest channel ever (15+ lbs) right across from the Minneapolis Water Works in that stretch some years back.
There aren’t any spawning areas in “P1”? What about feeder creeks and rivers? I can think of quite a few.. The catfishing is quite good up there especially considering the DNR has stocked channel cats in many of these smaller rivers that feed into P1. There aren’t many backwater areas on the croix or Minnesota River and there are still lots of flats in both of those rivers.
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There are definitely Flatheads in Pool 1. Just not in the numbers you find on Pool 2 and below. Possibly lack of spawning areas??? Dunno? Only difference on structure or habitat that I can think of between the two would be lack of backwaters on Pool 1.
I think we should just stick to “there are no flatheads in Pool 1”. 
Although I did catch my first one there, all 3/4 of a pound of him.
I’ve caught a few flatheads up the Croix near Scandia, but I have a feeling that area isn’t very flat frendly, so I don’t think their population is that high.
I’ve caught them all on cut bait, and the smaller ones that I have kept, their stomach contents were mostly clams and rocks, so I think they don’t have a very good food supply if they are scavenging eating cutbait and digging and eating stuff that is uh, not fun to pass.
For the record: I have no jigs in my tackle, lol ; )
Up until they reach about 10# or something, the majority of their diet is clams, according to the studies I have seen. But I think you are on the right track. The further north on the Croix you go, the more shear rock you find right?
The Minnesota gets really rocky up past Granite Falls. Anyone know how far up the Minnesota it is feasible to fish flats?
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Up until they reach about 10# or something, the majority of their diet is clams, according to the studies I have seen. But I think you are on the right track. The further north on the Croix you go, the more shear rock you find right?
The diet by age charts I’ve read didn’t mention clams at all, but I do imagine they could vary depending on what geographical region the studies were done in. Crayfish in the south, clams here maybe hellbenders in the east!
And yeah, for sure, it really seems like a bad breeding area for catfish, I guess not super bad where I fish at, there’s a plethora of fallen trees, but none of the overhang they like to dig out underneath. I’ve never been above the railroad bridge up there though, so I’m not quite sure what the shore lines look like past that. Maybe that’s an adventure for this weekend!
Brian hasn’t chimed in on this yet? Maybe it was crayfish I am thinking of, not clams. I think the comparison they were making is young flatheads don’t eat fish much or as much as they do as adults.
Found some info on the flathead’s range (for Mississippi River). Cool link if you’re into this kind’o thing. I pulled out a couple pertinent quotes:
For approximately 10,000 years, since the Mankato ice sheet receded, St. Anthony Falls acted as an effective barrier to upstream fish dispersal in the Mississippi River (Eddy et al., 1963). After the opening of the upper lock at the Falls in 1963, it became possible for fish to move beyond this barrier at least 20 km upstream to the Coon Rapids Dam, which was built in 1914. However, we had no evidence of any dispersal until 1976 when Hypentilium nigricans (northern hogsucker) was reported without voucher from the Mississippi River near Monticello (above the Coon Rapids dam). In 1995, Ictalurus punctatus (channel catfish) and Lepomis humilis (orangespotted sunfish) were collected just below the dam near Dunn Island, and Percina maculata (blackside darter) was collected in two locations above the dam. Since then, Noturus flavus (stonecat), Pylodictis olivaris (flathead catfish), Pimephales vigilax (bullhead minnow), and Dorosoma cepedianum (gizzard shad) also have been discovered at or above the Coon Rapids Dam
43. Pylodictis olivaris (flathead catfish)—In 1999, this species was collected in the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Monticello (JFBM 31905). It became the sixth new species whose range was extended beyond St. Anthony Falls (Upper Mississippi River).
from http://www.journal.mnmas.org/03_ANewDistributionListOfMNFisheries.htm
Crazy. So would the flathead be considered invasive above St. Anthony Falls since man allowed them up there? THEY ARE TAKING OVER!!! RUN!! 
Also from that report:
4. Acipenser fulvescens—Lake sturgeon have not been reported from the Minnesota River drainage in any checklist or fish compendium, and we have no specimens in the Bell Museum Collection. However, we have accepted two recent angling records from the Minnesota River based upon published photographs. Both photographs permit accurate identification. The first specimen was caught below the dam in Granite Falls in 1991, and the second was caught at Riverside Park in New Ulm in 1993.
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Brian hasn’t chimed in on this yet? Maybe it was crayfish I am thinking of, not clams. I think the comparison they were making is young flatheads don’t eat fish much or as much as they do as adults.
That sounds a lot like the article I read then if that’s the case, I know it triggered me into debating on picking up some craws and trying them for catching some edible ones.
I caught this one tonight at Mississippi North Park, well above the Ford Dam:
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Blackdog must be part of P1 then.
Blackdog is an old trolling area. If you know where the Old Meeker dam is, don’t go there alone.
I go there. Armed, of course, but I still go there. I was told that the cops busted that little Larry Craig Loveshack and that it’s not like that anymore. The only thing that’s ever tried to bugger me there was a stupid heron who got tangled in my line.
Stupid herons.
Yeah, even if you go alone you’re safe. You need to know the signals to get into trouble.
Now that is a cute little bugger!
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Yeah, even if you go alone you’re safe. You need to know the signals to get into trouble.
Is that why you said I’d know you’re down there if I hear a lot of honking?
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