Was It Snagged?

State Record

Had to be

Everybody drills out two holes side by side for sunnies don’t they?

What do you mean snagged? I saw a white jig in the right corner of the mouth. Do you mean gaffed at the hole? If it was gaffed, does that impact the record?

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Everybody drills out two holes side by side for sunnies don’t they?

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That was the first thing I noticed. Why wouldn’t the DNR question it more? I don’t believe snagging is legal in Michigan either.

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What do you mean snagged? I saw a white jig in the right corner of the mouth. Do you mean gaffed at the hole? If it was gaffed, does that impact the record?

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Snagged as in foul hooked. Brian has shown us all some awesome footage of winter time cats ignoring bait after bait placed right in front of them without even moving.

Anything is “possible”…however…

Looking closely at the video, the two holes that were said to be drilled at different time, sure look like they were drilled at the same time judging by the melting of the corners.

Then, I don’t know if I would have the mind to clean all the ice shavings away while my buddy was getting ready to bring the monster up.

Toss in the quick shot of the b&w underwater camera along with all of the biologist findings that flatheads seldom eat below 50 degrees and never (at least for the lab studies) eat below 40 degrees…and a few YouTube videos along with the MN DNR’s Diving study’s back in the ’70’s (I believe Chris Winchester was a part of)….

I call BS.

So much so, I sent an email to the MI DNR asking for a polygraph test. I hate to rain on someones parade if they are legit, chances are they were pan fishing, spotted some flats with the camera, cut the holes above them and using the camera…snagged it/them. The portable fish house was used for cover.

This is the same reason WI Flathead season was closed on parts of the WI and Fox Rivers.

Not that I’ve thought about this at all.

Forgot the part that this fish was caught on a 199 acre lake that’s not connected to any river system and not known for flatheads. I can’t verify that and the MI DNR doesn’t have any netting info on it.

I agree with everything you said BK, except the water temp thing. Last weekend of sturgeon fishing on the croix this past year, what was the water temp? I can look on my humminbird to confirm as i’m sure i left waypoints that weekend. But you might recall off the top of your head if you were fishing it.
I caught 3 flatheads including a monster that weekend. Previous year, same deal.
I think fall weather cold water brings on the flathead shad feed bag. Though, dormancy probably comes happens soon and into november. Can’t argue with flatheads going dormant, but don’t put your rods away when the water hits 50 degrees IMO.

Above fish was snagged without any doubt in the world. Flatheads go dormant in the winter. Flatheads should be illegial Nov1 through May1.

Just wondering, where you any place around the King discharge or downstream?

The studies indicated at and below 50 degrees they ate very little…at 40 they stopped feeding.

Shoot me your email ad and I’ll send the papers to you.

It’s pretty interesting. They didn’t lose weight while dormant either.

Well, spot is well known, the “nursery”, oh maybe 2 miles downstream of king.

I’ll PM you my address; would like to read that.

PS I was just looking up some old posts in the cat forum. The guys were talking about closing the season 5 years before the earliest post.

People were saying “don’t hold your breath…

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Flatheads should be illegal Nov1 through May1.

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I think we can start holding our breath.

FYI on November 1-3 Pool 2 of the Mississippi was at 45 degrees.

I would never call someone out fishing in those temps.

Did they list dimensions on the flathead LxG??

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Anything is “possible”…however…

Looking closely at the video, the two holes that were said to be drilled at different time, sure look like they were drilled at the same time judging by the melting of the corners.

Then, I don’t know if I would have the mind to clean all the ice shavings away while my buddy was getting ready to bring the monster up.

Toss in the quick shot of the b&w underwater camera along with all of the biologist findings that flatheads seldom eat below 50 degrees and never (at least for the lab studies) eat below 40 degrees…and a few YouTube videos along with the MN DNR’s Diving study’s back in the ’70’s (I believe Chris Winchester was a part of)….

I call BS.

So much so, I sent an email to the MI DNR asking for a polygraph test. I hate to rain on someones parade if they are legit, chances are they were pan fishing, spotted some flats with the camera, cut the holes above them and using the camera…snagged it/them. The portable fish house was used for cover.

This is the same reason WI Flathead season was closed on parts of the WI and Fox Rivers.

Not that I’ve thought about this at all.

Forgot the part that this fish was caught on a 199 acre lake that’s not connected to any river system and not known for flatheads. I can’t verify that and the MI DNR doesn’t have any netting info on it.

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Why even stick your nose in it? Who cares. It’s a damn fish and if this ole boy is proud as a peacock for what he did, let him have his day in the sun.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this BK. The drag on that reel sounded pretty heavy, not like anything one would be using for sunfish. The convenient pause in footage during the process of getting it out of the water smells fishy to me too, but then again I’ve made my own video hindsight errors in my day. If you snag a fish in the mouth does it count as legit or not?

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Why even stick your nose in it? Who cares. It’s a damn fish and if this ole boy is proud as a peacock for what he did, let him have his day in the sun.

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It’s more about the principle of a record fish, if he did in fact snag it–he stole the record from someone else who legally earned it… in which case he’s casting a cloud over someone who deserved his/her sunlight.

it was coming up like it was at least hooked in the front half but very suspicious that the video segment of them landing the fish was missing and suddenly the jig was in the corner of the mouth, never had a flattie bite in the winter and cant imagine that if it did that tiny jig wouldn’t have been buried somewhere deep in that maw instead of skin hooked in the corner of the mouth, leaning towards snagged… just my take

Something’s fishy.

on a side note:Here is a link to the previous record.

(Edit: This picture is of Rodney Akney’s 49.8 record caught on the St Joesph River on May 22 2012)

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wow sad!!!

who cares if the holes were drilled at the same time! I do this all the time when in a shack! on to fish out of and the other for the locater!

fish was hooked in the corner of the mouth clearly on the video!!

as far as your study saying flats dont bite below 40 degrees well i got news for ya ive caught more than i can remember on the river near alma wi that not only bite but crush a lure… on sub zero days!!!

some people need to get off there High horse and get a clue!!

be happy for the guy… awesome fish and surly a catch of a lifetime..

Very well put Putn’am on the line.

A fish snagged in the mouth is a snagged fish. (that’s a cat fishermans law which may or may not aline with MI law.)

Mr. Gun,

May I remind you about a high horse and the MN/WI boarder water rules?

We are talking about water temps and not air temps.

Do your own research on what the experts say and not by people like me…arm chair biologists.

another thing about the holes.. you sure could do a better job on the setup if your planning on snagging fish.. bring a chainsaw .. we have caught a few smaller flats ice fishing lake pepin as well.. nothing of this size but in the months of Jan and Feb have put a small number on the ice! and you can see a lot of them cruising by on the camera out there too!!

BK Im not trying to pick a fight with ya.. Just stating that with water temps in the 30’s we have caught flats!! that bite. and im talking water temps!! your studies are only so accurate. how many studies over the years have later been found to be wrong?

on this video you can see the fish is hooked in the water in the corner of the mouth! with a small lure…

Im not saying they didnt snag it for sure who knows they may have caught it hooked it in the mouth sent it back down and then videoed the second catch!!

I have a hard time saying he is guilty and if he is to prove it is unlikely..

we are innocent until proven otherwise in this country aren’t we???

on the DNR argument we had this last year!! and by what you showed me proved me wrong!!

That sure didnt stop me from getting harrassed this summer while following that written law!!

I didnt get a ticket but sure ruined a days fishing for me and my family..

anyway!! I hope the guy did everything laggit.. and if he didnt Im not going to loose no sleep over it!

Pretty much agree.

I can’t say he didn’t catch it. I wasn’t there..but the odds are pretty much stacked against him. As I said someplace, once the polygraph report comes in, I’ll apologize. Until then…. we’ll have to agree on differing opinions.

@3:18 you can see the jig in it’s mouth.

Flathead should be protected such as Brian talks about on pool 4 because there might be 1 person who takes advantage of it and really hurt the fishery. I have caught them in the winter where my bait was swallowed not just in the mouth so I believe it could be fair caught. According to the law a snagged fish in the mouth is a fair hooked fish even if the fish did not bite it. It is hooked fair.

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A fish snagged in the mouth is a snagged fish. (that’s a cat fishermans law which may or may not aline with MI law.)

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I’ve always thought that the rules pertaining to the salmon run in Alaska are funny — the fish don’t eat, but if you snag them in the mouth they’re legal. If you snag them in the fin, they’re not.

For better or worse in this case, I’m guessing that if the fish was hooked in the mouth it was legal even if they used a camera to see the fish and get the lure there. Kind of a bummer if that’s the case (who knows?) and (again, IF that’s the case) creates a great argument for a closed season.

you catfish guys sure get worked up over a nice kitty – I caught a 33# flathead many many moons ago on the Wisconsin river in early spring below the Sac dam – one of my proudest moments ever with a rod and reel. Did I inadvertently snag the fish? I have no clue, all I know is the fish came over the side of the boat with a hook in its mouth

Personally I try not to go into the whole snagging piece and go with a congrats…unless the angler is promoting a certain brand hook, promoting flathead angling in the winter dormant months or claiming it for a state record.

The guys that hook one in the winter months while walleye fishing don’t bother me at all when they release it. How can a person spoil that smile on their face?

We should allow commercial fisherman to count fish they catch as records too.