Silt on Flatheads backs??

All of us cat people have heard and read for years now that when Flatheads winter, there will be silt on the backs of these fish because they claim, they haven’t moved and sediment is deposited by the river on their backs.

Last year I noticed the first time out that some of the flats didn’t have any silt yet others had a layer of silt and sand. It seemed odd that the silt and sand would be covering some fish and yet others were baby’s butt clean. Also, some of the sand seemed too heavy to be carried too far by the currents.

That was last year. This year Jesse Krook and I were out and I believe the flatheads let us in on the secret as to why some fish have silt and others don’t.

See for yourself and you decide.

I ‘spose I should put my disclaimer in here.

With the information we have at this time, I do not support winter time fishing for flatheads. Many people will claim to have caught a flathead in the mouth in the winter. Although the fish was likely to be hooked in the mouth, it was simply the jig falling or being dragged into the open mouth of a flat and when the angler feels a bit of resistance, sets the hook.

Since flatheads lay in every direction and not just up stream, a mouth “snagged” flat could be caught dragging jigs or even stick baits up stream.

Closing the flathead season during the cold “wintering” months seems like the right thing to do to protect the true trophies of the waters.

Great video BK

Great video BK

Thanks! With all the complaining about my choice of music, I sang in this one…but YT banned it. So you’re stuck with my voice.

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Thanks! With all the complaining about my choice of music, I sang in this one…but YT banned it. So you’re stuck with my voice.

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You don’t know the difference between complaining and a little ribbing?

Downloading the video onto my phone right now. Work blocks it. I tried viewing it through my YouTube app and it said ti was unavailable?

Mystery Solved.

Thanks BK you answered some questions that we would of never had the answer to before underwater video became available to regular folks.

Very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing the great footage.

Dog

Awesome video.

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You don’t know the difference between complaining and a little ribbing?

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So you’re saying I should go back to music? That hurts Pug.

Nice job Brain—I mean Brian!!!!!

and, thank you for not singing.

That turned out awesome I thought the music in the last video was very fitting and actually went with what was going on in the video Great work BK

That is some awesome video.

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So you’re saying I should go back to music? That hurts Pug.

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No, you just need a little ambient background music for your narrative.

BrianK,

You don’t support winter time fishing for flatheads.

What are your reasons? I am looking for your more indepth ideas/answers. I didn’t dig very far in the posts to see if you have good thoughts on this in another post.

Do you think a flathead wouldn’t survive the trauma. Trauma of being awakened and then released.

To me the video is very informative. But what is the best option. Putting some type of markers on the pods of flats that are just sleeping? So people don’t snag them

Its pretty clear to me that those fish arn’t on the hunt for meals. So how do you stop someone from snagging or hooking one in an open mouth. What is the best method of release after caught?

How many people do you know actually fish for flatheads in MN?

I am with ya. Your video pioneering is proof that those flats are in a shut down mode over the winter months. I have no doubt about it. Closing the season would hopefully salvage a slumber stacked up beast of the river waters.

Good luck with your efforts.

Way cool stuff Mr. K

And yes, your choise of music normally sucks but I sure hope you keep up the awesome videos

Good job on the trolling motor Jesse

Fantastic video. Thanks for posting.

bennyJ Thanks! I didn’t think anyone would ever ask!

Most evidence from the DNRs show that they will survive after captured, at least the reports that I’ve seen.

There’s always going to be some anglers that will snag flats. Very similar to fishing for crappies when the walleye season is closed. It happens. There’s a good chance of being caught taking walleyes home out of season.

Since flats don’t bite in the winter, there’s only one way to catch them. Snagging. Now snagging is against the law in both MN and WI. That should take care of the problem right?

Unfortunately, there are people that intentionally snag them and once in the boat or car, it’s pretty hard to prove that they were snagged or if they were legally caught. Since most would agree that they wouldn’t bite while in their dormancy, closing the season wouldn’t have any effect on law abiding fisher people. It would give the CO a better chance to catch these poachers.

I don’t know of anyone that snags cats. In fact, I will go on the ledge to say the guys/gals that love catfishing and even more so, trophy catfishing would agree that the season should be close for Flatheads.

WI closed the season for flats on the Fox River because ice fishermen were putting up shacks over these piles of fish. Again, snagging was already against the law there, but the season was closed to aid in protecting this fish when it was the most vulnerable.

So I think I’ve answered your question. It’s not the accidental catch and release I’m concerned about, it’s the WI licensed angler with a 25 fish limit of 20 to 40 pounders that end up in the freezer the concerns me.

Let me know if I’ve missed something and thanks for asking!

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So I think I’ve answered your question. It’s not the accidental catch and release I’m concerned about, it’s the WI licensed angler with a 25 fish limit of 20 to 40 pounders that end up in the freezer the concerns me.

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That was a pretty tune

Now put it to music.

The video speaks for itself and your commentary was spot on

Enjoyed that one – very well done!

Awesome video.
If I recall from my stacks of literature, at <60F they typically exibit reduced feeding rates but at 45F they stop feeding completely. Some literature states that flatheads removed from wintering locations and displaced 0.5+ mile, will still go back to the “exact” location/wintering hole. In contrast, opposing studies indicated flatheads removed from wintering holes would not even swim back down and had to be hand-transorted (via scuba) back to thier locaiton in the bottom of the river – they were too lethargic to even swim.

I love to fish cats and a hundred percent for having a closed season on them my ? is and maybe it has been answered already but what causes them to shut down and not channel cats i hear and have seen video of people catchin channels threw the ice i would think they both would shut down but from what i have seen read and watched only flats do

The closed season question is interesting, that was another idea we bounced around with ILDNR last week. A few comments we heard from the fisheries folks “Since snagging is already illegal, would good would it do to have a closed season?” When we suggested it would be easier to catch snaggers if it were a closed season, they sort of agreed but we’re very short on enforcement personnel down here…

shawn

Even though a closed catfish season would be intended to protect “hibernating” flatheads it would undoubtedly impact rules for chansing channel cats, given that both states (MN and WI) tend to lump the two species within the constraints of a bag limit. Before a season can be closed for cats (flatheads) the agencies would need to acknowledge the two species separately and regulate as such. This is needed in order to maintain winter channel catfishing but exclude flatheads. Just my 2 pennies…

Enforcement.

Every agency is short on personal.

If there was enough personnel, the season wouldn’t need to be closed because they would catch the snaggers!

This would be an aid to enforcement giving them time to see the flats in the boat on the water and at the ramps.

There (IMO) will be less illegal snagging because people won’t be willing to take the chance of being caught transporting them home.

Many don’t know the difference between a Blue and a Channel, much less a flathead. Increased awareness of the two species is a good thing isn’t it?

Tip Line. Great thing in my opinion. However, most anglers 1) wouldn’t recognize a snagger if they saw one and 2) many (not all) don’t care enough to call the TIP line if they did recognize it. After all, they are only catfish.

The WI bag limits should be changed anyway.

Catfisherman, let me ask you this. How many times have you come close to catching 25 flatheads in an outing?

I know a couple guys that have. They were sitting on a wintering hole and didn’t know it. “We only kept the ones that bit”. Meaning the hook was in their mouth.

These changes are the right thing to do. They won’t hurt the fishery that is certain. Since snagging is illegal, our DNR’s shouldn’t have any issues with closing the season. People can’t “catch” them anyway.

So what’s the problem?

Yippee, Brian has every flat in 5 miles right under his boat. He knows exactly where they’re at! Catch 6 every trip or it’s free.

Sorry, I don’t get it.

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Sorry, I don’t get it.

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And more than likely never will.

Thanks for the video Brian. It’s very interesting and informative. I would love to have your camera. Maybe someday I’ll get one.

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Maybe someday I’ll get one.

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It’s easier to watch them on line then on the river.

Thanks for the thanks!

Certainly they’re getting sand and silt from other flatheads moving around, but they’re also getting silt from sitting on the bottom immobile. That’s plain old common sense, and it’s probably why some of them are moving in the first place. Throw something of your own down there and come back and check it in a few days and you’ll see the silt – it’s how rivers work. These are fish that aren’t moving unless they have to.

They need enough flow so that they’re not getting silted gills, but not so much so that they have to expend energy to stay still, so there are probably upheavals in some seasons where whole groups have to relocate if there are major fluctuations in river stage in the winter (which happens less in these nice cold winters we’ve been having, but happened frequently a few years back when there seemed to be a melt every February). These stable winters probably see some flats staying darned near motionless for weeks before needing to make minor adjustments.

I agree with the “close the season” conclusion, of course – you can always claim that a snagged fish bit, but if you can’t have it in your boat either way, it’s pretty cut and dry.