150 lbs of flatheads today

Thanks for ruining Cheerios Larry.

We used to keep a couple of strings like that each year and have a huge fish fry at the resort I stayed at and it was loved by all. If properly cleaned, larger fish taste the same but will have a lot more toxicity in them over the time they grew. We all know better now. I will see if I can find the stringer of small mouth bass we caught one time. I am sure Slop would love that one. Many good things come from Iowa including my wife, sonny’s super sticky, and half a$$ed college football.

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stringer of small mouth bass

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They taste better from IA!

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Thanks for ruining Cheerios Larry.

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Cmon Fresh…. You still have the Honey Nut flavor…
Sorry Mate!

No need to worry everybody and I know theres room to raise an eyerow wondering if things are being over hearvested, its normal to think and do that, it only means you care about a resource. The DNR here does shock to count numbers and has never put out any limitations from what they presently are. They shock and count all over this river and if their biologists are anything like the ones who manage the deer herd here and Im sure they are, then were in good shape. When I hear talk about this subject it doesen’t bother me because its normal thought coming from concerned people. I’m sure if there was any problem with fish counts they would impose restrictions without a doubt. Its just the fishing for catfish in general is darned good here at times and ya even the bigger flatheads taste good. BTW Tim called me this afternoon while I was at work and had just landed a 25 pounder, he says hes getting tired of cleaning fish already and this is only the third time, I’ll have to talk him back to sanity tonight lol! Just for reference, the two smaller flatheads on the stringer that are laid out on the sidewalk are 1 1/2 and 2 pounds, thats how big the rest of them are. The bigger flatheads on the stringer being held by Tim on the right and Jeramiah on the left are behind the smaller ones in front, its hard to see them but their there.

I think we all have to consider the benefits of selective harvest to all species. My primary concern with the harvest of larger fish of any species is that by doing so we remove the fish with the best genetics. It doesn’t matter what species it is or how plentiful the fish are in a system, removing the largest members of that species harm the genetic pool and decreases the likelihood of true trophies being caught in the future. If just a few guys do it in an under-fished area, it’s probably not going to be a problem. But if we promote that type attitude on the web my fear is that fishermen who are less conservation-minded already will be negatively influenced. It’s just my opinion but I think logically it makes a lot of sense. I don’t care what the species is, I think we all have a duty to consider the possible impact of our actions and the public dissemination of these types of pictures and stories.

Dan, I want to be clear that I’m not busting on you personally. I know you’ve got thick skin and you’ve always been willing to listen to other people points of view. This is just a soap box that I will happily jump on at any time, any place regardless of whether it’s popular or not.

To be clear, I don’t want to discourage the posting of trophy fish pictures here, or any fish pictures or fish stories for that matter. But I do want to encourage everyone to consider what message they might be sending (intended or not) and what message they want to send to their fellow anglers out there when we post pictures or information.

Lastly, Dan, I want to congratulate you and your buddies on what sounds like one heck of a good time. In the end, it’s all about being able to enjoy the sport we love.

Thanks Wade! I like hearing other people preaching, so to speak,the benefits of selective harvest. Culling smaller fish does a fishery a lot of good. It can help promote faster growth of younger year classes of fish and avoid stunting in a fishery while increasing the percentage of genes passed on that are attributed large fish size.

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We used to keep a couple of strings like that each year and have a huge fish fry at the resort I stayed at and it was loved by all. If properly cleaned, larger fish taste the same but will have a lot more toxicity in them over the time they grew. We all know better now. I will see if I can find the stringer of small mouth bass we caught one time. I am sure Slop would love that one. Many good things come from Iowa including my wife, sonny’s super sticky, and half a$$ed college football.

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Half assed college football, eh? You better watch it. My alma mater is nothing half assed. You should ask your head coach about his tatoo Looks a bit like our mascot from what I’ve heard… And besides, I never mind the 3 hour drive to Madison. It’s been a while since I’ve left upset

Pug, I’ll back you up. I got ahold of a sampling study and the fish were X years old and ranged from 16-40″. It was somewhere around 10yo but I read it a while ago.

Some things about Iowa are really backwards. Sometimes I think lettin fish go underneath one of these dams is pointless. The next guy who catches it will probably keep it. Like a possum walkin down the road, you can swerve around him but you know his future is not good.

Sometimes I wonder how the fish have survived through the times people really fished to put food on the table. Or how they survive under one of the dams for any length of time with all of the hooks in the water. I think some of it is their moodyness. I think if food is plentiful, they may only feed for a few minutes while moving from one spot to another and then maybe every few days. In turbid water they have the advantage all the time.

I wonder if it is possible through survival of the fittest type selection to create fish that don’t fall prey to limb lines as often. If they fed constantly, with Iowa limits and Iowa people, they would be all but wiped out in short order.

I must admit my local dam is hard to figure out. It is a straight tube without that lovely slack water next to the flow. It’s been a number of years and I can catch nice channels there when conditions are right but can’t figure out the big boys yet.

Good luck everybody. It’s time to make hay.

Let the big ones go! Keep the ones under 10 lbs. Anything eaten over 10 lbs has been proven to shrink a mans junk and also cause it to fall off. You will also start to lactate like a lady if your not careful. They found these facts to be true when 100 men were studied that consumed large flatheads, especially in Iowa..

Confirmed by Snopes.

I know what your saying Wade and anything we do influances others that may not use their better judgement in their suroundings. Heres the way I think about this fishery where I live and I’m going to try to describe the numbers here, Im not mad or discouraged or anything like that, I just want people to understand how many catfish are here so they won’t think the system is being depleated.

The DNR is incharge of keeping track of the numbers of fish in any species in Iowa waters and they do a good job otherwise the local flatheads would be on the downturn now and in the past, I’m talking about catches like the pictures show every year. Just to clearify the fishery around here the limits are set on all species so people can catch them when they go fishing for that species and not get skunked more then they catch them.

This area is loaded with catfish especially channels and during the pre spawn is the best time to catch both channels and flatheads but at any other time during the summer we catch large numbers of both channels and flatheads because we know how.

One point I want to make is about the pressure here of other fishermen fishing below the dam. What are some of the things a guy sees below a dam in alot of other areas when the bites good. Boats and huge numbers of people come to mind first. During this springs bite I’ve yet to see (a) boat of any kind below the dam here and there hardly ever is, they don’t fish this area from a boat and I don’t know why, the ramps down river 3/4 of a mile, so no boats. With a flathead bite like whats going on right now the most I’ve seen in numbers of people is around 10 to 12 fishing from shore and around 6 too 8 fishing off the dam. Thats not alot of people. I’m not cutting down the people that fish this area but alot of them are novice fishermen and they don’t know where a dorsal fin is on a fish. Most of those novice fishermen use nightcrawlers and catch channels and small flatheads and some do get lucky and occasionally catch one over 10 pounds but not often. So now theres no pressure on the big flatheads from any fishermen from a boat and the people along the shore are catching mostly small flatheads and an occasional bigger one. A 20 pounder off shore and on nightcrawlers is almost unheard of, So very minimual pressure from shore fishermen on big flatheads.

Fishing pressure for the big ones is usually the guys that have a full setup to catch the big ones, not every fishermen that fishes off the dam has a bridge net, some are fishing there with undersized poles and line etc. Now that leaves the guys that are setup to fish for bigger flatheads. <ost of those guys do know how to fish for the bigger ones and they know enough when something isn’t working try somethings else until they find whats working. During the pre-spawn almost anything works but again its only for a 2 too 3 week period when its the best time to catch them this big and this many. Most of the guys that fish for flatheads that do know how to fish them do take them home and stock their freezers because just around the corner the bite will fall off and not be anywhere as good as it is now and that 3 week period. Unlike myself most bridge fishermen don’t have boats to run ditty poles or trotlines the rest of the season so its just for this limited amount of time they catch most of their fish.

In another month you can drive over the dam and you’ll see half the number of flathead fishermen that you see now. Mostly after the pre-spawn is over they are their trying to catch one and just killing time, ya they’d like to catch a big one but because alot of the flatheads have gone back down stream to the bigger holes and cuts where they migrated from earlier this spring the numbers of big flatheads just aren’t their and velnerable like in the previous few weeks.

The post spawn and them leaving the dam area is what saves alot of them until next years pre-spawn bite. I know its the DNR who counts fish and they do almost every year and I’ve seen them out shocking both above and below the dam here in town and a couple times between here and 30 miles upriver, so they do keep track and compare those shocking results from previous years of shocking.

Secondly the catfish numbers here are really good, channels its fabulouse here with very nice numbers of channels of all sizes. All summer long we catch flatheads on ditty poles and a few occasionally on lines, mainly smaller 20lbs and under. We catch the bigger flatheads on ditty poles in those scattered slow spots that are right along the main channel and deeper water where they lay during the day. More then just a few times we’ve had broken hooks, bent hooks, ditty poles pulled out of the bank that were pushed back in as far as we could because we knew this would be or is a good spot. You don’t always catch a big one even on ditty poles with a bungie cord or a door spring attached to them. Both above and below the dam theres large areas of deeper water that can hold alot of big ones and plenty of fish for them to eat and along with spring floods and no dams between here in town and the Mississippi river the floods replenish this area every year with big flatheads.

Im not saying that it can’t be fished out or a big dent being put into the flathead population here every year but if it was we wouldn’t be catching like we do now every year, we catch them like this every year. Every year you hear about 50 to 80 test being broken and alot of flatheads in the 20lb. to 40lb. range being caught.

This immediate area does get alot of pressure during the pre-spawn then it tapers off after that and alot of guys set their poles mostly aside until next year and occasionally pulling it out of the garage and killing time. There are really good numbers of flatheads here that do well, they eat good, and their spawning ratios are good otherwise we wouldn’t catch them every year like everybody does. I guess its kind of like the Red River in North Dakota for channels and lake Michigan for trout and salmon, the number of flatheads here in the Cedar River is really good and its even better 20 miles south of me In the Iowa river, especially the Coralville reservior. I don’t think theres much to worry about or we would see flathead numbers drop and so would the DNR and they would start to put limitations on them. I think maybe this area is one of those honeyholes that produce year after year. I know with these catches and the amount of big ones you’d think that the following years catches would fall off but they don’t. An old friend of mine told me about one of his friends night befor last and his catch that he got in a few hours. I don’t want to put up the size and amount but for this one guy it was over 100 pounds and they were all nice and the smallest one was 9 pounds.

Mossy,
First off let me thank you for the pictures. They were great and they remind me of when I was younger. Back then people fished for food and when they caught a mess of fish they were dang proud of it and I see that in the pictures. I am betting every one of those fish ended up as a meal and if I lived closer I would be begging an invite to dinner because i bet the ladies they were taking them home to know how to cook catfish I fish some walleyes tournaments and there is a section of the fishing population that takes offense to that. I fish Pool 4 in the Winter and pre-spawn and some fisherman take offense to that. it seems like as fishermen we are our own worst enemies—we attack each other and give the Anti’s ammunition for their cause. Why can’t we just see the pictures for what they are–a bunch of guys doing what they love and showing the fruits of their labor. If the picture isn’t someones cup of tea then so be it but that is why there are so many forums here. I go into the rough fish forum and chuckle when I see someone talking about a dogfish but I sure would never blast them for fishing for them—it is their right and their passion. Feel free to laugh at me when I post a picture of a silly walleye—that is fine with me because fishing should be fun and we shouldn’t make it into something it is not. It is not life and death and it is not the end of the world—it is fishing. I understand nothing said anywhere in this post was mean or angry in any way—I am just saying let’s pull together and not tear apart. Please tell your friends that there is one Redneck in Minnesota that is impressed with their catch and that my mouth is watering thinking of those cats on a plate with some cole slaw and hush puppies. Thanks again for the pictures Buddy

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Why can’t we just see the pictures for what they are–a bunch of guys doing what they love and showing the fruits of their labor.

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That’s not the only thing it’s possible to see in those pictures – it’s also guys doing what they love at the expense of prespawn flatheads. Most of the people here are C&R and they came by that habit after lots of thought on the matter – they have opinions on that type of fishing because it’s what they have chosen not to do.

mossydan – you can say all you want that your river is great for flatheads and there are tons of them so that there really isn’t much impact from what you’re doing, etc… but you don’t have any idea what your river would look like after years of a different pattern of use.

The Red River of the North is an example of a good river turned fantastic through wise management – if your river has an incredible capacity to grow cats, it probably has the capacity to be a trophy fishery.

Whatever the species, harvest of prespawn fish is extra consumtive, especially of larger fish. The reason there is an “Opening Day” for inland waters in Wisconsin and Minnesota” is to avoid harvest of prespawn walleye and musky.

When you harvest a big fish, you are harvesting a fish that is 100% certain to have the genes to become a big fish. That can’t be said for smaller fish. Moreover it’s a fish with superior reproductive capability.

Where I’m from, we experience a fantastic fall migration of ducks, which includes tens of thousands of canvasbacks. One might see all those cans and think the population is thriving, until you realize that what you’re seeing represents 95% of the canvasbacks in North America. Harvesting a species where it is congregated and vulnerable can have more impact than you think.

And lastly, maybe the best selfish reason not to eat the bigguns: methyl mercury. Mercury and other pollutants bioaccumulate, which means that they’re found in the highest concentrations in large predatory fish. Mercury causes birth defects and negatively affects brain development, among other things. Your river is polluted with mercury – they all are. And mercury is but one of the contaminants that bioaccumulates in fish tissue.

Not slamming you at all here, just trying to provide the reasoning for not doing what you’re doing.

I hear you all and its good advice and the results show more and bigger fish in your area but I think were already there. There are alot of guys who keep their fish and take them home and eat them. I don’t know how much fish you’d have to eat for the mercury levels to take effect but probably not much because the human body stores mercury and it doesn’t pass it. I eat some of the bigger ones on occasion but mostly the smaller ones because their the majority of the catch around here. There are probably guys who eat more of the big ones and they probably know that those fish contain higher mercury levels but the seriousness of it probably hasen’t set in. Myself and my friends we know and we do eat occasional big ones but not as many as the smaller ones. The fishery is already fabulous here so I think taking some of them home isnt going to hurt the fish population here because it hasen’t in the past, every year is as good as the past for the guys who know how to fish them. Anyway If I get some more pictures I’ll post them, I know some don’t want me too and thats ok too, its getting pretty sad when you have to not put your pictures up because of others habits but oh well I’m going too because I don’t want to babysit others and others like to see nice catches and its for their enjoyment, especially when its not hurting the flathead population here.

bless you dan for having a thick skin.

Everybody else, Iowa has limb lines, trotlines and a limit of 15 flatheads. No effort at educating the public how long it takes to grow a new trophy.

I visit an Iowa forum and read “how much fun” bankpoles are. It sucks. I’m writing the DNR again.

MO= 33 lines

WI= 25 cat limit (all flats or combined)

I’m thinking the catch and release folks are the minority.
Mercury and all.

Maybe it’s going to be this year I’ll be able to actually taste one.

Mossy, I really have enjoyed seeing not only your passion for fishing this species, but also your enthusiasm for the website. Man, your pictures are making me really kick myself for living in C.R. for 5 years and never wetting a line in the Cedar River. For some reason I would go to McBride and catch crappies. I claim temporary insanity, and I thank folks like those on this website for turning me to the dark side that is catfishing.

You’ve mentioned the red river twice. I guess I just wonder if it’s such a great fishery, why people wouldn’t want to emulate some of the management tactics used there. They don’t say “catch and release only”…but they DO enforce selective harvest by making you throw back the bigger fish, which have the best potential to grow into trophies and have offspring that will do the same (anything over 24 inches, I believe).

If the Cedar really has as many flatheads as you suppose it has, then you’re probably doing the fish a favor by weeding out those smaller fish. But how can you say with a straight face that removing as many large fish as you want doesn’t hurt the fishery. You’re partially correct — it doesn’t completely decimate the fishery…so if your definition of hurting the fishery means you can’t catch fish there the next year, then you aren’t “hurting” it. Keeping all the fish you are keeping might not be hurting the fishery enough that the DNR sees a compelling argument to make a special regulation for you to follow, but that doesn’t change the fact that selective harvest is GOOD for fisheries. That’s why so many localities and states have laws to enforce it.

There is a reason the Red is the best trophy channel cat fishery in the world, and there’s a reason people ALL OVER the world practice selective harvest, letting bigger fish back to spawn while keeping smaller ones for eating. People do this all over, sometimes by personal choice and sometimes because it’s the law. Just because the Iowa DNR hasn’t taken any of the tactics that some other states have taken with respect to slot limits doesn’t mean you can’t do it yourself. Selective harvest ideas are not completely inapplicable to your body of water, or somehow a bad idea, just because it’s not pushed down your throat by the DNR. I just don’t see how good “fishery management” would really be different in MN, WI, and IA. Can a fishery’s biology and ecology really vary so drastically just based on some imaginary boundary we call a state line? Shoot, these lakes and rivers existed WAY before any state lines were drawn along the Mississippi river!

Sure, based on your experiences year after year, it’s obvious that your harvest tactics have not yet completely decimated the population. However, I would argue that taking the bigger fish most certainly DOES reduce the average size in the river when the big mammas are taken out. By most fisherman’s standards, that end-result is a lower-quality fishery. I’m not saying you’d have MORE fish in the river if you let the big ones go, but I would bet money that the average size would go up, making the fishing just that much more fun!

I usually rip on Minnesota DNR for making so dang many laws (I call it a nanny state). I’ve always thought things like selective harvest were common sense…but you just proved to me via your statements that if the DNR doesn’t make the laws, then a certain percentage of people will say “”it’s not illegal so it must not be bad”. I see a LOT of people argue that way, saying that the lack of a law or some explicit prohibition of an activity is proof that it isn’t a bad acivity. Well, I’ve always understood that there’s a difference between what’s “legal” and what is “optimal”.

I have always thought that the best laws are just the minimal set that are necessary to maintain civility and keep general order, and that anything else we need to “optimize” the situation should be tailored to the individual situation and left up to common sense and individual choices. The DNR shouldn’t have to do study after study on every body of water and nitpick a million regulations for slots and harvest limits on every single body of water. Man, that’s expensive. I’m a huge fan of the 80/20 rule — you can usually get 80% of the benefits by doing the first 20% of the work necessary (and thus spending 20% of the time and money). It applies to just about everything. In my perfect world, the DNR would have simple limits that are set relatively liberally, to avoid complete exploitation and decimation of a resource — something probably in between what the MN and IA DNR have come up with. From there, people would optimize their habits and tactics for a particular body of water based on the characteristics of that body of water, who fishes it, how they fish it, when they fish it, etc.

Unfortunately, that won’t work, because there apparently are too many people who, like you, say “if it’s not illegal, then it’s OK”. So, that FORCES the DNR to be a nanny-entity like we have in MN (where the ‘simple’ regulation book you get at the fishing license counter is like 100 pages long, by the way). Why can’t people choose to do most of these selective harvest things, even where they are NOT legislated?

If we look at other areas of our lives, we see hundreds of examples of things we CHOOSE to do, for optimization, even though we’re not bound to do it by law. I’ll give just a few examples, because this is getting long already.

1. It’s not illegal to drive a car without oil in the crankcase. Yet people generally choose to keep oil in there (and even change it now and then), not because they’re forced to by a law, but because it OPTIMIZES their automobile experience.

2. There aren’t laws saying I have to kill the dandelions in my yard, yet every year I do at least one application of week killer, again because it OPTIMIZES my lawn’s appearance.

3. There aren’t laws saying I have to save for my son’s college education or my retirement, but every paycheck that I earn, I CHOOSE to tuck some money away for these things. Again, not because I am FORCED to by some law, but because it’s OPTIMIZING my retirement and my kid’s educational opportunities.

4. Similarly, if I lived in Iowa, it wouldn’t be illegal for me to keep 10 flatheads that were 40 lbs each….but to OPTMIZE the fishery for me and everyone else, I would CHOOSE to throw those 40 pounders back and keep 20 smaller fish instead. And I would tell others that this is my strategy, and hope that it wears off on them or makes at least a small impression.

Thanks for reading, sorry so long. I guess I’m just passionate about these flatheads too. I think you’d have a COMPLETELY different set of responses if you had taken a picture of 20-30 flatheads that were all under 10 lbs and said “my buddies and I had a kickass day on the river, kept like 150 lbs of these smaller guys for our freezer and threw back a bunch of bigger mammas to fight another day and keep that rockin fishery that we have going strong”. Net effect would be the same 150 lbs of fish in your freezer, but I argue a better fishery left for both the current and future generations.

-Brian

I understood everything you said and I do understand. I’m going to come to the defense of the guys that keep some of the big ones, I know alot of guys aren’t going to like it but I’m going to do it anyway so take a deep breath and relax and listen to what I have to say because it makes alot of sense. I see selevctive harvest as a size that can be culled and not hurt the fish population like deer hunting for bucks, they take the older bucks because they have reached their age where staying alive is more important than breeding and their genes are already in the woods because of the number of does hes bred and the offspring they have made. To me alot of the big female flatheads are still in the river and will never be caught and like years past some have been culled to the point where it drives people crazy and alot of the old females have laid billions of eggs making thousands of offspring too. There are still many many big females laying eggs this spring making offspring and there will be next year.

We have a problem here in the Cedar river with walleye, smallies and whitbass populations making it close to decent numbers where if you fish for them you can catch a few, especially walleyes. Days go by where even working hard for a walleye you still come up empty handed. Some of the rivers around here, the Wapsi and the maquoketa have better numbers and more regular catches of walleyes and smallies then the bigger Cedar does and the Cedars 4 times as wide and deep.

It isn’t the spawning areas they need because theres gravel bars and muddy banks all along the cedar where they can spawn. I and some others who fish for smallies have thought that maybe its flatheads who are taking the even up to a 5 pound smallie, walleyes and whitebass and making a meal out of them. Bigger smallies hang out in deeper water where flatheads frequent and you hardly ever catch one over 3 pounds in the Cedar when you can catch 50lb. flatheads. Is there any correlations. I and a few others are asking where are the bigger smallies and numbers of bigger game fish, we think its the big flatheads are taking them because there should be more of them. Theres plenty of food the size that walleyes and smallies need to grow so how come theres not more of them.

Heres another example of how many flatheads are below the dam in the spring here in town. They are actually catching more flatheads of all sizes then carp and they too are putting blood on their eggs feeding heavily too getting ready for spawning. So how come theres not more carp being caught then flatheads, no one is catching 2 pound carp, they all bigger around 5 pounds an up so wheres all the smaller carp that should be there.

So maybe just maybe the Dnr knows that some of the other gamefish aren’t there in numbers, like alot of other game fishermen would like to see their population be at, and maybe just maybe those big flatheads and channels are taking them.

You might think that theres not that many flatheads here in this area and my and many others answer is yes there is, theres very good numbers of flatheads here. They catch them like this every year and still the population of walleyes and smallies stays at minimual numbers.

So whats a person and the DRN to do to get those numbers back up like the smaller rivers here that have alot fwere catfish in them. There has to be a predatory reason and answer why these gamefish aren’t there in stronger numbers. Flatheads don’t care what they eat and I’ll bet they are taking alot of those gamefish. So heres the million dollar question. Whats eating the walleyes and smallies that are around 4″ to 6″ sizes, of all sizes in fact, its the amount of catfish we have here both channels and flatheads of all sizes. For the guys who think its not them and it has to be some other kind of fish, we do have big northers here and they take a few but its catfish that take the most and Im sure thats why the dnr has set limits on catfish the way they have. They do test shockings all the time and guess what kind of fish comes up the most. And guess what kind of species of fish is the biggest, they have to eat to get that big. They all have to eat especially during the pre-spawn. Heres another thing that happens when fishing with night crawlers through out the year. The chances are better then 75% that when you get a hit its going to be a catfish, not a carp, walleye or smallie, not even a quillback or sucker but a catfish.

For those that don’t have a problem with setting ditty poles or trot lines we hammer them in the spring on both and do well until fall comes and guess what, its that way every year and we don’t depleat the resouce. BtW its illegal to use crappies for catfish bait, I wonder why, its because catfish love little crappies and would rather eat them then smaller bluegills because their easier to swollow and probably taste better.

I have a friend who trolls along a long rocky bank that youd think would be perfect for smallies and walleyes right where we fish ditty poles and trot lines. He does catch a few decent walleyes that have made it past the jaws of the huge catfish in this other part of the river and very few smallies that this ideal stretch of rivers should produce, But the numbers of both would be higher if there wasen’t so many predatory catfish. Heres an example of how many catfish are in this part of the river, this is above the dam and not below. $ of us set ditty poles last spring, thats 20, our limit, and got 300 pounds of catfish in 2 days. We had a fishfry for our friends and to celebrate our catch. Now with that many catfish in just one mile of river how many walleyes and smallies do you think make it past the jaws of channel and flathead catfish when their always hungry, maybe a fortunate few and this whole river is like that, not just this area.

Heres another mindset and state of mind this area produces. When you ask someone if their going fishing and they say yes, 90% of the people say thier going for catfish, not walleyes, not smallies or any other gamefish and thats because unlike other parts of the midwest thats the fish thats biting the most because theres more of them. Theres so many ctafish in this area its produced the predisposed mind set that thats the species their going to fish for.

So heres my thoughts on what the catfsih population is like here. If you take the immediate catfish population thats here and drop it in any river in Minnesota and Wisconsin you’ll end up with way more catfish and a population of of alot fewer walleyes and smallies.

Guys can cuss the commercial fishermen when they take flatheads and channels in the populations they do but why do you think the mississippi river is known for its gamefish numbers, its because commercial fishing takes the bigger predatory catfish out of the system so the more desired others can populate better.

ya its the commercial fishermen. I talked to a commercial fisherman in Debuque one time and he said if he could only fish the Cedar or Iowa river for just 2 years he could retire. He laughed and said that he’d have to hire a couple guys just to run his catch back and forth and that he wouldn’t have the time to do that because he’d be busy taking the catfish out fo his nets. Thats how many catfish there are here and why we don’t feel bad when we take out some of the bigger ones that others would like to see stay here, when they don’t fish here like we do. I wonder if the DNR here thinks thats a good reason to keep the generous catfish limits they way they are, because they don’t allow commercial fishing here and I wish they did, I’d bet so. Being the bigger predators rule the roost and do what they want the rest of the other game fish suffer to their dominance and population and their feeding habits.

If you come down here and fish for walleyes or smallies and you get tired of not catching any and you want to go home with atleast something you’ll switch to catfish because there so many here and in all sizes, flatheads and channels, Btw, at the dam last night the waters falling and the flatheads have quit biting but the big channels are pulling poles over the handrails and hitting the water 25′ down from the gates, so come and get some, we need more walleyes and smallies to choose from and remember to tie your poles off with a cord so they won’t pull them over while your talking to someone because thats how fast they go over.

I can’t believe that now you’re using “Flatheads are a big bad predator on the good gamefish” as a justification.

I know its hard to understand because your a big fan of flatheads and I also know its hard to believe but what else is taking the other gamefish when theres ideal spawning habitate here to have better numbers. Its catfish and I wish they’d open up this area to commercial fishing for a few years just so we’ed see more walleyes and smallies. I personally think walleyes taste better then catfish. Why do you think people from here go to Minnesota and Wisc. to fish for game fish, especially alot of guys from here making their trips to the Mississippi, Its because theres not as many game fish here, I wonder why. Anybody want our catfish population droped into your river sysytems up there. Its a good deal for those that like to fish for them but what about the other guys who like to fish for walleyes and smallies, our smaller river systems prove that.

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I also know its hard to believe but what else is taking the other gamefish when theres ideal spawning habitate here to have better numbers…

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Water quality and temperature – you’re at the southern edge of the original range for both walleye and smallies. The places outside of that orginal range where both species thrive are places with deeper cooler water.

Removing a natural component of that river ecosystem won’t change it’s suitability for walleye or smallies. That your DNR, like so many others, wants to promote your state’s resources by artificially propping up the populations of popular scaley sportfish is just another example of decisions being made for the wrong reasons.

Ya I know but what do you do with so many other predators, whats wrong with limiting their numbers so we will have more desirable gamefish. They do well in lakes around here that have been stocked where theres no flatheads and channels so why not the rivers. I can’t see where limiting their reproduction hurts anything, especially when theres more desirable game fish that should be here in better numbers, especially smallies. What about the other rivers here that have better numbers of gamefish and no or lower numbers of catfish, are they too at the southern most boundries, why are they doing so good in numbers of gamefish. Theres no difference with those rivers and the larger ones, their all in this area.

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I’m going to come to the defense of the guys that keep some of the big ones, I know alot of guys aren’t going to like it but I’m going to do it anyway so take a deep breath and relax and listen to what I have to say because it makes alot of sense. I see selevctive harvest as a size that can be culled and not hurt the fish population like deer hunting for bucks, they take the older bucks because they have reached their age where staying alive is more important than breeding and their genes are already in the woods because of the number of does hes bred and the offspring they have made.

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Most of the restrictive length rules and slots that the DNR does come up with allow an angler to keep a true trophy for this exact reason.

Final thought — I wonder how many other folks would agree that keeping every single flathead you catch is “selective harvest”. How does the word ‘selective’ apply if you harvest anything that bites?

I think I’m done here, it’s obvious that we differ in opinion, and I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree and leave it at that.

Maybe I’ll drop in a line in the Cedar downtown next time I’m in town, I usually come through about once every 6 weeks. I won’t have a super-long-handled net or anything, so I’m thinking the roller-dam downstream would be my best option. Unless I decide to bring my boat.

Let me know when you come down and I’ll show you some real catfishing and enough to last you through the summer and we can use my boat. Don’t take offense but the guys who fish for walleyes and smallies think we need to thin the catfish out too, They take alot of the game fish out of the system here.

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WI= 25 cat limit (all flats or combined)

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Not on all waters.

In fact the entire Winnebago system is now 1 flathead per day between 30″ and 36″.

Yes! That’s right! Special regs for flats! Someone pointed the DNR’s head in the right direction!

Any idea how that’s working RB?

Isn’t that the system they closed the season for the winter too?

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In fact the entire Winnebago system is now 1 flathead per day between 30″ and 36″.

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I like that one

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In fact the entire Winnebago system is now 1 flathead per day between 30″ and 36″.

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I like that one

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I like the idea, but don’t like those lengths. It’s basically one fish from 14-25 pounds, which is a little big. I think a 30″ max would be a much better rule.

Not to slide this any further off course, but aren’t flatheads one of those rare fish where the males get bigger than females?