Just to throw another spark into the fire….
I read in a nationwide mag(sorry can’t remember which one right now 
) that in some waters down south flats are raising he** in their waters and are considered an”invasive species” 
Too darn effective predators I guess…..
Mossydan I get that you’re taking some heat from a lot of catfisherman over this post and I respect that you are answering their questions, but sometimes I wish people wouldn’t try and sugarcoat things and just say it like it is.
You’ve obviosly thought through catfish, their populations and other fish populations a lot. You know about all the points these guys are bringing up. From my point of view it just comes down to the fact that you just don’t care, yet want to come off as you do care and want to justify keeping every catfish you catch for whatever reason. All I can say to that is its just too bad.
I’m all for keeping fish and I just do it from time to time cause I want good fishing to continue in the future. To all the fisherman out there that want to bring home that pile of fish to brag to all their friends, fill the freezer till it over flows and hand out fish to everyone they know to look like a hero everytime they go out I just think you’re selfish. If it doesn’t seem to affect your fishing you just don’t care what it does to the populations and fishing down the road. I wish the laws on keeping fish were much more strict to stop people like that from doing this because whether out of ignorance or just plain not caring there are too many fishermen out there that just can’t control themselves.
I replied to this post just in case someone in my neck of the woods reads this, I’d just ask that you keep fish resposibly. Keep your fair share and then let the rest go. If you waste what you keep you’re a loser. Keep a trophy a few times a life if you want but focus on the sizes and species that can more handle the pressure. Drop this whole if the desired game fish X isn’t plentiful enough then its gotta be the fault of some other species. Lose the selfishness, its not all about you and what you want. If you know better and do it anyways I figure you’ll pay for it down the line I just hate that often times I’ve gotta pay the price with you…
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Just to throw another spark into the fire….
I read in a nationwide mag(sorry can’t remember which one right now
Too darn effective predators I guess…..
They are exactly that in Florida where they are a non-native species, and where there are fish (red-eared sunfish) that are nearly endangered already through environmental degradation and mismanagement. Complete opposite story in Iowa, where they are a native species being scapegoated for the lack of success for two coldwater species.
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Keep your fair share and then let the rest go. If you waste what you keep you’re a loser.
I say the same thing when it comes to bowfishing and I am labeled as a tree hugger, Peta member, ect for that feeling. If they are used for fertilizer then they are not wasted. At least that is what I am told about bowfishing. If these guys are eating the fish then suck it up and realize that they are consumed! You think this just started this year? I am sure this harvest has been going on for some time!
Sooooo Dan I would love to take you up on he offer to go fishing with you! See another style of fishing such as the Ditty poles and other things we can not do here in MN where we only know how to fish with one rod and can keep eater walleyes and panfish. But if you harvest a Ski, Large Channel or Flathead, or a bass to eat you are looking at a 3 page discussion about how the harvester is wrong.
Stirring the pot!!!! But I really do think that this is a pointless beating on one person with one hell of a tough skin.
This is what forums are about, the discussion, dialogue and debate of practices, techniques and fish…I tip my hat to Dan for keeping a cool head and working through peoples posts….with well thought out replies.
I also tip my hat to the majority of posters in this thread that stated and shared thoughts in a constructive manner.
Goes to show how different people look at things in different ways, but show enough respect for one another to share openly whats important to them, while treating others with respect at the same time.
I will admit a little surprise that this thread has gone the distance that it has….and the number of people that have participated in it… alot have been quiet for a long time.
Question: Is it possible to feasibly and safely consume that many large flatheads before they get freezer burnt anyway?
I have been lurking this thread quite a bit and I just don’t see a reason to keep that many large fish unless you are starving, especially if like Dan says, you can just go get more whenever you want due to the health of the fishery.
I see both points of view. It’s legal, and he’s having fun. Let it be. I’d love to try fishing there. Myself I through mine back. He can have my share if he catches them.
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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.
I love this analogy.
Ya I know guys and I don’t take offense at the way you feel. I got into a discussion with a couple guys last night about how many catfish were in the Cedar Here befor they put the dams in. I asked how deep was the water then knowing that deep water is perfect habitate for Large flatheads and their numbers. I asked would this river hold that many flatheads if there wasen’t the two dams in this area. A few of my questions befor the dams were put in was how many smallies and walleyes were there in this river knowing that both naturally reproduce here.
I asked those questions because in the smaller rivers here where theres good numbers of walleyes and some really good smallie fishing, I asked what makes the Cedar so diffrent beings its in the same area, all these rivers are within 50 miles of each other. We also thought about all the deep cuts and holes etc. that make ideal habitate for flatheads and thought maybe there wouldn’t have been much of a diffrence before the dams were put in so what I’m saying is I don’t know why forsure, except for some obvious reasons, that theres so many in this area from year to year and every spring during pre-spsawn and their here every year.
I brought up the subject if they thought if you could ever fish them out and why each spring there seems to be close to the same amount here below the dam. All of us agreeded that some years are better then others but we thought it was the amount of spring run off that comes and how long this takes place for flatheads to come up from distances down river that they do. Between the two dams here theres alot of deep water, for this size of river, and they are 2 miles apart and for the amount of flatheads alot of people caught this spring we could only come to the conclusion that they were coming from areas quite a ways down river, way past the lower roller dam. The roller dam is an oval shaped hump of concrete that runs from one side of the river to the other and water always goes over the dam, there are no gates. When we get spring run off it goes over the dam in depths that flatheads can easily swim over it so we come up with the conclusion that alot of flatheads make it over the dam and are stopped by the gates of the dam in downtown here. We thought that alot of the flatheads here in the spring come from distance way down river, how far I don’t know if anyone knows. Each spring the flathead fishing here is good but some are better then others this is below the dam. Were pretty sure it has to do with the amount of spring runoff going over the lower roller dam.
Above the dam where we run ditty poles, and trotlines once in awhile, we catch flatheads on ditty poles all summer. By this time we usually have the fish we want and have eaten some of it plus a fishfry once in awhile so we give them to friends. If we want to go fishing we just set our ditty poles out and catch channels and alot of them. Our catches are the same every year, when the waters on the rise, especially a slow rise for a length of time we catch alot of them. We put them in a fish holding cage until we clean them all at once and the point I’m trying to make is we always get an amount where it doesen’t take long to have a big fish fry.
So the point Im trying to make is theres alot of catfish here and there is every year so no matter what the pressure is theres always fish to catch.
Spring time is when both species are the most velnurable and its when people catch the most and take them home but the rest of the year you do have to work for them a little more and you do have to have a boat to get more flatheads. They catch an occasional flathead below the dam after the pre-spawn but the numbers greatly drop off because the flatheads go back down river to the deeper holes and stay there until next spring. In the main river holes further away from the dam you can pole fish for flatheads and get them and some nights are better then others but the main run around the dam is over until next spring. Mine and some other guys feelings are we wish there wasen’t so many big catfish here because we feel there would be more walleyes and smallies. We know that if the dnr lowered the limit to around 5 catfish in any combination there would be less gamefish again, less walleyes and smallies. We wish there was a diffrent and better balance between the two. I really enjoy going to the Mississippi and fishing for whitebass, smallies and walleyes because comercial fishings allowed there and the game fish numbers are better, we wish there was a better balance here so we could get more of those so we wouldn’t have to drive so far for just a decent whitebass run. Don’t get me wrong those fish are here too but just not in the numbers us guys would like to see. Too each his own I guess as long as its not hurting any one species.
I should really let this go mossydan, but you keep saying seperate things. First you don’t think that your habits are hurting the flathead population whatsoever, next you wish there were fewer flatheads (even wishing there were fewer big ones!?!) and feel that what you are doing is somehow helping the balance.
The reason the Mississippi has better smallie and walleye fishing is that it has much more diverse and suitable habitat and prey base for those species. Predatory fish like the flathead do not thrive by making their prey species scarce – if they were the cause of the poor bass and walleye numbers, their own population would suffer, regardless of what fishermen are doing.
I may have missed this but, The dam in Cedar Rapids that this is about, has a sidewalk from one bank to the other. you can drop your bait almost right at or very near the base of the dam. If migrateing cats and flat heads go upstream and stack right under the side walk. I don’t know of any other river dam that has this kind of access. These guys are high above the water and it takes a lot of know how and skill to get one of those big cats up and out of the river. If most river dams had this kind of access to fish them There would be tons more fish caught.
I don’t get what all the fracas is about… Mossy’s made it clear that there are a VERY FEW fishermen who fish for these fish during a VERY FEW weeks and see this kind of success every FEW YEARS.
If the total harvest of large cats is less than the total number of cats reaching that size in any given year, the fishery isn’t in any danger at all.
By relieving the fishery of a few large cats every year they’re potentially increasing the average size catfish… it’s unusual, but it’s in no way impossible. It just takes a river with a healthy balance between catfish population and fishing pressure. That doesn’t happen naturally in many places, but it sounds like that’s exactly the case down there.
I mean, come on… taking advantage of a resource doesn’t preclude its being renewable.
And, whoever it was that accused them of wasting the fish missed the part where they’re given to family and friends and used in community fish fries. Doesn’t sound like anything’s going to waste or piling up in the freezer to me.
Exactly right, their not being over harvested in any way shape or form. Just because its law in certain states and its the accepted way to fish doesn’t mean over harvesting is happening here. If it was we’ed all see the difference here but its the same every year. I know it may be hard to understand for some but this areas full of catfish and alot of big ones too. This area probably could be commercial fished for 2 too 3 years befor we would see any reduction in catches at all. Anyway another friend and myself are going to clean more this afternoon thats in a friends fishcage that hes gotten off his ditty poles, maybe another fish fry is in order soon.
Here’s to not needing glow in the dark condoms 
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Here’s to not needing glow in the dark condoms
Is that in reference to eating fish out of the rivers in the midwest?
I stick to the DNR’s consumption guidelines and find the cats up here taste as good or better than the farm-raised versions you can get in the store.
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Here’s to not needing glow in the dark condoms
Is that in reference to eating fish out of the rivers in the midwest?
I stick to the DNR’s consumption guidelines and find the cats up here taste as good or better than the farm-raised versions you can get in the store.
That is a reference to big fish holding more pollutants than you can imagine….whether you believe it or not
Start from the top of this PDF and go down to the bottom paying attention to the flathead consumption suggestions and contaminants. Well, start where ever flatheads start appearing anyway.
I don’t know why you guys are all worked up. It appears MossyDan is a walking thermometer about to expire. I imagine it is borderline do not eat down there.
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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?
Well we are only one year into the new regs. Sampling data is taken every year and it will probably take 8-10 years to identify if the new rules are working. I asked one of the biologists when he thought we might see some improvement and he basically said it all depends on compliance and enforcement. Night fishing and setlines…etc…makes enforcement difficult.
Matt, the 30″-36″ was a compromise. We were dealing with a large and long culture of setline and bankpole fisherman who kept everything over 10 pounds all the way to people like me who thought all unattended lines should be outlawed.
I didn’t realize how important keeping fish was to a lot of people, but to a lot of them that is the sole reason for fishing. So the compromise was one fish, about a 15 pounder, per day would be the limit.
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