White Tailed Carp?

  • Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    #1222007

    I have new heros!!

    DTHW…pay attention here! LOL!

    Hutchinson KS Newspaper<<

    Belle Plaine Cat League
    Keep your walleye; these anglers are out for cat.
    By John Cross – The Free Press

    BELLE PLAINE, Minn. – Brian Raleigh swung the stout fishing rod forward over his shoulder and the heavy bait-casting reel whirred as thick line peeled off the spool, arcing the bait against the sky.

    In a large splash, the six-ounce sinker and wriggling seven-inch bullhead hit the water.

    Scott Mackenthun followed suit and the two anglers settled back into their chairs last week as the chocolate-colored waters of the rain-swollen Minnesota River swirled and gurgled past their boat tethered to a tree snag.

    An informal session of the Belle Plaine Cat League was now in progress.

    Raleigh hails from Belle Plaine and works as a production supervisor at a Chaska medical supply company.

    Mackenthun hangs his hat in New Prague and works as a fisheries technician at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Waterville Fish Hatchery.

    Both are ardent fishers of catfish, the flathead catfish in particular.

    “On my 21st birthday, instead of going to a bar, a friend took me out cat-fishing,” Mackenthun said of his introduction to the sport and species. After locating in New Prague for his DNR position, he noticed he was within a few minutes drive of no less than four access points to the Minnesota River and quickly made connections with other river rats, among them, Raleigh.

    “I was introduced to it by a couple of friends 11 years ago,” Raleigh said. “I wrinkled up my nose at the idea of fishing for cats but then somebody showed me a photo of a 40-pounder they caught.”

    “My first flathead was a 10-pounder and I’ve been hooked ever since.”

    Both anglers since have landed fish in the 40-pound-plus range, further cementing their enthusiasm for the smooth-skinned giants.

    On this recent evening, the two were hoping to tie into some of these large and, they would say unappreciated, denizens of the muddy Minnesota’s deepest holes.

    It would be hard to argue that a flathead catfish is pretty.

    But then their real beauty goes beyond their smooth skin anyway.

    Finicky eaters that demand live bait and tough fighters when finally hooked, they can grow to prodigious sizes.

    Twenty-five pounders won’t raise an eyebrow. Forty-pounders, while not routine, are frequently caught. The Minnesota state record, caught on the St. Croix River in 1970, tipped the scales at 70 pounds.

    Earlier, the anglers had launched Raleigh’s River Pro boat, a wide, welded aluminum boat powered by a 120-horsepower jet drive, at the river access just west of Jordan.

    Tailored to catfish river fishing, the craft can plane in just a few inches of water and is equipped with powerful spotlights to navigate the river after dark when the catfish bite frequently is best.

    “The pre-spawn fishing is the most productive,” Mackenthun said, adding that flatheads typically spawn sometime in July after roaming widely, sometimes covering many miles.

    “One fish caught and tagged by DNR crews in the Minnesota River as part of a flathead study eventually was caught in the Mississippi River by a commercial fishermen,” he said.

    After the rigors of the spawn, and after a period of recovery, the fish settle down into an small area, a snag or deep river hole where they stay until they migrate to their wintering areas where they lie nearly dormant.

    “The fishing is best when there’s low water,” Raleigh said with a nod to the brown water that had overflowed into the trees after the past week’s storms dumped heavy rain across southern Minnesota. “The water around here is up almost 15 feet from two weeks ago when we fished this spot.”

    Nevertheless, come high water or not, their reasoning was that the cats still needed to feed. So tethered to a tree that had fallen in the river, they were fishing a bend in the river, where during lower water periods the rocky bottom created a series of rapids.

    During one of the formal sessions of the Belle Plaine Cat League when the 20 or so catfishing enthusiasts hit the river for a fishing contest – the rules say any water from Franklin to near Chaska is fair game – a few weeks earlier, Raleigh managed to pull a 40-pounder from the spot.

    It’s all catch and release.

    “When we catch one, we weigh it, measure its girth, take a couple pictures and then release it,” Raleigh said.

    A fish that size, Mackenthun said, could be 25 years old or more, raising concerns about the build-up of unhealthy chemicals and contaminants for anyone contemplating keeping and eating such a fish anyway.

    But more catfish anglers are taking a page from professional bass anglers and recognizing the value of practicing catch-and-release of such trophies, enabling them to be caught another day.

    On this evening, as the light faded to twilight, then to darkness, it was clear that the flatheads likely were tucked deep into cozy snags somewhere to escape the roiling, swift river current.

    At 11 p.m., they pulled their lines and prepared for the three-mile-ride back to the landing aided by the two high-powered spotlights mounted on the bow.

    Even the walleye, a non-target fish frequently caught during their catfish outings, were a no-show.

    Using seven-inch bullheads, understandably, any walleye caught is likely to be a nice one.

    “I once caught two 26-inchers back-back-back during a contest,” Mackenthun said. “I was a little disappointed because they weren’t worth any points.”

    “We call walleyes white-tailed carp,” Raleigh said.

    Joel Nelson
    Moderator
    Southeast MN
    Posts: 3137
    #887865

    WTG Scott! Very nice article. Scott’s penned many an article highlighting the exploits of others, so it’s nice to see him get some well-deserved credit himself.

    Joel

    jeff_huberty
    Inactive
    Posts: 4941
    #888098

    We call walleyes white-tailed carp,” Raleigh said.

    That just plain Hurts

    flatheadwi
    La Crosse, WI
    Posts: 578
    #888229

    Quote:


    We call walleyes white-tailed carp,” Raleigh said.

    That just plain Hurts


    No kidding. Carp are way cooler than that…

    jeff_huberty
    Inactive
    Posts: 4941
    #888249

    Quote:


    Quote:


    We call walleyes white-tailed carp,” Raleigh said.

    That just plain Hurts


    No kidding. Carp are way cooler than that…


    Ouch a two headed sword…that jus aint right

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    #888254

    <snicker…SNICKER>

    armchairdeity
    Phoenix, AZ, formerly from the NW 'Burbs, Minneapolis, MN, USA
    Posts: 1620
    #888298

    Quote:


    Quote:


    Quote:


    We call walleyes white-tailed carp,” Raleigh said.

    That just plain Hurts


    No kidding. Carp are way cooler than that…


    Ouch a two headed sword…that jus aint right


    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    #888299

    I’m starting to feel bad for DTWH.

    jeff_huberty
    Inactive
    Posts: 4941
    #888326

    Quote:


    I’m starting to feel bad for DTWH.


    I may be down but I’m still kicking

    Bk- You did have a post there that made my knees shake.

    Jared- a little more of out of you

    scully0178
    parts unknown
    Posts: 21
    #888448

    white tailed carp? i used to call them boots. until i actually caught a boot . that boot pulled harder than any worthless walleye i ever caught.

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    #888469

    Oopps! I’m not suppose to laugh at that.

    jeff_huberty
    Inactive
    Posts: 4941
    #888476

    Quote:


    white tailed carp? i used to call them boots. until i actually caught a boot . that boot pulled harder than any worthless walleye i ever caught.


    ere’s a good recipe 4 ya

    ~????’s 10 lbs Boot Cleaning Method~

    Clean your 10 lbs boot like a walleye taking off the skin too.

    Clean off all the repair patches that’s between the linner and sole.

    Clean out the dirty socks line.

    Place Boots in water and refrigerate over night.

    Now the left over tar will turn yellow and can be trimmed off.

    Fry as you would a catfish. Mix in catfish. Unless the pieces are different sizes there is no way of knowing the difference.

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    #888486

    Now that wasn’t funny.

    mplspug
    Palmetto, Florida
    Posts: 25026
    #888516

    REAL FISHERMEN know it is not the taste of the fillet, but the fight of the fish. God made walleye taste so man would kill the ones the flatheads don’t eat.

    armchairdeity
    Phoenix, AZ, formerly from the NW 'Burbs, Minneapolis, MN, USA
    Posts: 1620
    #888522

    Dude, who cooked your catfish, the Michelin Man? If you’ve ever had cat that wasn’t as good or better than any walleye you’ve ever had, it was cooked by an amateur. A very inept amateur. A very inept amateur with no cooking skills whatsoever.

    Next time I’m gonna cook up a mess’o’catfish I’ll send you a PM and invite you over for beers and some of the best fish you’ve ever tasted.

    At least that’s what I’m claiming today.

    Brian Klawitter
    Keymaster
    Minnesota/Wisconsin Mississippi River
    Posts: 59992
    #888526

    Give’em ‘ell guys!

    jeff_huberty
    Inactive
    Posts: 4941
    #888555

    Quote:


    Now that wasn’t funny.


    I thought that was pretty good myself.

    jeff_huberty
    Inactive
    Posts: 4941
    #888573

    Quote:


    Give’em ‘ell guys!


    Hmmmm! “Tough crowd;Tough crowd”

    Am i going to need some back up?

    flatheadwi
    La Crosse, WI
    Posts: 578
    #888617

    I thought it was funny, and keep it up! I prefer that people think that cats taste like shoe leather. You won’t convince anyone that walleye taste that bad – a bit too late for that.

    armchairdeity
    Phoenix, AZ, formerly from the NW 'Burbs, Minneapolis, MN, USA
    Posts: 1620
    #888634

    And yet catfishing is (I’m told) the fastest growing segment of the sportfishing industry right now.

    I fear word is getting out.

    Oh, and good point FlatheadWI…

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