Anyone know or remember the post that was up here recently about the $4 per dozen willow cats? I believe it was a bait shop in Lacrosse, WI. Anyone remember the Name/Location. Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
I’m not sure.
The Main Channel in Alma has them for sale.
They are some dandys.
The gas station on Hwy 63 (Hagar City) has them as well.
D&J Riversports (La Crosse and Onalaska)sell them for the cost below:
6 bucks a dozen or 50cents a piece.
608-783-3349
lol..ok…Thanks Tony 
Quote:
Anyone know or remember the post that was up here recently about the $4 per dozen willow cats? I believe it was a bait shop in Lacrosse, WI. Anyone remember the Name/Location. Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks
I remember what post you were talking about, but I couldn’t find it either, even did a search, but it seems to be gone?
blackduck-check your PM-John
I saw it too…thinking that it was a “commercial” post. Which isn’t allowed in the classifieds.
I’m guessing it went….poof.
But…you might want to ask PUTZ where he got his fatheads from the other day…he gave me the left overs and there were 4 willows in there…that $2 I got over on Putz and he didn’t even know it!
Opps, I’m in MN…am I going to jail? 
Brian, what the he$$ are willow cats? If they look like bullheads, I have more in the batch I got from Blue Ribbon Bait for our last outing. Thought I would just toss them.
Little Luty’s with Bee Stingers top and sides. 
How can I keep it strictly business with the clowns on this forum. Oh well, I shall perservere.
Beside, if Denise has an open burner, I am bringing up some lutey for opener. SHHH, she doesn’t know it yet.
You my friend have been given the name…Putz. When this was bestowed upon you, they also stripped you of all rights to be taken seriously. Unlike myself…I just ask for it…
Yes sir Mister Gene, a Willow Cat looks like a very small bullhead. Maybe two inches long. Many people think they are just baby bullheads. Heard told they make very good walleye bait. But since I’m from MN and a CO down towards the Rochester area figured he would look into the laws on minnows a little closer than what most people would like him to have done…he found out that they are not listed as a minnow and therefore not legal to sell or transport in or out of the Great State on MN….EVEN THOUGH…MN grants permits (for a fee) to normally law abiding folks to harvest and sell our little freind…the Willow Cat.
Strickly Business… 
That was my version…here’s another….
Published – Thursday, February 17, 2005
Bill would allow willow cat return
By Jeff Dankert / Winona Daily News
A game and fish bill proposed in the Legislature would add willow cats to the list of minnows that Minnesota bait shops can collect and sell.
If the measure survives the session and the governor signs the bill, it would reverse a ban on the bait that was reinforced last May by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Willow cats are a local favorite of walleye anglers on the Mississippi River, from Red Wing, Minn., south to the Iowa border.
The DNR stopped willow cat collection and sale after it discovered existing state law does not allow dealers to collect these fish as bait from inland waters. Because the minnow definition was embedded within statutes, only legislators and the governor can change the law.
Ed Boggess, DNR fish and wildlife policy chief, said the willow cat allowance would take effect immediately upon bill signing, expected by the third week in May or shortly after.
“I think it will get done one way or another,” he said. “This bill would classify them as minnows, and with this willow cats can be taken from those inland waters and be used as bait in the river.”
Bob Veglahn, owner of Tri-State Bait in La Crescent, Minn., was pleased to hear of the coming change.
He said enactment in May should be in time for demand. Walleye anglers tend to use other baits through spring. Once spawning is over in May, they begin to use willow cats as bait through summer, Veglahn said.
Senate and House versions of game and fish modifications include numerous provisions besides willow cats. Boggess expects the willow cat provision to survive.
The bills, HF 0847 and SF789, have to pass the House and Senate and come together for the governor’s approval for enactment, he said. The language in each is identical pertaining to willow cats and includes prior law and the new addition.
Current state law also bans collection of willow cats or any other bait from Minnesota border waters south of Taylors Falls on the St. Croix River, because these waters are infested with invasive species and bait collection could spread those species. This includes all of the Mississippi River on Minnesota’s border.
This law will not change, Boggess said.
Willow cats are more widely known as tadpole madtoms, small fish found in North and Central America from Canada to Guatemala, east of the Rockies. They are related to catfish and bullheads.
Wisconsin bait shops picked up willow cat sales when Minnesota vendors were forced to discontinue selling them last spring.
Reporter Jeff Dankert can be reached at (507) 453-3513 or [email protected].
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Little Luty’s with Bee Stingers top and sides.
So, Putz…since you were transporting Willow Cats…never mind…your too nice of a guy…..
Here’s a pic of what’s in your bait bucket!
Ps…might want to bury the evedence in your neighbors back yard…. 
Or just give them to me! I will take care of them!
The “willowcats” you are getting in your minnows are Bullheads. I’ve worked in a few baitshops and have seen bullheads in minnow tanks. Don’t know how they get there but they are not willowcats.
As for $4 dozen for Willowcats, if you can find them for that price, you better buy them all. I know 2 guys that sell them to baitshops for that price. The later into the summer it gets, the harder it is to “trap” them. Most guys keep them in tanks or live boxes so they don’t run out.
I’m still not sure it’s possible for anyone in MN to possess them. 
I talked to someone from the DNR and they said the bill would get voted on by the 15th of this month. From there it needs to get signed by the Gov. The earliest people in MN can legally possess them would be August if the bill gets signed by the Gov. That is what I was told by the lady in the DNR offices.
Thanks everybody, At $4 I would be “buying In Bulk” I just can’t believe they are already up to $7.50 a dozen in my area. I guess if the people pay it then what can you do?
Can you Mn guys buy them here in Wi and fish with them on the river? Or is it illegal to even have them in a boat with MN registration in any water where a MN CO has jurisdiction?
From my understanding…if you buy them in WI and launch on the WI side, you are within the law (for border waters).
We have a little law that states you can’t transport minnows into our state. At this time a Willow is not a minnow and would fall under the law that states you can’t transport ANY fish alive in MN (with on minor exception).
Blue, I was told those were willow cats. Now I’m going to have to do a little googling.
Rule of thumb, if they are black, they are bullheads, if they are greenish yellow with a flathead type mouth, they are willow cats.
Great…now Putz is off the hook! 
Now you guys got me all screwed up. Well, whatever they were, they will be helping my tomatos grow this summer.
Do they work that good that they are worth the price?
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