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Also told by a gal they used to sell Flathead meat to Laderberg’s in Winona. She said it was legal since Flathead are not gamefish… Last I checked that’s poaching.

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Well guy she is right…and you still can buy catfish commercially….
When I was running a setline(years ago) the flats always paid better than channels…..
WI Setline regs

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uh… “a bank pole is defined as a pole equipped with one line and a maximum of two hooks.”

I have all kinds of fishing poles with reels on them. Legally you can use 5 poles from shore then? I ask way too many questions…

When fishing my walleye spots I occasionally mistake a sheepy for a walleye. In faster current it can be hard to tell sometimes. Especially if you’re like me and reel it in like its a 30lb cat.

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if one of my boat license stickers fell off and the fish cops (or other law) see it missing? The other one is also ready to peel off as well. They expire in 14 so I was hoping to wait and make them last until I got the new license stickers to replace them.
If someone finds an orange 14 sticker floating in Pepin, let me know. It fell off on yesterdays trip.

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IMO DNR officer’s are simply people. I’m sure if you were stopped or questioned you would be okay. Not sure how big of a deal it is but if I was you I’d wait the two weeks or call the DNR & ask.

Boated two with a friend when hunting flats. Both released.

Channel cat’s have been on a mean bite below the Prairie Island spillway if anyone from the area is looking to target them.

12#, 9#, 5#, & 1#. My Secret spot is producing. No big girls yet.

Part 2 report.

Good news bad news..

Good news none of those stoopid walleyes took my bait tonight. Bad news is looks like the carp are spawning in the backwaters and the cats are all hiding.

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That’s why I am moving to Florida. No compact with MN and I violated a fish once.

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How’d that feel?

In all seriousness thanks for the answers and I completely agree about the don’t violate any laws deal. There are so many differences out there and everyone I talk to has a different understanding of what the law is. It makes you wonder. I even ran into a DNR officer who told me I could use any type of crayfish I wanted to for bait. Last I checked the law states only Rusty crayfish can be used?

If DNR officers do not know the law how are we supposed to? Also told by a gal they used to sell Flathead meat to Laderberg’s in Winona. She said it was legal since Flathead are not gamefish… Last I checked that’s poaching. I tried to argue but eh, choose your battles right? If I were to argue laws with everyone I’d simply be known as “that a-hole”.

Florida sounds great, bigger fish, and warmer weather!

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Jesse Krook and I headed South of Everts for a change. I spied a set of 5 good looking snags with Erick Anderson earlier in the day.

We had one run which I’m going to bet was a walleye in about 4 feet of water and two channel cats on Sudden Impact Fiber Bait. The one we put on the scale was 7.8 pounds and the first one wasn’t too much smaller.

Beautiful night with the stars shining brightly. Ahh it felt good to have a bullhead spine stick me again alone with the Ker-PLOP of the bullhead and sinker hitting the water.

I wired too many electronics to one circuit and we lost the spotlight and HDS on the way home through the back channel. Made for a slow ride and only hit one log that put Jesse on red alert the rest of the way back to the resort. Jesse and I don’t care for things that go bump in the night.

It’s great to be back on the water….and now for the catchin’!!

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Good luck tonight! I hope to land a few monsters this weekend. Smaller treble hooks & smaller bait seem to be what have worked. Many Many runs, only 1 fish landed. 12#’s. They are moving SLOW.

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I was out this morning shore fishing with my cheap “hawg seeker” rod/reel using medium/large sucker minnows. I threw them out on a 6/0 circle hook using 30lb mono and kept snagging up each time. It seemed like a snag, but after pulling for a little while it would suddenly release with all my gear intact except the minnow of course! I am curious if that’s what a flathead feels like on the line. I went through 9 minnows in a 2 hour period and every time ended the same way regardless of moving up/down stream. Just a very light tap on the rod and after reeling in a bit,  it would just stop. It’s hard to believe that every single spot I set the bait was full of logs or rocks, but I am new to catfishing and have no idea what to expect.
Also, I saw a lot of very large fish breaching the surface almost like a whale would. Huge tail slaps and all, but wasn’t close enough to I.D. The fish. Any insight about any of this would be greatly appreciated. 

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Sounds like Gar pulling your bait into snags to me.

12#er

Go shallow. I have had great luck fishing SMB in the last couple weeks near rocky shorelines and weeds. Most of the fish I have caught no matter what time of day have been in less than 5 FOW. Finding eddies and current breaks that are stocked full of bait fish have also been the key. Keep trying the perch raps. One of my favorite baits to use for SMB is a perch jointed shad rap #5 or #7. I would suggest giving the jointed shad raps a try. Best of luck to you!

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Is there still a loophole where a child can keep a wild caught gamefish as a pet?

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Or a loophole allowing you to keep live bait? (Non-species specific) Only never to get around to using it?

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Consider it open!

I’ve had bully’s for a week and all I have to show for it is one of them scaly fish.

I’m showing 58 below Dam #3…my ears are quivering because I know the only thing between me and a flat is Thursday!

Wait a minute! There isn’t a twins game tomorrow! You can’t go out!

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BK I’m thinking about trying below the Fountain City dam tonight. My money hole is too hard to reach from shore right now. I’ve never had luck at the dam. Any tips?

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Volunteers Needed for One Day Atrazine Testing in the Mississippi River
Mississippi River – MPCA Flicker Photo

The Nebraska Watershed Network, an organization in conjunction with the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is launching “Lil’ Miss Atrazine” – a study designed to use crowd sourcing to conduct atrazine tests along the entire Mississippi River all within one day. Atrazine is the second most commonly used herbicide in the U.S., specifically targeting broad leaf weeds. A simple strip test has been designed to test for atrazine at the US EPA’s drinking standard of three parts per billion (ppb) or three micrograms per liter.

Atrazine can be detected in late spring and early summer, due to the time-frame in which it is applied to crops and coinciding with seasonal rains. Because of this, the study will be conducted near June 1, 2014. If the crowd sourcing is successful, UNO hopes this model of data gathering will be used for further studies on indicators or pharmaceuticals in other watersheds.

If you are interested in learning more about this monitoring opportunity, please send an email inquiry to [email protected] or contact Jessica Edwards directly at [email protected]

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“Evan,

I regret to have to invorm you that our recruitment period for Lil’ Miss Atrazine is over for this year.
We will, however, be repeating the testing next year, and if you don’t mind, we will keep you in our email list, so you can get our newsletter. That way you will be certain to be able to participate follow our activity and participae next year.

Thank you for your interest.
All the best.

Alan

The Nebraska Watershed Network
Department of Biology
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Nebraska at Omaha”

I’m starting to feel like I should be paying you for all the questions you’ve answered. Your knowledge is incredible. Thank you.

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Flathead?????

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Yup.

Hunting in less than 12″ of water. Released of course. The bite should be on. If you can get past those pesky Walleye.

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ARGHHHHH…….Me thinks that may be flathead “bait” matey…

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I had initially thought so until I looked at the dorsal fin color and number of anal fins. Flathead have quite a few more anal fins than bullhead from what I’ve read. However, I’ve never known much about bullheads until this year.

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Was told this by one of the workers at the wing dam saloon. She said the DNR has found evidence larger fish are not as fertile spawners.

Can anyone attest to this? I’ve always thought the larger fish should be released?

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In walleyes and sauger the bigger fish may not produce as many viable eggs, but they hold the genetic cornerstone for the future.

Crappies and sunfish have their reproductive strength in the larger fish.

Table quality is NOT found in any large fish.

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ever had smoked walleye? the bigger the better.

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Never made smoked Walleye. Yet. My wife keeps telling me if I put fish in ours that it will permanently stain the smoker?

EVERY fish I have ever harvested goes on the table or to a family/friends table.

So… If there are no small ones there are no legal ones.. If there are no legal ones there are no spawners.. If there are no spawners there are no eaters.. If there are no eaters we don’t get any large ones… If there are no large ones we don’t get any trophy fish. Too many trophy fish and we run into pan fish population concerns and potentially less than ideal spawners. Sounds like the only viable solution is to care for the fishery and harvest responsibly. :cheers:

I forget her name but the lady who mentioned keeping the larger ones is definitely a reliable source. She works at the Wing Dam Saloon and has for many many years. If she said the DNR told her such, I believe it.

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Flathead?????

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Yup.

Hunting in less than 12″ of water. Released of course. The bite should be on. If you can get past those pesky Walleye.

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ive heard this too, I feel that the DNR is right. though not all big fish should be kept and it also depends on the species.

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I absolutely trust the DNR, I had never heard someone ever say that the DNR prefers people keep the big ones.

Thank you for the information. I’ve had countless number of people (even at the bait shops) tell me how to create traps for them. I’ve never once heard anything about it being illegal, only to transport them.

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Define “large”, species and what water.

Even if they dont reproduce, they can still be beneficial for keeping fish from stunting or pure entertainment.

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I’m not sure how large she meant. Talking about Walleye and the Mississippi River.

Give Prairie Island campground a try. (Winona spillway) Lot’s of eyes are being caught near shore.

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…and this leads into harvesting willow cats.

The WI DNR lists Pool 4 of the Mississippi River as VHS positive so no bait can be harvested and taken off the river.

But wait. The WI DNR doesn’t test the Mississippi for VHS.

Our good friends at the MN DNR do and it’s shown up as negative for VHS every time it’s been tested.

So you Cheese people need to ask your DNR why you’re not allowed to harvest willows for use in the same river they’re taken out of.

I think I just ranted(?)

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Well that makes absolute no sense to me. The only DNR officer I have seen more than once near 5a anyways tickets & patrols both sides.

I wonder how that works out? If they have shared jurisdictions shouldn’t they have shared laws?

Do you have any links about harvesting bait in the Fountain city/Winona area? I harvest my own Willowcat’s on both the MN & WI side. Is it not lawful to do so?

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Old school is the best don’t get me wrong.. I’m not a huge fan (& never used) of sonars. It’s kind’ve like cheating IMO.

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You do not know how funny that statement is!

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You want depth charts but sonar is cheating? Just trying to understand your thinking?

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Apologies. I misspoke. I’m very new to fish finders/boating in general.

IMO I prefer to hunt the fish without using a camera/technology that reads the fish. Maybe I’m just a little ignorant/jealous being a shore fisherman.

As far as sonar/depth charts go I think they are an absolute necessity. After reading the large discussion about pulling fish out of 30+ FOW I am even more eager to find navigation/depth charts of the Winona area. I fish deep channels often but I do not know how deep. (20 or 50? :P)

I certainly would make a conscience effort to not fish some of the holes if I had a better idea as to how deep I was fishing. Finding some depth charts might save some fish.

Been getting into them from shore in about 12FOW.