I would love to try this if anyone has an open seat. I’d be glad to buy bait and pay for gas if anyone has an open seat.

Jerry

The new launch is north of the river and east of Highway 101 in Riverside Park. If you look up Shakopee on Mapquest you will see Riverside Park. The park is north of the river and on both sides of Hwy. 101. You want to turn right if you are coming from the south and left if you are coming from the north.

Jerry

Dog hair works surprisingly well for hair jigs. If you have a dog, be sure to try it.

I have just started using a jig head with a lip. It dives deeper with less weight, but the best part is that it is much less likely to snag. It is like those anchors that have a release for the flukes.

What is interesting about Briank’s formula is that the girth is squared. That makes the girth measurement much more important than the length. I think most of us emphasize the length and only rarely record the girth.

I was with Larry when he caught his 48″ long by 24″ girth flathead that weighed 38+ pounds. The calculated weight using the formula is 34.6 pounds. Using the forumla and keeping the girth at 24 inches the length has to be increased to 53 inches to give a calculated weight of 38 pounds. If the length is kept at 48 inches, the girth only has to be increased to 25.25 inches to give a calculated weight over 38 pounds. The two tables below might make this a little clearer.

TABLE 1. LENGTH STAYS AT 48″ AND GIRTH INCREASES 1/4″
Length – Girth – – Calculated Weight – Actual Weight
48 – – – 24.00 – – – – 34.56 – – – – – – – 38
48 – – – 24.25 – – – – 35.28 – – – – – – – 38
48 – – – 24.50 – – – – 36.02 – – – – – – – 38
48 – – – 24.75 – – – – 36.75 – – – – – – – 38
48 – – – 25.00 – – – – 37.50 – – – – – – – 38
48 – – – 25.25 – – – – 38.25 – – – – – – – 38

TABLE 2. GIRTH STAYS AT 24″ AND LENGTH INCREASES 1/4″
Length – Girth – – Calculated Weight – Actual Weight
48.00 – – 24 – – – – – – – 34.56 – – – – – – 38
48.25 – – 24 – – – – – – – 34.74 – – – – – – 38
48.50 – – 24 – – – – – – – 34.92 – – – – – – 38
48.75 – – 24 – – – – – – – 35.10 – – – – – – 38
49.00 – – 24 – – – – – – – 35.28 – – – – – – 38
49.25 – – 24 – – – – – – – 35.46 – – – – – – 38
49.50 – – 24 – – – – – – – 35.64 – – – – – – 38
49.75 – – 24 – – – – – – – 35.82 – – – – – – 38
50.00 – – 24 – – – – – – – 36.00 – – – – – – 38
50.25 – – 24 – – – – – – – 36.18 – – – – – – 38
50.50 – – 24 – – – – – – – 36.36 – – – – – – 38
50.75 – – 24 – – – – – – – 36.54 – – – – – – 38
51.00 – – 24 – – – – – – – 36.72 – – – – – – 38
51.25 – – 24 – – – – – – – 36.90 – – – – – – 38
51.50 – – 24 – – – – – – – 37.08 – – – – – – 38
51.75 – – 24 – – – – – – – 37.26 – – – – – – 38
52.00 – – 24 – – – – – – – 37.44 – – – – – – 38
52.25 – – 24 – – – – – – – 37.62 – – – – – – 38
52.50 – – 24 – – – – – – – 37.80 – – – – – – 38
52.75 – – 24 – – – – – – – 37.98 – – – – – – 38
53.00 – – 24 – – – – – – – 38.16 – – – – – – 38

Larry and I measured the girth at the last minute and rather quickly. We could easily have shorted the girth an inch or two. However, there is no way we could have shorted the length by five inches.

Jerry

I have heard that the new chemicals used to treat exterior (green) plywood are very corrosive if the wood is placed next to aluminum. If that’s true, you’ll want to use regular exterior plywood or marine plywood.

Jerry

What a nice group of prizes, and I’d like to thank all the sponsors and contributors to In-Depth Angling.

Jerry

Thanks for the reply Darren. I tried cut sucker tonight, but should have stayed with frogs. I have one sucker left to try tomorrow.

Very nice channel dtro; I may have to switch over from frogs to cutbait.

Do you mind if I ask if you are doing anything special with the cutbait? Are you cutting it so it looks like a doughnut or a filet? Soaking it in Jello? Do you fish cutbait the same for channels and flatheads? If you don’t get a fish, do you switch to fresh cutbait after a certain length of time?

I hope to get out tonight and try some cut creek chubs. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

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I had an interesting thought. Would it be legal to cast a hookless popper as a second line in Minnesota?

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I should have said I’d like to cast near my fishing partner’s flathead bait with a popper. I think the CO would have lots of questions even if the hooks were removed if he saw you with two lines. I’d want something in writing from the DNR saying it was okay to use a hookless popper while fishing with another rig. Just one more reason to try and get two lines allowed.

Larry — Thanks for telling me about this site. I see there are lots of familiar names and faces. Last Friday was fantastic. I’m still pumped about those fish.

I was the lucky one to go out with Larry that evening as part of the Belle Plaine league. I just started catfishing this year, and it was a real thrill for me to see those flatheads.

As for a klonk, I want to try casting a topwater popper near my flathead bait. I think that would be worth a try. We noticed a lot of small baitfish near the shore and that kind of a popper should stir them up. I read somewhere that large flatheads will sometimes regurgitate large volumes of those tiny minnows. I can imagine them swimming through a school with their mouths open.

Thanks Larry for a great fishing experience.

Jerry