Belle Plaine Contest early results

[Papa Grump]

I had to work last night and missed out some good fishing.

So far there is a 51 pounder leading the way, with a 48, 46, 44, 42 right behind it. 2 nice 15 pound channels also.

Now the bad news is 2 of the cats died in the little 100 gallon tank they have. One was the 44 pounder and the other was in the upper twenties .

Fellow River Pro owners Jerry and Steve Buetow, who had brought in the 42 and 48 pounders respectively, were kind enough to help me pull 6 other cats out of the tank and get them released to live another day.

I get just as disgusted as other responsable fisherman when these big cats are allowed to perish,but it always happens at probably any half-a***d ran tournement. Anyway I know a couple of guys are sticking around to make sure that more of this doesn't happen. I'm off to bed.....

[hanson]

So Brian-

Let me get this straight, they were holding ALL of those cats in a 100 gallon tank? Surprised they all didn't die.

Could I ask what the prizes/payouts are for the top finishes?

Cause I don't care what they are paying, its not worth killing a 51 pound fish.

Contests suck!

We need more people with the nerve to stand up against these things. Participating doesn't help either.

[harvey lee]

Its no different with the tourny in Mankato.You had to try and keep your fish alive until 6am when you could register.I couldnt figure out why or how you would catch a fish at 9pm and keep it until 6am to get weighed and then hope it lives when released.

We talked last night about other ways to run this other than just killing trophy fish.Bad deal

I dont believe I will ever enter another tourney where you will probably kill the trophy fish you caught for a few bucks,I just wont fish it.For all the years it takes to get to trophy status and then not to respect the fish is a very bad deal for the fish and future sportsman.

[hanson]

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We talked last night about other ways to run this other than just killing trophy fish.Bad deal.

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Believe me, I've talked to a few guys and thought long and hard about that as well.

A few thoughts:

-be able to weigh the fish anytime throughout the night

-weigh in station should be near/on the river and fished released ASAP alive. Dead fish don't count.

-all contestants required to transport fish in a large livewell/cooler with recirqulating system built in. I think if the contest is that important to you, a small investment in a good livewell would be no problem, right?

-limit the boundaries of the contest to a reasonable distance from the weigh-in. So the fish will not be required to make an hour long car ride to get weighed in.

The fact of the matter is that these 'contests' are loosely run and highly unregulated. Lots of fish are caught the night before, 2 nights before, or whatever and are held until they are weighed at the contest.

You would never, ever see a muskie contest run this way and I hope there is an end to these cat contests some day too.

[DTro]

Hanson, 1st place pays out $1000.

Could you imagine a Musky tournament handled this way? I doubt it. Yes, the catfish is a tough one and can handle a little more stress, but still, look at all these big fish taken right to the edge, for a contest.

The sad reality is that for $1000 people will do just about anything. I wouldn't be surprised if the winning fish was "tied up" for a few days.

I don't think they have all those fish in a 100 gallon tank. I'm looking at my 70 gallon aquarium and you'd be lucky to fit 2 of those fish in there. With no room to move.

I'm personally not against contests, just poorly run ones. I've posted a solution to this many times.

You give out something unique, say a hat or something and a picture of the fish must include that unique item. Digital camera required.

The reason something like this isn't done currently (I'm guessing) is that the fish in the tank draw people and with those people come their wallets.

If I ran it, I would have a PC setup with a BIG plasma screen, and as the pictures came in, you could have a slide show running in a loop. Not quite the same as a live fish though.

The only remaining problem would be honesty and weight evaluation. This is a tough one and other than having Judge boats, I don't know what you could do.

[DTro]

lol at Hanson, we posted almost the same post at the same time

[rushing]

Even the best run contest with the best of intentions are too easy to cheat in.

Wonder what they do with the dead fish? Do they eat them? Do they just throw one of these big flats in the garbage? What a waste! All for a chance at a couple of bucks!?!

[hanson]

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lol at Hanson, we posted almost the same post at the same time

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Too funny! Guess we think a lot alike.

[harvey lee]

You would hope that there are enough sportsman out there that care enough about the trophy fish that they would not even attend these events unless they are run with some concern for the fish.

The other bad part about all of this is that it is about the almighty dollar without concern for the fish.

Not that I like the DNR making more laws by any means but if that is what it takes to get these tourny's run right then just maybe that has to happen if the sportsman cannot cure the problem.Its kind of like the slots for walleyes,if we didnt have them people would still be keeping a 8# limit of fish.

I personally just dont understand what people are thinking.I would have said sportsman but sportsman dont kill trophy fish for money.

Now I have vented an I am done.

[DTro]

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You would hope that there are enough sportsman out there that care enough about the trophy fish that they would not even attend these events unless they are run with some concern for the fish.

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Exactly why I took the night off

[DTro]

Oh BTW, this has happened once before, but I just needed to point it out....

One of the Avatars is not like the other

[harvey lee]

Dtro,maybe we will hook up next year and have a cold one as I attended my first and last one last night.

We had one last night a 30# and thought it maybe could make the top five as you never know but I can proudly tell you that the fish is still swimming to be enjoyed by another sportsman one day again.

Dtro,are you speaking of my sturgeon not being a flathead?

[hanson]

I think the biggest problem here is the changing attitudes of us catfisherman in Minnesota. We DO recognize that the flathead cat is a terrific sportfish in Minnesota, where most of the US recognizes the flathead cat as terrific tablefare.

Minnesota already has some great laws in place that protect flathead cats, which other states do not.

- Angling is the only legal method of catching these fish.

Trotlines, limblines, setlines, jugs, noodling are all illegal here. These techniques are traditions that are entrenched in the catfishing culture in other states. Multiple lines and multiple hooks are also legal. Here in MN, we get 1 line per person (except on the Miss border water) with 1 hook per line.

- Limit on catfish in general is 5 per day, only 2 can be flathead cats, and only 1 catfish can be over 24" long.

Once again, this is encouraging for the state of MN considering most other states have much more liberal limits, or no limits at all.

I think we need to be thankful that the MN DNR has these regulations in place but I also think there is more progress that can be made. I don't know many cat anglers at all that would complain about experimental regulations on flathead catfish, either closed seasons, reduced limits, slots, or max. length restrictions.

The # of big fish weighed in at these contests as well as the number of fish in my Big Cat Safari 2006 topic are a testament to the truly awesome trophy fishery we have here. I hope we can keep it that way with the gaining popularity of this sport.

[hanson]

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Dtro,are you speaking of my sturgeon not being a flathead?

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Yep!

I remember that thread to Darren. Funny! Didn't we have to get Dennis to change his avatar so they were all the same.

[harvey lee]

The 31#er I caught last Saturday did not have a chance to have its photo taken due to battery life.We did get a pic of a smaller flathead I caught last night and I suppose to keep the natives happy I could change my avatar for them.

Or maybe we could call this forum the Catfish and Sturgeon forum.

[Random guy]

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Could you imagine a Musky tournament handled this way?

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Most Musky tournament are handled as such.

1) Photo tourney, You must have a item that is presented the day of the tournament along with a tape that is also presented. Both of these items MUST be in the photo and the tape MUST be against or close enough to the fish to verify inches and date of catch. Trouble with this is all cameras must be digatal or a one hour photo close by.

2) Judge boats. These guys are stationed within the tournament area and are notified via, cell phone, radio, any method available. They rush to the boat with a entry and record the fish length, girth and lbs ASAP and release it.

3) Witness tourney. This tourney uses other anglers in the area to verify your fish. When you catch a fish you ask another boat to verify your catch and fill out a very simple card stating inches,etc etc with a signature and a phone number to verbaly verify if a dispute arises.

Trouble with cat tourneys.

1) you need a judge boat that can go the same places as a River-Pro or acess shore anglers.

2) Catmen do not like giving up spots or calling a judge boat who will most likely give away the secret location.

3) Catmen do not want to leave said spot incase another catman moves in when they are gone...Grump

4)Photo tourney and cats will not work unless it is strictly a length tourney. Catfish are to inconsistant to use length x girth math

5) Most boat live wells are only 28" long at most unless it is a musky boat with a 60" live well so the only alternative is to hold the fish in the water. Well I don't think even the best man on this forum could contain a 50lb cat for very long once it woke up. So you must have on board tubs that are up to snuff (ya that will fit on a fourteen foot jon) or some type of fish friendly hold net while waiting to get judged ot witnessed.

So how will this be handled in the future? My guess the same way the bad musky tourneys ended up...

[icehousebob]

Jon, you're making it waaay too complicated. Just have each fisherman, as they catch their fish, hold it up and guestimate its weight and then report it at the end of the contest. I can't believe that a catfisherman could misjudge a weight or lie about the size. We're dealing with honorable men here.

[Tim Ellis]

I agree the contests are bad for fishing, cat's, etc. Dying in the tank is little different as dying in the frying pan. I am completely Catch-Photo-Release for all fish, you think fish tastes good? Try a good steak instead!

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So Brian-

Let me get this straight, they were holding ALL of those cats in a 100 gallon tank? Surprised they all didn't die.

Could I ask what the prizes/payouts are for the top finishes?

Cause I don't care what they are paying, its not worth killing a 51 pound fish.

Contests suck!

We need more people with the nerve to stand up against these things. Participating doesn't help either.

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[Tim Ellis]

Participation in these tournaments is condoning and supporting them. You might as well just hand our Cat's off to the out of state plates.

[Guest]

Moores bait is starting to host small tourneys (cats) where it is length+girth, and a photo of the angler holding the fish. I came up with the rules and this was the only way could think of to protect the catfish. If there was any way to reasonaby weigh these fish without undue stress and mortality.. it would have happened. The reality is the fishery is more important than the contest and I like knowing that every fish made it back in the water after a quick measure and photo. I know the contest woul be as open to corruption as any other contest.. but at least we wont have people tieing off fish for days prior to the contest. The photo does for the most part force the angler to have a partner, or *witness*.

The 1st contest was last night on short notice. There were 18 participants. I will be stopping over to Moores in a while to see what the results are.

[Gordie]

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The sad reality is that for $1000 people will do just about anything. I wouldn't be surprised if the winning fish was "tied up" for a few days.

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I fished this contest and weighed in 27 lber and released it at Henderson asap after it was weighed in and it was a sucessful release. about your quote it may not have been tied up but caught on a traut line, my friend was napping down by high island (Henderson) and he said at about 2am he had herd a boat motor down and stop and possibly put in set lines after he left my friend went across the river and looked but couldnt find anything he said it was odd that that he would stop and check out three places in about 15 min then move down stream . my friend said the next morning he saw the same guy stop just below a snag and swore ,pulled up some thing then left . my friend said that he cant prove that this guy was breaking the law but he said he'd bet on it . my friend said he snapped a photo of the guy going by in his boat I will try to get it . I also was upset at the way these fish were treated at the contest. people pulling the fish in and out of the tank its just sad. I do not plan to particapate next year .