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Belle Plaine Cat League


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  • hanson

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  • Papa Grump

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  • DTro

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  • Larry FlatCaster

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Jerry-

I've got a few theories as well. Thats what really gets me interested in these fish is there is not much knowledge and information out there about them. They are kind of mysterious at times. You don't see the bass, panfish, or walleye guys right now scratching their heads wondering where the fish went. grin.gif

About a month ago, we thought the really high water temps & low river levels were affecting the flatheads. That idea seamed to make a lot of sense. We tended to fish for them in areas of higher current and deeper water. Any success? Not really. grin.gif

Now, water temps are down a little bit and aren't in the mid 80s anymore. We've had some rain, but the levels haven't come up much at all. So now where have the flats gone? I hear about a flat here and a flat there but I don't think anyone is really being successful.

What I have noticed is an abundant supply of baitfish in the river. It would make sense to fish for the flatheads in areas where baitfish get concentrated or they can ambush the bait easily. Problem is, there is bait all over the river now. Our ride back Friday night showed minnows jumping all over the surface of the river everywhere. (The walleye bite on Mille Lacs sounds like its finally fallen off a little this summer. Guess what? Big perch hatch.)

I think the low current flow right now isn't concentrating flatheads anywhere. They are free to roam, and free to follow bait anywhere. They don't have to sit in their holes and behind snags to duck the current now like they do in the spring.

I have also heard of good numbers of flats being caught on cutbait- cut sucker, cut creekchub, cut shad. Why is that? Are they just looking for the easiest meal? It makes sense that a flathead will chase down a live bait when they are ferociously hungry, and when they are being defensive (think bluegills guarding their nest). I think they are just being opportunistic right now and eating the easy meal.

Walleye anglers on P4 are catching flatheads during the day on nightcrawlers, jigs, and crankbaits. What's up with that? You drag a bait by a resting flathead, and he's going to take advantage of that opportunity.

I'm almost guessing a guy needs to hit the river during the morning and day and jig fish with cutbait and do a lot of moving. Obviously, the night time sit & wait approach with live bait is not doing the job. Time to change it up maybe?

Channel cat bite is pretty strong right now as well, all over Mississippi, Minnesota, and St. Croix rivers

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They will turn back on soon. There always seems to be a dead time period during august. Different bait selections havent made much of a difference down around here. The only difference to me has been different presentations like using a bobber. Perhaps they're just not on the bottom? I think this low water kinda sucks cuz the baitfish are all concentrated and the flats have a easy meal. They fill up and go chill out for a couple of days digesting. Its this time of year more than any other I wish I could have two lines out. Its tough to experiment with location and bait presentation with just one line. mad.gif What I have noticed is when the skeets dissapeared around here so did the flats. I do agree bullheads might not be the best choice right now but pretty soon the flats will be on the feed again and bullies will be on the menu. Keep on Keepin on!

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Thank you Darren, Chris, and Rob for your insights. I'm going to get some bullheads for Friday night, but try other things too.

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Jerry-

Pretty much everything I wrote is me thinking out loud, and scratching my head. I just wish I had more time to spend on the river trying to figure these fish out. But since I can't, I speculate a little, and am probably way off the mark.

Thankfully, I have my FM support group to cry to when things aren't going well. Flathead fishing has been pretty slow lately.

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Ditto on the thoughts.....

I predict a stellar night for all tomorrow!

It's kind of like playing roulette. Red keeps coming up, and black has to hit eventually......right?....... crazy.gif

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After the channel bite last week. Its time for the Flats to go nuts on my rod.

LOOK OUT!!!

Then its gonna be a sequel Sat night.

Woohooo!!

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What a difference a week makes!

Fish I know of for sure that were caught:

44" Flat (45 pounds)

41" Flat

39" Flat

32" Channel

30" Channel

27" Channel

Numerous 26" Channels

I believe my partner swept the top prizes with a 44" Flat and 32" Channel.........Way to go Dennis!

CatfishLeague2006012-1.jpg

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Here's Papa with a nice flattie (39")

brianflat2006.jpg

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Darren-

Add 23" Flat for Ed and a 31" Flat for myself too. We also picked up 5 channels. Smallest at 10" and a few at 23".

Congrats guys! Fresh water and increased flow must have got them moving. We noticed that the baitfish were definitely more concentrated last night . Lot of bait working the shallow flats/sandbars on the inside bends. Our 2 flatheads came from deeper water areas that the current was funneling into or through with wood nearby.

Here's my 31", 15lb Flathead

082506henderson15lbflathorizyc5.jpg

And here's my 23", sickly looking Channel. Sort of looks like a wet rat. grin.gif The catfish that is!

082506hendersonskinnychannelss3.jpg

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Yeah, I think everyone had a pretty decent night. What can I say, I just had a feeling.

Were going to have to one up it next time Hanson laugh.gif

BTW, nice fish Chris........I'm still el skunko for the Flats confused.gif

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I know that this year's league hasn't even ended yet, but something I've been thinking about and discussed with a couple people is that I really like the idea of measuring length and girth and combining the two. Perhaps a good discussion topic for the offseason grin.gif

I was always under the assumption that two flats with the same or close to the same lengths don't differ that much, at least at the same time of the year.........boy I couldn't have been more wrong.

Example:

I caught a 43" fish on Sat. LFC caught a 43" fish also. My weight 35 and change......LFC's weight 30.

Now....we did measure girth and you guessed it, mine was obviously bigger, by two inches.

The night before, Dennis caught a 44" fish, only one inch bigger than the two mentioned above. His weight, 45lbs. We didn't measure the girth, but just think of the inches he could've added to his total shocked.gif

Not only that, but it would more than likely eliminate any nightly ties.

Just something to think about for next year cool.gif

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Darren-

What was the girth on your fish the other night, the 2 of them.

I had to look back at the 48lb I caught.

44" length x 29" girth.

Cripes. The 15lb flat I caught the other night had a 31" length. blush.gif

Length + Girth would definitely reward a guy that catches a real sow of a fish, which is what its about anyway.

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Hanson,

Dtro's fish had a girth of 27 inches

LFC's fish had a girth of 25 inches

both had the same length.

Weight difference of 5lbs. 35 vs 30 and change

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I think dtro's fish's girth was greater because he swallowed someones horseshoe? That's the rumor anyway. tongue.gif

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I had trouble sending Papa Grump my pictures, so I'll try to post them here. So far all of mine have been channel cats.

dtro got me into this one on 7-28-06 (24 or 25 inches). I hope dtro reported the length to Brian.

Channeldtro7-28-06.jpg

29 inches on 8-18-06. Andy W. was the captain.

Channel29inchFM8-18-06.jpg

30 inches on 8-25-06. Andy P. was the captain.

J.jpg

I want to thank everyone posting in this section for helping me get started catfishing.

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Those are some nice fish Jerry. We still need to get you on a decent Flat though grin.gif

If you go to Hanson's website, he has a running total with some pics and other info. Click on his link at the bottom of any of his posts. Then click on "catfishing" then click on the "Belle Plaine Leaugue".

It's current through 8/17 I believe, I don't think it's been updated from Fri yet.

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Quote:

It's current through 8/17 I believe, I don't think it's been updated from Fri yet.


I just got the results from Friday from Brian so thats my next little task. Lots of fish caught on Friday and will probably be a big "shake up" in the standings.

Jerry- You are doing well on the channel cats man. You've been consistent with near 30" fish. Thats awesome!

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Jerry,

You do your best to turn me onto good channels and I'll see what I can do to get you a big Flat.

Looken forward to fishing with you next Fri.

LFC.

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LFC,

I'm really looking forward to next Friday's excursion. I'll bring the channel bait. But, I think it is only dumb luck.

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Luck will get you by once Maybe 2wice.

Your batting a much better average than that.

you got it dialed in Mate! It should be a good trip. I'll take care of the Flathead bait.

I'll ring you tues or weds to hammer out the rest of the details. Have a good Holiday

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Bit chilli out there last night ooo.gif

The fish seemed to be on a decent bite. We launched at 35W and went up towards Shakopee. I ended up with a 27" Channel and a 39" Flat for the big fish in our boat. I thought I had a chance at big fish for the night.......until I spoke with LFC.... mad.gif

Details to follow, I'm sure tongue.gif

Way to go Larry! cool.gif

catleague2006007.jpg

catleague2006005.jpg

catleague2006010.jpg

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Dtro had the hot stick in our boat last night!

3 channels & 2 flatheads is a darn good night.

I can't believe we are coming to an end on catfishing this summer. Looks like a pretty good fall bite is in the works if last night was any indication.

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Quote:

Looks like a pretty good fall bite is in the works if last night was any indication.


You just convinced me I need to go out again tonight grin.gif

Not only is there some bait in my cooler to get rid of, I have a river just calling my name a mile away wink.gif

If anyone wants to go out of Jordan for a few chilly hours tonight, give me a shout.

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Hey Blue Kayak,

We did forget something. I got some of your buckets in the back of my truck. I'll bring them the party. Sorry about that.

thanks

LFC

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