Catfish management in NC

How would you rate management of catfish in NC

  • Great

    Votes: 1 3.8%
  • Fair

    Votes: 5 19.2%
  • Poor

    Votes: 15 57.7%
  • Unsure

    Votes: 5 19.2%

  • Total voters
    26

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
i hope the anglers manage their giant ones responsibly. they are far too unique to be killed. the state cant manage their death by ego or frying pan.

Just wondering , do you guys that catch them see the big ones showing signs of being caught before?

(hook marks)?
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
i hope the anglers manage their giant ones responsibly. they are far too unique to be killed. the state cant manage their death by ego or frying pan.

Just wondering , do you guys that catch them see the big ones showing signs of being caught before?

(hook marks)?
Yes, you will see scars, torn out places on their lips etc. I lost a nice one several years ago in the river (broke off on a snag) at that time I was using 50# Ande line. A friend of mine and I were fishing in the same trash pile a week later and he caught it and it still had the line in the corner of it's mouth to the barrel swivel.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Yes, you will see scars, torn out places on their lips etc. I lost a nice one several years ago in the river (broke off on a snag) at that time I was using 50# Ande line. A friend of mine and I were fishing in the same trash pile a week later and he caught it and it still had the line in the corner of it's mouth to the barrel swivel.

good to know they are being "recycled".

I would guess that they are vulnerable at times during the year and can be caught pretty well then.

i read that they really stack up in some rivers in winter.
 

Huffy

Eight Pointer
I eat cat fish yes but 9 times out of 10 if he's over 10 pounds he goes back and I've never kept a big one I CPR all of them but I do like eating those 5 pound blue cats
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
good to know they are being "recycled".

I would guess that they are vulnerable at times during the year and can be caught pretty well then.

i read that they really stack up in some rivers in winter.
Certain species stack up like cord wood prior to when they shutdown in winter when they are gorging on bait. They are on the very tail of that right now. We have had many double digit nights and days when we have caught them to we just got tired of hauling them in and weighing and taking pics of them and putting them right back.

You can find them on electronics go past them drop an anchor ease back over them and go past them the other way and drop another anchor then work your way right back up on top of them then tie off between the anchors and go at it.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
i hope the anglers manage their giant ones responsibly. they are far too unique to be killed. the state cant manage their death by ego or frying pan.

Just wondering , do you guys that catch them see the big ones showing signs of being caught before?

(hook marks)?

Non native east of the Eastern Continental Divide. I have no problem if someone keeps a big one especially a big flathead. If you Harvest a 60 lb flathead you have saved many many 10 lb channels and blues though they are non native as well.

You will never see restrictions on Blues and flatheads east of the most downstream dam as Stripers and Shad and other natives are more important.

I have seen a monster flathead 70lbs plus killing a 25 to 30 lb blue. Pitbulls of the catfish world, eat em all.
 
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catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
i hope the anglers manage their giant ones responsibly. they are far too unique to be killed. the state cant manage their death by ego or frying pan.

Just wondering , do you guys that catch them see the big ones showing signs of being caught before?

(hook marks)?

There was a nice blue in Badin that had a white mark on it tail. One of the guys(Jerry Arnold) who fished the Yadkin mastercatters trail caught it one year....fish weighed 67 lbs. Another guy(Eric Fincher) caught the same fish the following year and it weighed 72 lbs. There was no mistaken it...it was the same fish and it was caught both times in the month of Nov. I have pictures somewhere of that fish.
 

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
Also one year...there was some guys catching some nice fish up river at badin one month...50-51-52lbs. Then one day a fellow caught a 53 up there. I just happen to be there fishing down river that same day. He came to me wanting me to take pictures for him and I did. He released that fish down river..they quit catching them 50s up river for a while...LOL. I don't know..either the blues founds out somebody took one or it was the only one up there.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Non native east of the Eastern Continental Divide. I have no problem if someone keeps a big one especially a big flathead. If you Harvest a 60 lb flathead you have saved many many 10 lb channels and blues though they are non native as well.

You will never see restrictions on Blues and flatheads east of the most downstream dam as Stripers and Shad and other natives are more important.

I have seen a monster flathead 70lbs plus killing a 25 to 30 lb blue. Pitbulls of the catfish world, eat em all.

I want to hear that story on the flathead killing the blue.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
I want to hear that story on the flathead killing the blue.

SANTEE years ago. ... big flathead had Blue in its mouth down over the blues head..at least 1/3 of the Blue in the flathead mouth...shaking it like a dog shakes a rat..the blue wasn't dead(yet) but we got em to let go and that blue was it bad shape . Looked like a truck had run over it
 
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oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
SANTEE years ago. ... big flathead had Blue in its mouth down over the blues head..at least 1/3 of the Blue in the flathead mouth...shaking it like a dog shakes a rat..the blue wasn't dead(yet) but we got em to let go and that blue was it bad shape . Looked like a truck had run over it

Thanks Mack, big freshwater fish stories fascinate me.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Non native east of the Eastern Continental Divide. I have no problem if someone keeps a big one especially a big flathead. If you Harvest a 60 lb flathead you have saved many many 10 lb channels and blues though they are non native as well.

You will never see restrictions on Blues and flatheads east of the most downstream dam as Stripers and Shad and other natives are more important.

I have seen a monster flathead 70lbs plus killing a 25 to 30 lb blue. Pitbulls of the catfish world, eat em all.

Very true statements here, so much so that several states have made shocking catfish legal with just the flatheads as legal keepers. This is true in Florida, where flatheads have killed so many of the native mud cats that they are endangered in some areas. Before the 80's we used to catch several varieties of pollywogs , now you seldom ever catch one.
 

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
SANTEE years ago. ... big flathead had Blue in its mouth down over the blues head..at least 1/3 of the Blue in the flathead mouth...shaking it like a dog shakes a rat..the blue wasn't dead(yet) but we got em to let go and that blue was it bad shape . Looked like a truck had run over it


Mack you remember what time of year it was?
 

Mr.Gadget

Old Mossy Horns
We need to plan a group fishing trip after deer season is over to go target Cats at Gaston, Kerr or some other good catfish lake.

That is if they ever work something out at Cabelas so I can use the boat I paid for over 3 months back...... Or just replace the POS.
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
Every year doing lake sturgeon sampling with trotlines, we will catch big flatheads who decided to eat the blue that eat the baited hook. We have caught flatheads on blues as big as 7 lbs.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Every year doing lake sturgeon sampling with trotlines, we will catch big flatheads who decided to eat the blue that eat the baited hook. We have caught flatheads on blues as big as 7 lbs.

that is on the trotline right?

When i first read it I thought maybe you were using 7lbers as bait on a rod. If that would be the case that is even more awesome to ponder.
 

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
There was a nice blue in Badin that had a white mark on it tail. One of the guys(Jerry Arnold) who fished the Yadkin mastercatters trail caught it one year....fish weighed 67 lbs. Another guy(Eric Fincher) caught the same fish the following year and it weighed 72 lbs. There was no mistaken it...it was the same fish and it was caught both times in the month of Nov. I have pictures somewhere of that fish.

Here is the fish picture I spoke of..you can see the fish has a weird tail markings.

PB030345.jpg
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
that is on the trotline right?

When i first read it I thought maybe you were using 7lbers as bait on a rod. If that would be the case that is even more awesome to ponder.

Yeah we use cut carp and buffalo for bait. Blue eats that and gets hooked. Big flathead eats the blue but due to dropline on trotline, he can't get blue all the way down then the blue's pectoral spines basically hook the flathead because the spines won't bend backwards.
 

oldest school

Old Mossy Horns
Yeah we use cut carp and buffalo for bait. Blue eats that and gets hooked. Big flathead eats the blue but due to dropline on trotline, he can't get blue all the way down then the blue's pectoral spines basically hook the flathead because the spines won't bend backwards.

understand. thanks. that sounds like some excitement running those lines for sure.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Saw a 43lb flathead in a commercial basket (was with the guy when he pulled the basket). Not sure how he even made it through the opening, but he had eaten every damn channel and blue in there, partially digested them and spit them back up. Had to take the basket apart to get him out.
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
Also witnessed a potbellied upper 20s blue being cleaned. Opened the gut and there was a mallard hen and a 14" crappie in it. Was in the winter, so wasnt a duckling either. She was full grown.

Also saw a 42lb flattie that with a 3lb gizzard shad in it.

22lb flathead that was caught on a 18" blue that was hooked on a jug.
 
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