# I had no idea.....



## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

Gosh, I feel really bad now... Reel Man (Rob) and I caught 3 beautiful catfish at West Branch a few nights ago. They were the biggest fish that either of us had ever caught. (each was 20 lbs) Well, we kept them....took pictures of them... showed them off to our neighbors and kids... and, yes... (gulp...), fileted them  
I am new to this whole boating thing, and lack "catfish" knowledge. I have read so many posts regarding catch and release, especially in the catfish discussions. I had absolutely NO idea that catfish (and others) were in danger of extinction if "catch and release" was not implemented. 
I felt so guilty watching these fish being fileted, simply because they were so big, and had lived so many (peaceful) years... and then "I" had to come along and end there life for really NO GOOD REASON! To be honest, I dont really like to eat fish anyway! 
What I can tell you is that there is no way in the world I will ever participate in that again... I will continue to catch.... take a nice digital photo or 2 or 3.....give the cat a big "Thank You!"... and then send him back into its undisturbed world to hopefully have lots of little cats one day.  
I LOVE this website and continue to learn more and more from each and every one of you. Thank you ALL!  

Reel Lady (Marcia)


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

Hey Reel Lady- Don't read into the catch & release to deep. Catfish are FAR from becoming extinct. Just in certain waters they can be severly overfished, West Branch not being one of them. Don't feel guilty for keeping a few to eat  Small flathead cats (the one on the left in the pic) should be returned as they will grow to 40 -60 pounds. Channel cats are great eaters, and a few should be taken out to fillet. Nice fish, and please give us all some full reports !! Thanks for being a part of this site. More women need to get involved........ CATKING


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

No one should feel bad about keeping a few fish to eat! Oh one more thing you might want to check that scale.


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## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

"You might want to check that scale?" Why would you say that? Just curious....


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

This fish weighed 22#


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## shuvlhed1 (Apr 13, 2004)

ballpark 10 on the flathead, 6 to 8lbs on each channel. Only way they weighed 20 was with a lead baseball in their mouth. Unless you and your husband are pushing 7 foot tall and 300lbs (I know you aren't)


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## Guest (Jul 28, 2004)

Give them a break, its easy to over estimate the weight of fish when your excited, excpecially when its the biggest ones you have ever caught. Nice fish ReelLady, and Im gld you see the importance of C&R. I know pictures can be deceving, if you say they are 20lbs then I beleive you.


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## Hook N Book (Apr 7, 2004)

No need to feel bad...it's legal to harvest those beast!  
No need to check your scale either, you're just displaying traits of a true fisherperson. 
Just don't give weights and show pictures too...they'll get you everytime...Hehehe.


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## TIGHTLINER (Apr 7, 2004)

I totally agree with mrfishohio, truck, and shuvlhed1 Those are nice catfish but the weights of those catfish were more than doubled...


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## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

Im about as strict a C&R person that you will find. I see nothing wrong with keeping a few channel cats for the dinner table. The flathead is a different story, but Im sure that the next monster that you catch will be released (so that it can be caught again). One of the best parts about this site is educating new anglers about the benefits of C&R. It improves the fishing for everyone! Either way, Nice fish! Now, there is nothing wrong with your scaleknow where I can purchase the exact model? LOL

It is very difficult to estimate fish weight even for the experts. I have been disappointed more than a few times since I started using a digital scale. You would be amazed at the size of a 5LB bass let alone a 20LB flathead! You would also be amazed at the number of people that claim to catch either on a regular basis.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

Like the others have said; don't beat yourself up over it! I'm all for conservation and have very strong opinions when it comes to catfish, but it is perfectly OK to selectively harvest some cats. Maybe release the young Flat next time though!  

And here's a tip for reporting your catch on the boards - 

When I don't have a scale/accurate weight for the fish I report the fish lengths. And by the way - 26.5'', and 28'' channels are impressive


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## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

It's clear to me after reading those few posts that men seem to be much more preoccupied with "inches" than women are!  
I posted some pics in my gallery showing the lengths of the fish. Gosh, if I had only taken pictures of the digital scale too!!!!!!!!!!
And here is something I wrote in another discussion:

"We used a digital bathroom scale. Rob weighed himself first, and then re-weighed himself while holding the fish. It may not be a completely accurate way to weigh fish, but hey, it gives you a pretty good idea. (the flathead was a solid 20lbs, and the channels waivered between 19-20lbs)
To be honest though, the weight of the fish means nothing to me at all.... 
The fact that Rob and I both caught the biggest fish that EITHER one of us has ever caught on the SAME night is the greatest thing ever!" 

On a final note... I dont view my fishing experiences as competition with anybody else. I fish because I am addicted to the anticipation and excitement that fills the air around us each and every time the reel is cast. 
I have no need to ever exaggerate the length or weight of any of the pictures that I post, because in my mind...thats not what this is all about... at least not for me.


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Sorry to come across the wrong way .Great job on the p/best cats!!!!daryl


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## Abu65 (Apr 17, 2004)

Congrats on your fish! All time best are always exciting its what makes us keep going back!!


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## catfishhunter33 (Apr 6, 2004)

jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj


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## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

catfishhunter33 said:


> the weight of the fish is really unimportant but i would invest in a digital scale to keep track of weights.it really puts things in perspective when guessing weights.
> i like to estimate then weigh to see how close that i can get.
> 
> hmm.. well, we didnt "estimate" the weights. We used our bathroom digital scale.
> ...


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

catfishhunter33 - 

Some people prefer a young Flat for the frier over a channel. In areas with high populations of Flats like South Carolina many people release channels and keep 3-5 lb Flats for the table. 

To be perfectly clear - I am not suggesting Ohio fishermen start eating baby Flats; just reporting what people do in states with strong populations of Flats.


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

Weights, measurments, pictures.It's all irrelative. Gettin out and catchin some fish is the important thing  The wife told me something yesterday that made me smile.She said that guys NEVER grow up. That you never hear women bitchin about things they do......  Guys , I hate to tell ya all this, and we probably already knew this, but women who read all our reports just snicker and shake their heads  ....Have some hush puppies with them cats Reel Lady  .THE CATKING !!!


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## tpet96 (Apr 6, 2004)

Great catch! You've done something I haven't......actually landed a flat! Congrats!


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## catfishhunter33 (Apr 6, 2004)

jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj


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## DavidWS10 (Apr 5, 2004)

CF33, I can answer your question about which tastes better, flats or channels. I've eaten both in the past, and I would have to say that the smaller, eater-sized flats taste better than similarly sized channels. Flatheads are predators, thus they eat fresh fish, whereas a channel cat is more of a scavenger, eating pretty much whatever happens into its mouth. In regards to taste, I believe that flatheads have a "cleaner," almost sweeter taste than channel cats: and I believe this is because of their predatory nature.


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

Lots of good stuff posted. I like the second picture much better...tell Reel Man to post more pictures of Reel Woman holding the fish!!  Better picture of the fish, it looks much bigger than the first picture. (PS: I have a shirt that says Reel Man on it, it's black & has a baitcaster reel on it)
Don't worry about harvesting a few fish for the table. The worry is that the big (30#+) flatheads are just becoming scarce due to lack of any regulations.
Have a good time fishing. Like someone said,


> Just don't give weights and show pictures too...they'll get you everytime...


 is probably good advice. I have to admit, fish look smaller in most pictures.  When someone asks me to estimate a fish from a picture, I always remark that it's hard. I doubt that those channels were within one pound of the flathead, but I wasn't there. Besides, that's not the point, what's important is to have an enjoyable time fishing & an occasional meal too. I'm mostly C&R but have no problem with those who like to keep a few for tablefare. Intelligent harvest is the watchword. When someone keeps way too many fish for their own use, just to pass them out to others, etc, that's not a good thing. I've done it in the past & I'm sure a whole lot of us have sometime in our fishing history.


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## atrkyhntr (May 31, 2004)

CONGRATS on some great fishing...
Let us know how you caught them (what bait-night/day-bla bla blah)  

West Branch is like any lake or river in the state which means it won't take long to over fish if everyone keeps a few now and then...  
West Branch has an awesome population of crappie that can keep your freezer full and the kids happy, both by eating and catching  

Its great that you and Rob are enjoying the outdoors together and if you two ever become involved in hunting maybe we can 
"hook-up" and "tackle" (oh those fishing puns) 
some spring gobblers in the future...

Again CONGRATS and great pics!!!

While your in the area how about dropping off the petition located 
here ---> http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16559 
along with this photo ---> http://www.geocities.com/beardbuster2k//wasted_cats.htm
at the bait shop on 14 at West Branch


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## Reel Lady (Jul 4, 2004)

Rob and I started fishing about 9:00 pm. I caught the flathead about 1:30am, and Rob caught one of his channels about 2:30am. I caught the flathead east of the beach area using a worm on the bottom. This is also where Rob caught one of the channel cats, except he was using shrimp (also on the bottom).
We moved from the beach area into the Jay lake area about 6:00am. (with very bloodshot eyes I might add!  )
Being that it was morning, I pretty much thought that catching another big cat was improbable. But that was okay... time to move on to some Big Bass...Rob was not ready to give up quite yet on getting another big cat, so he threw in a line with shrimp on it and a small weight. What do ya know.. first thing he catches is another BIG catfish! We were both pretty suprised with that one, thats for sure! This cat was very light/bluish compared to his other one. Out of curiousity, could this possibly be a blue cat? Are they in West Branch? Look at the photos and share your opinion.
Well, Happy Fishing to you  

Reel Lady (Marcia)


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

They are definitely channel cats, neither is a bluecat.
Blues are distictively different. Here's a link to a few bluesClick here.


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