A Minnesota wildlife official says channel catfish virus is only one of the possible causes of a catfish kill in the Red River at Grand Forks and not the likely cause.

Henry Drewes with Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources says the preliminary assessment seems to be pointing to columnaris, a bacterial infection.

He says final tests at the department’s pathology lab in St.

Paul might be available next week.

North Dakota Game and Fish biologist Lynn Schlueter said earlier that preliminary test results might point to channel catfish virus as the cause of the die-off. The virus normally occurs in hatcheries where a lot of fish are confined together but Schlueter said it can strike in the wild if conditions are right.

About 1,600 catfish are believed to have died in the Grand Forks area.

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Red River catfish kill still being studied

Angler Eric Mauer was recently awarded a Line Class World Record by the International Game Fish Association. Mauer specializes in catching monster catfish and recently claimed the world title for the IGFA Freshwater 130 lb. Line Class record for blue catfish.

Mauer caught the 84-pound blue on March 18, 2007 near the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in about 38 feet of water. He was using a 2-inch “steak” cut from a river herring (skipjack).

Mauer described it this way, “It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon on Chickamauga Lake fishing the drop-offs with 130 lb. test Ande line when this 84-pound monster picked up the bait. I knew it was a monster right from the beginning and fought it for about 45 minutes.”

Mauer said another boat watched the entire show, however he netted the beast by himself.

“It’s a technique I’ve learned on other big catfish… and the net held,” he exclaimed. “I grabbed a couple of fellow fishermen and headed for a dock because I knew this fish should set the new IGFA 130 lb. line class record. It had to be weighed on land on certified scales (which I carry) and witnessed.

The fish was 55 inches long and had a girth of 34.75 inches.

Mauer said, “After weighing, measuring, and taking photos, I stood in the water with it until it revived enough to swim away.”

Mauer, who is retired, says he normally fishes 3-to-4 days per week and averages about 25 hours per week year-round.

“I don’t specifically fish for record fish, but I do use methods and fish areas that will produce big fish. I always use line that will test at or below the maximum allowed for each line class so that if I do catch a record fish it will not be disqualified because the line tested too high. I preset my drag at 25% to 30% of the stated line test, especially for the lighter lines. I also prefer circle hooks for catfish, in a size appropriate to the line strength, so that “setting” the hook is not required and there is less risk of breaking off the fish. I also carry the required paperwork and a list of state and world records so that I know if a fish qualifies, and can have the fish witnessed and weighed and photographed, and can still release it.”

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Angler Claims (Another) IGFA World Record

George Marzeck worked for nearly 40 years tring to persuade lawmakers to name the Channel Catfish as the Iowa state fish. When the bill came up again in April, it once again failed, leaving Marzeck’s and other’s dream unrealized.

‘‘It is dead for the year,’’ said Rep. Paul Bell, D-Newton, chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. ‘‘There are too many amendments and they’re making a joke out of everything, so we’re not even going to attempt anything.’’

Marzeck, along with seven other men started the push and as one by one the other men have past on, Marzeck kept pushing for their dream by writing letters and promoting the change with his own money. Marzeck died in September 2006 at the age of 82.

His wife, 81-year-old June, said she was disappointed but not surprised by the Legislature’s decision.

‘‘I certainly would hope that someday it would happen for George’s sake,’’ she said. ‘‘He worked so hard trying to have it happen and he won’t be trying any more since he’s gone. I hope that people there in Des Moines some day see fit to do that.’’

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State fish bill dies in Legislature

With a unanimous vote by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission, Commercial fishermen keep their right to keep a “trophy” catfish. But like everyone else, their limit is one catfish 34 inches or longer per day.

President of the East Tennessee Commercial Fisherman Association, Verlin Clark, asked the commission to do away with all size limits on catfish for commercial anglers. Not only for economic reasons, but biological ones as well.

“You’re going to run into a problem down the road with all these big catfish,” Clark told the commission. “They’ll eat a lot of the sport fish.”

TWRA chief of fisheries, Bill Reeves, disputed that theory.

“You have something called dynamics of bioenergetics,” Reeves said. “That means if you expend all your energy trying to catch your food, you’re going to starve to death. Catfish aren’t going to be out there swimming around the lake looking for game fish to eat.”

Several commissioners voiced their opinions about the change and quizzed the commercial fishermen about selling catfish live to out-of-state pay lakes. Live catfish would bring in more money then those sold for meat.

Approximately 900,000 people bought a regular fishing license while only 348 people bought a commercial license. The commission used their surveys and reports showing a vast majority of Tennessee sport fishermen like the limit currently held for catfish.

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One big catfish for all

Surpassing the previous state record by 22 pounds, the new Louisiana’s state record channel catfish weighed in at 50 pounds and had a girth of 24 inches. David landed the fish out of Buhlow Lake on April 3, 2007. The previous record was caught in January 2004 by Rebecca L. Connella.

Greer doesn’t give credit to “Luck” or “being at the right place at the right time” for his record setting catch. Instead, was due to divine intervention.

“I haven’t been to church in 15 years,” David said. “That evening, when I arrived, I looked up in the sky and said, ‘Lord, if you will let me catch a fish 3-foot or better, I’ll start going back to church.’ Needless to say, he answered my prayer.”

David was using a No. 3 white perch hook and a shiner. Not liking the mess, Greer says he doesn’t fish with anything else.

“I like to tight line, so I have little bells on the end of my rod to let me know when I have a fish,” he said. “Suddenly, the bells started going crazy and my rod bent double. I grabbed it right away as my drag was screaming with the amount of line being taken off. I don’t like to set my drag too tight, because if you catch a big fish, it can snap your line.”

“I didn’t know what I had, but I managed to turn it,” Greer said. “It ran back to deep water and I turned it again. I was hollering and cussing, hoping that I wouldn’t lose whatever I had on the end of my line. This couple, who were about a 100 yards away, must have thought I was crazy. They didn’t know exactly what was going on.”

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Greer lands state record channel catfish

During his vacation in Barcelona, Frank Warwick landed a 9ft catfish out of the Ebro river. The catfish weighed in at 203lbs and was one pound bigger than the highest recorded with the international fishing association IGFA.

“It nearly pulled me in with it. Two of the guides who were with me had to grab me round the waist. It is like being pulled by a bus - it’s an unbelievable force.” Said Frank.

“It took three quarters of an hour to reel it in and it really does feel like you are fighting with something the whole time.”

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9ft catfish in the Ebro River - Record Breaking Catch

On January 1, 2007, a new law went into effect that requires all county residents to have a state fishing license to fish inland waters, which now includes fishermen that use live bait. The “Natural Bait Exemption Law” which in the past have allowed people to fish in public waters in their county or residence without a fishing license, if they were fishing with live bait, has been repealed.

$35 plus court costs is the fine for fishing without a license. Although, a fishing license is still not required it fish in private ponds or for children under 16 years old.

The only other exceptions are individuals who obtain a free subsistence waiver because they receive food stamps, Medicaid or Work Family Assistance. These individuals can receive the waiver by contacting the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission at (919) 707-0220 or by visiting www.ncwildlife.org.

You can read the entire news article and discuss this news story on our forums at this link: Fishermen must possess license to use live bait

This news comes from New Zealand, but I wanted to pass along there new regulation law for catfish. I will post about the catfishing part from there Press Release here, but you can read the entire Press Release at the link below if you are interested.

Starting on April 1st, if you fish in New Zealand, you will be required to kill any catfish immediately after catching them. There reason you ask? Here is what they say:

Catfish prey on small native fish and fish eggs, stir up sediment and degrade waterways. They can also survive out of water for long periods and are difficult to kill.

Further reading up on this, it seems that the Environment Waikato Regional Council (New Zealand) has classed catfish as a pest. Here is there statement:

Catfish (Amieurus nebulous) are classed as pests in the Regional Pest Management Strategy. They are widespread throughout the Waikato River catchment, as well as in the Piako and Waitoa Rivers. Catfish are also found in Lake Taupo. Although they are not believed to affect the lake’s trout fishery, research is underway to confirm this.

Catfish eat both plants and animals, including freshwater snails, koura, bullies, smelt and juvenile trout.

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Changes to amateur fishing regulations :: Katmasters Catfishing Club

Every dream about catching a state record catfish? Nows your chance to get a channel catfish state record in North Carolina.

The recent Channel Catfish record for North Carolina, caught by Pete Paine, was recently decertified by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. Seems that when the fish was examined closely, the catfish was declared to be a flathead catfish.

This means that anyone can claim a new state record Channel Catfish that is over 10 pounds. As long as the fish is submitted according to the North Carolina Wildlife rules, you could be declared the new North Carolina state Channel Catfish record holder.

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