[KenBeam]

Originally Posted by dakota560

Ken.....great story and trophy catch. Congratulations! Haven't met one flathead fisherman who wasn't stoked catching a fish of a lifetime. These fish are strong, top of the predator list and a challenge for anglers to catch since most are caught during nocturnal hours and it takes time, patience, the right tackle and the right location. You don't just drop a line in the water, it takes effort.

They're a prized fish and NJ and other states should embrace them as opposed to killing them. Every fishery has a natural order and food chain, flatheads are no different. Some fish are at the top of the food chain, some middle and some bottom. They don't seem to have hurt local fisheries in this area in big river systems. As Thmyorke1 mentioned in the other thread, small systems or lakes might be a different issue and I wouldn't propose introducing flatheads to these systems but big river systems with tons of forage fish and structure is where they belong and they will give the recreational angling community some of the best fishing opportunities in local waters to fight and land a true trophy. Personally I believe there's enough forage for them to co-exist with other species stocked or indigenous to the systems for flatheads to have a place in our waterways. Either way, they're not going away anytime soon so we might as well get used to their existence.

Since there's no stocking programs, these fish cost the state nothing. Pa runs tournaments every weekend for flatheads and it helps fuel the economy. Why can't NJ do the same? To anyone opposed to flatheads, how is stocking trout in musky infested waters any different than stocking walleye, small mouths or anything else in the Big D with flatheads. There's probably more trout killed every year from predator fish and cormorants in all the lakes and streams in NJ than there are forage fish by flatheads. Where do you draw the line?

Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it.