I caught 7 flatheads this Saturday from Branched Oak Lake which is about 15 miles from the pond. This lake is infested with stunted white perch, congrats to the Nebraska Game & Parks for making lemonade out of lemons with this Lake. The five biggest Flatheads went 42", 38-1/2", 36-1/2", 32" and 29" (four master anglers.)

Shorty, I sent you a pm about my maiden voyage with Bruce and I's seine. Check it out

Congrats, Shorty. Those are some pretty big fish. Great pictures! In case others don't know, it's completely catch and release for flatheads and HSB at Branched Oak. Bruce should tell us about his world record HSB from Branched Oak.

White perch really are a plague. In case someone thinks they would be a good forage species, don't! They are terrible!

Norm - that makes me wonder what type of effect white perch would have on the carp in my pond. hmmmmmmmmmmm..........

I probably won't try it but it makes me wonder. At least with an overpopulation of white perch it wouldn't affect my water quality as much as the carp.

Norm, going predator heavy with flatheads and HSB might be an option for some pond owners who have been overun with green sunfish or some other nuisance fish that has thrown the perdator prey balance out of whack. The other option would be total renovation.

I did see one 28" HSB dead and floating on the surface while we were out there trolling crankbaits for the flatties.

Pretty impressive, indeed, Shorty!! Especially when I read at the END of the string that you were trolling crankbaits for them! You sound like a specialst to me!

Dr. Willis, actually a friend of mine is the real expert on this, he has spent the last several years figuring out just the right lines to troll in certain areas. We were trolling DT10 Rapalas on small diameter braided line (30# test, 8# diameter) and banging the bottom along the breaks and on humps in 12-16 ft. of water. I just happened to get lucky and tie on a color they really liked that day. I caught 5 of the 7 flatheads on a single crankbait, the other two of mine came on a very similar color, chartuse and blue was the color they wanted on this mostly overcast day. The bigger fish really put a bend in my 7ft med. heavy rod that I primarily use just for carolina rigging for LMB. It was the best big fish day I have ever had. It is also a great example of turning an ugly sitution with the white perch infestation into something extrodinarily good without having to go through a complete renovation of the lake, both the flathead and HSB fishing at B.O. is fantastic.

Wow; trolling crabkbaits. That's a new one for me.

"Trolling Crankbaits": Little-known B-Side off the Deliverance soundtrack.

"Trolling Crankbaits": Little-known B-Side off the Deliverance soundtrack.


Yeah, right after "You Got a Pretty Mouth, Boy."

Shorty -- I'm still impressed!!

Shorty, do you, Bruce or Dave Willis know why Muskie or Tiger Muskie haven't been added to this lake?

Norm, I do know that they originally added significant numbers Northern Pike to the lake but the NP did not seem to do very well. Hatchery raised musky were not available at the time. Both Branched Oak and Pawnee lake near Lincoln both have White Perch infestations. The WP only stunt in B.O. which also has a shad population which gives the predators something more preferably to eat. At Pawnee there is no shad population so the predators do a much better job at keeping the WP numbers down which prevents stunting.

Hopefully Bruce or Dr. Willis knows a little more about why the Pike equation did not work out.

Norm, here is your answer from one of the biologists at the Ne G & P (also one on Dr. Willis fomer students):

How did white perch get started in BO?

must have been the dew.....nice fish, any thoughts on what they weighed?

trolling for cats......new on me too. learn something new everyday????....come to the PB forum and learn a hundred new things a day.

D.I.E.D.