Minnesota anglers start the scoring for new catch-and-release records

It wasn't the biggest fish he ever caught, but Steven DeMars of Stillwater earned state bragging rights this week with a greenish monster nearly four feet long that made him the first catch-and-release record holder for a Minnesota flathead catfish.

The DNR also announced the first catch-and-release record for a lake sturgeon: Cindy Pawlowski's 63-inch trophy caught on Mother's Day along the Rainy River in Koochiching County.

The two anglers were the first to successfully apply under a new state program that scores catch-and-release records for three species: lake sturgeon, flathead catfish and muskies. Previously, Minnesota only recognized record fish killed and weighed on a certified scale.

The DNR's Mike Kurre said the agency still is waiting for a record-setter in the catch-and-release muskie category.

DeMars, an avid stalker of large catfish, said he normally fishes four to five nights a week on the St. Croix River, sometimes well past midnight. He applied for a catch-and-release record on the lunker he hooked May 8 "to see how the process worked."

The big "cat" measured 47 inches long with a 30-inch girth. DeMars' personal best, caught one year ago before the new recognition program began, was an inch longer and 2½ inches wider.

DeMars is an advocate for the new program and expects to be quickly dethroned by like-minded catfish anglers, a competitive bunch.

"It's a crime to kill these fish," he said.

Pawlowski, who likes to fish for sunfish, bass and walleye, said her sturgeon outing might well turn out to be a once-in-a-lifetime deal.

She and her husband made a 200-mile trip to Baudette from their home in Frazee to fish with DNR employee Zach Pawlowski, their son.

They were anchored on the river and Cindy was reading a book, waiting for a sturgeon to inhale her sunken hook, baited with a wad of night crawlers.

"All of a sudden my son said, 'You better check your line,' " she recalled.

What ensued was a 9-minute fight with a fish that surfaced three times, she said. Based on its 63-inch length and 29-inch girth, the fish weighed an estimated 76 pounds, nearly 20 pounds smaller than Minnesota's "kill-fish" record sturgeon, caught in 1994.

The state "kill-fish" record for a flathead catfish was set in 1970 with no other measurement information besides 70 pounds. DeMars' fish was estimated at 52 pounds.