"Nancy Dooley" wrote ...
> My youngest caught one a couple years ago in the Iowa River - he's
> 6'1", and as he held it up to his chest, the tail was on the ground.
> He put it in his truck bed to show it off to his friends (and me)
and
> then turned it loose. It swam away - no problem. We couldn't find
a
> scale, but we guessed it was about 45-50 pounds. Not good eating,
for
> sure.

The state fishing records should tell maximum sizes. Around Iowa City
there was a 86 pound (as I remember it) flathead caught about 1960s.
Bigger ones around Guttenberg in the Mississippi.