Catfish Bite

[nuthinlikeacat]

Anyone have any reports on the catfish bite?

Been starting to pick up near the St Peter area after a few weeks of little activity.

[Larry]

Its been pretty steady up by savage/Valley Fair and bloomington. I pulled a 22lb not far where 35 crosses last week. Nice fish by the way looks like it could be over 25.

[nuthinlikeacat]

Thanks for the input. Was thinking of trying over by Shakopee this weekend...
The fish in the pick barely tipped 30 lbs...not too bad, but still waiting for the monster!

[Larry]

will be interesting to see how all the Rain we got in the last 12 hours will affect the bite. Will be heading out late this afternoon and tonight to fish where the creeks are dumping in. Lets hope all the thunder didnt freak em out to bad.
Good luck with your adventures.

[nuthinlikeacat]

Just wondering how you did today... I was going to go out this evening until I saw the late night forecast :mad: ....maybe one day this week I'll get out!

[Larry]

Looks like we picked an okay time to go out. We got 3 smaller ones. The largest being a 5lb Flathead, and 2- 4lb channels. One of which I caught on my ultra lite with spiderwire. ( kind of exciting once I realized it wasnt a montster) My partner had a 14 inch sucker and fought something large for a couple minutes but never go a good hook set and lost it. I think it will start picking up now that its cooling down a little at night.
Keep me posted and good luck.

[nuthinlikeacat]

Do you fish mostly from a boat or from shore? I usually always fish from shore... I just moved up to the cities area from the Mankato area this past year... do you know of any deeper holes on the river where fishing is accessible from shore?

[Larry]

I fished from Shore one time earlier this year and it was pretty tough (super muddy) even with waders on. I fish from a boat all the time now, gives many more options. Lots of times I will nudge up to shore and throw an anchor from the back of the boat on to shore to keep from pulling loose. I know of a couple of holes but most of the spots that look to be good from shore are being fished by others with no real easy access. Your best bets are by the bridges.
I know that the season is winding down and were running out of time. But IF your up to it maybe we could head out on the river in my boat some time. Its a pretty good rig for 2 or 3 people. Aluminum 19 foot lund pike with 70 merc. To be honest, Me and some of my buddies just started catting about 2 months ago. I'm the die hard of the group, but have never gone with any one more experiencedI seem to do okay but I would be interested in learning all I can. You seem to have some knowledge let me know if your interested.
as a formality I'm Larry by the way. (I know that we've posted informally)

[Larry]

One note. there arent to many deep holes on the river. I do know of a couple. All of our fish are caught in less than 12 ft of water. Our luck has held up where streams and creeks dump in fishing the flats in the evening. But if deep holes = Big Fish............ lets try to hook up and see what kind of cats we can catch.

[nuthinlikeacat]

yes...sometime before the season ends we should get together some weekend and try it.

Thinking about my last post on the deep holes...with the water down as low as it is, some of those so called deep holes are no longer deep.

I tried a few weeks ago down in Shakopee by 69 and 101 off the big sandbar. Didnt have much luck at all, and from what I was seeing, not a whole lot of water either. about the only good thing about the water being so low is that the fish will group up in the deeper holes. Deeper holes usually means bigger fish....

What have you had your best luck with in using bait?? For me usually bullheads anywhere from the 4 to 8 inch range. Used toi use stink bait, but never had much luck. I have had reasonable success with live suckers/chubs, but sometimes I run into the gar and turtles....at leasst the bullheads seem to keep them off.

[Larry]

Your right about the holes being a little shallower. Although the river has come up a foot or two in the last week.
I use medium to large suckers exclusivly for bait. I tried ripe chicken liver once with no luck. last time out we used live suckers and when they died we cut them up and put a chunk of cut bait with a live one. Not sure that it made much of difference either way we caught fish. I Know what you mean about the gar and turtles. Been seeing a few bites like that lately.
I like the idea of Bullheads. I bet that they last longer (stay alive). I will have to find a spot where I can catch some..

How is the fishing down in Mankato? I think I heard someone else mention Cats down in that neck of the woods.
I'm ready to try the Mighty Mississippi soon.

[nuthinlikeacat]

Bullheads are my first choice bait. They are very active, and very hard to kill. I've also had the best luck on them.
As for the bite down near Mankato... I grew up in that area, and do most of my fishing in the St Peter area. As of late I haven't had the greatest of luck, but the people getting out the past few weeks have been getting there share of 10-20 lbers with a few 30s caught here and there. The best bite has supposedly been from right about dark until about midnight. It does make sense because the past few times I have went down there, it's been late night and I havent had much luck.

This has been quite a different year of river fishing for me...I havent seen the river like this in a long time. With the river being up as high as it was for as long as it was, former sandbars and deadheads I used to fish are gone, and a few holes we used to fish now have sand bars coming right out to them.

Was hoping to maybe go out tonight, but think I may wait until later this coming week...with the kids just starting kindergarden and preschool, its been a LONG week!

Keep me posted if you get out this weekend.

[nuthinlikeacat]

I went out fishing Friday night about midnight and sat until almost 5am. NOt even a single click off the clicker... but then again the bait we were using was massive. :rolleyes:

[nuthinlikeacat]

Larry, been out fishing lately? From what I've heard the bite is really starting to pick up.

[Larry]

Hey Ryan,
Good to hear from you, I think that you saw my last posts from this last weekend. I was able to get out on a spur of the moment trip. (Had a big flooring project that I was able to finish early). My buddy Kris took me and Scott out. Scott had all the luck. He got a 23lb flatty and a 10 lb channel caught on suckers.
I then did some daytime fishing yesterday. With one of my installers and he caught a 3.5 channel. Lots of barge traffic where we were. but I was pumped that we caught a catfish during the day.
Looks like this weekend will have to hold off. It my 5 year wedding anniversary. And since I've been MIA fishing the last 2 previous years I figured it was in my best interest to spend some quality time with the wife.

I know that the season is winding down, I hope that we have a couple of weeks left of fishing. I still would like to get out fishing with you. Have to see what following weekend looks like. (OCT 1).

How much longer do you think we have for the cats to keep bitting?? I have no clue?

Lets see if we cant make something happen in the next few weeks.
keep me posted
Larry

[nuthinlikeacat]

Congrats on the 5 years!! :cool:
I usually fish until about mid to late October, weather permitting. From now until then should be prime fishing. I haven't been down near the river in a couple days, so I'm not sure how cold the water has gotten. As long as it stays in the lower 50's it should be good fishing. After that...well...An ice auger a few tip-ups and a few jiggle sticks should do the trick until Spring.!

I think Oct 1 would work for me, but I guess we'll have to play it by ear until then.

I am heading down towards my hometown (Le Center, 15 mn from Mankato)this weekend. Maybe I'll get some fishing in. If not, at least I'll be posting some flyers at the local baitshops to try and get some more members from MN in here.

[Larry]

Ryan
Water temp is probably in the mid 60s about now. last weekend it was about 68. If you you look at the links whistler posts about MN you can see how much the temp fluctuates during the day and evening.

question for you to consider. After reading all the post on this site about powerplants...... Look up Black dog lake. its a lake with a powerplant between 35w and 77 (cedar avenue). That has 2 spill ways into the MN river. People are always fishing from shore, at the discharges, Including myself a few times.(Check out areal maps of it) I cant find any info on this lake anywhere. Ive been looking for a couple of years now. I used to think that it may be a hot spot for bass. Because parts of this lake never freeze over no matter how cold it gets. My guess is that they use it for cooling and the discharge from the plant never lets the water freeze.
I'm taking a bit of a long shot here but... What if Cats are in that lake with enough bait fish???? I'm pretty close to trying to go down to the plant to see if anyone has any info on this lake at all. It could be that its super shallow... IF so this thought would be a bust... but if there is anydepth this could be a mother load for Big CATs possibly. I think that the water flows both ways in and out of the river. IF you get anytime and want to check it out. Look up Black dog road on Mapquest. IF you want to check it out together I would be up for it.

Let me know your thoughts. IT would be cool to find a honey hole.
later

[nuthinlikeacat]

I went to the DNR website to try and pull up some data on it, but nothing. I did a Google search on it also, and I am in the process of downloading a PDF file showing Data Sources and Major Point Discharges in the Lower Minnesota River. It's a pretty big file, So I dont know If I will get a chance to look at it tonight. I did an HTML view of it, and it doesnt show much, but it does show where there are discharges into the river....and where there are inlets into the river, there are usually both Deep holes and big Kittys nearby.

[catfish156123]

Hi Guys
Been a long time since I've been on here or any sites. Been to busy at work, camping, fishing and gardening. Lake Shetek here at home (Currie) has been getting real good with the channels. Just eating size 1 to 3 pounds and occionally a 10+. Now that I've started to fish the lakes for catfish, I thought I should get a bigger boat, Still have my 15 foot v-bottom for the rivers but got this about a mouth ago. And have really enjoyed it alot. Good to have time to set at the computer for a while again. I think they have been putting channels in alot of the lakes here in Southwest Minn. They all seem to have them now and that is a good thing. Got to go for now.

Catfish156123

[The J-Man!]

Good to hear some info from folks from my neck of the woods! I just got back from a weekend near New Ulm on the Cottonwood river. I landed a 40 #er, my biggest yet! What a thrill. We go there every year around mid September and have done well fishing from shore. Last fall we caught a couple 20s and thought that was big.

I know the area around Black Dog power plant you guys are refering to. There are a couple "lakes" that are overflows from the river. They are mostly bass ponds, I believe stocked by the DNR. I have not caught a cat there, but a couple years ago caught a small muskie. The river near the power plant is fairly over fished, but I still get there a few times a year and catch mostly small channels (1-3 lbs).

[Larry]

J-Man and Catfish 156123
Its nice to make your aquaintence fellow BOC brothers.
Its also really nice to have someone close by in my neck of the woods.
Congrates to both of you on your recent catches.
J-man, that had to be a day maker with your 40+lber. Hell. That would almost be a season maker. I cant remember the details of this thread (earlier stuff). If this is repeating sorry. But to date Ive pulled a 27lb and a 22lb. My biggest ever. But I know they get bigger and your story gets me pumped.
I'm gonna give it at least one more try this Sat. possibly. Depends on if the river is still flooded. IT was a little scary last time I was out with all the rain weve had.

Look forward to reading updates from fellow minnesotans.
good luck on your fishing
Larry

[Goldenshinner]

guys, Ive been hearing about allot of cat action. lots of people are talking and going out, but im not sure were. as every were im fishing there is no one around. we took 7 people/rods out last night and didnt get a single bite. not even a mosquito. Nice Night to blaze afew logs though. I left a couple of my pals there to keep up the fishing and the fire. I wounder if they got anything being no one had a line out when I left???I will have to call and find out.

anyways. yeh, that discharge your talking about at blackdog. good spot this time of year. I dont fish it, but i know of people that do. water is suposed to be slightly warmer. acouple of 30's were caught last week somewhere close to the cities. Im still stumped were these guys are getting theem, ive seen some of the pics and dont realy recognize the spots. Im leening twards the misssiss as the location. maybee confluence of croix and mississipppi. (good shore spot)

any way fish on. and good luuck.:wink:

[hanson]

Goldenshinner-

Long story short, cattin' season is pretty much wrapped up.

Probably a channel cat here and there willing to play but the flatheads are pretty much done

Once June rolls around next summer, cattin' action will be on the upswing. There are big fish EVERYWHERE in the river, just poke around and you'll find something. Timing has a lot to do with it. Given the rise & fall of water temps, the rise & fall of river levels, and the current... good spots change with regularity.

Now is a good time to get out and check shoreline structures up and down the river with the water down. Then when the water is up in early summer, you'll be a quantum leap ahead of the game.

[Larry]

Goldenshinner-

Long story short, cattin' season is pretty much wrapped up.

Probably a channel cat here and there willing to play but the flatheads are pretty much done

Once June rolls around next summer, cattin' action will be on the upswing. There are big fish EVERYWHERE in the river, just poke around and you'll find something. Timing has a lot to do with it. Given the rise & fall of water temps, the rise & fall of river levels, and the current... good spots change with regularity.

Now is a good time to get out and check shoreline structures up and down the river with the water down. Then when the water is up in early summer, you'll be a quantum leap ahead of the game.



Hanson,
You'd better be doing your homework Mapping that MN river. I want full detailed topographical, structural depth charts with Pictures and GPS coords so when you break out your new ride next spring we will be on fish!!!!!
Is it next may Yet?!?!?!
Hanson has the right idea. This is the time to do your homework so you can hit the ground running next spring.
thanks
Larry

[Goldenshinner]

Hanson. youve got some good ideas. Actualy I have been researching the change in structure of the river as it fluctuates. right now you can see a number of larger structures very clearly. but once the river raises to flood levels, many of the secondary structures compleatly get washed away. I am actualy almost more interested in how these structures move change and effect fish location, than the fish that we catch there.I dont fish compleatly to catch fish, I fish to understand the fish I catch. kinda a wierd zen-fishing thing.


I know the bite is real slow, but Im telling you, there are still guys nailing them somewere. they just came in this week with more pics. I know the river fairly well, and dont recognize the places.Its somewhere on the miss I think.

[hanson]

Is it next may Yet?!?!?!
Nope! :)

Last year I got all pumped up waiting for May to come around and it took until about June to start catching the darn things. I don't know if I'm going to get too anxious next spring.

Remember Larry, we still have ice fishing! :)

[rushing]

Is it May yet? This Minnesota winter thing is stupid...Someone should do somehting about it.:lol:

[Dave L]

Is it May yet? This Minnesota winter thing is stupid...Someone should do somehting about it.:lol:

I'll agree, the warm south is sounding better every year.

[The J-Man!]

Yeah I already miss summer. And I really miss Flathead fishing!

[cumberlandcat]

Anyone been fishin for channels on the miss in anoka lately?