Mankato

[BIGMO]

Will be in Mankato June 14th for a Flathead trip to fish the Minesota and Blue Earth Rivers. If you guys have any fishing reports in that area, or river reports, Id sure appreciate them,,,, Specially closer to the 14th.
Ive been up there 6 or 7 times always had good luck. Always depends on the weather, last time it was after big rains and all the boat ramps were mudded in. we couldnt launch anywhere, we went as far up as a few miles from minniapolis and never found a clear boat ramp for the Minnesota River. had to bank fish which isnt bad but when u pull a boat 7 hours u wanna fish with it. Thanks for any advice or reports guys.


Jon (Missouri)

[Larry]

You came at a tough time, I remember.
Mankato is usually pretty good for Flats as well as the rest of the river.
But she is a muddy one when the water comes up and drops quick.
It took a few weeks for everyone to get the launches cleared.
You should be in good shape this year. Barring any torrential rains..
The river is still cool, a small handful of flats caught so far.
The should be in full swing by that time right before they spawn.
Just remember to CPR the big ones up here.

[BIGMO]

Larry,
what do you mean CPR the big ones? Whats CPR? I have read the Minnesota fishin regulations and they are like reading VCR instructions. half the time Im not competely sure im doin right .... and I want to be. No sense gettin a ticket for lack of knowledge.
So what are the regs up there. Im pretty sure its one pole one hook. But what is the, 'leave a patch of skin on em' or 'leave the head and tail for length measuremenst'? Whats the proper procedure when I catch a 30# flathead? One year we got in late and i tied the Flathead to the boat and fillet it up the next day ... then I found out that was wrong ... harrasing the fish? Is that correct? Thanks for the info,

[Larry]

CPR= Catch Photo and release....
You don't want to keep anything but the smaller channels... and that is only if the water temp is under 65F. n For health reasons.
Let the rest go....
Its great to catch them..... but eat at your own risk..... and for sure don't feed to the family.... especially younglings.

Good luck on your trip. If you have more questions... let me know.

[plainsman]

Might see ya up there, if the river is real high maybe you can try to launch at New Ulm. I'm gonna be in the area about that time, may see ya, not sure where I'll be at tho. Good luck

[trueandtried]

Just starting to fish the MN around Mankato, St Peter area. What bait is the best? I tried bullhead last year....not the best of luck. One 30 pounder flathead. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Good luck to all :)

[Larry]

Just starting to fish the MN around Mankato, St Peter area. What bait is the best? I tried bullhead last year....not the best of luck. One 30 pounder flathead. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Good luck to all :)


You got the right bait.... You might need to try some other spots or put some more time in.
Plenty of hogs in your area

[BIGMO]

That year we tried all the boat ramps from Mankato to Minn. Bad year.
We use chubs and suckers alot up there. Some of the best chubs ive ever seen up there, big ones, either catch em in the creeks or buy em. we fish new ulm, judson, Le Suer ... etc... been a couple years since ive been there but ive fished that area bout 5 or 6 times.
Larry we dont keep any of the channel cats. We go for the Flathead. Ive ate several of those with no problems .... that i know of. lol. Matter of fact we hardly ever catch any channels. probably cause we use mostly live bait but ive crushed a chub head a few times and havent caught anything.
Tim I will be with a group of probably 4 guys. We are fishin out of a 18'-0"Jon itll have missouri tags. I will be the big round guy with a Budweiser in my hand. New Ulm seems to be our bait guys favorite spot, cause every year he tells us to fish there. We have, but we also fish alot of other areas.

So what are the laws on catfish. I am still confused by the manual. Whats the legal way to keep a flathead and skin it? do i have to leave the head and tail (since its a measured fish)? do i have to keep a patch of skin on it? 1" square? Ive read that fishin regulation manual many times and still I am not confident im doing the right thing.

Jon (Missouri)

[rushing]

So the only catfish you can have in your possession including a cooler is.

5 combined(channel or flats) Only 1 over 24inches and only 2 of them can be flatheads.

[Larry]

Rob,
When do you have time to hook up Mate!

[rushing]

The last weekend of this month works for me. Man if you only had an idea of how much fun I have been having.

[nuthinlikeacat]

Rob~
Sounds like you've been having the type of year I've been having:big_smile: It's been a great year so far, and hoping it only gets better. If you see a boat with "Catfish Slayer" and "Work Less, Fish More" its me. We have a bar mounted across the top with a few KC lights, so you cant miss us coming.

This year has already topped last year, and were just beginning!

[Larry]

The bite has been hot near the cities. We've boated a 44" 41" and bunch of smaller ones on the last 3 outings. This has been an awesome spring....
I'm waiting for a 50 to pop.

[BIGMO]

Larry hows the River lookin now at the city? we are still comin in this weekend sometime. looks like its up quite a bit and u guys are expecting 4" of rain??? dang. Where should we look if the river is bank full? up the surrounding creeks? I have 4 dozen chubs saved back for me , and im ready. Well looks like we will have plenty of water to run in ... maybe not a campsite to stay at though. lol. are there any boat ramps on surrounding creeks or rivers that we can use to launch in case we cant fish te minnesota? thx for any help.

[Larry]

The river is going way up. Were in for some heavy storms tonight that are tracking along the river.
Good luck fishing BIGMO, You might want to lay your hands on some bullheads. They seem to be the ticket right now.
I haven't been getting hardly any action on the chubs lately, cept the occasional channel.

[BIGMO]

Thx for the update. Havent seen yet how much rain u guys got last nght. we might be in for a time trying to find the Flatheads. Im thinkin the new flats created by the high water.
Larry where can I get bullheads in Minnesota? I know where to get them in Missouri, small creeks and some small ponds, but do they sell them somewhere around Mankato? I dont beleive Jim sells them there. U know Jim? Awesome guy, awesome family, good pie. ha ha

[Larry]

Most catch them them selves. The only place that I know of that sells them is Moore's bait and tackle in the twin cities.
Just remember that you can use up to 7inch bully in MN. After that you might be in a little hot water if you cross paths with a CO
The river is getting close to Flood stage in almost all areas.
I wish I knew more of the mankato area to help you out.

We got a local contest closer to the cities that night. Should be interesting.
Went out tonight managed a smaller channel 4lbs. had one screaming fast run but swing and miss.
Good luck

[Larry]

Big MO,
Howed it go....
We had a stellar night on our end....with 140lbs of fish boated.
the biggest at 40lbs and 4 over 20lbs... it was great night even with the rising water.
Hope it went well.
Let us know

[BIGMO]

Larry

Just got back. That was alot of water. We were skunked first few days. Then we got a 10# channel and a 6# flathead monday night. fished the mouths of a few creeks. my bait guy turned me on to some bullhead spots but we didnt get there. congrats on the boat load. we just really needed more time as we started comin up with a few spots the last day we were there.
Solstice party was goin on at the land of memories campsite we stayed at so that was fun. Really awesome weather though nice and cool. just a weee bit of rain when we were there. tanks for all the help guys.