[CaptainBrad]

I had a break in the schedule last week (ok I booked a trip) and went to the famous Lockport, Manitoba for channels. I had not actually went fishing myself in about a month so I was like an addict needing a fix going into our departure.

We arrived five hours early (nothing like skipping work to get on the road) and decided to get a couple hours in the first evening. On the second spot I hit a high teen channel on a bobber in 2 feet of water. The evening was nice but not gangbusters.

The next day our adventure really took off. We only fished daylight hours so we may have missed some magic fishing but still managed another two and a half days of wrestling with these creatures. All told our boat landed about 80 cats with probably an 18 pound average. I know we had at least 5 flirting with 30 pounds but none over.

Here is the one and only photo I took of the trip. This fish was 28.4 pounds, my largest this year.

 

[Catfish_Scooter]

Congrats cap. Nice blue there.

 

[CaptainBrad]

Congrats cap. Nice blue there.

That is a channel

 

[Catfish_Commando]

Man that boy is a pig..

Awesome fish! :wink:

 

[Canadiancatman]

Aj Thats a nice channel cat there. :big_smile: Sounds like a good trip Brad what were they hitting on? I'm hoping to get out that way again before they shut er down for the winter. did you book a trip through COTR or did you guys just head out on your own?

 

[CaptainBrad]

Frogs were working OK but tullibee was the answer. Thanks to some good connections we were able to get some fresh bait and it paid big dividends in comparison to other baits.

We just went up on our own, hung out with friends and had a good time fishing. After 25 trips you begin to learn some goto spots and that never hurts.

 

[bnewsom71]

Now that is a big channel! Congrats! I am putting that trip on the bucket list!!

 

[SouthGADan]

Lordy, lordy, what a fish!

 

[snomad]

Great fish Brad. I think you timed your trip well. I think the frst half of September was not only the best weather we've had all summer but also some of the most consistent fishing too. Well done. What a fishery, eh?

 

[low desert jonathan]

One hell of a fish LDJ:big_smile:

 

[Guest]

:laugh1:Nice 28lb channel! Good looking fish:laugh1:

 

[BIG_D]

yes sir that is a pig

 

[catfisherman04]

Are channel cats in canada on steroids lol. Why is it that canada produces such large channels and soo many of them ?

 

[Canadiancatman]

Daniel my best guess why we grow so many sumo channel cats up here would be for a few reasons the first being our strict regulations there is a 4 fish possession limit for cats up here (that includes fish in the freezer at home) as well as any cat over 24" must be released. that right there protects the bigguns also not many anglers keep cats to eat up here so the majority get released. Also the Channel cats from lockport north have access to lake winnipeg where fissing pressure is almost 0 out on the lake they feast on goldeyes mooneyes and get really fat!!

 

[CptAhab]

Hey there Shane, beautiful fish in the avatar! Isn't the limit different too for type of license? A max of four if you have a regular resident, but only one for conservation and non-resident license holders? And to my knowledge there is no stretch of water that's as watched by Natural Resources as the stretch from Lockport to Selkirk.

A part too are the guides who fish that stretch of water and cpr all their catch, between their willingness to keep good fish in the water to pass on their genes and tough regulations and a fairly healthy environment the fishery is really strong.

 

[Canadiancatman]

Thanks Ryan the cat in my avatar was caught and released out of the assiniboine river close to home get some decent ones around here but nowhere near the numbers in the red!! I'm getting pumped up for cats went and got some tullibees for when the cats get picky and want them and I'll be scouting out my sucker spots soon if it isn't already happening. There's still a bit of icefishing left though with this cool weather I'm hoping I'll still be able to get out a couple more times before the season closes then hopefully get into some april trout as well!

 

[CptAhab]

Where are you managing to find ice still? No, don't tell me, it'll just make me jealous, am already, icefishing season was a wash for me this year and the kicker was that I got a bunch of tackle for Christmas from my kids and brother-in-law! Stay safe though, I know some guys who were sinking vehicles earlier in the week.

Where are you getting your tulibee? I've never had it in the bait cooler though I know that the guides swear buy it during certain times of the year. I still have some suckers in the freezer and a whole pile of shrimp and chicken liver, though I only use the livers in August-September or if it gets good and hot towards the end of July. Yeah, I'm with you, totally pumped for the season opener and hammering some big cats!

 

[CptAhab]

Hi Shane, if the fishing fever was getting bad a week or two ago its starting to get really crazy now. No ice on the river! Season starts in how many days?!?
The one thing thats making me a little worried though is this cold snap that we're having, hope that its not going to set the fishing back too much the way that it did a few years back.

 

[Canadiancatman]

Hey Ryan I live in Portage so lake manitoba isn't too far away that's where I was getting my tullibees. Their fun to catch through the ice!! From monday through wednesday I put on over 1100kms Icefishing!! Was up to the ducks for tiger trout then hit lake winnipeg on the last day of the season man that ice was brutal!! I'm hoping to get as much summer fishing in as possible this summer but I'm getting married in august so it'll be pretty busy around then. I hope to get out to the red as much as possible in the boat this summer but most likely I'll be lucky to sneak down to the river here more. I'm actually really pumped up to catch some massive drum right at opener kind of a ritual for me as cats are usually a little slow still around here first thing.

 

[CptAhab]

Well temps are really getting up there and so is my case of fish fever!

Busy summer with a wedding and all, I'd say! Congrats Shane! I recall the summer that I got hitched... I nearly forgot what a fishing rod looked like! As I recall it took a year for me to hit the river again and the new wife was not impressed by the soaked raingear and muddy boots that I would drag back to our little appartment, or the baitcooler... she still really hasn't forgiven me either for using a tape measure that she had bought for around the house for measuring fish(got a little rusty for the first twenty inches or so).

If your lady can understand your need to fish and your love of fishing in anyway count yourself a very lucky man. And if she likes to fish with you, well thats like winning the lottery.