Where to ice cats at?

[KG243]

I am new to fishing for catfish, where would be some good place to try and bring one up through the ice? I live in Cambridge and I am not loking for specific locations just a body of water to try. Thanks!

[DTro]

The most popular place to do this is on the Sauk Chain near St Cloud. Due to the sheer numbers of fish in that system, it makes it much easier to find them.

[Gordie]

KG when you thinking of going out if you are considering the chain I may head that way myself and show you around

[KG243]

Thanks, I did some studying on the dnr's web site and looks like there are tons of cat fish over there. Are they good to eat in the winter or is this more of a catch and release type of fishing? Thanks again I am pumped to try this after whatching your video dtro!

[DTro]

They are tasty

Every so often I'll keep a few, but I have a lot more fun catching them than eating them.

[Gordie]

very tasty

[KG243]

How do you prepare them?

[DTro]

Just swap the walleye pieces with catfish pieces. Prepare as usual

I like to chunk them up into smaller pieces and use a cajun seasoning and deep fry.

You can fillet them just like a walleye. A little tricky around the ribcage, but not much meat there and some times it's easier to start the knife behind the rigcage and fillet.

Lots of people skin them, and while you might get a little more meat that way, it's a lot more work.

Remember, only 1 over 24"

[HuskerBen]

Lots of people skin them, and while you might get a little more meat that way, it's a lot more work.

Get some skinning pliers, and it's a lot less work (on the 2-3lb eater size ones, anyhow). Slit the skin just behind the head on both sides, hold the head with the left hand, grip it and rip it. The skin pulls right off. Then proceed with the fillet as usual. Once you get the hang of it, it's super easy. I've always thought cats were the easiest fish to clean.

[DTro]

I should've stated it's a lot more work "for me"

Electric knife

Zip...Zip...Zip

done

[benbosh]

what do you guys use for bait/lures? and what areas do they like to hang out in?

[Quetico]

Now you guys just u pieces of dead minnows rather than live? Jig and dead minnow?

My goal for the winter is to ice my first cat. I know a small lake that is loaded with them.

[me_fathead]

Posted elsewhere, but: anyone try icecats on Cokato Lake?

I like catfish grilled.

[Gordie]

How do you prepare them?

this is how I do it its a little work but its worth every tender bite. fillet like a walleye then cut all the red/dark meat off of the fish fillet that gives it a muddy taste then I cube up into 1-2 inch pieces put in pot of boiling water let cook until just about to falake apart then rinse off with cold water then deep fry with your favorite batter. now you got me really hungry for catfish

[harvey lee]

what do you guys use for bait/lures? and what areas do they like to hang out in?

I have used Go-Devils for them with a piece of cut bait. The Lindy Flyin rattlin spoon is also a good one.

http://www.outdoorprostore.com/glow-devil.html

[KG243]

My next qeustion is were on the lake, what kind of structure do they like? From whatching the video on the main page I am thinking channel areas in between islands or more like where a river or stream is coming in? Thanks I am really pumped know I saw that video!

[benbosh]

Thanks I am really pumped know I saw that video!

Same here, the lake I want to try I knew had catfish in it but then when I went to look at the lake information on the DNR HSOforum I seen that they have been stocking it with cats which got me even more pumped for the future

[StillwaterAaron]

There is an informative vid on YouTube Titled

Ice Fishing for Catfish Demonstration

There are many ways to ice cats and here is one technique that Eric uses to put a lot of cats on the ice every year.

Plain old jighead will work well.

[carpmanjake]

they concentrate in holes. they gather up during the winter.

find one cat, and you have found them

[DTro]

find one cat, and you have found them

well....sort of.

[Scott M]

Riverine habitats in lakes, holes, a little bit of current even if there is a river connection....those are good places to try. Seems like the fish really school up.

dtro and I were just talking about this last weekend after I spent a number of days on a couple of catfish lakes last year...the sheer magnitude of abundance of channel cats on the Sauk chain makes it the place to go. I put in a few days on some other lakes, talked to a few anglers out there, and while you can stumble into a few, it's not like fishing Horseshoe or some of the Iowa farm ponds where you can truly target the fish. That's just my opinion...there may be other spots where there are channel cats galore ripe for the picking, but for now I'm not going to waste time; I'm going to Richmond. If the DNR can trap and move catfish out for stocking in other lakes and kid’s fishing ponds and not put a dent in the population, it gives you an idea of the number of catfish available out there.

[Gordie]

da chise you hit that one square in the face.

The first time I ever fished the chain my buddy had a underwater camera and told me that I have to take a look and when I did it reminded me of some fishing show I saw were they had underwater video of thousands swimming around and That what I saw. It was the coolest thing I ever saw on a camera. I also know of a couple lakes that hold numbers of cats but have never targeted them summer or winter.