Catfishing

[walleyefisher0990]

I am fairly new to fishing for cats, and was wondering if anybody had any tips for a newbie. I live around the stevens point area, and have heard that there is some good spots. Is now a good time to fish for them? Any particular baits, presentations, that work well? Any info would help, just trying to get out and do some river fishing if i can, thanks.

[RiverFish]

I pick up a few catfish each winter through the ice fishing for walleyes.

I don't fish much in the summer around the point area. I do catch catfish on the WI river in the spring and fall, again fihing live bait for walleyes.

Growing up fishing the Red River on the ND/MN border we caught a lot of catfish. They will bite just about anything. If you have your good spots I would throw out some form of live or dead bait on a lindy rig, sit back and wait for a bite. Remember you can throw out 3 lines in WI compared to just 1 in MN.

I would think as the water warms up the catfish would get more active.

[AuggieDawg11]

I had really good luck on some spots along River road. Just throwing out Wolf River Rigs and waiting them out. Good way to spend a summer evening.

[Lunker]

I believe the open water regs for WI are 2 lines.

As far as catfishing, there is great channel cat fishing around point. Some guys pick some up in the winter, mostly on Dubay and Petenwell. The early spring is usually slow for cats on the WI river. As it warms up it will get better. We do a lot of relaxed night fishing, i.e. throw out some crawlers along the banks with some brews, and catch a variety of fish(carp, cats, suckers, bowfin, walleyes, bass, etc.) Popular spots include the blue heron boat landing just downstream of the access, below the dams, the parks in town, where the Plover river dumps in, etc. Pretty much anywhere there is some current and you can cast from shore. While I fish a lot of cutbait/deadbait in MN, I have had very little luck on the WI river with these. Mostly crawlers, and some luck with stinkbaits, chicken livers, etc.

One of the my favorite spots is the spillway south of town. It is a very popular spring walleye bass and musky spot. Shallow fast and rocky, and wadable. However, once the water warms up, I catch of ton of catfish wading down there with a small float, a couple of feet of line and a crawler. Mostly smaller cats here(1-4 lbs) but a lot of them. Tend to catch fewer but larger cats in the other spots. Good Luck

[RiverFish]

Lunker,

You can use 3 lines all year in WI.

Reminder to all the your 2009/10 license expires soon.

[EpicIceTrips]

Need some advice for catfishing rigs and spots in MN dont need percise spots just general locations thanks!!

-Brian

[Lunker]

You'd be better off posting in a regional MN forum for your area, or under the catfishing area if you are looking for tips on MN catfishing. Good Luck!