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The itch has started

DTro

By DTro
in Catfish

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DTro Grand Master

DTro

Posted
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As the calendar rolls over into March here, my brain tends to shift from augers and snowmobiles to boats and bullheads. In fact, just yesterday, I noticed one of my Cat poles sitting in the corner of the garage looking pretty lonely. So, what better time to put some thoughts to words and put together a little synopsis of a typical year for me Cattin on the MN, and some of the tactics I like to use to try and catch a few fish.

April

April brings longer days of sun and snow/ice melt-off. Ice on the lakes is turning dark and rivers are swelling. Cats are starting to react to warmer temps and their metabolism is kicking in. Most of April is still too early here in MN for Flatheads, but it’s not uncommon to catch a few in the later days of the month. April is a good time to start prepping your open water gear and doing a little scouting and also a good time to catch some nice channel cats. As the water warms and ice melts, it releases dead stuff from over the winter and the channel cats will scrounge for that dead bait. The trick here is to find some water that warms faster. Usually you can find warmer water by finding creeks and runoffs on the river. Also the shallow slack water side of eddies can be good. Warm water discharges are always good. Especially when the sun is high and the spring temps are warm, April channel cattin can be fun.

May

May is typically when the Flatheads start waking up from their winter slumber. They start moving around and looking for easy meals. It’s fairly common to pick up a few on cut bait during May, but as the month progresses, they will be more and more willing to take a larger live bait. May is when the real scouting starts happening. I’m looking for newly formed current seams, fallen trees and snags (old and new) and evaluating favorite creek mouths to see how things have scoured out over the winter. Water levels will play a very important part on where I’m fishing in May. Channel cats are really getting active now and you will be able to catch them throughout the day. They are starting to stage for their pre-spawn bite and by late May they may be really going nuts on their pre-spawn eating splurge.

June

June by far is the most productive month on the MN River for both Flatheads and Channels. If I could only fish one month, hands down it would be June. The vast majority of all my big fish (and also those I fish with regularly) are caught in June. This seems a bit early for a lot of old timers who insist that the low water period of July and August rule, but I would strongly disagree….for me, It’s June baby….JUNE! Flatheads are getting really active in the beginning of the Month and by mid month it is all out chaos. You can catch both species of fish 24/7 in June so even if you have a couple of hours in the middle of the day whether from boat or from shore, I say get out there, because the more time you can have a bait in the water in June, the higher the odds of catching some really nice fish. I concentrate most all of my fishing on creek mouths and current seams. The Flats are moving upstream to spawn and eating everything in their path. They are eating machines right now, so I look for places to ambush them on their way. I’m not picky about my bait, as long as it’s lively and I have a lot of it. You can never have TOO much bait. One night around the 10 th of June a few years ago, a couple of us once went through about 40 bullheads in a few short hours and we could have used more. My preference is a 9-10” bullhead or the same size creek chub, but like I said, I’m not real picky. Even 4 and 5” bullheads will catch big Flatheads during this month.

Channels are also going crazy right now and eating both live and cut bait. My preference is a nice size fresh bloody chunk of creek chub when I target them, but most of my efforts are towards catching the Flatheads in June. By the end of June the channels are getting ready to spawn and the bite will taper off a bit.

July

July is also a great month on the MN for both species, however by mid-month the bite is tapering off as the fish are spawning. As the month numbers of fish caught will slowly decline until the point in which you are happy to catch a few fish a night. The fish are a couple of different modes right now depending on how the spawns has happened. In most cases though by the end of July both species will be changing to a post spawn summer pattern and hanging out in their “summer cottages”. The bite seems to be better later into the night in July, especially in the last week or two. This is when I start experimenting with large pieces of cutbait for Flatheads. My favorite tactic in July is find a big old snag and having lively baits around it at dusk. For channels, the end of July into August means trying a variety of stuff like Shrimp, Frogs, and some prepared “stink bait”. You can get into some really big numbers doing this.

August

August can be a really tough month on the MN for cats. If someone told me I couldn’t fish for a whole month on the MN, without hesitation I’d pick August. But that doesn’t mean you should quit, however I’d recommend exploring larger bodies of water. For whatever reason (that I don’t have an explanation for), the bite is always better on the lower larger stretches of the MN and places like the P2 and P3 of Mississippi and St Croix, in August. I’m not sure if the water stays cooler, or if fish are already migrating back downstream, but I’m convinced enough to the point, that I will start fishing other rivers once August arrives. I really like using cut bait in August. Some of my biggest Flatheads have been caught soaking a piece of creek chub on a circle hook during the middle of the summer. What’s nice about this is that the channels cats have turned back on again and you can really put together a great mixed species day on the water without worrying about babysitting live bait. But don’t let that keep you from trying live stuff though. Larry H (whom I’ve fished with a lot during this timeframe) is called Mr. August because of all the big fish he has caught during this month. He is meticulous about his bait and late nights coupled with the biggest suckers he can find, has been a great pattern for him. Again, these fish are mostly caught on the lower stretches of the MN and pools 2 and 3 of the Miss. I’m not saying fish cannot be caught on the MN, but your success rates drop off dramatically. I think the best method to consistently catch fish on the MN in August is to find the snags they call home and put out some snacks for them. They will eat eventually.

September

September is a weird month for me on the MN. I have days in which I think, “wow the bite is really on”, and days in which I wonder, why I’m not doing something other than fishing. I’ve been told time and time again that there is a “fall feedbag” bite for flatheads in Sept and Oct, but it’s been really hit or miss for me the last 10 years. I think I tend to get a little lost in how I should be fishing and struggle to find a pattern….that and by Sept, I’m a little burned out from the long season. With that said though, I’ve caught fish in just about every spot in September. This includes snags, rocks, seams, creek mouths, and holes. It’s kind of a mish mash though. Others I’ve discussed this with have told me that they have good success in Sept and Oct concentrating on the heads of deep holes and waiting them out when they come out to feed but I can’t say I’ve shared the same experience. Mostly likely it’s a confidence thing with me.

October

I don’t catfish much in Oct. If we get a nice fall warm day, I’ll go out and soak a bait for a while, but mostly that is all I end up doing. I just haven’t had much success at all in Oct. I have a hard time catching nothing when I know I can target a different species (walleye) and have much better luck doing so. Again, I’ve heard of great cat bites in Oct and mostly that success comes from knowing where the fish are going to be over winter. They start congregating in these areas and if you find a wintering hole, you can most likely have some great days in Oct. I usually have other things on the mind though. Things such as Sturgeon and Walleyes…..and then one day towards the end of Oct, I notice the ice auger sitting in the corner of the garage looking lonely.

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no bait nate Community Regular

no bait nate

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Great read Dtro. I've only been cat fishing a couple times on the St. Croix last year and a few dams when I was younger without much real success. Last year hooking into a few channels and smaller flats really got me going. I think this year I will be buying a new set up for these fish and trying to target them a few times on the MN. I came across your array of videos online last night and now I really want in on this, I have been warned about the new addiction though! Thanks

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A.W.Wolfram Proficient

A.W.Wolfram

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Great read DTro!

Solid info and if I was to pick a mounth to not fish the MN it would also be August. Unless of course you had LFC with, but than on the other hand even if your with him he is the only one in the boat that can catch them smile

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Rollincoal Rookie

Rollincoal

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Already seeing cat fisherman out trying their luck, went out tonight to a few launches to look at the river and to see what the water level is looking like. I went from the cedar launch down to the shakopee launch, at approximately 7:30 pm at the shakopee launch, to my surprise there was a truck with a empty boat trailer. I don't know for sure if they were fishing for cats but I also don't think they were going for a joy ride at night in the "cold." There were also two cat fisherman on black dog road and one of the fisherman is a friend of the person I was with. I cant stop thinking about how awesome of a year this is going to be and how I cant wait to get out.

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DTro Grand Master

DTro

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You could not go more than a mile each way from Shakopee yesterday. Still lots of ice out there. Did that truck have a white topper and parked across the lines at the launch. If so we talked to them, hopefully they didn’t have boat trouble or got into a jam, since it was a new SJX jet boat and it was his first time out there with that boat.

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Gordie Grand Master

Gordie

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Gordie, were you at P4 yeterday?

i was there and saw a monster flat caught as well. i heard them say #46 i beleive

No but the boat might be down on Friday might even have a open seat if anyone is intrested wont know until thrusday afternoon if Im going yet.

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Mr Special Mentor

Mr Special

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i wont make it dwn there friday, but will probably be there saturday.

yep, i was there on tuesday from 7-4pm. Fished from the dam all the way to the bridge. we really had to wrk for decent size fish, but caught numerous lil guys

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