Metro catfish lakes

[lotsofish]

The DNR has stocked about 20 lakes in the metro with channel cats. Does anyone have any tips on how to target these fish? What kind of depth/structure should I be looking for? I caught a small one last year bass fishing with a senko in 3-4 feet in the weeds, but that's the only cat I've caught in a lake. Any live or cut bait in the weeds on these lakes is going to be tough to keep the bluegills off.

[Mr Special]

id probably start somewhere near deep water,as i beleive they would travel back n forth to dine on some bluegills.

bottom fishing a slip rig with cutbait would be the way to go, but if its a weedy area a slip bobber a foot or 2 off bottom might be a better option.

when targeting cats, i usually use a good size chunk of cutbait "1 inch or bigger". so even tho smaller fish might nibble on here n there, they arent gonna steal it.

kinda cool n can give ya a lil heads up, but sometimes you'll get tiny nibbles, then its dead silence and all of a sudden wham a big cat hits it.

Good luck and let us knwo how you do

[BEEFEATER]

Im not sure about in the metro but i know sum great cat lakes in Mn. Usually i nightcrawler on the bottom, with light tackle or a slip cork with cutbait. good eatin to. much prefered over them mn river cats

[me_fathead]

Im not sure about in the metro but i know sum great cat lakes in Mn. Usually i nightcrawler on the bottom, with light tackle or a slip cork with cutbait. good eatin to. much prefered over them mn river cats

Far and away the WORST catfish I've ever eaten came out of a lake west of the Metro area, though I also ate others from the same lake that were good.

For that lake it was best right after ice out in 1-3 feet of water. Bobber and cutbait worked beautifully. The nice thing about cut bait is you're not going to have much competing with the cats other than northerns.

[lotsofish]

So, I didn't have any cutbait, but I did try nightcrawlers on the bottom. Those didn't last long because of the panfish. I kinda gave up on it, and was catching bluegills and crappies with a jig and 1" gulp alive minnow when I caught about a 10 pound cat. That was fun on a ML rod with light line. Next time I'll get some suckers for cut bait, but I still think those pesky gills are going to pick it apart.

[Mr Special]

isnt that always the case most times, big fish seem to bite best when not targeted lol

impaling a few fatheads on a hook and rippin a couple in half and rehooking them works good as well. Some people just smush them a lil to get the juices flowing

Like i was saying before, the lil fish may nibble at your bait here n there but a channel will hit it pretty hard.

sidenote, use a sturdy rod holder if your dead sticking it.