Catfish Ice Out

[UncoChu]

I am having the open water itch. Tired of catching crappies through the holes and am dreaming about ice out. My question is when is it too early to go fishing for catfish in the Mississippi? I looked up DNR information and ice out in the cities started around March 25th on some lakes but I'm sure the river will be more clear. I usually fish channel catfish and I locate spots where mouth meets main river. Will the catfish be active and head to shallow water around late March/early May? Want to know so I can dream some more when the time comes lol

Thanks fellas!

[pushbutton]

Find a shallow spot as the sun goes down in the evening. Northside bank, warm water discharge, piling/bridge area, rock bank .....whatever....just so its a little warmer then surrounding water. The fish will come up to feed. I used to catch them in this type place right after ice out on that first 50 to 60 degree sunny day.

[aanderud]

I've heard that the cats are already biting on the mississippi. The minnesota is still fairly well locked up around here.

Find some holes. The channel cats will still be there. That's what a birdie told me. I can't speak from experience, because I've never tried fishing them this early.

[UncoChu]

Thanks for the info Mr.Push, You have gotten me even more excited for that warm sunny day to come.

Mr. Anderud, Are you talking about deeper holes? I am a shore angler for catfish and those deep holes are hard to find. And good to know that they are biting already. Once it warms up ill be out there Thanks!

[DTro]

Yep, for those willing to put in a little work scouting out available open water right now, you can find a decent channel cat bite. A good way to locate these spots is stalk the walleye guys.

This is a little different from summer fishing. You will want downsize your presentation and be ready to set the hook quickly.

[EBass]

Cut sucker or crawler? I suppose bring both.

[DTro]

My favorite early spring bait is fresh cut fatheads, or shad

[UncoChu]

I've tried both cut suckers, smelt, crawlers, stinkbait, etc. But honestly, I get most of my fish on liver. I'm not targeting monsters, I like to have constant action. But the ones that I catch on fresh cut bait are the bigger ones.

So excited for it to warm up that I took out my cattin stuff and set it all up, sat in my room and pretended I was fishing lol

[EBass]

Shad? I'll need Mr. Special for that.

[nsnutter]

Rumor has it they're biting on shad ..... And ringworms good luck. They're biting light, and almost exclusively and decisively after dark. The itch got too bad to handle a week or so ago. Go scratch yours ... Let us know how you do.

[Nhamm]

Found a nice hole 16-20' that is right off the main channel surrounded by wood and rock and frozen all winter broke up last week and get a few every time out. Bought a huge sucker and just been cutting that up all week and has worked well on a kahle hook. Pretty aggressive bites in the metro area.

[Slab_Supper]

Saw 4 nice sized channels get caught yesterday on Pool 4.

[motownmasher]

the minnesota began to break up here yest.(sw MN) i've also been feeling that itch, and it seems that by next weekend i'll be able to scratch it. good luck!

[UncoChu]

Thanks for the info fellas! Gonna go scratch my itch within the next few days.

[UncoChu]

How different is wintering cats from cats in the summer time. Are they around the same holes they are in the summer? Channel cats specifically. I assume that you would want to downsize the bait. Are the fish taking the bait and running like my past experiences? or do they just kind of pick it up, taste it, then drop it? This is on the river btw.

Thanks!

[Fisher Dave]

You can get a great bite on channel cats if you can locate the schools. Dont expect the fish to come looking for your bait until the water warms up. DTRO made some really good suggestions. The fish typically bite lighter in the cold water however you will get one to hit a little more aggressively on occasion. Heavy walleye or bass rods are ideal and downsizing your presentation is key. Using the lightest weight possible and even downsizing to a #1/0 hook and using a stinger. They dont fight nearly as hard in ice cold water, too heavy of gear they will spin all the way in.

The fish will usually concentrate to deeper holes somewhere that theres a regular food source and will not move far. Not every hole will hold fish. When you find them it usually doesnt take long to get a bite, they will also bite during the day but will have peak periods of the morning and afternoon. Shad and fatheads are my top cold water baits. Baits that are a little more rancid can be a bonus in the cold water.

[Selmer]

I've been trying to get some early cats this year. I'm a relative newbie to this game. I learned a couple of things sitting next to some guys on the MN River south of the LQP dam a few miles today. One - downsize. Two - be patient. Three - switch up baits to a couple of fathead minnows, one of them with the belly slit. We fished with a typical summer setup and got zero bites. The guys next to us had plenty of weight on with a slip-sinker set up, small hooks and the minnows. I helped them net (they didn't have a net!?!?) a 25" and a 20" channel. They already had a 22" channel on the stringer. I might be back out tomorrow, though I'm considering checking my summer spots with the boat tomorrow, which are classic bait funnels on the downstream side of log jams.