Flathead & Channel Catfish Fishing Reports

[Shack]

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Seriously, anyone out fishing and catching yet? If so let's hear the good, the bad and yes, the ugly!

Here is my report from earlier:

As of today I heard pool 2 channels are being found pretty good and some small flats once in a blue moon. Nothing of size other than one channel around 15lbs.

Fishing the Mississippi North around Elk River last weekend in a channel spot yielded no channels but sure did yield the bullheads. Never have caught bullheads in this spot before but they would not stay off the line. Even cut some up and no luck even after the sun was down.

Plans for a Pool 2 run are being had for this weekend as so we can "test" the waters. Certainly not holding my breath but you never know when it is the river. Big cats are moving somewheres but nothing I have heard of from those out frequently right now. No 50+ fish heard of yet from me but you never know? Still early yet especially given the conditions.

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[Rick G]

This is a great idea Shack Lets find out where they are and are not biting.

Here is my report. From Royalton to Clearwater fishing for cats has been pretty good now that the water is starting to warm a bit on the Mississippi.

Finding them has been pretty easy, just look for a nice big eddy with a soft bottom and a good current edge. If you have some brush or logs in that same hole, thats all the better.

Right now I am getting most of my fish on gobs of liver, ten days ago they were liking crawlers or cut bait better.

Water level on the river is droping a bit more each day, bite should only get better from here on out.

[Scott M]

Good channel bite on the Minnesota on shad. Haven't tangled with a flatty yet. I am hoping to get out next week but this weekend is trout fishing and turkey hunting and the weekend after is Memorial Day with the family and some walleye, pike, and crappie fishing. The whiskers may have to wait, but with the water warming and a chance of rain, I think they are going to get going pretty good!

[Shack]

Spent several hours shore fishing Pool 2 last evening into this morning with live bullhead and only brought in a few good hits and misses and one "mystery fish" right to shore which was subsequently lost. One of the guys did use cut bullhead for a period of time with nothing caught.

The party down the way from us in one spot used chicken liver and caught nothing also.

Beautiful evening though and wished we had stayed until right about now but left around 1:00am.

[aanderud]

Haven't been out on the river yet this year. Sad but true. Good luck to all those that are venturing out. Flatties should be in full swing this week. Saw a few reports last week and the warmer temps have to help.

[TruthWalleyes]

Channels HaveBeen going on the mn river, worms or cutbait

[clayton08]

Has been pretty slow for me personally, only been out a couple times, caught a few channels on cutbait on the minnesota. Haven't tried to hard yet but will start loggin on the hours soon.

[DTro]

It appears to be a fairly typical start to the cattin season, only just about a month late.

This rain will make things interesting in the next week or two.

Both species of fish are most certainly being caught and the entries I've been receiving for the King of the Cats contest has been consistent and steady.

A few really nice fish entered already.

[Shack]

Yep, the rain certainly will. Rivers from the Rum to Mississippi North and I am sure P2 will get a flushing. Just need for the rain to subside now when I am able to go fishing.

Was supposed to head down tonight but called the plans off. "Might" try some soggy shoreline fishing tomorrow night if things line up. Maybe shore fish P2 down south of St. Paul for a change up. We'll see with this weather system coming in for the next few days.

[Rick G]

We are indeed getting a flushing. The river is as high up here as it was last June, it's a foot or more higher than it was at any point durring the melt. Now we have more coming, not to mention it's raining right now. Gona be a bit before things are bact to normal. Good news is that there will be alot of fish using the shorline breaks for cover now that everything else is washed out.

[Selmer]

Fished the Minnesota near Montevideo today with my girls. Average depth is about 8 ft according to my sonar. We tied up to logjams and dropped slip-sinker rigs right over the side with nightcrawlers. I couldn't keep a line in the water because I was taking care of the daughters' lines and fish - 8 & 10 y/o. I did get to catch a couple. We kept 11, smallest a deep hooked 15" fish, average of 18", biggest 25". I did hook into a 15 pound carp - as soon as I set the hook and it took off downstream I handed the rod off to my 8 y/o. She grinned from ear to ear and declared it the best day of her life - it was our first trip out in the new-to-us 1988 16' Lund Stinger with Merc Classic 50 45 hp on it. Quite a step up from the 14' wooden scow with 7.5 hp Johnson. It sure makes running the river faster and easier to get around in the boat with flat bottom and much wider boat.

[Shack]

Fished Pool 2 from shore last night. Got started later than we wanted with arriving to the spot around 10:00pm. Used med/large bullheads and med. to very large suckers. My partner got a 10/15 lb flat around 11:30 pm to Midnight on a bullhead and that was it. He did get this flat within 6 minutes of moving into a new area that was calmer and had some slack water which ran from 10' up to 3-4'. Gave it until 2:00am and tossed in the towel.

Just could not find the bait fish last night or the middle to larger bait fish like carp and drum.

[JeremyCampbell]

I plan on starting around 7pm tomorrow Fishing in the Sauk river behind a friend of a friend's river shack.With the river being this high.This same area I caught many cats last year but atleast I won't have to worry about mosquitos this time.

[cubicleboy]

Pool 2. Little channels have been terrorizing worms. Very soft but quick bite. Missed a bunch but stil landed 3 small channels in an hour and half. Oh..there were some sheephead and a nice size golden eye as well. Was mainly fishing for carp, so didn't use cut bait last night.

[Rick G]

Some nice cats can be had in the St. Cloud section. Look for any of the log jams that break the current to be holding a few. Water is moving quick, even by the current breaks, so a big chunk of lead is needed. This week they seem to be liking crawlers again, but they will take liver if thats all thats being thrown to them.

[Luke_M]

I fished for about 4 hrs today just upstream of the 35w bridge. Picked up 12 channel cats. Good size with about a 7 lb average with 1 dnr tagged fish.

[Shack]

Man! Was shut out yesterday by the could front which swept through. We were supposed to head-out last evening but canceled mid-day after watching the front coming in that was sweeping the Metro. Plus the river is really up right now still on Pool 2.

Felt it was the wisest choice and it's looking like no catting for this weekend.

[Rick G]

Yesterday was pretty good for me on the cats, even know I wasn't trying for them Was on the Horseshoe chain, couldn't keep live bait in the water in some places.

Today we decided to head to the Miss and try for some cats, they were pretty inactive, ended up getting only 2 in four hours. Threw everything at them, didn't have much luck on anything other than crawlers, and even those got bit lightly. I figure it must have been the weather that made the bite so tough.

[Gordie]

The Channel bite was hot during the cool front that moved thru on Saturday night, we caught 8 channels and one sturgie on the Minnesota River, almost all fish we caught were on cut bullheads

[Shack]

Sturgie? Sure it was not a gar Gordie? I have heard rumors of some sturgies being caught upwards of Pool 2 but nothing as far as the MN?

Go figure! A great weekend to be out fishing and could not get out this weekend because of work and the wife being in the hospital. With our family being sick the past few weeks she had an abscess that spread from one of her molars to her jaw and they could not drain it in the clinic and then she got really sick. So I spent last evening looking out a hospital window at the river instead of fishing it.

[DTro]

Probably referring to shovelnose which are common on the MN.

[Shack]

Ah yes! Thanks and I am almost 100% sure that's what he meant. Duh!

[Gordie]

Probably referring to shovelnose which are common on the MN.

Yeppers have caught quite a few

Also caught three flatheads and a leatherback last night on the Minnesota

[ARB]

Took my dad and brother down to Pool 4 fishing around Hager City for the weekend. Like everywhere else, the river is high and the current is moving pretty good. Ended up finding the most consistent action far back into the back waters, mainly looking for current seams and weed edges in 4-7fow. Ended the weekend with a number of smaller channels and a few nice ones in the 27-29in class. Was using both cut sucker and cut drum for bait, fish didn’t seem to have a preference. Water temps are coming up nicely down there, 67 degrees in the main channel, found 70 in some of the back waters.

[Rick G]

Cats remain active on the Mississippi in the St. Cloud area. Some spots are holding numbers and some areas have big fish, but not big numbers. All the cats I have caught in the last week had one thing in common, they were holding shallow for the locations they are in on the river. Been using lots of cut bait and some chicken liver, some days they have liked the liver more than whatever cut bait I can catch. Water temp broke 70 today