crooked lake cats

[HandGunner]

I fishe crooked lake in andover alot for bass. Didnt really realize they had channel cats. Seen the sign by the dock at the beach saying the waters had channel cats. Anyone ever catch any their? Size? Only the dock or can I catxh them on the beach too? Looking to try a cat/dog food peanut butter bait paste on a funny ring worm looking plastic worm. My little bait paste tht could make millions lol if so why am I telling you guys ha.

[M1dwestF1sh]

Haha thanks for the million dollar idea there... I have fished it for cats before right off the dock. The only time I have ever caught any is well into the night. I know there is a 10:00 curfew but the only time I've ever had any were past 10:00. The cops don't care they will just tell you to leave if they go down there and see you. I have just used cut up suckers or bullhead and it works. There are quite a few small (15") cats but also some very big ones. I just put a big weight and throw it as far as I can and I have landed fish between 25-30" off the dock. You will get lots of bites throughout the night and probably catch some small ones but every few times you'll get a big one.

[HandGunner]

Wow interesting to know. Btw fishing has grown tremendously their since I first started fishing their 2 years ago, seriously I was that guy who always fished the beach area in rain and storms, and would wade the area. I kept bringing big 3-5 almost 6 pounders back to shore to photo and release. It caught on and now theirs just hoards and hoards of people trying to be bass master out their Im sure baitcaster sales have spiked in sales as well. Its crazy and whats worst it also caught on when I first started kayakig their and fishing now the launch is full and packed like a new box of tampons everyday and oh yea I must have spiked the kayak sales as well. My father in law lives by ace hardware and we are always drivi by the lake to see him and my bro inlaw so yes i know the lake like the back of my hand when it comes to the traffic and fishing their.

Now Im just after the cats their, ppl fish their all night frommwhat i noticed I left at around 9ish pm amd ppl were just now showing up for night fishing. I have no idea if the parking lot at the beach would landyou a ticket after 10 though. Will it?

[M1dwestF1sh]

Haha its hard to keep good fishing a secret in the metro. There's two parking lots by the beach, one by the park area and there's another if you continue to the other side of the baseball field, its just a small parking lot by the outfield and that's where I park and have never had problems. They will drive down to the dock and warn you to leave. There are people that go fish cats at night so some nights you'll be alone others it'll be busy. Its been harder to hook into big cats this year compared to others for me.

[HandGunner]

Been out 2 more times from 9pm until about 11pm no cats but a few bites not sure if its sunnies or what. Just see my line move away for a sec and drop back in resting position. Tonight felt a tug twice holding the rod but no carry away. Then had 2 biyes that pulled the rod tip about 6 inches away from were it rested on the ground but never continued to carry away with the bait. Used spme cooked spam and cooked chicken the first night and tonight used a piece of a softplastic worm covered in peanut butter also did hard dog food smeared in peanut butter. Any idea if they were cats or other fish? How can I improve? First night on the dock tonight I was at the beach. Peanut butter works great for a paste bait maybe il do some boiled blood so it crust up and mix it with the PB or blood fish flake pet food. PB and some kind of blended cooked meat or ground garlic and PB? Also need to get some live worms again.

[HandGunner]

Btw cop came first night out me and bro in law was only ones on dock fishing cop patrols beach wife had dropped us off we were carless. Cop comes down to dock with flashlight shines us, oh you guys are fishing sorry didnt see the poles from the car alright have fun good luck and stay safe. Tonight had car parked at the second lot by the 2 little shops I believe its still the beach lot. Cop came a rolling around 9 something and no more after I left at around 11:15 pm guess they dont mind fishermen anymore I guess the main concern for them are dumb kids who are their sometimes who sit around run around make noise and smoke the sea weed.

[M1dwestF1sh]

Most of the time I've found if you are quiet and respectful the cops don't mind you. As for the fish it could be small cats. I had a ton do that to me before and every few I would hook. The big ones grab the bait and just take off like crazy though. I've really only had success on cut bait. I take a big weight and big hook and take a chunk of sucked or bullhead cut and throw it as far off the dock as I can and wait. Try setting the hook into some of those bites you get. You might hook at least a small cat.

[DTro]

Used spme cooked spam and cooked chicken the first night and tonight used a piece of a softplastic worm covered in peanut butter also did hard dog food smeared in peanut butter.

Ditch all that crud and just use a piece of cut sucker, or chub. Chicken liver or prepared stink bait will work, but forget all that spam, peanut butter, hot dog stuff.

[HandGunner]

How do I use cutbait? Just chop the fish in pieces and throw it on a hook? Never used cutbait would it catch me big ones or small ones? Peanut butter makes great paste bait I have 3 mixes to try one is crushed catfood with the PB one is shredded cooked meat fried garlic and PB and last is meat hoisin sauce and PB. Lets just say the garlic and the hoisin sauce mixes are pretty raunchy makes me a lil nausous. How long does chicken liver last? I have hear of chicken liver wrapped in the mesh bag oranges come in works to keep it on the hook very well. I need to pick up some worms too.

[M1dwestF1sh]

Chicken liver works good and you can get it at most grocery stores as for wrapping it, you'd probably be fine without any wrap on a lake. The cut bait is exactly what it sounds. Get a sucker or bullhead and just cut a big chunk out of it and put it on your hook and throw it out and let it sit on the bottem. Cut bait would be geared towards bigger fish.

[SteveD]

How do I use cutbait? Just chop the fish in pieces and throw it on a hook?

Here is a link to how to use cut bait. Pretty simple - it is just cut up fish. I have found that cut anything will work. I use suckers, bullheads, sheepshead, etc. This link explains it pretty well:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb..._Tu#Post1461495

[SteveD]

Some cat fishermen don’t like bullheads for cut bait but I have had good luck with it. Live bullheads are my preferred bait for flatheads and I trap and catch my own bullheads. My traps catch a lot of small bullheads (4" to 5") which are perfect to use as cut bait.

I have found that one of the best tools for making cut bait is a good scissors or game shears. On my small bullheads I only make 2 cuts with a scissors. The first cut is just behind the head and the second cut is just in front of the tail. Just run your hook through the meaty part of the piece of bullhead and toss it out there. Bullheads are a very bloody bait and leave an excellent scent trail. Here are a few photos to show the cut bullhead:

[HandGunner]

I think I want to try new places this weekend. Any good places in anoka county or close? Within city? Been on youtube and most of the cat fishing vids are all on the MN river so I might make a trip with the family any spos on the river if anyone dosnt mind sharing? Cant be too heavily wooded or hard to get to will be briging wife and my chubby 4th old for some cat action hopefully.

As for bait Isn't their a size range of bullheads I can trap and use? Does it matter if its from a diferent body of water? Have they changed the laws about using sunnies for bait or no? Lost my reg book.

[JBMasterAngler]

Can't use sunnies. Minnesota River is still way over it's banks, so shore fishing probably won't be an option this weekend. I crossed the Mississippi today at several locations between Monticello and hwy 694, and it was pretty high and fast as well.

[aanderud]

As for bait Isn't their a size range of bullheads I can trap and use? Does it matter if its from a diferent body of water? Have they changed the laws about using sunnies for bait or no? Lost my reg book.

Starting to wonder if you're just trolling or what, when you ask questions that are obviously available in the reg book and are or have been hot topics on this and other sites before and use the excuse of "lost my reg book". Obviously you don't need a "reg book", as you can use the online regs that I pointed you to in the other post you started about "bypassing" the one line rule. Here they are once again.

http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/regulations/fishing/fishing2014.pdf

Bait rules are fairly well spelled out. Don't transfer bait from an infested body of water, that's the biggest piece to remember. Use search ("control+F" on your keyboard) to get what you looking for. Search for "bullhead", for instance, and you find plenty of info on sizes.

[HandGunner]

I wish I was a troll so I can live under a bridge over the river and fish all day. My day consist of working second shift and coming home to take care of my girl plus feed back is better than just reading words. I have alot of time to sit and wait for replies I dont ever get out as often and when I do its a short 2 hour trip including travel time. Alot of my weekend time comsist of taking care of my family and my families family. I dont have a reg book I can get one the many times going to wally but if Im even lucky to remember tht over groceries baby diapers formula toys whatnot. I catch myself going fishing amd missing gear because im even lucky to remember the poles Im a new parent so far theae last 4 months just have alot on my plate. Plus like I said feedback is always best letters and words cant speakfor themselves and I like sharing my ideas if it bothers you that much why do you reply? Do you get paid to? Not like theirs multi million $$$ threads even going on Im the most activity that goes on anyways on this topic other than what 3 other threads? My wife is clingy that is good I like it but it takes away my fish time its ok ppl have diferent lives if Im such a anoyance here plz do the honor of getting me botted from the whole site. Thank you come again

[HandGunner]

Its like teaching my dad which is pretty old school how to really use a computer he has all the time to learn. If he cant figure out how to log into facebook he will wait until Im free even if its a few days so I can show him. If I started calling him a troll and nagged him that all he needs to know is in the facebook handbook he would smack me upside the head and call me a [PoorWordUsage]. Some people need patience and time and those who cant help should do what they do best and sit in a corner and think aboit themselves better yet just dont even get involved. I dont demand ppl for help I get what I get and those who take the time to try their best to help thanks for the help and ideas. Those who dont care and do not reply so what Im not butt hurt about it but I wont be acused of being a troll with no life. Most of my time spwnt on here is when I habe time at work like if I have a long running part or if Im awake late at night when everyones sleeping but that just means Im forcing myself and losing my own sleep.

[Nhamm]

Anyone else hear that violin?

[aanderud]

As for the troll comment, it was not meant as a personal attack, it was geared toward your particular topic(s) I guess. "Trolling" with respect to message boards and forums is a term I guess you might not be familiar with -- basically where the poster tries to incite a bunch of angry responses on a message board, often by bringing up topics that have been hashed and rehashed over and over. Our sillytown forum (outdoor discussion) is mostly full of trolling, but you see it in once in a while in the catfish forum, the muskie forum, and the spearing forum too. Oh, sometimes on the deer hunting forum too with respect to antler restrictions The two topics here (number of rods and baits) are examples of posts where folks get up in arms over what many catfish anglers perceive as over-regulation and generate a bunch of angry responses back and forth. Problem is if you're looking for real information, the only place to get it is in the regs. Message board responses might total to a bunch of words back and forth, but half the information you see is incorrect or out of date, as those regs are changing all the time.

You can give a man a fish, or teach him how to fish. I've always preferred the teaching how to fish. You can have all the time in the world to wait for responses on your bait regulation questions, but fact is half of the answers you get will be wrong and half will be right, and some of those ones will be incorrect next year as the rules change. The best way to know what's allowed is to look in the regs, because those rules are constantly changing (sometimes just a little, sometimes a lot). And there have been cases in years past when UPDATES to rules have been made in the online regs midway through the season and never showed up in any printed books. So those are several reasons I showed you the online regs and how to search them. Take it or leave it, I don't care one way or the other at this point I guess.

[HandGunner]

I must bother you alot... a forum is meant for talking debates ideas everything.... give me a link to the forum guidelines that says I cant bring up topics that Pi$$ you off. Oh well as long as I know I bother you that much to keep you coming back trying to prove to me why you are so much of a something I did my job wasting your time. I hop on here and their check my junk read what replies I get, unlike some "TROLLS" who think they are the forum police and keyboard heros. Have nice day

[Mr Special]

another option is fatheads. place a few of them on the hook and crush them slightly or rip a couple in half and hook it back onto a hook.

fresh cut bait is best IMO, but frozen will wrk as well. now that catfishin as gotten popular. alot of bait stores will freeze dead suckers or fatheads and sell them pretty cheap some even free.

if ur local bait shop isn't freezin any, id talk to them about it.

[aanderud]

another option is fatheads. place a few of them on the hook and crush them slightly or rip a couple in half and hook it back onto a hook.

...

fresh cut bait is best IMO, but frozen will wrk as well. now that catfishin as gotten popular. alot of bait stores will freeze dead suckers or fatheads and sell them pretty cheap some even free.

if ur local bait shop isn't freezin any, id talk to them about it.

Looks so good I could eat it! Sturgeon like this kind of setup too, by the way.

[DTro]

I do believe a Sturgeon ate that bait in the picture.

[Mr Special]

I do believe a Sturgeon ate that bait in the picture.

i do as well considering its your hand n bait

you make a great hand/bait model bruh =D

[HandGunner]

My brother in law and I went to the rum river Anoka dam last night carp fishing with corn. Were noobies at this stuff. Caught nothing but bullheads all night it was still fun sitting on chairs on the dam. Guy shows up 10 mins later land this nice 20 some inch chanel cat. Yup cut bait was his bait, looked at my brother in law with a dumb look. We could have used the bullheads we were catching all night for cutbait im so dum why didnt I think of that oh well next time. Are the cats all around the dam area or just by the dam? My issue would be trying to pull a cat up the dam with light line 10lb mono and 40lb braid. That cat was caught right in the little side dam were you walk on the dam.