Cats on the Red opener stories

[Dennis Steele]

OK guys, Anyone make the opener and how did you do?

Best bait, areas to fish etc.??

Rick and myself are heading up on sunday for a couple days of chasing those big grey beasts!

[DARK30]

Have fun! I guess I'll have to wait a few months this year. What was the date we went up there last year Dennis?...I got CRS.

[topcat3820]

Talked to Canuck a couple hours ago, he caught about a dozen this afternoon on sucker. 6 oz. of lead was having a hard time holding bottom . Saw Stu out in his pontoon, haven't talked to him yet, but if they're swimming, Stu was catching !!!

Canuck & I are going sturgeon hunting tomorrow, will post results.

TC

[Wiskers]

Welllllllllllll Let me tell ya.......... It was fab man just fab....... The cats were not getting in the boat quite as fast as last year but with the odd weather we have had that is not a suprise. We managed to land well more fish than a person should in a days time... It's just not natural to be able to go out fishing on opener, catch more poundage of fish in one day than 90% of the fishermen will catch in a whole season.

The Cats on the Red was once again outstanding!, lodging was awesome as usual, good eats, good weather-except the wind on Sat. Heavy water and the cats were pumped up. Correct me if in wrong, but did the cats pull much harder this time than I have ever seen. They must have been working out over the winter.

If you are reading this and still have not ever made that trip north.....put it on your list, check it twice and get it done!!!! where else in the world can you drive a few hours, go into another country and have a fishing trip that will stick with you for the rest of your life... along with sore arms for only a few hundred $$$

[Ed Carlson]

Yup-yup...a Good time and despite the Cooooooooool wind and gloomy conditions the bite was fair to good....all things considered.

Our biggest this trip was #29 with a massive girth (27")...what a sumo Eh. Shanon hooked that slob. I caught a few close yet the Sumo award this trip has to go to "Cork'n Sucks" Bredason.

We averaged 47 cats per day with our best at 50 something. Most cooperative Kitties were on slip rigs with 5 oz Scenic Tackle No-Rolls and 6 O/T Gamakatsu Barbless offset circles. The new factory barbless Gama's are super sharp hooks and they tested out very well of fussy bitters.

We had our best overall luck with decoy sized suckers frozen and cut into 1" Tootsie Roll slabs. The water temp was 49-51 so they were a bit soft on the take in off curent areas...in the flow they tended to hook-up solid if you showed a bit of patience. A typical early cold weather patern for the lower Red this early in the season.

Cork'n was slow due to high flow over key Corking spots or no flow depending on the location. We managed a few Cork'n yet in the same areas we did better on botton sets so we went with the most productive patern.slip rigs.

I tried new rigs on Corking this trip and found a new use for them lighter No-Rolls...I use them for Corking weights instead of Egg Weights....with the large non-weighter Pole Floats the 1 1/2 and 2 oz No Rolls preformed very well and snaged up less on the structures we floated. Looks like a promising aplication for them to me, well worth more field study for sure. I think the flutter of the No-Roll on the float actually atracted slow bitters into fallowing and hitting the biats....a theory for now but it looks interesting to me.

Took a cruise in Stu's new beast Ponton and that is a palace on the water for sure. This is a temp unit tell his new rig is ready but it is a Sweet party rig. Bathroom, sink..the whole 9-Yards Eh...Kewl!

As always the crew at "Cats on the Red" treated us right. The ONLY thing about going to Cats that I do not like is...Going Home!

Ya..I'l be back soon. I think things will get crazy up there in the weeks ahead.

Thanks for everything Stu and crew...see ya soon Eh.

Ed

[Canuck]

Eddy & Rusty pretty much sumed it up. The kitties are co-operating. The water temp has already warmed up, on Tuesday afternoon it was 54.6. The fishing pressure is really low with all kinds of places to fish. I have been out 3 times a total of 7 1/2hrs and the tally is slightly over 50 fish (that has been with 2 guys). We found them shallow and deep but still the best time was hooking up in the shallows. On tues after Brad had an hr & half before he caught his plane so we tried it shallow, well we anchored in 2.5 ft and even casted to shore. Imagine the fun when a 20+lber realizes he is hooked, FUN, FUN, FUN.

Take care and see U on the water. One problem I see is there is NEVER enough time to visit as one I guess wants to fish when they are up.

[Dennis Steele]

What a blast!!!

We had a great time and the cats were cooperating.

I don't know how you guys can keep totals when they are comming in the boat at 2's and 3's. I don't have that many fingers and toes.

We found fish just about every where. When it would get a little slow we just picked up and moved to the next spot. Never took too long to get back on them.

Found them deep, shallow, in slow water and in fast water. Those cats are just every where and its just amazing how many of those brutes are in the system.

We had the pleassure of spending an evening fishing with Stu.

He also informed us he would be guiding clients again this season. If you get the chance to fish with Stu I suggest you take it. He has a weath of knowledge on catfish and the Red River of the North. It was time well spent.

Hospitality was great. Cats on the Red is the place to stay.

Comfortable rooms ,great veiw of the dam and all the action right in front of the resort at a reasonable price.

Heck we never left sight of the resort.

If your thinking about heading up and giving it a try book early becasue they fill up fast. You can check them out here.

Cats on the Red

Dark,

It was September. I am going again, you in?

[Dirk W]

You guys are killing me. My first trip up there in about 17 years is scheduled for early June. I can't wait!

[Canuck]

Dennis: Was that U with Rusty on Tuesday afternoon???

Isn't it wonderful to see the look on Stu's face these days. To see him back guiding is unbelievable. The guy KNOWS kitties and the Red. The only problem is he has set the bar pretty high with that patoon boat, (especially with the one that is being especially built for catfishing).

[BamBam1970]

Does anyone know of any catfishing on the Mississippi near Little Falls area?

[Blake H]

Dennis

The rumor from Stu was I missed you by like 24 hours! I went up mid week as I couldnt get time off for the weekend. We hit them real good, and the warm weather helped I think. Here is a pic of my dad and sisters first time catfishing with me. Their hooked!

[Dennis Steele]

The grins on those faces prove theyre hooked!

Glad you guys had a good time.

What day did you get up?

I saw a big white rig pulling a River Pro north on 94 tuesday.

Was that you?

Looks as if the wate came up a bit too.

If it was that hight when we were there Wiskers would have run it!

I'm trying to get a big crew to go back up in September. You interested?

[Blake H]

Dennis

Yea that was me on 94 on Tuesday. I am definately interested in Sept. I would need a date within the next two months as I gotta put in for time off, but it would be a ball. I hear that "Whisker" is into jumping stuff with his RP, I wanna see some video!!

[Canuck]

Blake: One of the better looking catters I have seen on the Red, and I am not talking about your pappa... Maybe it is the smiles that those kitties put on ones face.

The weather sure was nice during this week but it is suppose to turn the pits tomorrow, rain, of course I am guiding the next two days. You mentioned getting time off, people forget that kitties never take days off and I have found the mid week as some of the better times to fish as the pressure is like zippo, not that it is every that bad but the shallows are left alone as are a few pillars.