Catfishing in the Floodwood area?

[CANOPY SAM]

Would anyone be willing to share some information on catfishing in the Floodwood, MN area? I've heard that it is named the Catfish Capitol of Minnesota. There must be a reason it's earned this title....

Thanks for any info that you might have.

I've been searching for catfishing opportunities in the Grand Rapids area, and I'm really surprised to find no cats in the Old Miss here. Even the DNR can't figure out why there aren't cats in this stretch of river. Anyway, if someone knows other opportunities in this area I'd be much obliged.

[Guest]

Dont believe everything you read... in this case the water tower in Floodwood. Their town festival is *catfish days*, I think the tower is just for publicity, or something to remember the town by for people who dont know any better.

There are cats int he St Louis upstream of Floodwood, but its very hard to access with one carry in launch of cty 8. There is a fair launch in town on the floodwood near the confluence of the St Louis, and Savanah river. You can get a few cats in town there, but its not very good fishing anymore. If you have a boat that runs shallow, you can either run a few miles upstream to get better fishing, or head downstream past the *rapids*. You wont make it back up the rapids in low water without a jet.

Unless you have a very capable shallow water rig, or a light rig and you dont mind doing some sweating at the carry in access.. your much better off heading down the road towards the Brookston area. Lots of cats down there too, and the river is much more user friendly.

Theres lots of small holes and fishable structure in the river. Tons of feeder creeks, lots of crayfish and minnows everywhere. Any place can be as good as the next, the bit time is usually the biggest issue, its generally a night bite. If you can tolerate the mosquito's, your not going to have too hard of a time finding some channels. I had the best luck on Rainbow chubs for bait.

BTW.. those are the best tasting channels I have ever had out of the upper St Louis.

Good luck.. I didnt help much, but its something for info.

[CANOPY SAM]

This is a good start. Would you mind elaborating a bit more? I posted on the Range Forum that there appears to be at least three, if not four rivers that converge in this region. Are there some catfish in all of these creeks and tributaries?

Is there a catfishing contest that goes along with Catfish Days in Floodwood?

Would it be easier to access the upper stretches of the St.Louis, and other rivers and creeks north of Floodwood with a canoe? And when you say that the cats in the upper part of the St.Loius are some of the best you've eaten, do you mean the stretch of river north of Floodwood, or South of it?

The reason I ask is that I too love a good mess of deep fried cats. I'd really like to make some quick day trips to these waters with my kids and bring back a half dozen 2-5 lb fish. What could I expect to catch if I'm a reasonably good catfisherman, and what in particular makes these cats taste better than others?

Brookston is only a few minutes further east of Floodwood. Why is it better to head down to the water around Brookston? These areas seem so remote that I would guess they see very little fishing pressure. Can a good fisherman find walleyes, smallies and cats in this stretch of water? Can we eat them? I've heard some pretty scary consumption advisories about the St.Louis River. There also appears, according to my Minnesota Atlas, to be a few areas one might access the river between Floodwood and Brookston - what about these areas?

Sorry, I know there's a lot of questions here, but I'm always curious about catfishing intel. Thanks.

[big musk411]

I would never go to the brookston area! Its super shallow, the rapids are very dangerous, and the polution is horrible! The fishing is good if you like to catch redhorse, other than that I wouldent bother. If by some miracle you do catch a catfish down there, they taste awful. I think its all the pollution.

Musk

[Guest]

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I would never go to the brookston area! Its super shallow, the rapids are very dangerous, and the polution is horrible! The fishing is good if you like to catch redhorse, other than that I wouldent bother. If by some miracle you do catch a catfish down there, they taste awful. I think its all the pollution.

Musk

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Sounds like someone is trying to protect their fishing hole.

What I refer to the upper St Louis is pretty much everything upstream of Brookston. If you are fishing by canoe, there is an access of cnty 29? (road from floodwood to meadowlands) that is not too terrible for a canoe. I get mixed up on the road numbers.. moved away from there a while ago. The river only goes a few more miles north from there where you will hit the whiteface river branches. That is an excellent area for walleyes and smallies. The entire river can be a good trophy northern fishery. The cats are spread out everywhere.

I do not know why the cats taste so good, its probably due to their forage which I assume consist of mostly crawdads because they are always full of them when you clean them. I know the river is cleaner the further upstream you go, but I dont eat fish 5 days/week from anywhere. Once you get down by cloquet, you have the source of much of the pollution.

I am not a *professional guide* on the st louis river. I dont think anyone spends enough time on the river to be able to share that much info on the catfishing. There are several diferent locations to access the river by canoe. You can follow the railroad tracks all the way from the golf coarse to brookston and find all kinds of places to access or fish. just east of the brookston road on the railroad tracks you can walk to the confluence of stony brook which can also be a decent spot. The boat launch in brookston is a decent place to shorefish...

It seems that just about everywhere but Floodwood has decent shorefishing opportunities. Floodwood has a lot of pressure at the mouth of the floodwood and the savanah both and its really hard to catch much of anything. There is a trail that you can drive to get to these spots.. I believe its 9th ave(give or take 1 block) and head east off 73 a couple blocks north of hwy 2. The trail entrance will be at the end of the road and will have an open gate next to the elderly home. A person might have some luck fishing during the week until the kids are out of school.

All I can say is get out there and do some fishing. The more exploring you do, the more you will catch. There are some excellent fishing opportunities all throughout the area. Its a great walleye and smallmouth fishery, an excellent cat fishery(once the sun goes down), and there are plenty of big pike left int hat river if you get away from the populated areas. Its a hard river to cover lots of water due to all the shallow water. There are large stretches of river that have better depth and easier to fish.. just go explore. Maybe some weekend I'll bring my boat up and join you.

[soft]

Hi Thatguy.

I have been fishing by the campsites between Brookston and Floodwood town, the fishing was alright, the important thing was I enjoyed the time on the river, but the river was shallow, my boat has some scratches from the rocks.

Just wonder Is that the reason you refer to fish from Floodwood up to Whiteface river?. I have not fish in that area and will give it a try sometime.

Thanks.

[Guest]

soft.. the river has pretty decent depth around the town of brookston, not the hwy 2 launch.. that is all pretty shallow. Around Floodwood, the water is deep enough carefully run the boat for a short distance upstream, and then downstream to the rapids. There are 2 holes in this stretch which happen to be right in front of the floodwood and savanah rivers(about 15'), and the main river channel is about 10' deep in the same area. There are all kinds of rocks, etc to watch for. The rapids southeast of floodwood can be crossed with extreme care in anything but low water periods. Heading upstream from town, there is 1/5 mile of shallow water to cross which is all rocks.. about 2'-3' of water on the average, then it gets deeper once you cross that shallow area with the average main river channel being around 10' deep, and a hole here and there. There is a prvate campground on the east side of the river just north of town with a boat launch but I havent been able to locate the owner to try to use it in the past. The cnty 29 access is about 7 miles by water and the river holds decent depth just about everywhere up and down stream from that launch(carry in on steep bank). The river does get shallow once you get up to the whiteface area.

[CANOPY SAM]

Man this is great information. Thanks a lot.

I guess it didn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that someone was trying to lead me a little astray.

I'd love to take you up on the offer to do a little exploring together. It really sounds like the best portions of this river are almost certainly accessible primarily by canoe - which is great. I love fishing from canoe. The only thing that tops it is finding a great shore spot to stop and pitch a tent and fish for cats all night!

I can't wait to get out there and hit this river. Now if gas prices will only drop about a buck a gallon!

[Dennis Steele]

Wonder how a big old jet boat would do there?

[Ralph Wiggum]

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Wonder how a big old jet boat would do there?

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With you or a sane person driving?

[bear hunter]

i live in brookston thars a lot of cats walleye pike and bass u can get right from shore lots of spots to fish from shore. i use creek chubs for cats its mostley a night bite. i use worms and shiners for walleyes.

[Guest]

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Wonder how a big old jet boat would do there?

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Let me know when you want to go!

You got that rig equipped with seatbelts yet? I'll bring my own helmet!

You have the perfect boat for it Dennis. There are lots of boulders just under the water one still would have to keep their eyes open for or you might add a couple dings to the boat.

June is probably the best month for fishing all around. Early June if you want the best chance at large pike. The Floodwood access is usually in decent shape and with a little effort your boat would be able to be launched(river 25' wide).

Got enough rod holders on that thing yet Dennis?

[Mr Special]

I thought the RP could go anywhere?

I second the Setbelt option.

[Dennis Steele]

It seems somewhere down the line, I got a reputation as a somewhat "maniacle" driver. (learned a new word from that Cat Insider article)

Honestly though, Its not me...its RIVER PRO!

Rod holders????

I might have one or two on the boat.

After June 17th, I become a "civilian angler" once again.

That is my last official guide trip, then I can hang out with all the cat addicts once again.

[Guest]

We will have to keep our eyes open and see what the future brings?

Until then.. I'm out the door to make a decent effort to catch the 1st flathead of the year! The fish in the baitcooler just dont look quite right without a hook in them.

[bmc]

Canopy Sam,

I responded to your post in the Duluth forum. Just an FYI that my post in this forum, "Shout out to That Guy" is in reference to the St. Louis too. I'm in Floodwood every other Sunday evening, dropping the kid's off with the X and once school's out, I drop them off Thursday evenings. I'll catch you at work one of these weekends and maybe we can discuss a trip or two?

Brian

[CANOPY SAM]

Hey Dennis! You and I both know there's only one way to find out if the Pro will run that river. I'll wait until mid-June for you to get here. You've always got a place to stay. This sounds like it may be the next great challenge. At only twenty-five feet wide there might not be enough river to back the boat off the trailer!!!

I've got this crazy picture in my mind of a quaint little wilderness river setting. Otters are frolicking playfully on the shore of a quietly flowing narrow little brook. Birds are singing as the wind gently rustles the leaves in the tall canopy of trees shading the shallow river bed. A spotted whitetail fawn daintilly bends at it's wobbly front legs to sip from the cool water's edge.

Suddenly a hulking olive green tank-like jetboat roars around the bend, screaming like a hurricane, throwing tail wash high into the trees, drowning the pair of otters, and crushing the precious newborn fawn like a grape! Long, glistening fiberglass rods are whipped in the air, large chunks of meat splash onto the waters surface, and finally the cracking whoosh of freshly opened carbonated beverages breaks the deafening silence of the forest. Catfishing! It doesn't get any better than this.

Mark my words, I will be on this water within 10 days. I only hope the temps hold where they are. I don't want to tip the canoe into the drink right now!

Dennis, I'd see ya' at the Sturgeon Excursion, but I'm gonna bow out. I told you this thing was gonna get big. It's now too big for me. Too many boats, and too high a gas bill! I'll be on the quiet river over by Floodwood. We'll catch up later in June.

If you guys have got any other helpful tips for this stretch of water I'd love to hear em'. Baits, structure, weather, water levels, tackle, campsites, etc. Thanks again for all the great info...keep it coming.

[Guest]

CS ..

I think you made Dennis blush!

I dont think a person would even have to fish to have fun on that river in an RP. Catching fish would only be a bonus.

The whole town would probably be waiting on the bank of the river to see the boat return.. word travels fast in that little place.

The floodwood is only about 25' wide, but its deep enough. A trailer backed in at an angle would drop the boat without much hassle.

[CANOPY SAM]

That's funny! I've known Fishhead for a few years now, and I probably know things about him that no one really wants to know.

Trust me, nothing will make Dennis blush....

Why hasn't anyone tried fresh cut bait? If I could give you guys a tip, fresh cut suckers and big creek chubs are really the "cats meow" until the croakers start showing up. I generally make sure to kill my big baits almost immediately then put them on ice. Keep them cold - don't let them get mushy. If they die slowly, and get warm, they get mushy - BAD CAT bait. Steak em' out like a big salmon and slide a fresh chunk of minnow steak on your hook every 15-30 minutes. Cats love good sushy!

If you don't have big sucker minnows you can use 4-5 inch suckers or shiners. Hook them thru the tail then pinch off the head just behind the gills. Make sure to leave a lovely string of guts dangling from the minnow. This waves around in the current and spreads a more attractive scent trail for a "scent feeding" cat. Trust me, this works like magic - even when frogs are out and about.

Use a big enough chuck of cut bait and you don't have to worry about the nibblers. Only a good sized cat will be able to inhale it.

[Guest]

Oh.. Dennis can blush.. trust me.

I dont think he has any shame although? (Not that he does anything shameful).

I'm not getting into a sucker discussion! They work around here for about 2 weeks alive. Chubs do work good. All I use is fresh bait. I dont knock them out and freeze them, I cut them when they are still kicking!

[bear hunter]

went out to night and got5 cats one was about 7-8lbs.right in brookston. fist time this year for cats