Yellowstone River-MT

[Big Cat Dad]

We got out on the Yellowstone River this weekend and had a great time going after some early season Channel Cats....here is the story.

By Brenner Flaten (Big Sky Catman)

Montana Cats began the trek to Tongue River Reservoir at 6 a.m. on March 24th. My brother and I were experiencing some vehicle problems near Forsyth, MT and had to turn into town to get the vehicle worked on. This turned out to be a great thing! Because the vehicle was going to take so long to get finished, Cat Ferret decided to meet up with us there instead of the reservoir. We were out of the Ford dealership by 11:30 a.m. and headed to the nearest boat ramp on the mighty Yellowstone River.

Once we were on the water and realized the water temperature was higher than expected (54 degrees) we had a good feeling that it would be a successful trip. Successful turned out to be an understatement. The day started off relatively slow with only 7 cats in the first five hours of fishing. The bites were lighter than usual at this time, and the Carp were the only thing that was giving us a real fight. We were trying numerous tactics and baits to see if we could pick up the pattern the cats were on. We tried deep holes, snags, shallow stretches, side channels, and tailrace areas. We had a wide variety of baits including: Flathead Chub, Goldeye, Night Crawler, White Sucker, and Shrimp.

If there was a consensus between us; it was that the water we were fishing was just too fast for this time of year. We knew we had to find some slower moving water, particularly where the cats had wintered, and than we might be able to see better results.

At 5:30 p.m. we coasted into a spot (In Cat Dad's 2006 River Pro Boat) that looked exactly like what we were looking for. We anchored up and threw in six lines and the fun began! The first cat was a 2 pounder and than a 6.2 pounder followed. Five minutes later we had our first double-header of the trip (5.5 lb. and 4.2 lb.). The action was fast-paced over the next 2 hours of daylight. We managed to boat 16 cats in the same spot we had originally anchored. Four cats over 7 lbs. gave us reason to be excited for the next day. We decided to head to shore for the night and build up for the morning.

At 8:30 a.m. we were back on the water and headed to the same prime-time spot we had been at the night before. Action did not slow down; in fact the pace was even greater! A 3 pounder was caught as soon as the baits hit the water and it was followed by a nice double header at about 8:45 a.m. (10.0, 3.5 lbs). As action began to slow, we decided to move upstream about 75 yards and drop anchor. This proved to be a very good move, within 45 minutes we had boated five more nice cats. The 6th cat was the one we had been waiting for the last two days, or more likely the last ten years!

At about 11:00 a.m., Cat Dad went running to the 7 ft. King Kat Pro in the corner of the boat. The cat had just fallen for a circle hook tipped with cut Flathead Chub. Cat Dad used all of the back-bone the rod had and pumped him towards the boat. It didn't take long for us to realize it wasn't a small fish. After a couple of minutes, the beast was safely landed in the boat. The cat tipped the scales at 21.6 pounds, a true trophy channel cat! The fish shattered Cat Dads Yellowstone record and marked the 2nd 20 pounder of his life. We continued fishing until 3:00 p.m. and landed some very nice fish along the way.

The trip was deemed an obvious success and is one that I won't soon forget. The weekend total of 44 cats (all released) included 7 double-headers. We are heading out Easter weekend to a different section of the Yellowstone.....let's hope the action is even better.....reports will follow.

WEEKEND TOTALS:

Number of Cats: 44

Double Headers: 7

Average Weight: 5.7 lbs.

Over ten Pounds: 4

Over seven pounds: 16

BigSkyCatMan: 10.0, 10.0, 9.2, 9.1, 8.3, 8.0, 4.2, 3.5, 3.0, 1.9, 1.0

Cat Ferret: 10.1, 9.9, 9.5, 8.5, 8.2, 7.3, 7.0, 6.2, 5.5, 4.0, 3.5, 2.9, 2.0

Big Cat Dad: 21.6, 7.5, 7.3, 6.3, 6.0, 5.9, 5.6, 5.4, 5.2, 3.6, 3.0, 3.0, 2.9, 2.5, 2.3, 2.0, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, 1.0

[Catmendo]

Great story Cat Dad, great pic's too! That 21 pounder looks like it came out of the Red, ! Years ago I travelled by the yellow Stone on route to Cody, Wy. I often wondered whether or not channels exsisted there, now I can quit wondering!

[hanson]

Wow!! Now that is some serious channel cattin' wherever you go!

That 21 pounder is a S-S-S-SUMO!

Did you get a length on it because it looks a little bigger around than it is long.

[Big Cat Dad]

Hanson,

It was 33" long with a 22" inch girth. When we got it in the boat we about crapped ourselves. It was the chubbiest Channel I'd ever seen. Like a little bowling ball at the bottom of the boat.

My brothers were teasing me as I was reeling it in because some of the smaller ones I was bringing in earlier they said I was "nursing them". I don't think they believed me . I knew it was a hog and WOW was it fun to catch.

[hanson]

Ya, that is a pig.

Fish like that are 'almost' a dime a dozen on the Red but it is definitely special to hook a 20lb in other waters.

[cat ferret]

Hanson, by looking at how fat the fish was, I would have thought it was gonna be a little shorter than 33". We weighed him on 2 different digital scales, one said 21.6lbs and the other read 21lbs 10oz. If you were guessing, how long would you think that fish is?

[BigSkyCatMan]

Stu- The weekend wasn't quite as impressive as my two trips up to your place but I definately am not complaining. People just wouldn't believe the catfishing opportunities we have over here.

[Catmendo]

I wouldn't complain either! Those are very impressive kitties. Besides if it bends your rod from tip to butt, who cares what water she came out of! Knowing just how shallow the Yellow Stone runs, I'll bet your happy with your River Pro!

6-1/2 weeks and counting........here kitty, kitty!

[Catfishunter]

just drove along that river yesterday to bad i din't bring the cat gear, just a 4wt. next time i will be more prepared.