New to MN, All advice greatly appreciated!!

[bigbee13]

Hello, I or should I say my family and I have just relocated from Pennsylvania to White Bear Lake. We have been here going on three weeks now and just love it. I am getting a little anxious to do some fishing. I have done some cat fishing(if you want to call it that), as I have never caught anything like what most of you have caught(all I can say is WOW).

My tackle that I currently have is pretty lite compared to what you guys use, so any and all suggestions on what I should get would greatly be appreciated. Any thoughts or suggestions on where I should go would also be very appreciated since I have no clue what so ever on where to go. I live right next to birch lake however I would assume that is not the best place to go cattin, lol.

This has been a big move for us and so far it does seem like we should have done it sooner. Our 2 children love the school and have adapted well, wife works at st. Joseph's hospital as a ICU/CCU RN, and I am an EMT/Firefighter, going to work at same hospital in the ER and going to apply at the fire department. Everything is working out just great, I Just need to learn the area and start fishing.

Thank you in advance for all your suggestions and help and I am glad to be a part of MN.

[UncleKes]

Big Bee: We have two kinds of Catfish in Minnesota. Channel Catfish and Flatheads. Most of the Catfishing in Minnesota is done in the rivers here because catifsh are native tot he rivers. Although the State Record Channel catfish was caught in White Bear lake back in 1899. It weighted 99 lbs. We don't see channel cats that big anymore sadly and seldom see Flatheads go that big.

The best placves to fish are in the St. Croix River between Minnesota and Wisconsin from Still Water down to Prescott where the St. Croix empties int he Mississippi River and in The Mississippi.

Historically Catfish were only found in Minnesota South of Minneapolis. Minneapolis is built on the site of the only waterfall (St. Anthony Falls) on the Mississippi River and because catfish cannot fly over the falls they were stopped at this barrier from going any farther north.

People considered catfish to be a trash fish and seldom ate them. Even as far back as the 1980's I can remember the DNR regs saying the catfish could not be returned tot he water and had to be thrown on shore.

Anyway, We now have Channel Catfish in the upper (above the Falls) Mississippi River. But no Flatheads for some reason I never could figure out. YOu will find them in the Minnesota River around Shakapee on West though and we produce some really big Flatheads in that stretch of river as well.

I live in Fridley, not far from you. I would be happy to help you out and maybe take you fishing with me if you like. YOu may get hold of me at [email protected]

Most of the heavy rods and tackle the guys have been talking about in the forum are for Flatheads.

Catfishing is a very simple sport. All you need is a medium action rod, a reel (baitcasting or spinning, a hook, a sinker and bobber (in some situations) and some decent line. Don't be scared off by these guys tales or expensive heavy rods and reels with enough line capacity to circle the globe! I normally use a 6 foot Shakespear Ugly Stick that cost $30.00 and an Abu Garcia Cadinal Spinning reel loaded with 30 lb. Hi Pro line. I have never had a problem with this setup. Although, I mostly fish channel cats which run in the 2 lb. to 5 lb. range and are good eating size.

Anyway, If I can help give me a holler! I will meet you some where for coffee some day and we can talk cats, find out about your equipment and give some advice if you need to upgrade or not. Catfishing like any other sport is one where you can spend $1,000,s of dollars on equipment or just use what you have and catch lots of big beautiful catfish! It depends on you?

Good Luck!

Tight Lines!

Uncle Kes

[hanson]

Would like to add that Flatheads are regularly caught in the Mississippi River up to downtown Minneapolis (St Anthony Falls) and all the way downstream from there as well. St Croix River has some monsters in the area UncleKes mentioned as well.

BTW... Welcome to the site and welcome to Minnesota! Feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[hanso612]

I grew up in Stillwater just east of White Bear lake. You are in a great area for muskies and big pike. Bald eagle and White Bear in town and Carnelian on the way to Stillwater. Forest lake isn't far. If I had to get a new rod with all that opportunity it would be a medium heavy weight fast action 7 foot baitcaster with an Abu Garcia C4. You can flip for bass, toss out a bobber with a sucker for pike, or toss musky baits all day. This rig will also troll anyting you desire from deep diving crankbaits for walley to big stick baits for salmon or jakes for muskies. It's also the perfect rig to use two or three ounce bottom bouncers for walleys and can handle an inline planer board in a pinch.

For big flatheads you need a big rod not to get the fish in, but to get the bait out. I use a two or three ounce pryamid sinker or no roll and a giant live sucker. Most flipping sticks are toolight to heave this rig any distance. Pick a rod that is rated for a minnimum of 3 ounces lure weight and you can use it for all the things I have listed. I like a longer rod to move fish around motors and net big salmon if I can't step back in the boat. I also like a longer rod for bobber fishing, I get more distance casting and can set my bait deeper and still be able to net a fish easily. Longer rods also give add one more layer of security when a fish runs. Its hard to find a good cheap eight footer but sevens are common. They also fit in boat storage and the car better. They are not as tiring to use if you are bass fishing with jigs on White bear as well. So seven feet is the best all around choice.

Line lasts way longer on a levelwind and with practice you can be almost as accurate as with a spinning rod. "I fished for years with 17 pound trilene xt but have switched to braid. I like to use 60 or eighty pound braid, not because I need the tensil strenth, but because it is stiff enough to tie in the wind and in the dark.

Flatheads are a night game, catching them is easy, the hard part is staying employed and married while you do it. Hans.

[DTro]

 Originally Posted By: hanso612

catching them is easy.

Compared too????

[Ralph Wiggum]

 Originally Posted By: UncleKes

Anyway, We now have Channel Catfish in the upper (above the Falls) Mississippi River. But no Flatheads for some reason I never could figure out.

Channel cats are native to the entire Mississippi.

[hanso612]

Dtro, My point is that getting the fish to bite is the easy part. The real trick is prioritizing your lifestyle to get you on the water during the times the big flats are biting. For me that means fighting the bugs in augusts, fighting the rain in October and fighting the cold in November. I was lucky enough to fish out of a 33 foot sedan cruiser with head and galley. It was easy to ride out a storm or fish late into the year. If I was stuck in an open boat or from shore it would be very difficult.

I often entertained on board and had a good card game going. We drew cards for first fish and rotated.

Once the hole was found and the baits were out it was as much a sure thing as any fishing I have ever done.

The trick is being able to stay up all night and not let it affect your work or relationships. The trick is affording the equipment to fish under all conditions- all night- and being able to afford the rig to do it in. Once the baits are out, even a blind squirel could do it. Hans

[peder]

I must be going about this flathead thing all wrong.

[hanso612]

Like a lot of things in life(skiing,chasing girls,sportfishing) it takes a 20 year old body and a 40 year old budget. I have not figured out how to work it all into my current life and without the hard work of my father I would have been able to work it into my adolescent life either. I vow to pay if forward and am doing the best I can to outfit my kids so when they have a free moment they can take advantage of it. Hans

[harvey lee]

 Originally Posted By: peder

I must be going about this flathead thing all wrong.

Me too,.

[DTro]

 Originally Posted By: UncleKes

Although the State Record Channel catfish was caught in White Bear lake back in 1899. It weighted 99 lbs.

Really?

Was it disqualified or something, because it's not the current record.

The state record is 38lbs and the world record is 58 and change.

[UncleKes]

Ralph! You are correct. Channel Catfish are native tot he Mississippi River.

]

Of course, if you tried introducing a species not found in the waters above the Falls and people did in those days now, I suspect you might be getting out of prison around the year 2150 or so! But then things were different then and people and the DNR was a lot more relaxed about such things back then.

After the 1980's the Minnesota DNR changed its attitude toward Catfish and realized it was a GREAT barely tapped resource that fought hard, was excellent eating and widely available. The Minnesota DNR started stocking the fish in many new lakes, and streams where catfish had never been.

In the Twin Cities many of the lakes now have them. 2 years ago, I was fishing off the pier at Long Lake in New Brighton and watched a guy pull in a 6 lb. Channel Catfish. The state had only introduced catfish into the lake 2 years before when they stocked 5000 fingerlings. So in 3 years that catfish much have been a perpetual eating machine to have attained that size!

[crazyice]

It's cool to see efforts pay off like that.

[UncleKes]

DTRO! I suspect the rules were changed to reflect more modern fishing conditions. That is all! I mean would you want to compete for a record with some of the fish your Great, Great Grandaddy caught back in the days of horses and wagons?

It is no secret even in our own life time that the fish our fathers caught were a lot bigger than the fish we catch today! More fisherman, loss of habitat from cabins and pollution, plus a DNR that is badly underfunded, poorly managed and run by politicians not sportsman? What can I tell you?

Uncle Kes

[DTro]

I would like to see some info on this 99lb channel UncleKes. I don't doubt that there were some bigger fish back then. I know of a recorded 153lb flathead.

Where did this info come from? I would love to read more about it.

[Larry FlatCaster]

Thanks for the scrub down on this thread.

Much better.

[Shack]

UncleKes,

I am following this thread and keeping an open mind, but I will add my grandfather around 1980 caught around an 8-10lber channel out of Long in NB. He has a Polaroid of it. I live that story every time I bring cat fishing up on the phone to him or at family functions, about how it was almost pulling the boat around like in the movie “Jaws” . Good times.

I am not going to pick apart this thread, make any remarks or correction (any further).

I will state only this:

If you are serious on becoming a true, die hard, going for the gold Minnesota Cat fisherman, page threw this forums previous post from about 3 years back, until now. The info is all their. I encourage people to try and also become cat fisherman, but to think it is easy to catch big fish is pretty far fetched. Now you can go down to the river bank, toss in your crawler, slip sinker, hook, catch catfish and call you self a cat fisherman, but it takes a whole nother world to land a 50lber. That/or some good buddies that take you with and let you use their poles. Which (I might add) you will find and make in this forum.

I would try the KOTC for starters and in one year from now, you will look at cat fishing in a total different light, look back and say “what the (contact us please) was I thinking in the past”. You will be a changed fisherman.

Next thing you know (at 3 in the morning) you will be radioing barge captains to "goose it up" when they go by and finding out you need to have "2" Richtor anchors down when doing this, while diving for your expensive rods lined with Power Pro, No Roll and Gammy Octi circle hook, tipped with a bull head.I call that the Minnesota River cat fisherman shuffle and all this info can be found in this forums past post's. Again "Good Times" and I can not wait to it all over again this spring, summer and fall.

Good luck.

I got to say it, but Lock and Dam and Coon Rapids dam. If barges can get threw, fish can also.

[hanso612]

I don't want to make it sound like catching fifty pounders is a daily occurance, but looking at the video from pool four it is clear that if you know the location of these wintering holes and are able to position your boat over the hole and stay there all night some of those big boys are going to feed. I think these big fish hole up very early in the year and I have capitalized on this congregation.

I think this is why it is so important to protect this resource. There is no reason to eat these big boys, nor is there any reason to stop fishing for them. It is very clear there is no shortage of them now but given the right tools(gps,underwater cameras,divers,and winter ready boat) they could be easily exploited.

I would like to see mandated catch and release for all fish over the safe fish consumption recomendation size. I would love to see the next state record brought to shore for all to see. I think this with muskies as well. Feel free to release it if you catch it, but if I knew there was a record in lake Harriot and it was released and I happened to target and catch it again- the luster would be off for me. The record is only the record once. But I digress. So, we need to allow one over 60(anything close to the record) pounds to come in. I insist there is no reason to bring 30 and 40 pounders home.

When I was new to the sport I got caught up in the excitement of bringing these monsters home. 20 years later all I have are the photos of these big fish. Had I released them and practiced CPR I'd still have the photos and some of them might still be out there.

All I have are "hero shots" of these monsters. I believe strongly in the forums rules on posting fish pictures and I have changed my picture taking practices to fit these rules. I have found I like the in the moment shots so much better anyway. I'll post a few to show that there is no reason all of can't catch a big 40 or fifty every fall.

[Shack]

That video may have given some people false hope. As cool as it is, I am sure it’s a hard and rare occurrence to find, let alone get footage of. Also what you’re suggesting about targeting winter holes (IMO) is unethical and should be illegal (snagging).

All I can say is prove me wrong and (if you have not already) sign up for the KOTC. By the sounds of it, you are going to do well.

Good luck

[hanso612]

I would like nothing more than to fish the kotc. Most of my big fish start in late august and the biggest came november 7th. What are the dates of the tournament. I stick to what I said above. The trick is getting the right boat and getting the house pass,something I haven't figured our how to do since my three boys have been born.

Tell me more why you think catching fish when they are congregated is unethical. We do it all the time with Salmon, Stripers,and most other species. I think snagging them is unethical, I think keeping a bunch of them is unethical, but fishing for them is exactly what it is all about.I could be convinced if there was proof catching them in the fall hurt them more than other fish. These fish put up a tremendous fight until freeze up. A fish with little swim bladder and not neutrally boyant in current is like tying on to a frieght train. These are not sluggish, dormant fish until late late in the year. My 58 pounder faught for over a half hour.

When would you make it illegal and how?

Giving anglers false hope is what the whole tackel industry is based on. Dream big my friend. The beauty of catfishing is believing your next fish will be that 124 pounder. This isn't Orvis clad purists with little wicker baskets we are talking about here. This is "needing to get a bigger boat" big we're talking about here.

Id share a spot or too with a guy with the right boat. Hans

[hanso612]

Sorry about the size still learning-any hints? Hans

[hanso612]

The last pick is a forty two pounder on the '42 which now lives on lake Vermillion. No cats there. I will keep trying with another photo. But you get the kind of comfort I have in mind if you want to take me up on my offer. Hans

[hanso612]

Getting bigger, but I still need help resizing. Think Kevin Mchale would feel at home on this floor?

[DTro]

Hey Hans, I think it's clear that we are all in this together and our love of just being out there on the river far outweighs the catch of the day. Nobody (at least not me) thinks in any way that you are fishing unethically. We hear stories about some guys out on those midwinter holes yanking jigs and treble hooks through those fish just to get a big one.

I say anyone who is out there in late Oct to Nov and getting them to bite, deserves every fish they catch.

I'm sure some guys take it to heart though (myself included) when we bust our butt out there night in and out and sometimes coming up empty handed, and then to hear about how "easy" they are to catch. There's a difference in Bass easy and Flathead easy

Just had to take a shot at my Bass buddies.

All I can say is that anyone that has a passion for fishing, especially catfishing and the love of the river, is AOK in my book and it would be fun to share some stories with you out on the river sometime.

Shoot me an email if you need any help with your pictures.

[hanso612]

I think I am getting the hang of this. That's me on the right the cats left, way to long ago. The fish lived to swim another day and was caught again by a buddy of mine. I have many more shots like this but they push the limits of forum rules. I also want to learn to Email images so any tutoring would be helpful.