A night of Upgrades....

[Whisker Warrior]

So i met up with lowblazah and his neighbor Jake to have my first take at cattin' from a boat on the MN river...let me say they didn't disappoint. We started off the night with two big sheepheads and a spitter right before she broke surface so we decided to move to another spot that Jake had in mind(nice call jake)This spot looked tasty so we had a feeling someone was going to satisfy there hunger...andrew and i each started with a little flatty around 7-8 lbs so we knew the fish were here...At 11pm she hit...39.5x25

then a half hour later this train came through...42x26

and finally as we were about to head in andrew comes through with another upgrade a nice channel 31.5x16.5!!!

All in all a very good night for these guys!! thanks again Andrew and Jake that was FUN!

[Lowblazah]

Awesome night out there last night...I certainley hate leaving when the fish are biting like that. I'm quite confident I could have stayed there until morning without a doubt.

Great meeting you Justin...thanks for coming up. We'll definitely have to do that again.

[dan z]

nice upgrades wish i had that kaind of upgrades i have only had a few runs the last couple times out. i see your from kato. so you could not be to far from home. did you head up river or down?

[AceintheHole]

Very nice. Glad to see the pigs are startng to bite again.

[DTro]

Now there is some incentive for everyone on Sat. Way to go guys!

[harvey lee]

I knew it was going to be ok and now those dudes just showed us all.

Way to go and very nice post spawn fishes.

I don't know if boilerguy will be able to handle it.

[aanderud]

Sweet! Upgrade mania has hit again! Wow, it's been a long spawn. Now we can all hit the water with more confidence. This has been a big week already for upgrades! Awesome fish, and a nice night to be out there. I knew I should have gone fishing!

[Shack]

Great report guys!

Nice fish also.

[Sandmannd]

Awesome to hear they are hitting and those are some nice ones. Can't wait to get out there Saturday. Sure would love to see my pops pull one of those beuts in.

[wastewaterguru]

Nice fish guys.

Looking forward to setting the hook into something that doesn't "give" like these little 5 and 10 pounders I've been catching the last two weeks.

Going out tonight to try our luck. Hopefully there is a trend to confirm.

[JimBuck]

Geesh. Nice fish guys. I'm getting out tonight if the weather stays decent.

[hanson]

A long spawn???

Its only been 2 to 2-1/2 weeks. Sounds pretty typical to me.

The week of 4th of July was when the first indication of spawn activity was showing up. Thats actually 2 weeks.

Remember they don't all do their thing at the exact same time.

Lowblazah's fish are definitely showing signs of healing, specifically the first one Whisker Warrior is holding with the dark gray markings on top of the head. Good Sign!

[aanderud]

Hanson, you're taking me too literally. I didn't mean to imply that the spawn was any longer than last year's spawn, or longer than any year's spawn. No matter the timeframe, it's a long time when you're going out every other day catching 5 pounders!

[wastewaterguru]

It was a long time in my mind and unfortunately could continue a little longer in some areas.

I will probably be catching 5 pounders for the rest of the year anyway

That's what I get for having that monkey in my boat too many times.

[Tyler Holm]

Great fish guys. I'm hoping to have one of those nights very soon.

[Shack]

I think the spawn being later this year made for a long feeling type thing to it.

[Lowblazah]

I think the spawn being later this year made for a long feeling type thing to it.

I would say the spawn was early this year.

[Larry FlatCaster]

I would say the spawn was early this year.

Geez,

Let the 2nd year rookie (yes... you Drew) catch a couple pigs and he's a cat expert.

Drew those are nice fish. Your just getting lucky Mate

The fish gods are givin you a little bone since you spent so much time on your boat...

(Some one's got to dog you..... till you put me on some fish)

[Lowblazah]

Thats cool...I'll take your jabbings. I would still consider myself a rookie too.

But let me rephrase...

I would say the spawn is early this year compared to last year.

Quote:

(Some one's got to dog you..... till you put me on some fish)

you have my number mr flatcaster...

[Larry FlatCaster]

Thats cool...I'll take your jabbings. I would still consider myself a rookie too.

But let me rephrase...

I would say the spawn is early this year compared to last year.

Quote:

(Some one's got to dog you..... till you put me on some fish)

you have my number mr flatcaster...

I do have your number Mate! I'll have to put it to use again soon. The rookie part.... Its true.......your a Big Arse Flathead/Channel fish Catchin Mofacky... And I say it because I was in the same boat as you are a few years back.

You have me interested in your take on the spawn time-line and comparison to last year. Not that I disagree, but I personally think that the spawn is running the same time-line as previous years.

Are you basing your thoughts on the comparison of your catching quantity and size ratio to last years performance?

[Scott K]

I think it is in time with normal years as well. I know this because it is always on right when I get back from my 4th of July fishing trip, which would coincide with this year!

[DTro]

Well if you guys can tell me when the spawn started and ended (even if it has) hats off to you.

I saw hints of a transition period on 6/25 and maybe a couple days earlier.

I guess it doesn't matter much as I've probably fished 80-90% of the days following then anyways.

I can tell you this. Fishing just about every day sure makes it seem longer than a fews nights here or there.

[audemp]

Awesome night out!! Congrats! I have yet to catch a channel cat this year.

[Shack]

I was just reffering to the water temps not getting to prime time till much later this.

[hanson]

Well if you guys can tell me when the spawn started and ended (even if it has) hats off to you.

I do believe you were the one who said when it started.

I could go back and pull up that topic.

But I would tend to concur with that last week of June like you mentioned Darren. I also remember myself saying was the change of bite related to spawn or the suddenly dropping water levels. Cause as soon as that water started dropping, the bite changed in those areas that were producing fish.

Spawn? Quickly Dropping Water Level? Water Temp finally hit that low 70 mark?

Was it the perfect storm of conditions that hit at the same time?

Considering all those events happened at the same time, it would be hard to pinpoint what factors were affecting the fish.

My personal observations...

6/25 produced a 35 pounder for my boat.

6/26 produced a 19 pounder along with my first scarred up fish as well.

7/4 produced a couple 14 pounders but thats as big as I'd seen in awhile.

7/4 until now... small fish.