Thru the ice

[bgreen82]

So probably my major goal for this hardwater season is to ice a channel. I know there are a few lakes in the metro area that hold decent populations of channel cats and the one i want to try has some deep water(about 40 ft.) with pretty steep dropoffs and culverts where water may stay a bit warmer. Should these be the areas I try and does anyone actually target channels in the metro? Also, what presentation do you give them? I was thinking minnow heads or cut bait on a spoon or a spoon/leader to jig combo.

[masterpuppet]

Never fished for them thru the ice any info would be great. Thank you

[DTro]

Hey guys, instead of having 2 discussion I merged them together.

Catching Channels through the ice is a lot of fun. I've only had experience doing it at a couple specific locations so I cannot help out in the Metro area.

Like you though bgreen, I plan on doing some searching this winter to try and find some. I have a couple in mind already.

You really don't need to do much different than fishing for Walleye through the ice. There are times when a spring bobber will help with the light biters, but Walleye gear works good.

Try using small pieces of cut Shiner or Fathead on a jigging spoon and another small piece on a plain hook hung just over the bottom.

Good Luck and I'll try to post some reports here as I get out. I know a few others here also will help out as well. Maybe Tyler Holm can chime in as he did quite well last year in some not so typical spots.

[Shack]

bgreen82

If you can make it tomorrow night to Thorne Bro's Wednesday night seminar, it will be about Metro area Lakes. Check out the Sponsor Forum for time.

Matt Johnson covered some local Metro lakes that hold good channels last Saturday. One I have never even known about in the NW Metro .

Also just today I went to the DNR Lake Finder and reviewed a couple Metro and surrounding area counties lakes. I was amazed at how many lakes the DNR for the last 10 or so years have been stocking some lakes with channels. Look at the DNR Netting info also. Some lakes hold channels over 30”. Kind of a slow and go for info, but start with your county and go to every lake and look at the info page. One tip, do not stop after a couple pages of Unnamed lakes. There are many lakes the start with letters after the "U" If you go threw a county list of lakes, you will know what I mean.

I have honed in on a local rumor of a larger lake north of the metro that has a very good channel bite. Very close to the HS Chain, so I have heard

Good luck guys!

[bgreen82]

i frequent the dnr lake finder almost as much as i do this HSOforum. i have a pretty good idea of which lakes i wanna try to hit in the metro, and i want to get up north at least once, maybe the HS chain.

[Shack]

Quote:

Very close to the HS Chain, so I have heard

When I said the above, I ment the bite was close to the same as the HS chain . So they say!

The lake is on the other side of the state Sorry

Once I get some time to head over to said lake, I am sure some info might be leaked out It is a pretty big lake.

[Barbelboy]

Shackbash,

Since I live N. of the metro on the other side of the state I can only think of 1 or 2 possible places you could be talking about. If it's the same place I catch cats there from march to october. Never tried it during the ice season, but I've always wanted to. Wanna shoot me an email and we can possible plan an attack?

[DTro]

Some good places to start:

Recent stocking reports

Anoka County

Crooked - 02008400

Channel Catfish - 1,294 yearlings weighing 85.1 lbs.

Channel Catfish - 1,309 yearlings weighing 256.7 lbs.*

East Moore - 02007501

Channel Catfish - 1,316 yearlings weighing 86.6 lbs.

Golden - 02004500

Channel Catfish - 3,004 yearlings weighing 197.6 lbs.

Peltier - 02000400

Channel Catfish - 38,253 fingerlings weighing 503.4 lbs.

Channel Catfish - 2,500 yearlings weighing 164.5 lbs.

Carver County

Firemen's Clayhole - 10022600

Channel Catfish - 25 adults weighing 74.0 lbs.

Riverpointe Pond - 10025000

Channel Catfish - 59 adults weighing 174.0 lbs.

Clay County

Silver - 14010000

Channel Catfish - 114 yearlings weighing 114.0 lbs.

Dakota County

Rebecca - 19000300

Channel Catfish - 7,686 fingerlings weighing 126.0 lbs.

Rogers - 19008000

Channel Catfish - 3,440 fingerlings weighing 56.4 lbs.

Faribault County

Bass - 22007400

Channel Catfish - 10,473 fingerlings weighing 195.4 lbs.

Hennepin County

Powderhorn - 27001400

Channel Catfish - 85 adults weighing 249.8 lbs.

Unnamed - 27108500

Channel Catfish - 27 adults weighing 89.7 lbs.

Unnamed - 27108600

Channel Catfish - 25 adults weighing 83.3 lbs.

Unnamed - 27108500

Channel Catfish - 400 yearlings weighing 23.5 lbs.

Webber - 27111800

Channel Catfish - 10 adults weighing 29.4 lbs.

Kandiyohi County

Foot - 34018100

Channel Catfish - 9,981 fingerlings weighing 151.0 lbs.

Willmar - 34018000

Channel Catfish - 6,534 fingerlings weighing 91.0 lbs.

Le Sueur County

Tetonka - 40003100

Channel Catfish - 121,325 fingerlings weighing 986.9 lbs.

Ramsey County

Beaver - 62001600

Channel Catfish - 2,913 yearlings weighing 571.0 lbs.*

Bennett - 62004800

Channel Catfish - 1,030 yearlings weighing 67.8 lbs.

Channel Catfish - 1,046 yearlings weighing 205.1 lbs.*

Como - 62005500

Channel Catfish - 150 adults weighing 441.2 lbs.

Channel Catfish - 3,864 yearlings weighing 682.0 lbs.*

Island - 62007500

Channel Catfish - 1,990 yearlings weighing 406.0 lbs.*

Channel Catfish - 1,997 yearlings weighing 131.4 lbs.

Loeb - 62023100

Channel Catfish - 38 adults weighing 111.6 lbs.

Channel Catfish - 1,040 yearlings weighing 204.0 lbs.*

Silver - 62008300

Channel Catfish - 1,440 yearlings weighing 90.0 lbs.

Scott County

McColl Pond - 70001700

Channel Catfish - 88 adults weighing 258.8 lbs.

Channel Catfish - 1,200 yearlings weighing 70.5 lbs.

Stearns County

George - 73061100

Channel Catfish - 100 adults weighing 294.0 lbs.

Washington County

Tanners - 82011500

Channel Catfish - 1,689 yearlings weighing 111.1 lbs.

[DTro]

I see one very near to the Ice Show that I might have to "investigate" this weekend

[Shack]

Very good info Dtro! As always, you do the leg work for us!

Very nice ref. list!

Barbelboy, send me an e-mail at [email protected] please!

Thanks!

[JimBuck]

Thanks for the info. Dtro. This sounds like a blast. So you mentioned that we could essentially fish for them the same way as we would fish for walleye? Do you mean that as far as tackle and location? Should I be looking for any current,snags,holes etc? Cheers guys.

[DTro]

Well if you call [Right Click-->Copy-->Paste] doing the legwork, well then OK

Thank BrianK for compiling that list

I did take the time to make the counties Bold though

[DTro]

Finding a deep hole is always a good place to start. They won’t necessarily be right in the hole, but it seems like they relate to it in one way or another.

Obviously having a camera down there is a good way to locate some fish or at least indentify what you’ve found on your flasher.

Also if you’ve heard of guys catching a few unintentionally here or there by accident, there’s a good chance there are more in the same area.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Hennepin County "unnamed" - there's a lot of help

[Tyler Holm]

Hennepin County "unnamed" - there's a lot of help

Information served on a bronze platter.

[bgreen82]

keep in mind too that these are just the stocking efforts from 2007. the dnr HSOforum stocking info. on channel cats goes back as far as 1998.

[DTro]

Well it was proved today that there are "Metro Cats" to be caught.

Now it's time for a little fine tuning.

[Flaco651]

I'm gonna try out a couple of the lakes I've caught them during open water soon. Gave it shot a couple times last winter and ended up finding a bunch of crappies and just decided 2 stay put in the shack during some not so nice conditions. That would be something to pull a 10 lbs+ channel thru the ice without really having to leave town.

[Borch]

Just a note that Lake George in Stearns County is not open to ice fishing. Unless it's a different Lake George than the one in the middle of St Cloud. The city parks uses it for public ice stating.

[DTro]

Just a note that Lake George in Stearns County is not open to ice fishing. Unless it's a different Lake George than the one in the middle of St Cloud. The city parks uses it for public ice stating.

odd that they would stock it then?

Thanks for the heads up Borch

[Ralph Wiggum]

Originally Posted By: Borch

Just a note that Lake George in Stearns County is not open to ice fishing. Unless it's a different Lake George than the one in the middle of St Cloud. The city parks uses it for public ice stating.

odd that they would stock it then?

Thanks for the heads up Borch

You can open-water fish it. I had heard that they were using channels to help control the stunted pannies and bullheads in Lake George.

[bgreen82]

nah, he just wants to keep it all to himself.

[Borch]

nah, he just wants to keep it all to himself.

Naw... I've got a few other spots that are ... well,not as busy.

[JBone]

Hou dogg 13lbs

[Flaco651]

Thats a NICE channel there!