Cats at night on the river

[hanson]

I would also assume that the reason I have never caught one is because of the bait I have been using being stink bait?

More than likely... Stink bait (for channel cats) excels when the water temp gets really warm although I've never had very good luck doing it.

Get yourself some sucker minnows, shad, creek chubs and cut them up into small golf ball size chunks and try fishing with that. I'd probably put a bait right off that rock bar on the current seam and see what happens.

[south_metro_fish]

I don't know if it was covered in the thread but if I was to fish the flatheads you say they bite at night. What time of the night do they bite?

[Scott K]

All night!

[DTro]

Flats will bite anytime of the day. They spend most of the daylight hours tucked up in the deepest darkest snag around, or lounging in the middle of a deep hole. As the light dissipates they will move out of cover in search of food. They continue to cruise around most of the night. There is a definite time period during the twilight hours that seems to be better.

Don't forget time of year either (spawn). These fish do two things, they eat and they make babies. Everything else they do is directly related to those 2 things. So what is working in June, most likely won't be the best thing in July or August.

[south_metro_fish]

Thank you to every one for the help. I have fished in the area described for many years catching all kinds of different fish and only managed to pull up a couple of 5 to 10# cats and have always wondered how to catch the big ones. I would assume there has to be a bunch of them in that large body of water between the dams and this year I am ready to tackle them. Is the area around Winona and Lacross known for having big cats?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Is the area around Winona and Lacross known for having big cats?

Oh yeah.

[Shack]

Man, I was just down in Lacrosse on Tues. I had to meet with a customer of mine out on French Island. Coming over the bridge on 90, man does the river ever spread out down their.

Looks like a ton of good area to find huge flats .

[south_metro_fish]

So I thought of another thing on my way home from work. Do the big cats ever hang out in the back waters in the slues and lakes in holes? There usually is not much current back in areas like that. I know I have caught some small ones well fishing on snags for bluegills. Is mud cat another name for flatheads?

[aanderud]

So what is working in June, most likely won't be the best thing in July or August.

I'm gonna use some different strategies this year in late July and early August. It's called yardwork, honeydo list, camping, and prolly lots of other things not related to sitting on a river waiting for the pigs to bite.

I know you can catch some bigguns, but the slowness makes other things look a bit more attractive. I'll hit-er hard in May and June.

[Shack]

July and early August. It's called yardwork, honeydo list, camping, and prolly lots of other things not related to sitting on a river waiting for the pigs to bite.

I say that every year , then WWG, LFC or Tyler will hook into a big flat and it is game on again Then you have the Moore's contest's, the KOTC Shoot Out and Steve D pulling a hog out over on the Croix

It never ends, it never ends man.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

Yes indeed, I've had some decent luck.

[harvey lee]

I like to fish hard the months of May and June. The middle of July and all of August can surely get very slow.

Lat year it seemed to me that all the great fishing was pre spawn and after that, I personally did terrible.

[DARK30]

I LOVE sittin by the river in the dark. Clicker or not, there are all kinds of cool sounds at night.....sometimes even makes your neck tingle

[wastewaterguru]

It sure seems more numbers are caught early season....but for me I have always caught my bigger fish in August/September.

I like to be out there all times of the year. There is almost always something biting.

[Larry FlatCaster]

late season seems to favor me a little more than the early part.

[south_metro_fish]

All you guys are getting me excited to try and get a few nice cats this year. I spent many nights sitting by the bonfire late at night at the river. Now I can fish well I am out there. I just figured that nothing would bite after it got late having tried with not much luck. So if I am gathering this all right they bite best earlier in the year after the water gets warm enough. How much do they move around on the river during the year? Do they have certain grounds that they hang out during certain times and are they pretty close together or do they travel around a lot.

[DARK30]

Ok, never mind.

How good the bite is depends on what the river is doing. June, July, August. Its never the same every year....lots of variables. Lets just hope its not up in the trees.

[south_metro_fish]

I guess what I am asking is do they travel a lot or do they tend to stay in the same location most the time moving deeper or shallower as needed?

Talking about hearing and seeing weird things. I probably should have called it in but it was so late and they didn't stick around long. But I was sitting on the dock with my friend late one night having a few drinks and we heard a boat coming down the river with no lights on. Finally we could see the black out line of the boat and we watched them go over to the wing dam and stop at shore. Then it was like they made a loop with a net and as fast as they could they pulled it all up and took off.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I LOVE sittin by the river in the dark. Clicker or not, there are all kinds of cool sounds at night.....sometimes even makes your neck tingle

We experienced MANY very strange noises when out at night on the river. Once we heard an object probably nearly 100 lbs in weight jump from the bank of the river into the water about 20 feet up river from us. We are thinking it is a big snapper.

Also hear this HUGE fish or animal jump out of the water every so often and whatever it is, IT'S HUGE! It makes a splash that goes up at least 10 feet and can be heard from a couple 100 yards away. A big "KURPLUNK", not a normal fish splash. We think it's either a huge Paddlefish or something (not sure if they jump, but know they are in the area) or some river creature maybe a beaver hitting his tail or something.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Tail-slapping beavers are quite common and can scare the bejesus out of a guy! They don't seem to like boats that much

[Larry FlatCaster]

South Metro Fish.....

Mate you have a lot of really good questions... and want a thorough education. If I could recommend you get some books and DVDS... Thats what I did after my first cat season during the winter months. I could not get enough info on line. IF you get a good thorough grasp of the basics, then peoples input tied in with their experiences will make more sense.

I recommend this to anybody new to catfishing that wants to gain as much insight and knowledge as quick as possible.

[south_metro_fish]

Thanks for the advice.

Talking about things jumping out of the water at night. I have heard huge fish in the middle of the night jumping. Its fun when there is no wind or anything and you can kinda hear it echo down the river. There have been some pretty big ones. I have always thought they were carp. I do know there are paddle fish in the area and some huge gar along with others. One year when the commercial fisherman were doing a hall for sheep head and other ruff fish in the winter, they brought up a 5 to 6' gar. That is one heck of a fish the DNR stopped by and took it.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

This huge splash I speak of is like nothing I have ever heard. Maybe someone in the Mankato area knows what I'm talking about. The thing cannot be a fish, but if it is it's a monster. We were right next to the splash once and it looked and sounds like a 200 lb man doing a cannon ball into the river.

[Scott K]

Probably some of the river bank just fell in.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Probably some of the river bank just fell in.

Yup, happens a lot.