well……. its time for another MCK ultimatum question. 
…..
OK, say you are goin out for a night cattin chassin flatheads……… if you had a choice to fish on/or near TIMBER or a PRIME DEEP HOLE, which would you choose.
of course the EASY answer is BOTH….but it seems i am not always that fortunate and find myself choosing wher i wanna start off. So, I picked timber. For one, it holds the cats, and second, all the structure provides ample security for baitfish…….meanin big fishies! 
I would like to say Both, but you said we can’t. If I had to choose I would say timber. I have fished any ol’ timber I can find before and haven’t had much luck. My spots all have a combintion of both.
Mike T.
As a catfisherman wannabe…help me out here.
It was explained to me that Flats are in wood/snags…root wads being the best…mostly when they are not feeding. To catch the active fish, you need to fish the up stream side of the hole….The best hole is one that has the tree wad slightly down stream.
So…wouldn’t you want to fish the hole before the wood?
Timber…chances are if there is current in the river, there will be a scour hole associated with the timber to begin with. Flatheads seem to care more about what’s over their head than how deep they are. Although, with that being said, most of my fishing is on the Missouri river where timber is all but impossible to find so I end up fishing scour holes behind wingdams.
MC
my preferance is always timber……. but after i thought about it……. i have caught the majority of my big fish outa less-structured areas like holes, or near deep holes. no relevant timber near by
Interesting topic.
I don’t know if what I have even applies as I don’t get the opportunity to fish the Miss very often but,I would have to say neither.
I fish the MN River and there is plenty of wood in that river.However that is not what I fish.I look for cover in a deep hole,be it wood or rock but that is not where I am going to place my baits.I will fish the area near the wood or deep hole where the bait fish are holding.This is usually the tail out of the hole or the head of the hole.It seems that the best spot to get a flatty for me is the spot on the spot.That is to say if there is a channel,current edge or some other unique structure cut into the head or tail of the hole that is where mister whiskers is going to get my bait.Anywhere a big flatty is likely to ambush his meal.Its also interesting that I rarely find a “mud cat” in the mud.They seem to relate to hard bottom more than mud.At least in the river I fish.
I rarely fish wood or deep holes at night,after all thats the bedroom,not the dinning room. 
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rarely fish wood or deep holes at night,after all thats the bedroom,not the dinning room.
I knew I heard that line before…it twas you Fishhead!
But like a rules…we have to remember that many a large cat…as in women eat their ice cream in bed. 
(you don’t have to say it…some times I scare myself 
)
I get most of my big cats in 5 feet of water miles from any wood. There are some holes within a few hundred yards. Flats will range as far as it takes to get a meal. I like to fish along a rock wall right were it meets a weed edge.
Low river = deep holes if there is rock bottom or fast dropping break line.
avg river = wood
High river = feeder creeks.
I have caught flats around brush with no big adjacent hole and at the head end of a hole with no wood in site.
I think it depends a lot on current flow, water temp, and the activity level of the fish.
Sometimes an inside bend flat can be great if the fish are feeding actively and there is some type of obstruction near by to attract the baitfish.
I would definately book a catfish trip on Walleye season opener. No question about it. 
I thought this would be a good thread to bring to the top about now….as the sippi flow is so low….
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As a catfisherman wannabe…
You’ve rid yourself of that label pretty quick.
Just 2 years and your a cat pro. I won’t give up my rookie status until A.) I catch one over 30# or B.) I hit the river more than once every few weeks.
Not only is the river low, but the moon is full.
Low river and full moon…sounds like a challenge to me!!!
…off to P2! 
When the water is down. Holes can be a good bet.
If you can try to find the feeder creeks and fish the mouths in shallow. Look for jumping minnows, that can be a promising sign.
thanks
Larry
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Low river and full moon…sounds like a challenge to me!!!
…off to P2!
Go get’em tiger. I am off to the fridge for a Sunday beer and pills for my stinking back! I might have to learn how to fish lefthanded. 
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Low river and full moon…sounds like a challenge to me!!!
…off to P2!
Where, near pigs eye? I heard thats the place to be! 
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Low river and full moon…sounds like a challenge to me!!!
…off to P2!
The last week has been tuff!! My last big fish was thursday 6/29…. Lots of little fish being caught but the current is killing me! Come on rain 
Got skunked last night on Pool 2. Conditions are tough right now and I think the flats are in spawn mode. Time to rethink my strategy for the cat tourney. This could be one of those years when just about any fish could win.
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Time to rethink my strategy for the cat tourney.
NOODLING IS NOT ALLOWED!!!! 
Traditional spots have been SLOWWWWWW. I plan on fishing fast water “fastest I know anyway” with cut tonight and will let you know how I do. Full moon tomorrow so if we dont get some rain it could be any fish. Should be some good channels though! Who picked the dates anyway 
j/k Last full moon brought a couple nice fish to the boat but the flow was much better. Maybe we will luck out and get some ran by friday Keep dancing guys
The only rain that I heard will be tonight or tomorrow and that might miss us. Looks like its gonna be a sweaty weekend.
Look for the streams feeding in.
thanks
Larry
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The only rain that I heard will be tonight or tomorrow and that might miss us. Looks like its gonna be a sweaty weekend.
Look for the streams feeding in.
thanks
Larry
Ones that aren’t dried up! That of anything with good current should be your best bet. *See Signature below*.
Good clarification Pug,
it doesnt need to be much sometimes a trickle can do it. and it doesnt need to be natural either.
thanks
Larry
But don’t fish where the drunk relieving himself in the river. Thats’ not what we are talking about here…….and I like my privacy.
Not a very good image left in my mind there Pugsy!
Last night was a triple challenge…
Full Moon
Low current
AND
Favorite Wife didn’t want to stay out past dark! 
(Now that I think about it…this one is
TWO challenges)
However, as a close personal friend aways said…”Catching is so over rated”!
I’ve been so busy lately…not having a job and all that I haven’t spent much quality time with the FW. She gets home from work and I’m getting ready for an evening of fishing. ‘Cept for Saturdays, when she has my rear end.
So…she wanted to fish and if the low flow and full moon wasn’t going to stop her…who am I??
Now some of you know that she can’t hold a fish…some of you don’t…but do now… she wants too…really bad…but when she starts thinking that she can…she starts crying… 
even with gloves on.
So when she caught her first flathead of the year…first time out (well, except for the snake outing..and she didn’t wet a line there) she made….baby steps.
I fore see within the next 10 – 12 years that she will indeed be holding her catch! 
We ran up to the pigs eye area and found it way too crowded…so off to Evert’s we went and the infamous P4.
Dean greeted us with a smile as always and gave us a free launch pass…(he keeps saying that it’s a special pass for me…I thought it was because I was special…but I’ve heard through the grape vine that everyone gets a free pass until the end of August..so maybe there’s two meanings for “special”??)
The Favorite Wife wanted to spend the night at Evert’s and she started to unload the short list of nessesary items that we needed for the night…you know…the “can’t leave home with out it” stuff…
30 inch fan (don’t laugh CA)
Two cases of Diet Coke
One four pack of Hoho’s (I did eat two)
Assorted hat’s, jackets, sweaters…and a scarf all to keep any friendly bats away…in case she saw one.
Well, I started talking with Dean about a catfishing contest that would run the month of August on P4…and the possibilities of awards and a catfisherman’s get together at the end…and forgot all about the FW…figured I wasn’t the Favorite Hubby anymore…but it turns out she was keeping busy by looking through the photo album that I gave her for her birthday. Yup…all pictures of me…she just can’t get enough of me… 
On to fishing!
Low flow..fish current…the Redwing dam has plenty of that!
We set up in our first super secret spot…by the first wing dam and didn’t get one bite in 45 minutes…I don’t know what these walleye guys are talking about! I was casting a H20 Precision Jig with a Cotten Candy Paddle tail and never felt a nibble. I should come clean and say that I’m not very good at casting an 1/8 oz jig with one of Bob Moore’s “The Boss” rods and 80 pound PowerPro. Nope, not a winning combonation there…
So we moved to the SUPER SECRET spot next to the dam. This spot has produced at least one good anchor this week already..thanks Audemp! It was a nice addition to our rock garden!
Wasn’t long and we had our first channel in the boat…pictured above.
then just as dark arrived…the musical sound of the clicker going off broke the still of the night…it sang…the flathead song!
This might be as close to a fish of any kind that you’ll ever see the Favorite Wife…for another few years…
Only could get one picture as I didn’t want her in tears…
The scale read 10 pounds even…
…I have to admit…most fun I’ve had in along time! Guess that’s why I married her!
Did I mention that it was over 70 degrees when I that picture was taken? I was in a tee shirt…
So…the next day we were up at the crack of dawn to get out there and try some early morning flathead fishing…yup, we hit the water at noon! Favorite Wife made an awesome breakfast at the Liberty Cafe in Redwing! (well..she ordered it for me..that counts!)
The two largest channels were 5 and 10 lbs.
Here’s the 10 pounder…
Ladies, please! No phone calls…I’m happily married!
We had a great time on our over night vacation…Redwing is close…bout 45 minutes from Mpls/St Paul…but yet far away. Easy to get some relaxation in…talk to the FW while eagles are chirping away in the background.
With low flow…there’s the dam, a number of feeder creeks/rivers, the backwaters and of course for bait..there’s Lake Pepin…or do it the easy way…just say..Hey Dean? Got any bullheads?
In the bait shop, there’s some awesome photo’s of walleye’s and northerns that were reasontly taken from this section of the sippi. What an amazing pool!
Thanks again Dean…and more importantly…Favorite Wife for making it a great trip!
PS…it’s dry on P4 too…come on rain!
PS…just so no one gets the wrong idea…Favorite Wife and I love each other very much…she allows me to pick on her and sometimes I don’t find the rat poison in my HoHo’s. 
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