Newbie question…where to go?

Hi guys. I’ve been looking to get fishing for cats for years, ever since I hooked and lost a monster on the Miss. in Winona, but none of my regular fishin’ buddies are into cats. So I’ve decided I’m just gonna have to strike out on my own and regale them with the stories later…
My question is…where to go? I’m in the Mpls/St Paul area and won’t be using a boat so shore fishing will be the option. Can anyone suggest a place within an hour or 2 from the twin cities that I can set up for a day? Bait recommendations? Day/night? Should I find a guide for the first few outings? Like the title says, I’m pretty new to this. Oh, BTW, I do plan to release anything over 16, I’m not a meathead.

Bonsai,

There are a Bunch of good spots to go to, now thru sept the bite should be fantastic.. What kind of cats are you planning on tackling?? Flatheads, channels and are you going for all catch and release?? Send me a p.m and we can talk about locations… I wouldn’t hire a catfish guide for pool 3 or 4 you should be able to due fine …. without one… there are plenty of good local guys that would probally let you tag along as well.. as long as you promised to let the bigguns go and fill in your user profile a little……

there was a spot I used to fish cats from shore on the coon rapids side… down below the 610 bridge a ways… there were some pretty nice channels in there.. and lots of smaller ones… it was great action… I took my kids there a few times and they always caught a bunch… even in the middle of the day… though evening was better… you should be able to find the place… just drive south on coon rapids blvd (south of the 610 bridge)… turn right on one of the side streets… I would say at the second light.. that will take you too the river… the road runs right along it and you can walk down (or fall down) the steep bank to the river… the stretch is at least 1/3 mile long with lots of good spots… and though its sacrilidge on the cat board.. there are also smallmouth (mostly small but lots of them)…. walleyes (again fairly small)… and even musky (some suprisingly big!)….. in that stretch too….. shallow, fast, rocky is what you have their… fish the current breaks you cant go wrong….

I think your best bet for cats near the cities would be the Minnesota River between Bloomington & Belle Plaine. Lots of channel cats and big flatheads with plenty of shore options. Try some of the barge ports, creek mouths & brush piles. Like Rivereyes, I’ve fished the 610/Coon Rapids area on the Mississippi, but most of the cats were small. I usually get bigger channels north of there between Elk River & Monticello. You can wade a lot of this area. Just fish cut-bait on the current breaks and the heads of holes & riffles. Or the upstream side of any brush piles you find. Below the Ford Dam in Minneapolis you’ll find channels & flatheads. Plenty of shorespots there, like the creek mouth or the Minnesota & Missippi river confluence. You can catch the channels all day, but it’s a night bite for the flats. Vern