Cats

Long time since I posted.

Snake River up here by Mora has been giving up some dandys.

This starts last Monday May 8.

Went down to check my favorite hole last week. Didn’t even have any bait with. Water was down and water temp was up. Somebody was kind enough to leave a couple of dead suckers a couple of days rotten. What the hell. Cut me a chunk. In 4 hours caught a 7.5 and a 9.5 using a Cabelas predator rod and 6500C3 reel and 3/0 circle hook, and 1 oz. of weight right on the current seam.

Went again on Tuesday, Caught 4, 1 – 3lb, 3 between 7 and 9 lb. All on the same dead suckers. Tried again this week. Water up a foot and a half and temp down. No cats, 2 18″ walleye and 2 suckers.

water has got to go down a bit and the temp up a bit.

Sorry, no pics

Do you do CPR on these critters or do they get the fillet knife? If so, how do you prepare them? I’m specifically asking about the cats….
thanks

Channel cats filleted and fried are excellent!

Good to see you are still around Abby. Have you been over to the Croix Yet this year?

So channels are good eating and flatheads are not? Is it easy to tell the difference, and how big is too big to keep?

One more question about bullheads for bait….why bullheads? Do you use them dead or alive?

Hey LundgEYE! They are both great eating I hear. I had my first channel cat this winter on Horseshoe at an FM get together…Either Fish Head really knows how to cook’em or they are great eating.

They cleaned them just like a walley…except they started the cut behind the rib cage. Shore Lunch and a deep fryer…tasty!

I keep saying I’m going to try a 7 to 10 lbs flathead as I hear they are better eating than a channel.

Most folk I know keep eater channels under 4 lbs and I only know of one person that has tryed flathead. Again from my understanding…trying to eat a flat under that 7 lbs mark, there isn’t much to eat as they are all head.

I’m sure eating a meal of either fish larger than the size meantioned above isn’t goning to hurt a person…as long as your not breast feeding… PCB’s are generally high in larger flats and channels…another reason to practice Catch, Photo and Release.

Bullheads under 7 inches are considered a minnow (in MN) they are readily available in most local ponds and are very hardy. Lively bait is key for flathead fishing. Large suckers work too…but they die easily and they struggle…once in a while. Good fresh bullheads just keep on kicking and it helps the flat home in on it.

Hope that helps!

PS Creek or River Chubs are very good too. Which reminds me that I need to get to Jimmy’s bait in Stillwater for some chubs.

yes, I’m still around. Answers that I have.

Haven’t been to St croix yet. Only made it to Red Wing once for the whites. pretty busy.

Cats eat good. Trim all dark and yellow colored meat and fry them up. Fresh, not frozen.

I like flathead better than channel. Firmer, whiter meat. Don’t kill any big ones. 10lb range is good.

Wish that the weather would warm up, get the feedbag on the kitties again.