Ok, Kent…
Over the years I’ve head of many peoples ideas as to how to fish and what to use on the Red for the Mega Channels. Mostly from folks that go up there once or twice a year to Lockport.
How are you rigging and what equipment do you use day in day out on the area you fish. If you have the time…just go through the day in the life of a Red River Guide.
I saw your hooks in the other thead and wondered why you didn’t use circles…see? You started all of this! 
OK heres my guts on fishing the Red for trophys.
Baits: Once the ice comes off the river sometime in April, the fishing begins to improve. Also with the water temps getting warmer the larger females begin to go on their spring feeding binge before they spawn. I like to use the freshest bait possible during this time. On the Red River in the spring that would only mean one thing, suckers. I like to use the ones about eight to nine inches in length and cut of the last third of the tail. I then cut the rest into three equal pieces. My favorite piece is the head about the size of a ping pong ball.
During mid-summer I will use fresh caught goldeye and the trusted suckers. I like to keep the size of the bait about the same, between one and two square inches. I hear people talking all the time about channel catfish and alot say, big bait – big fish. I for one don’t believe that, the two biggest cats that I have caught, came on the smallest cut- baits. I can remember them being about half inch by inch in length. I like to look at it in a different way, when they’re biting really well, I’ll tend to go towards the larger size cutbait. If they’re just kind of picking at it, I will use a smaller piece. Look at it this way, once the morning bite is over and they seem to have slowed on there bite, they most be full. That’s when it pays to use smaller baits. They might just want a little snack, but they don’t want a whole meal.
Towards fall that’s when it gets fun. I like to watch the roads for the signs that it’s time to change baits. How many of you have seen this? Some fall rainy night your driving down the road along a ditch or river, maybe even a lake, and then, there are frogs everywhere. This is what I look for and it has seemed to pay off over the years so why change. The ones I like to use are no more the two inches in length. The best location for using frogs on the river is in less then two feet of water, along a shore that is full of grass.
Location: During the spring run, catfish tend to move up river towards the warmer water. Small feeder creeks are a good location ,as well as, flooded timber along the shore lines. I tend to stay in the main river channel looking for a structure. What you ask? Humps, Cuts, front edges of holes. Anything that will give the catfish an ambush point, they will be holding in there. Once the spawn happens the fish are a little harder to locate, but with a little work you’ll find them. I like to start in the snags, next to deep water, and move to the shallow side. You can also look for them in the deepest holes. It really depends on the river if it floods, or if it gets lower from no or little rain, it varies from year to year so keep a mental note. I once caught a 15 pound cat in water less then a foot deep along the shore where I never thought they would be there. One of the best locations and bites that anyone can do is find a shallow flat that is up river from deeper water. I like the three to four foot range on the Red, and it has produced for me 95% of the time that I fish it, that’s the last half hour of sunlight, to well after dark.
Tackle: My reels are Abu Garcia 6600 with the clicker. I believe this to best the best reel for battling these cats. I like to use six foot six inch MH rods while I’m using the clickers when the cats are just hammering the baits. When the bite starts to slow somewhat, I like to switch gears and grab my nine foot MH salmon down rigging rods. These work great when you using the circle hooks. Kids just about comes unglued when it starts to bend and your just sitting there saying, not yet, not yet. It’s also great watching them try to get the rod out of the rod holder when you have a twenty pound cat pulling on the other end. As for hooks 5/0 is the size I prefer, circle, or J’s. Sinkers are the no-roll type in the two to three ounce range. As for the fishing line, I have been using 30lb Trilene tied to a barrel swivel, then my snell is 20lb. This way you can cut down on the amount of sinkers you leave down on the bottom of the river.
I had to dust off my entry pass to the Cat Forum! Brian K told me it was closed down! 
Do you ever get any eating size channels up there, and are they any good?
Quote:
Do you ever get any eating size channels up there, and are they any good?
It’s just been revoked. 
Now to read LC’s post.
Yes there are many eaters in the Red. I have never tried eating them but many do. I have heard they are very good early in the year and then again late season when the water temps are cooler. During the warmer water season they say they get a little soft.
I’ve hear that June isn’t a good catten month up there because of the spawn.
Any truth to that? They all spawn at once?
By the way, that’s for the post. That covered it all! 
June tends to be a slow month but that all depends on the spring melt. If its an early spring with warm temps good fishing could end in late May. If it is a dragged out spring with cooler temps the spring bite could last into mid June. Last year fishing slowed the second week of June wich made it a litle tougher to find the large cats. You could find them but they were not a common as the early spring bite.
Good stuff there landscats. You ever try running Sonny’s or other stink bait up there?
Does anyone icefish for them up there? The smaller ones are a riot; I’ll bet those hogs would be ridiciulously fun.
I got a funny story regarding stink bait. Last summer I had a couple guys show up and they wanted to use their own rods with stink baity. I told them that they were allowed two lines each so I would put out two of my rods. Well sometime had past and after talking with them found out that there biggest cat was only about five pounds, and that they thought that their rods were maxed out. About that time one of my rods with the fresh cut bait started peeling out. I handed one of the guys the rod and after he set the hook he knew. Once we landed the fish took pictures and released her back into the water I got my rod set up and back into the water. After about ten minutes I noticed that he hadn’t put his rod back in the water. I asked him if he wanted two lines in and he said “sure but I’m not putting my rod back in the water I would prefer not to bust it”. We started laughing because his father was going to land a fish on his rod. Next fish bites and its the old mans turn. After landing and the photos we released it and he never put his rod back in the wter either. It was just to funny and we all laughed.
Stink bait seems to work best for the smaller fish I have never caught a fish over 5 five pounds with it.
As far as Ice fishing I have tried it a few times. I’m not really set up for it but am getting back into it. We tryed a few weeks ago and only landed a five to six pound pike.
I do both down here. The warmer the water the better they hit it. My biggest cats down here have all come on stink bait. Several 20-30 lbers last year and oodles of 15-20lbs so don’t eliminate it from the arsenal based on only small fish. Once the boys get big enough we are coming up there and booking you.
OK I have to ask. What are oodles
A great amount or number……..
Wow thanks for the gut spill.
Your very much welcome. If I were talking to you in person you would be able to even go further in depth. I just tend to be short winded when I’m typing. Just a little harder tryen to type out what I really mean to say.
That would be the number of cats I have caught more than you.
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