I started my river rat days out smallie fishing but after I got bit by the sturgeon bug. I need a bigger bend in my rods. The biggest thing of me not getting into catfishing has been no one I know has any desire to chase cats. I would like to find a few people that either want to fill a seat or have a seat open. I run a small Jon with a obj on it so I normally try to stay upriver and way from people on most of the rivers I fish.
Please don’t tell anybody, but I am a “closet” catman!
They do put up a great fight 
Im new to the scene but pretty sure im hooked. We launch just north of Coon Rapids dam all the time. I have not been able to get any cats in the boat but this year I want to go north of the Anoke bridge. And Im planning on hitting the Minnesota river alot. Im game for anything, I will have open seats and I’ll take a seat just let me know. 
Bob, that looks like an “Up North” channel cat! 
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Bob, that looks like an “Up North” channel cat!
I didn’t realize there was a difference
That’s because you’re a ski guy.
Now I’m sure you would be able to tell a ski from P4 and one from above the Coon Rapids dam…right?
So getting back on track here Bob, do you have any recommendations for finding channels above the Coon Rapids dam?
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That’s because you’re a ski guy.
Now I’m sure you would be able to tell a ski from P4 and one from above the Coon Rapids dam…right?
They all taste the same, cheek meat is cheek meat 
Still learning how to catch these kitty’s, shallow water has been best. Seems strange but most of them have come from 3 feet of water or less. They seem to be getting more aggressive in the last week or so. Fun on a bun!!
Hey Bob ya got one in?
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I started my river rat days out smallie fishing but after I got bit by the sturgeon bug. I need a bigger bend in my rods. The biggest thing of me not getting into catfishing has been no one I know has any desire to chase cats. I would like to find a few people that either want to fill a seat or have a seat open. I run a small Jon with a obj on it so I normally try to stay upriver and way from people on most of the rivers I fish.
I started fishing everything in the river. Then I found out there are flatheads in Minnesota. I never bothered to check into it because it always seemed like the info I saw was from down south and no one up here fished for them. Seems like things are changing on that front.
My nephew and I usually hit the Minnesota and pool 2. Sometimes we go over to the St. Croix between Prescott and above Stillwater and sometimes we go to Pool 3&4.
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Hey Bob ya got one in?
Yup, Here my fav.
Oh, wait, you meant the Fishy CAT!
Hmmm…looking for the AIS sticker….
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So getting back on track here Bob, do you have any recommendations for finding channels above the Coon Rapids dam?
The stretch from coon rapids up the northeat part of anoka doesn’t have real great of catfishing but the stretch from elk river up past monticello has awesome channel catfishing. It’s so shallow up there any hole that’s deeper then the surrounding areas will hold a good amount of cats.
My my best spots up there though are stretches of sand that turn into rocks. All the flowing down food catches on the rocks and will have tons of cats willing to bite some cut sucker. Salamanders seem to work well up here too!
High water in the spring by st cloud has a few to be caught. I have tried a few times between 694 to right below the cr dam. My only flats or decent channels have been on the croix around Osceola.
We will have to hook up sometime I have put some time into the waters below the Coon Rapids dam and there are plenty of kittys around there just got to know where to look. In fact just picked up some chicken livers and the fatheads are outside “marinating”. I am all walleyes but really enjoy fishing for anything. 694 to the dam is pretty darn shallow and I find much better fishing overall much further downstream. May be sending you a PM this weekend. This cold blast might have brought them back to their winter holes and I got one figured out.
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So getting back on track here Bob, do you have any recommendations for finding channels above the Coon Rapids dam?
The stretch from coon rapids up the northeat part of anoka doesn’t have real great of catfishing but the stretch from elk river up past monticello has awesome channel catfishing. It’s so shallow up there any hole that’s deeper then the surrounding areas will hold a good amount of cats.
My my best spots up there though are stretches of sand that turn into rocks. All the flowing down food catches on the rocks and will have tons of cats willing to bite some cut sucker. Salamanders seem to work well up here too!
Your info here is spot on from what I have seen this year. I know nothing about cats, slowly learning. What kinds of things are the cats eating when they are up shallow on the rocks this time of year? Is there a main food source? I keep getting them on hair jigs but there are way more fish there I can see that I can’t get to bite. Any suggestions on tipping the odds in my favor?
Honestly it’s been pretty slow so far this year and the ones I have caught were takin on jigs pitchen for other species as well.
This is normal though this time of year. What really seems to kick em off on a real hot bite in the north is when the water gets really high and fast. They are definetly eating though because their bellys look like they’re ready to explode right now.
My theory as to what they’re eating right now is all that blobby vegetation crap that grows on the rocks in the winter time and breaks loose as the flow picks up.
Im guessing The bite should start to get pretty hot In the next week or so. If you can find it, cut sucker or hunks of large shiner will be the ticket.
On the walleye closer this year I was up on Monticello doing the SMB and trying to find some last eyes of the year and had fun with that all day, then came night and no eyes whatsoever, so went back to the van, grabbed a 6pack, a circle hook and put a piece of cut sucker on and threw it out. Enjoying the full moon with a cold one and bam bout 12-13pd channel I get. Was pretty awesome. Rock shelf about foot deep to 5-6′ behind it with sand was where I put it. Saw some other yuppies carrying about the same size cat back to their truck as well earlier in the day.
Thanks for sharing guys, I appreciate the info
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Please don’t tell anybody, but I am a “closet” catman!
LOL! I’ve been keeping it on the down low too. I’m a “closet” walleye guy!
How hard was it for you to “dumb it down”? LOL
So far it hasn’t effected my reputation…
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