Today was one of those once in a lifetime kind of deals. My plan was to be on the river by 0700 and fish until about 1130. I was going to work the area that Dave and I hit last Friday with some success. I figured I’d come off the water about noon with a couple of fish and some ideas on where to chase flatheads until the KOTC ends on 30 September. I had hooks in the water at 0745 and a nice channel in the boat at 0810. After that it was fish on almost steady until 1100. I finished the morning with 8 nice channel cats and my trolling technique down pat. I was back on fish and have a pretty good idea on how to catch them.
I went home and ate lunch with my wife and was planning to hang around the house for the rest of the day. The weather stayed overcast with a nice breeze and conditions were perfect for fishing. My bride could tell I wanted to be on the water and she told me to take off. I was packed and out of the house by 1530 heading for the river.
So round 2 started with hooks in at 1625 and again I had a nice 28″ channel cat in the boat within minutes at 1640. I got him in and out within minutes and sat back down and immediately both rods doubled over. I grabbed one in my left hand and one in my right hand and was trying to figure out which one was the biggest so I could deal with him first. They were both hooked good so I put the right rod back in the holder and with my left hand rod I managed to drag a nice fat 37″ X 23″ flathead into the boat. I dumped him out of the net, flopping and banging around on the aft deck and he managed to slime just about everything he touched. I proceeded to drag another nice flathead into the boat and dropped him next to his buddy. The second one measured out at 36″ X 22″ and I had my first flathead double. SWEET! And I wasn’t even done for the day – I managed 4 more channel cats before calling it quits at 1905. What a Day! 13 channel cats and 2 flatheads. This cured a long dry spell starting in the middle of August.
I’m not chasing sturgeon as long as this cat bite holds up. I got a feeling that the St Croix cats are still hungry and catchable. I’m after them now.
