Catfishing on the St. Croix - Catfish & Sturgeon - Catfish & Sturgeon

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I live in Bayport and just woundering if anybody has any info for me to help catch big cats on the St. croix river that will help? location, bait, time of day, ect.

Well you sure know how to ask the tough questions: Location; Bait; Time of Day? Let me try to answer some of them:

Bait:

For channel cats I would recommend cut sucker. Get some large or medium sucker minnows and just chunk them up. Put a nice chunk on about a 4/0 or larger hook. For channel cats I use 5/0 to 8/0 circle hooks. Change bait about every 15 – 20 minutes. The blood and juices coming off the bait is what attracts the fish. You want to keep fresh scent in the water.

Flathead catfish prefer live bait. I primarily use bullheads. I catch them out of a local pond. Suckers work well but they are hard to keep alive in the warmer weather. For flats you want lively bait that is struggling hard on the end of your line. The noise and vibrations from a struggling bait fish is what attracts flatheads.

Time of Day:

I prefer to fish the evening hours and well into the late night. I try to get out about 7:30pm and will fish some nights until 1:00am to 2:00am. You will find cats being caught during the day but the best bite is after dark. On the St Croix it is hard to fish during the day because the cruiser and big boat traffic is so bad they drive you off the river. You will find that you mostly own the river after dark. Keep your navigation lights and anchor lights on because there are a few late night Go Fast boats that are still running around. Keep your eyes open and spotlight available to signal those crazy drivers that you are on the water.

Location:

I can only give you so much help – location is kind of up to you. I see you are from Bayport and some areas that you may want to look at to start with are: Mallalieu Dam area near Hudson; Hudson Swing Bridge area (this is a good area to fish when the boat traffic is high because it is a No Wake Zone); the Hudson Interstate Bridge area. Those areas should give you a good start. I will tell you that I have had good luck drifting for channel cats. Look at some of last year’s Fishing Reports and you will find one I did that explains the drifting technique I use. Here is the link to last year’s drifting report: Drifting Up Some St Croix Channel Cats – 9 August

Believe me, it works and it is simple to do and it will put cats in your boat. I’ve used the technique on the Stillwater to Bayport pool and on the Hudson to Afton pool with excellent success.

Hope this information helps you. Good Luck!!