I caught a fish! I caught a fish!

August is historically been my mid summer vacation/maintenance month. The time to check over all the gear, restock the tackle box, check over the boat, motor and such getting ready for the Great Lake Sturgeon Season coming up in September.

But now is also time when I can actually feel what catching a fish is like! With a little scouting mix in.

Friday evening produced a few channels, nothing to write home to Mom about. Saturday evening was and easy night…hey! I’m on vacation right? Back to the Everts dock by ten pm to enjoy the frolics of Brian Lyons and River Rat Randy and a few other “hill people”.

Only one bite on Saturday. It always gets the heart pumping when the rod in the side rod holder bends all the way to the back of the boat! WooHOO!

Nothing matches the disappointment of feeling the hook pop out either.

Sunday AllenW stopped by our fishing spot to say hi. There goes another secret location! By 11 A.M. I was wondering why anyone would be out fishing in that hot sun. I headed back to Everts with a couple dandies released.

Cut sucker was clearly the winner over worms, Sonny’s and Uncle Josh’s Rotten Shad stink baits. If your heading out, I would still have stink on at least one hook but would quickly switch if the cut bait kicks in.

Best of the weekend was this 12.25 channel. She stayed down and fought more like a flathead at the boat than a channel, but then I only have two or three flats under my belt this year.

I didn’t caught a fish! Five of us were on the MN River and it was very slow. Fished from Tuesday-Saturday night. Three channels total. 2 about 4 lbs and one 16 lbs., all on frogs. We tried bullheads, cutbait, and frogs and many different spots that are usually good. I happened to not have a single bite the entire time not counting a turtle. I love catfishing but was pretty sick of it by Saturday. Atleast the two nephews caught a fish each. The water dropped about 3-4 feet since we were there. I did have a spotlight crap out about midnight about 3 miles from the boat launch though so that wasn’t boring. The fog on the water was too thick for the flashlights to do anything. Had to call the other boat in the group to come guide us in.

She is a dandy BrianK

And as far as that hot sun goes………come on winter

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Sunday AllenW stopped by our fishing spot to say hi. There goes another secret location! By 11 A.M. I was wondering why anyone would be out fishing in that hot sun. I headed back to Everts with a couple dandies released.
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I have that site marked and for sale to the highest bidder….

Not sure what the temps reached Sunday, but I went though 4 large bottles of water and had to stop in Red Wing to get more to make it home…it was hot!

We left about 5:00 and had a 28″ channel cat, handful of sheepheads and one small walleye which got released.
Hard fishing, we tried jigs also with minnows, leeches and crawlers, attached to the jigs, dragged hard baits on a long line, hit the main channel, Pepin, and the backwaters.

Didn’t see much action in other boats either.

Good to see ya Brian, someday we’ll get out..:)

Al

We caught 3 on Sat. and had a bigumm on for awhile. 1/16 blade was ticket for biggast Soory no pics .We were fishing for whitetails . oh yea we caught 6 of them

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someday we’ll get out..:)

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Only if you’re blind folded.

Everts has been booked with channel cat guys for a few weeks now..at least three. Everyone has been reporting very good catches of cats.

One of the “hill people” was seen bringing in a walleye dinner on Saturday too. Remember there are other places besides the “can line” for walleyes to be had.

Damn, a walleye report in the cat forum. We are going to ‘ell!

What the heck is that yellow thingey in your left hand? That’s almost as bad as wearing a glove jerr

EDIT-BTW I have one, Dean convinced my bride that we needed one.

Normally I would agree with you Jerr, but with channel cats I think it’s better to handle them with the Fish Gripper than to try and hold them in your hands. Since there isn’t a good way to get a hold of a channel (ask Mallory about her lip hold this weekend) the cat wiggles once and they bounce off the floor. Using the gripper we have a firm hold for the wiggles and a free hand to help support the fish.

PS they work great for winter walleyes and sauger too. Keeps the hands from getting wet. Not that I know this from personal experience mind you.

OK, I gotta get my butt out there and find some channels then.

If the bite really is on, like you say.

Hrmm… maybe it’s time to revisit the Croix…

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One of the “hill people” was seen bringing in a walleye dinner on Saturday too. Remember there are other places besides the “can line” for walleyes to be had.
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Well, we tried from the can line down into pepin futher than I have ever gone and backwater in between, and marked tons of fish..no bites though to speak of.
We could have used another spot or two to try…:)
Al

If you happen to decide to cool off in the Croix these days with a quick swim, be ready to be attacked by aggressive dog-days panfish which seem to guard the shallows around docks about this time of the year. They will nip moles, toes, even nipples when you least expect it.
Friend of mine reacted to an unexpected love bite from something finny yesterday and almost drowned from a leg cramp. Could it be that going on 62 is too old for slalom skiing?

What the heck is that yellow thingey in your left hand? That’s almost as bad as wearing a glove jerr

If you look close you can tell he’s wearing high heels and a dress with pants on underneath. This was my only decent fish this weekend. 30 inches by 15. Skinny for these waters and no glove or device.

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Since there isn’t a good way to get a hold of a channel (ask Mallory about her lip hold this weekend) the cat wiggles once and they bounce off the floor.

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Yup, I failed to know this, still got the red battle mark on my thumb. Guess I am getting a little cocky I will become the master of catfishing after all, one of these days…

But, I obviously have lots to learn. So then.. is there a good way to hold a Channel?

-Mallory

sissy boy

I’ll take my lumps Herb. I just don’t like the sound a channel makes when I loose control and they thump the bottom of the boat. Guess it would be another story if I had Fishing Machine to cook them up for me.

I’ll see if I can find a pic in the channel cat photo’s Mike. Tootsies in a channels mouth can be done…but man, once they clamp down it’s always band aid time for me!

One lump or two?
No, you don’t want her cooking those cats for you. You’d never throw another one back.
And I got the recipe.

Mmmmmm… walleye cheeks.

Nummy!

I’m afraid you might be right since she ruined me on eating herring with her pickle pike recipe. I haven’t had a piece of herring since that PDC Get ToGether what? 5-6 years ago.

Mike, here’s a few holds that work if there isn’t a gripper handy.

Dan Thiem

The Jakob

Someone caught this fish for Pug…

Notice the finger placement around the fins?

There are some that will hold the cats in the lower part of their gill covers without touching the gills. Personal preference, but I like to stay away from them gills as much as possible…unless I know Herb OR Mary is coming over.

It was Mallory that asked, but I’m not going to pretend I knew the best way to hold them anyway? Can I grab them by the cheeks?

-Mike

I’m thinking grabbing them by the eyes and hauling them in, is not on the approved list then????

No…I don’t, I wooshed out and use a glove…two of them in fact….no…not on the same hand either…

Al

Guess where my thumb was!

I’ve been trying hard to remember to hide the hand and digits as much as possible for photos so you see as much as the fish as possible. Got to be careful with channels though. They’ll be docile for a while and the next thing you know they do one of those quick, powerful Manny slaps and if you are not careful, they can end up slamming on the floor of the boat.

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Guess where my thumb was!

I’ve been trying hard to remember to hide the hand and digits as much as possible for photos so you see as much as the fish as possible. Got to be careful with channels though. They’ll be docile for a while and the next thing you know they do one of those quick, powerful Manny slaps and if you are not careful, they can end up slamming on the floor of the boat.

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And trust me, since I had an 8.75# channel put a spine thru the floor of a cooler, I’ve had a whole new respect for a flying catfish. The last thing you want is for that tail-slap to spin the fish out of control and come down spine first on your thigh. Just ask MossyDan about that.

Anyway… I prefer the around-the-fin-and-tail grip. I think that trying to hold it delicately for a pic is nice but actually getting the pic is much more important. Just as Czech and his buddy Eric about that one. We finally put Eric on his first decent channel and before I could hit the shutter button a mighty tail-slap kicked the fish out of his hands back into the river.

Now it’s a moment that never was (cuz no pics it never happened, right?)

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I think that trying to hold it delicately for a pic is nice

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You mean like this?

I’ve been trying to perfect my channel cat hold this year. This is the best hold I have come up with that I think puts the least stress on the fish.

I think the best way to hold these powerful buggers is up underneath the gill plate, making sure not to touch the actual gills. If you get way up in there they have a split in two bones that 2 of my fingers can fit in (probably 1 finger for everyone else ). Once your fingers are secured you can manage these fish much better – just make sure your hand is behind the fish.

P.S. Dont let BK try to con you into those girly yellow things….

I’ll tell ya a spine driven in deep to the bone megaherts like hel-. I fell on a catfish abot 20 years ago at night out on the river running trotlines. It was around the 8 lb. size and the top dorsal spine was driven all the way in. I stood up and felt it hanging there on my as- and said well here goes nothing, its now or never, put my hand around the fish and ripped it out, the skin stretched under my jeans. Believe me it discharged for a couple months and finially healed about 9 months later, I had a scab there for along time.
Ya got to hold them so if they start jumping you can hang on. I put my middle and thumb fingers together through both gills so they touch or almost touch on the bigger fish and squeeze enough not to loose my grip, or I put my middle finger up under the gill and my thumb in its mouth. Hell a few sandpaper rubs from a catfishes teeth is part of catfishing. Note: do not try on Pike or Walleyes, it dosen’t work and you’ll end up gong to the hospital for stitches.
It doesen’t hurt to wrap a bandaid around the thumb if the fish are biteing good and your handleing alot of them over a period of a few weeks, spring spawn. The bigger fish, theres nothing wrong with useing a glove eigther if your catching alot them and the fingers are getting tender. Myself I handle the smaller ones alot more carefully then the bigger ones, the smaller ones spikes are as sharp as needles.

Got a story for ya, a couple kids were seineing minnows down here early in the spring for crappies and when they got home they noticed thier feet were swelling and looked at the bottom of them, they couldn’t figure out what all those little red marks were because they didn’t hurt in the cold spring water and now they were. They went to the hospital to take care of thier swelling feet and the doctor came in. The doctor looked and asked what they were doing and they told them seining for minnows. The doctor said what kind of bottom was it, was there any mud and they said yes they were walking in mud. The doctor said you were stepping on small bullheads and you couldn’t feel it because the water was cold. The bottom of thier feet was peppered with dozens of small holes from small bullheads about 2 inches long and when they walked on them thier feet pushed them into the mud, so there wasen’t any direct contact where they could immediately feel them. It only goes to show that the smaller ones hurt just as much if not more then the bigger catfish. I just hold mine so I don’t have to pick them up again, if you don’t hurt the gills you can hold the smaller ones about any way you want. The bigger ones you have to support thier organs, thumb/finger through the gill covers and the other just behind the belly is what I do.

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I fell on a catfish abot 20 years ago at night out on the river running trotlines. It was around the 8 lb. size and the top dorsal spine was driven all the way in. I stood up and felt it hanging there on my as-

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Mossy, you are really leaving yourself wide open there big guy!

Hey now, be nice BK. I told Dan about this thread so he could come share the story about getting a poker stuck all the way into his behinder for the benefit of all of us.

Oh dear, that came out wrong. I mean, it came out right… the poker did, but the… ech, never mind.

Seriously, though, Dan’s story, while amusing, is a really good illustration of the potential for painful injury handling fish built with heavy defense mechanisms. From Northerns’ teeth to bluegill rays to catfish spines, handing fish correctly will save a great deal of painful injury and possibly even medical bills.

Thanks for being willing to share what could be an embarrassing story, dude!

Naaaaa no trappers jelly in this boat, not me guys! Lets change the subject,,,

The guys on this sites why I come here, a pretty cool bunch of catfishermen, hey a little razzing never hurt anyone. I got to go now and fix the waterpump on my 1 ton, lates.