really enjoy fishing for these fish in the st croix. ive only fished a few times for them and only a few spots. Ive used spinners and crawlers and have caught them. But looking for any tips on how to expand my presentation options and what structure they really like to be on.
Thanks in advance!
What part of the croix?
from stillwater to 94 bridge has been where ive been trying. caught a few. But, i can go further north if needed..or south. Thanks
I put an article in the Fishing article Forum back on April 25, 2010 titled “Cat Tip of the Day: Drifting for Channel Cats”. I think this is exactly what you are looking for and should help you put a few channel cats in the boat. I normally drift south of Stillwater near the new bridge down around the King Plant in Bayport. Good area for drifting.
I was going to give you a link to the article but cannot seem to enter a link for some reason. Do it this way. Go to Fishing Forums then go to Fishing Articles then go to Page 3 on that forum and there you should see the article – Cat Tip of the Day: Drifting for Channel Cats.
from stillwater to 94 bridge has been where ive been trying. caught a few. But, i can go further north if needed..or south. Thanks
Steve’s home territory.
If drifting is too much then anchor and put out set lines with cut bait.
Find fish on sonar and give it 20-30 minutes then move to another pod of fish.
All 4 Bridges in that area are magnets for catfish
Run longer leaders and lighter weights to prevent your bait from sitting in mud.
Thank you for the advice. All four bridges?…old lift bridge, new 36, railroad bridge and I-94? thanks!
Thanks Steve!
very nice article!…Ive been pulling walleye spinners with crawlers. had some success last year–caught 5 2# cats, but wouldve never guessed on the drifting with cut suckers.
Also, im going for cats that i can eat. Will your article apply to smaller cats?…if i get a big one-bonus!
You can use about anything for cut bait so don’t limit yourself to suckers. When fishing the Wisconsin side of the river you can follow Wisconsin fishing regulations. In Wisconsin it is legal to use game fish for bait as long as they are legal size. I catch sunfish in my marina and they make great cat bait (alive or cut). It is hard to beat a sunfish head for channel cats. I caught my first cats of the season on Friday. Picked up two 30″ flatheads and two nice channel cats (30″ & 26″). Caught them all between 8:00am – 10:30am. Its game on now. See you on the river.
So, i went out this morning for a bit. fished MN side just north of the railroad bridge on a big flat that juts out from the MN shore–south of bayport. slipped drifted north (south wind) at about 0.4-0.6mph. not a bite. i fished both 18-19 ft & 23-26ft. i used frozen smelt cut in half. i did put a 1/4oz barrel weight in-line in front of lead snap. will try again soon.
You’re going to have much better luck if you drift with the direction of the current flow, like a natural chuck of bait would be doing down there if it wasn’t attached to your rod. You’re also going to have better luck 99% of the time if you catch fesh bait from that body of water. Bring crawlers- catch a sheep, moon eye, red horse- anything fresh and cut it up into a few chunks and put it back down. Shad are always solid too if you can get your hands on them. I can think of 20 diff baits I’d rather use than frozen smelt in a river that doesn’t have smelt in it.
I know that area well. Working from the railroad bridge side start to follow the breakline towards the Wisconsin side of the river. Work towards the Lake Mallalieu Dam. Don’t get up on the flat but stay on the bottom of the first drop of the breakline. As you work towards the dam you will see a sharp bend that turns almost due north.If you work the base of the first breakline into the deep water that is where you will likely find active channel cats. You want to drift/troll that deep break straight north from the bend. It is a long nice breakline and you just have to stay at it. You need to get your baits down on the bottom and you can tell if that is working because you can see the end of your rod tip jumping as the bait ticks along the bottom. Just kind of go up and down the breakline as slowly as you can. The slower the better. It can be a lot of work trying to work the lines and also keeping boat control. It helps to have someone with you to share the rods and boat control duties. That is really a good area. One other thing – the cats are chasing the shad. Shad are just starting to show up on sonar. You will see big shad pods on your sonar and you will also the seagulls start to chase shad. If you can stay in and around those shad pods you can expect to find cats. On the St Croix – most cat guys will tell you follow the gulls. I always look for them first thing when I go out this time of the year and into the fall.
I echo Pete’s advice about bait. Frozen smelt would not be my choice unless I had nothing else. Fresh caught anything is much better. Anchor anyplace – throw out a couple of lines with a nightcrawler on and you will have sheepshead or redhorse sucker in no time. You can always catch something off the bottom at the Lake Mallalieu Dam discharge. Give that a try.
Good advise…will try next time. Thank you!
Thanks Steve! Glad im in a good area. Thanks for the help. 
Thank you for the advice. All four bridges?…old lift bridge, new 36, railroad bridge and I-94? thanks!
YES
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