RED RIVER GIANTS
Local anglers often overlook the Red and hopefully this program will shed some light on the incredible opportunities just out our backdoor. A panel of experts will shed light on the possibilities that lurk beneath the Red. The Red River boasts some of the best fishing available in the entire country. The main attraction on the Red is catfish. People from all over the country come to wrestle with our big cats. Walleye are also a popular fish. Every year there are pictures of anglers pulling trophy walleye out of our own back yard. Our panel will include Guides Dennis Flom and Ed Carlson, Christine Holland of River Keepers, Lynn Schleuter from the ND Game & Fish Dept
“There are only two kinds of fish, Catfish and bait”. This kind of summarizes the mindset of our two guiding guests.
Dennis Flom is a licensed ND Guide and has been fishing since getting bit but the bug in 1986 while living in Alaska. He found himself in the Red River Valley in 1987 where he discovered the Red River and its fish. Having fished the Red for a few years Dennis started a guiding business, Catfish Unlimited. The guiding business has been very successful and continues to grow. Currently Dennis and his family live on the Sheyenne where it spills into the Red. On the property Dennis also has a guesthouse reserved for some of his down south cat fishing guests. Dennis’ guests get to ride in the “catmobile” which is a revamped 20ft pontoon he designed exclusively for cat fishing on the Red. Dennis has been in local media along with the North American Fisherman and The Catfish Insider magazines. Dennis and his partner have two third place finishes in the Cats Incredible tournament in East Grand Forks. It is the largest catfishing tournament in the country. Dennis has also received an Education Award from the River Keepers Association for his efforts in teaching and spreading the word about the great potential on the Red River.
Ed Carlson-aka “Backwater Eddy” grew up near Lake Teawaken National Wildlife Refuge and enjoyed the abundant fishing and hunting in the SE North Dakota region. Ed comes from a large farm family and they regard hunting and fishing as a way of life and a tradition to cherish. Over the past 7 years Ed has lived in Wahpeton and focused his fishing on the Red and its tributaries. Prior to this he had one walleye of trophy status over 10lbs. Within 5 years he put that benchmark to 90+ over 10lbs, all were river walleyes and most were caught at night. He stopped keeping track in “98”. His largest was a 15.05lb caught in the US region of the Red River in November of “97”. It was confirmed as In-Fisherman’s C&R winner Region one division. Ed is confident that there are much bigger in our local waters and he hopes to prove so some day.
In 1999 Ed’s cat fishing and walleye fishing came together blended with his fondness for teaching others how to river fish. With some encouragement from friends he began seriously guiding on area rivers and formed “Backwater Guiding”, a guide service that caters to the Red River and it’s tributaries. Ed is very active on the world wide web and has had articles published on http://www.walleyecentral.com, “www.Fishingminnesota.com”, and http://www.fishingbuddy.com. Ed recently moved to Horace, ND to more centrally locate his guiding business and to pursue a his college degree in chemical dependency counseling at the U of M.
Please bring a friend or a neighbor on Thursday, September 20th to the Red River Inn, Moorhead, MN. Doors open at 6:30 and the program starts at 7:00.