I finally made it! My dad, father – in- law and a few others have been after me for the better part of 25 years to go to Canada fishing. They were happy when I told them I was going to make the trip to Canada…but disturbed when I told them I was going for… Channel Cats! I had to do a little educating on just “what kind” of Channels we were going for. I don’t think they understood what “SUMO PIGGIE” means. Here’s Mr Blacksportsman with the top cat at 25 lbs. He wasted no time in taking the largest channel! First night!
I was lucky enough to be invited along with our own Dark30, Blacksportsman (aka Mr. Blacksportsman) and Fish Head. All accomplished fishers of the Whiskered Kind. CatdadMN’s philosophy was never more true than this weekend… “I learn something from everyone”. Boy, I felt like I was in grade school just soaking up the information. With two and a quarter days on the Great Red River of the North, we talked about equipment placement in the boat (and with four people it was critical that everything was put back in it’s place) to types of rods for different cats and different areas of fishing to where to get the best price on catfishing equipment. Someone mentioned Catfish Connection as the best on line catfishing outlet…and I agreed 
The drive up and through Canadian Customs was pretty uneventful although Blacksportsman pointed out a moose in a bean field around the Grand Forks area. I’m really glad my wife wasn’t along or she would have had me shellacking more moose dung for ornaments (best off not asking any questions on that topic).
We arrived at Stu McKay’s Cat’s on the Red early enough to unload and make a run for ice and our Canadian fishing license. After loading up some tullibees at Stu’s recommendation… off the trailer came Fish Heads River Pro and we were finally on the Great Red!
We quickly found a good looking spot with some structure and with Fish Heads dual cone Vexlar Edge locator making the fish stand out, we anchored and got the 4 lines out quickly. We formed a pot that we each tossed in a quarter for the first fish each day…I’m not going to say who won each day or who still owes me money…but Blacksportsman did win on the last day…and Thanks Manny, you are all paid up.
Above left is Dark30 with one of his Piggies.
Since this was my first time to the Red, I wasn’t sure about what to expect. Our fishing the first night wasn’t too fast and furious I was told…but compared to our home waters of the Mississippi and Minnesota…we landed larger and many more cats. Manny, aka Mr. Blacksportsman nailed the largest cat that came in just over 25 lbs. His fish held top honors through out the trip. I’m guessing he would be able to tell you the decimal point six or seven places out if asked.
To the right is Fish Head with one of his many…little ones. This one came to a circle hooked frog.
You’ll be happy to know I’m not going to take you through each day…catch, photo and release. So I’ll just get to the highlights.
There are cat’s to be found everywhere. We worked bottom structure (humps and depressions). Down stream of the dam this worked well. At the dam, the current seams were the key to holding your cut tullibee in place. Although we sometimes used larger, 3 oz sinkers worked well even at the dam in a seam.
Where did the larger fish come from? The answer would be….all over. Dark30 and Blacksportsman were weighing and measuring the fish through out our trip. I know I heard them say 21 and 24 lbs a number of times when we were up and down river of the dam.
To the right is a normal sunset on the Red…FISH ON!!!
Fish Head was the only one interested in fishing with frogs. And with the exception of one sumo frog, landed a fish with each one he used. It did seem like a large chunk of tullibee was the bait of choice.
We did end up leaving Bertha there at the bottom of the river. Bertha is Fish Heads 35 lbs anchor. We stuck good ol’ Bertha in the rocks at the dam and the line snapped off.
Bertha…
You have touched us (mostly in the back and legs) and we’ll never forget you. RIP Bertha!
After seeing the 50+ pictures of Sumo Cat’s, my wife asked me to call Stu’s back and book our spring trip a day longer. (I love my wife!)
The Red River of the North is an amazing fishery! Be prepared once you visit Stu’s Cat’s on the Red your thoughts on what a "big" channel cat is will change forever!
I have to add a couple more pictures. Manny and I had never held a “big” channel before. So Fish Head gave us some instruction on handling these brutes.
One cat didn’t really like Manny. I was in the front of the boat and I heard this “slap”! Mr. Blacksports got a tail right in the kisser while holding his fish for the camera. This picture is of the second time he tried wacking Manny.
Awesome! Simply awesome! I am sooooo jealous!
Great report!
Tuck
Great report Brian,Its really a fantastic fishery up there.So how was golfing?
VERY nice fish Brian.
Can’t believe I read your report before even logging in. 
How about sharing the proper way to hold a big cat and about what you guys used for equipement such as rods, reels, line, bait, etc. which would be very educational for us guys who hardly fish for cats and/or for someone thinking about maybe getting into catfishing. Thanks for the report and pics. Got more pics? Would be great to see them too. 
[and you thought this report was going to be under 100 pages long. 
]
Thanks, Bill
Looks like you guys had a great time!
Maybe next year? Or maybe in a couple weeks on the US side and do a cat/duck trip.. who knows?
Nice fish Manny! .. and nice jacket selection.. I have one just like it.. its good luck!
More pictures Bill? My rechargable batteries were dead after one picture, Fish Head gave me his back up batteries and I burned them out too! After a certain point, pictures, weight and lenght become meaningless. I just give them a kiss and back they go. I was surpised at how much these guy love there catfish! This picture was right after Manny finnished singing his catfish lullaby…he gently slipped her back into the water before she a woke.
Ok…here’s the meat and patatoes of the equipment.
I brought two rods up, both with Garcia’s 6500 on them. I prefered the reel with the power handle on it over the double handle. Dennis likes it the other way around. Most of the equipment in a matter of choice as in any fishing.
I had 80 lbs Power Pro on both reels, which is over kill in this area of the Red. I believe the others were using 20 to 30 lbs mono…I saw a lot of green line up there.
For rods, I had a King Cat 8′ rod which worked well. Fish Head figured it would break before we headed home. I didn’t use it much although I was hoping to hook into a good one, break it and get a new custom St Croix. My main rod was a custom St Croix made by Mike at Hooked on Fishing in Rochester. Light weight and easy to handle at 7.x feet. My only complaint about this rod is that the fish tire me out with a lenght of 7 feet. I’m working on haveing an 8 footer made for Red River fishing and bank fishing at home.
The other guys were all using circle hooks in the 5/0 range. I was a rebel and used Gammagatzu’s 5/0 octopus hooks. They seemed to work just as well. I never needed to set the hook, the rod just bent over (which is an awesome sight!).
The rigging was my traditional set up. 3oz no-roll sinker, a plastic bead, swivel, about an 8 inch leader and finally the 5/0 Gamma hook.
For all of you green back fisheres, there was a lot of bank fishing going on by the dam with 13-14 in saugers being pulled in. The cabin next to us shared a map to a lake a couple hours away. It was catch and release walleyes in the 18 to 23 inch range with daily counts well above 60 fish per day. Shore lunch was allowed, but you couldn’t take them home.
Cats on the Red or Backwater Eddie would have more info on this
“small fish” fishery.
The best way to hold one of these channels (for the fish and to keep control)for a picture, is to place your two fingers under thier gill plates under there “chin”. much like the way I was taught to hold a big musky. Your other hand supports the tail.
As with any large fish the absolute best way to release them is to never take them out of the water. Pull he hook and let them go. Channels are a hardy fish. Don’t bounce them around or keep them out of the water too long and they’ll be fine.
Just one last note.
For some great Channel cat fishing without going into Canada, check with our own Landscats in the Red River forum. He can put you one these type of fish without entering the Big Maple Leaf.
B
Sound like you folks had a great time and good experience. I will file that away for my list of stuff I absolutely have to do before I meet my maker.
Great Report and Pictures Brian
Fishhead & Dark30, I haven’t seen those guys in a long time. Hope all is well.
That there is one pretty kitty! Nice report Brian!
Kudo’s to you Briank
awesome report and pics. Looks like everyone had a good time wgich made for a good trip. 
Looks like you guys had a fun time! Thanks for sharing.
Great Report! Super Pics
I’m sure you’ll never forget the trip, the fish, and the friends
dave
Great report Brian! Nice to see you boys had a good time. And cool to read a report featuring 4 guys I’ve had the pleasure of fishing with. That is a first for me.
dd
Great report Brian!
I have to say the fishing was good but even if we did’t catch anything, it would have been a great time.
Spending time with friends is what catfising is all about.
I had a great time!
Manny… friend to all animals.
Great Report, Brian!
I had such an awesome time fishing with Briank, Fishhead, and Dark30. Top-notch catters and all-around good guys. I enjoyed their company immensely. Thanks for letting me tag along!!
I won’t ever forget this trip. Even though the regulars kept saying how “slow” the bite was, plenty of fish were caught and it was some of the best catting I’ve ever experienced. And like Fishhead had said, even if we didn’t catch anything, we still would’ve had a good time. Thanks again, guys. You really made this trip a great one, catching fish was the icing on the cake. Not to mention, cruising around in the RiverPro. Now that’s one sweet ride
Definitely going to make it up there next year. I wonder how much arm-twisting will it take to get Fisher Dave up there next time??
Oh, and thanks Fisher Sherry for pulling that pic out of the archives
She couldnt resist when she seen you hugging the channel up above.. either that or you were trying to *burp* it!
It looks like the channel had a much better chance of swimming away than the ducks did!
You’re welcome, Manny. Anytime.
HEY MANNY HOPE YOU CAN MAKE THE OTHER TRIP ON THE FIRST OF OCT. IT WOULD BE NICE TO DO THAT AGAIN…GIVE ME A CALL YOU KNOW THE NUMBER..AND BY THE WAY THOSE ARE SOME PRETTY HUGE CATS. GREAT JOB GUYS, MAYBE NEXT TIME I MAY GO..