Minnesota River Flathead Catfish Memorial Weekend

Memorial weekend marks the prime time for the start of the Minnesota River Flathead Catfish bite. Water temps finally hit the mark of low to mid 60’s triggering the Cats to start feeding. Having recently come out of there slumber they are on the move looking for food to in preparation for their spawn in the near future. The big ones are on a feeding frenzy right now that has been steadily building over the last couple weeks.

This season is a little different than the past recent ones. With the low levels of rain in the area the river levels are down significantly similar to mid to late summer levels. The result is that the fish are not stacked in there normal high water areas, but instead are spread out much more than normal, making for a little bit of a challenge in tracking down and locating their holding spots. The number one patten that I was able to identify to find the fish is….Bait-fish, which are abundant right now. From the many I’ve spoken with the fish are being pulled from a variety of areas typical to Flathead Catfish, logjams, outside bends, and current seams.

The rigging technique that I’ve been using is a slip sinker rigged with 4 oz no roll weight, 10/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook, using heavy braid for my main line and heavy mono for my leader. Live baits that have been working in the evening to night time hours include bullheads and chubs with fish also being taken occasionally on suckers.

With two nights of fishing under my belt I managed 3 very nice fish. With one just shy of 30lbs and the other 2 tipping the scales at 35lb and 37lbs.
Talking with others who spent time on the water were having similar stories to share.
Now and over the next few weeks I expect the fishing to continue to get better.