Report: Black Dog.

[Ouchless]

Just came back.

8.30 pm, just 20 minutes after first cast I lost a fight to a cat. He escaped under the log and broke off. But half an hour later I caught this guy. I can say the one that got away was heavier because with the same drag setting he spooled almost all my line, unlike the other one. I fished from shore and used large suckers from Joe's Sporting Goods.We stayed till almost 2 a.m. but without more suckers got no bites

[DTro]

Nice looking fish there Ouchless!

Welcome to Fishing Minnesota.

There are some real hogs around that area. The tricky part is fishing it with all the debris and what not scattered about.

[Ouchless]

Thanks for your welcome.

You're right about the debris. I try to counter it with 80 lb. line and bulk packages of hooks and sinkers... Heading back there right now to find the one that got away last night

P.S. I was classicaly ambushed by 3 cops when went back to the car to get a jacket. Two from the sides and one in the bushes. It does feel much safer knowing they're out there though.

[Powerstroke]

At least it wa sthe cops out at black dog and not the other rif-raf they've been arresting down there.

[DARK30]

Are you SURE they were cops and not the village people type?

Nice Mudeye! Welcome aboard!

[Katman]

hahaha. I have seen a few weirdos there. Non-fisherman weirdos! So...be safe guys. Keep a bullie close...just incase you need to send one flying!

[Ouchless]

Caught nothing last night... Cops showed up twice, I mentioned the Kare11's story, and they just smiled, told me not to drop my hooks and to watch for who's walking behind me

I'll post my progress as it goes. If anyone needs shads please let me know, I finally can throw a 6 feet cast net like a pro, thanks to couple guys from Mexico, and planning on fishing there often, so there are shad in excess. Nothing ever produced more cats landed in this area than fresh cut shad . Chicken liver is almost as good, but easier to loose/steal off the hook.

[vikingmeatwad]

Sweet fish! I know nothing about cats but want to learn sometime. I would be happy to join you down there sometime.

What rod/line tackle would be best?

Thanks for posting the pic

[aanderud]

Nice catfish, and great story about the cops. Laughing out loud over here!

[Grant]

ouchless- when will you be out there in the near future?

it's always good to see other FM'ers out and about.

[Ouchless]

Just went there again for 3 hours last night, had a good solid bite, but fish got off the hook in the first 10 seconds. At around 10.30 p.m. landed 11 pounder flathead. Grant, I'm done for this week. Might go back on Sunday, the earliest, if not Monday night.

vikingmeatwad - this one was Big Game white rod (around $25 in walmart 3 years ago) with 65 Lb braided line (like Stren or PowerPro), sliding 3 Oz weight, a swivel and about 16 inch leader with 5/0 hook and a large sucker. Set the drag as loose as you can, go couple dozen feet away and listen It's hard not to rush and try to set the hook too early when you hear that clicker music... When catfish bites, there will be no doubt, you'll now it. I'll be happy to show next time I go. I'll post here as soon as I know for sure. I usually fish Sun-Wed, but not always. I fished this bank up and down for a while and noted some sweet spots. Some are hard to fish from the shore, however because of the snags.

[Loos15]

where do you fish at ? Im usualy down at the cedar bridge inlet, hopefully i'll see you there

[Ouchless]

My new spot is under 35W bridge. I had to look for an alternative to the dam close by - this year there seemed to be even more debris. The fish on my profile picture was caught down the river, right by the end of the river curve. There used to be perfect log pile, you could literally walk down the huge log (some balancing skill required) and sit down. They cleaned it, I've been told...

I miss that spot so much! I'll post a picture later, when get home.

Here it is, I tried to stich a panoramic view with my mobile phone

[Grant]

dude.... I have to got to follow your coattails some time- awesome fish.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Ouchless, you must love company!

[DTro]

Did you keep those fish? How did they taste?

[sparcebag]

dtro you havent eaten a flat? I dont keep em that big even if I would catch one,too much polutants,but they are much better than channels

[Shack]

RW,

If most fisherman are like me, those flats have a great hookless life in front of them.

It is hit or miss. Everyone from this forum could run down to that same spot aned get skunked. I have not had any luck in the same area's he is fishing this year. I have fished them quite a bit this year and have given up on them. I am moving down stream a mile or two.

Also by how many people who have been on shore down their this spring, I am sure he is not alone at all.

[Ouchless]

I stupidly kept that huge one, but the people who were askin me for a "nice family size catfish" got scared or something, so I kept it in the huge white cooler for two days and ended up releasing it back to nature via blue colored BFI dumpster. With a little twist. I've set it in so the head will stick out between the bags of trash, proped the mouth wide open and called in the company to change the trash "because it is too full" (I work in the restaurant). If the poor driver wasn't fully awake at 7 am, than opening the dumpster cover sure did the waking. Have you seen spooked cat getting vertically airborn on all four paws?

Concerning eating the catfish: DNR site says you can eat with some limitations. I personally did eat the smaller flats, and it tastes really good. But, in my opinion, if you eat enough of this stuff then you'll begin glowing in the dark, confusing airplane onboard electronics, have a weird feeling when using microwave, or something of that sort

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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RW,

If most fisherman are like me, those flats have a great hookless life in front of them.

---

I'm not worried about people catching all the flathead, but I have seen specific areas get mentioned online that didn't see a whole lot of fishermen a few years ago that are absolute zoos right now.

My rule is to not share specific spots online. If I want to share a spot, I will do it via e-mail or phone.

No disrespect was meant, but you have to realize that for every 1 person posting on FM, there are at least 5 more "lurking".

[Ouchless]

Good point here. That is why I started this post. I just want to give us what I wished someone else did. It happend so many times: you sit on new spot thinking "I wish the guy shows up that fishes here a lot and tells you that, in fact, you CAN hook a catfish here. This changes the whole feeling about waiting for a bite. You no longer wonder if this is a dead place and perhaps no fish was caught here ever. I'm thinking of creating a map and marking it with my progress. Speaking of wich: does onyone knows if there is a map of MN river with it's bottom mapped out? I've seen something like it for other rivers...

[Ouchless]

Yeah, I think you're right about crowded spaces.

But from what I've seen in this area, 98% of the fishing crowd there don't even speak English, never mind the logging on the forum, and are there to catch whatever with 20Lb test line. So we're kind of safe here... Though I may change my opinion soon if I see a busload of anglers next time I go night fishing there.

[Ralph Wiggum]

To each his own.

[sparcebag]

Ya know I posted some of my archery carp spots,.I made a mistake, normally one or two others I've seen all season.

Now most every weekend someones there with bows! I did'nt think it was that popular!

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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Ya know I posted some of my archery carp spots,.I made a mistake, normally one or two others I've seen all season.

Now most every weekend someones there with bows! I did'nt think it was that popular!

---

Hopefully, I will be there tomorrow

[PierBridge]

I am assuming you guys normally release Bigger Flatheads?

Thanks Pier.

[Ouchless]

I do.

[Ouchless]

Hey, meatwad, I'm going back there after work monday and/or tuesday night, wnat to join me there? I'm planning to be there around 7:30 pm.

[Ouchless]

Hey Loos, was good to meet you. I finally broke in my new Ugly Stick at around midnight <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Here's what I got after my body left and I moved down the river:

Nothing in the past two nights, just 2 good bites, but they got away...

[sparcebag]

Ouchless Where do you get those weights?? I'v been lookin for some over a year now and in catalogs,I cant seem to find any!!