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Mississippi River North Fishing Reports


Joe

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Thanks Again for showing me the spots out there. glad you got into a couple more after I left. I had a fun time and am looking forward to doing it again sometime. the only thing I could say that could of been better is the access there. it needs to be graded level again. the trailer was tilting to one side. wasn't a issue for unloading but when I went to load tonight I was worried about the tilt of the trailer. I got it on and lucky for me it got on the rollers close to where it needed to be and it was only over to the one side by about a 1/2 a inch so no big deal.

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All the access points except the one in Sauk Rapids are in bad shape, the one you were at is the worst grin the dock is bad, the access itself is awful , and the parking lot is... well I can't begin to say enough bad things about that mud hole/race track/parking lot. The access I was at is in much better shape, just no dock and a rocky shoreline keeps almost everyone else away from that one.

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I may have to try that other one sometime unless you have if filled with your truck and trailer. grinlol. I would only be there on the weekend since during the week it is too late to make the drive up there after work since there is that closing time. I guess that wouldn't be issue if I was to use the other access you told me about(now I just need to find that one).

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Brad & Rick,How did you come up with red horse and chicken blood? I guess I still have many many yrs to go to get that kind of witches brew mind set for catching cats.That's a good size cat to see on the river.You guys are pros in my book.

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the red horse & chicken blood was Rick's thing. It worked since I seen him hook at least 2 fish on it. I just had sucker minnows I was making into cut bait. My cat was only a 24 incher and the big one for Rick was the 29 incher. I wouldn't call me a pro, I'm just a guy that has a passion for cat fishing. I got my start cat fishing in Kansas when I was visiting my relatives. my cousins and uncle took me out one night and I was hooked. came back to Minnesota and fished them a couple years then took a break from them and fishing in general and then about around 2008 I got back into fishing heavily and rekindled the cat fish passion. then thanks to Dtro I learned about the chain and ice fishing for cats. this opened a whole new addiction when it comes to fishing cats. there is nothing like pulling a 5 lbs cat fish up the hole in the ice. I will for sure hit the river at least once more if not more as long as the water stays up and the access is usable.

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The Mississippi river water level seems to be dropping and shore fishing is a little easier than it was when we had the rainfall recently.I been finding more carp around every day.For awhile they were mostly showing off but now there biteing on crawlers. I caught five of them just in the last couple days and there not small either.The bass I been finding are usually located in more active waters than still waters.Catfish are curious to me because I catch them in some creek openings to the main river and sometimes in deeper channel area locations.This week I'm going to continue trying for cat fish and carp,Its been a lot of fun with these bottom fish. grin

creek mouths where they enter a river are prime areas to fish for cats. the bait fish tend to hang in these areas. this is also true of where two rivers come together.

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I'm also no Pro, far from it smile Been fishing the cats for a lot of years, the last few I have been into it big time. I owe quite a bit of what I know to HSO and the catfish forum, guys like Gordie, Shack, DTro, SteveD and Ed have been a big help in the info department... It's just too bad that Eddy is guiding the Lord on the big catfish river in the sky frown

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Today I used only plastics on a jig, Gulp 1"/2cm minnows.They worked great for me today under a bed of foam in sartell.Crappies were in good numbers today.between 8.25 "-9" in size.I think the bass are rolling back in too.They been popping up above and below the paper mill.Coolness!

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Brad,just noticed your post above about catfish.I didn't know you guys catch cats under the ice too.Is that on the river ice?

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no, rivers are not safe to go on in the winter,exception might be the red river since it is so far north but I would still be careful. you never know where a thin spot could be. the ice can vary in thickness. we fish the channel cats on the horseshoe chain between Cold Springs and Richmond. the Sauk River enters Horseshoe lake on the north end of the lake. the chain of lakes is a result of the river flowing through them. If you plan to try horseshoe this winter make sure you go out from the winter time access. this access is not a true marked access but more of a hole between some trees right off of hwy 22. if you turn right you will be on horseshoe and if you turn left you will be on cedar island lake. NEVER use the summer access for Horseshoe in the winter. the Access is on the actual river and the ice thickness will vary from spot to spot. This is the lake we hold the Annual HSO Cool Cats event on. watch for info on this starting around the end of November and early December. there is a whole thread each year call "cattin the chain" it is all about ice fishing cats out there. It will be in the St Cloud forum and Cool Cats will be in the events forum.

also watch these videos made by Dtro :

this is what is refered to as the Meth Hole.

avoid this area at all cost during the winter. it is over 50 feet of water and stays open year round. It is not marked but anyone that knows the lake can show you the general area this is in.

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Yeah,I havnt been to the chain yet ever.Sounds like a plan to make soon.Yeah when winter hits il go back to this thread and take the info on the accesses on the chain.Im glad you posted what the meth hole was.Still learning the language of it all.

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I'm not quit the expert that Brad is on winter catfishing, but I hold my own smirk It is indeed a blast wink Early December is the best time to get into big numbers... Jeremy, I always have room for ya if you ever want to give it a shot this winter... Check this topic out Cattin the Chain

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I'm not quit the expert that Brad is on winter catfishing, but I hold my own smirk It is indeed a blast wink Early December is the best time to get into big numbers... Jeremy, I always have room for ya if you ever want to give it a shot this winter... Check this topic out Cattin the Chain

Rick,

I'm no expert. you have hooked more out there then me. I have only been doing it now for 3 or 4 winters. you are the expert out there. I'm lucky if I get 5 trips a year in during the ice season.

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Lol, just messin' with you, Brad. I'm fortunate to be able to spend countless hours out there in the winter. Even though I have caught quite a few winter cats over the years I still do not consider myself an expert on them. I am always trying to lears something new, when I have learned all there is to know, then I will be an expert... until then, I'm just cut bait smile

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Lol, just messin' with you, Brad. I'm fortunate to be able to spend countless hours out there in the winter. Even though I have caught quite a few winter cats over the years I still do not consider myself an expert on them. I am always trying to lears something new, when I have learned all there is to know, then I will be an expert... until then, I'm just cut bait smile

totally agree Rick. you never stop learning and expanding on what you know. This site is a wealth of information for people looking to expand their knowledge. the thing that gets me is when people get all gaga over "professionals"(this is a pet peeve of mine). they seem to forget that they are just people too. they were normal people before they made a name for them self and made it big in the industry. face it some people are made to present seminars and do shows, & fish tourneys and then there are the other lesser known people that are better just doing it hands on style and showing a person one on one.

now to get this thread back on track. I am planning to hit the river around St Cloud tomorrow if this storm gets out of here in time. I need my catfish fix again after catching that one last Saturday. if you are out there we might cross paths. hope to have some pics to post later.

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I'm not quit the expert that Brad is on winter catfishing, but I hold my own smirk It is indeed a blast wink Early December is the best time to get into big numbers... Jeremy, I always have room for ya if you ever want to give it a shot this winter... Check this topic out Cattin the Chain
Rick ,I got up to the fifth page on those threads.Its like reading a book .Didn't realize till now that the chain is where you all go in the winter.Well I want to keep reading to find out if you beat your 33"record or not last yr.Don't tell me.
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Jeremy,

If it works out some time for me I can save you a open seat in my boat sometime. I will be fishing it tomorrow (technically later today, the open seat has been filed for tomorrow already or you could of joined me) and then I might take a break for a couple weeks then come up again. when I decide to come back up I will PM you and see if you are free and would want to meet up and hit the river for the afternoon at that time.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

have fun and always remember that we are all legends.... in our own minds... smilesmile

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the thing that gets me is when people get all gaga over "professionals"(this is a pet peeve of mine). they seem to forget that they are just people too. they were normal people before they made a name for them self and made it big in the industry.
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Rick,

it is not the pros I am talking about it is the general public and how they go gaga for over pros no matter what sport they are from. I have met a lot of them too and they are good friendly people.

will send you a text when I get up there.

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Masoct3 and Myself ended the afternoon by catching 5 nice channel cats. the size was between 21 and 26 inches. I will post pictures later once Masoct3 sends them to me. it was a nice day to be on the river and was a fun time as always. thanks Rick G for helping me winch up the boat. I'm glad you got a few later on after we left. that is a nice section of the river and I think I might have to start spending more time up there. now I just need to try for some of the smallies that are in this section and the gills and crappies too. the hard part is that the channel cats are so addicting thou. I know Masoct3 is hooked on the cats now.

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We did ok, size was pretty good too. Brad, thanks to that sucker you gave us Traderlee was able to get thisfull-26589-35171-011.jpg

full-26589-35173-009.jpg

A nice, fat 31in piggy grin This was my big onefull-26589-35174-008.jpgI think it was only 26 or so. We also got to see thisfull-26589-35175-003.jpg

full-26589-35176-004.jpg

full-26589-35177-006.jpg Not every day you see a float plane on the river.

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glad the sucker brought you guys some luck. those are some nice fish. by the way that pic of you with the wood in the background looks familiar winkgrin. nice spot there. I seen that plane fly over just as I was leaving. I didn't realize it circled and landed on the river. that person might want to be careful in that area because of all that air traffic from the helicopters coming in and out of the hospital right there.

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glad the sucker brought you guys some luck.

We cut it into four chunks, the two mid-section pieces got bit, the head and tail didn't get touched. We also has some chubs, fresh bullhead and a tub of liver. The cut bait all produced cats while the liver was getting nailed by the bullheads. Been trying to get a nice white sucker the last couple times out to use for bait, but they have been tough to catch as of late for me.

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it's funny they didn't take the head. two of the fish we caught came on the same head(just had to re hook it in a different spot after the first cat hit it). you know I haven't thrown a line out yet this year for white suckers or red horse, I just might have to do that one of these nights after work. the water around Monticello is now lower but the speed of the flow has picked up. the DNR finally has the one pier out now that I like to fish from.

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finally got the pictures from masoct3 of our catfish outing from Saturday.

here are the 2 better pics from the day of me with my cats.

full-29971-35238-img_0049_copy.jpg

full-29971-35239-img_0051_copy.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

While I was venturing along river I came Accross a fallen tree so I climbed on to it and jigged a worm for a bit.Found a few nice bass under the fallen tree.Later I went upstream and caught only 8 crappies.They were picky today.I used assorted plastics,Presentation was real hard to figure out for them. full-45395-35612-imag0374.jpg

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Good job Jeremy smile I went and hung out with Mary and the guys for a couple hours before dinner, not much happening below the dam right now except small crappies and sunfish.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

you need brighter pants... winkwink

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