Cattin' the Chain '10

[aanderud]

Sweet report! Feedbag back on for a while. Pre-snowstorm kitties! That makes me want to go out again.

[Rick G]

With all the finess fishing I have had to do for them latley it sure was nice to have them hit hard for once.

[Notcho]

I was out today and it was slow. The aquaview was packed with cats, they would pass by the bait like it wasn't even there. Every combo I tried with no luck. Where I was at it seemed like they shifted to the shallower (18-14ft) areas. Didn't mark as many as before in the 20-30ft.

[firejumper]

I will be heading down to ice some cats on wedensday morning. I hope i can find a decent bite this time. It has been hard for me so far.

[DTro]

How much snow did you all get up there?

I'm curious to hear a slush/snow report.

[Borch]

We had some drifting but I had between 6-18 inches in my driveway. It was pretty light fluffy stuff though.

[JigginGopher]

Made my first trip to "the chain" last Sunday. Fished the meth hole from 7:30am-10:00am with only rock bass and a pike to show for it. Did some exploring and managed a few cats in 36FOW before having to leave at 12:30pm. Sure is addicting seeing those whiskers come up through the hole! I am already planning another trip!

[Rick G]

I made it out tonight for the first time since the snow on sun and mon. I mainly went to check on the houses I have out there but did manage a few hours of fishing. First there are some trails to the more popular spots but a four wheel drive is a must right now. I was finding a foot of new snow in some places and much more where it has been drifting so travel is tough in the bays and not so bad out by 22 and again by the meth hole. Well fishing was slow but I didnt give it a real effort today but did get two nice ones one runt and missed a few more right at prime time. I and some buddies will be out again Sat tryin for some gills in the morning-afternoon then either go for cats or walleyes in the late afternoon-evening.

[JimBuck]

Thanks for the update. I'll be heading out to fish cats on Sunday if all goes well.

[KMR85]

JimBuck, I might be heading to the Chain tomorrow as well. That's if the wife wants to go. Maybe we'll see ya out there.

[Rick G]

Well today was a first for me in the last few years. I got skunked for cats. My group started off the day fishing for gills and crappies in a back bay on one of the lesser fished parts of the chain and did fairly well for both size and numbers. We were packed up and headed for one of the many cat spots out there around 2pm. I had fish suspended from 25ft all the way to the bottom at 33ft most of the afternoon. I threw the whole darn tackle box at them and used everything from chicken liver to filleted sucker minnows and all sorts of things in between. Like I said I got nothing not even a twich of the spring bobber nothing. I think between the four of us we got six or seven cats in almost five hours. If it wouldnt have been for the pannies today would have been one of my worst fishing days in the last few years. I am taking a break from the kittys for a few days and am going after somthing thats not so tight liped like walleyes.

[aanderud]

Riverfishingmiss, your night sounds like our night from a few weeks back. I think 4 weeks ago we were out and got only 2 cats and 3 rock bass 5-6 hours for 4 guys. That was a rough outing for us

Tonight, however, the fish were cooperating much better for us. A 40+ fish night for 2 guys in 5 hours. About 6 more came upbuttoned on the way up, and at least 50 missed bites. Started at 4 pm, fished everywhere from 24 f.o.w. to 34 f.o.w. Finally around 5:15 we found some fish willing to bite in 30 feet. Not sure if the fish bit there because of the specific location or the time of day, but since it was finally getting to be close to sundown, we set up our house.

We had a consistent bite with plenty of fish stacked 1-5 feet off the bottom until about 8:00. Could hardly keep up at times, with little flurries of fish here or there and then lulls where either you wouldn't get a bite for 5-10 minutes, or more likely you'd just go on a run of about 10 swing-and-misses in a row. After 8:00 it slowed down a bit and all remaining fish caught within 1 foot of the bottom.

We quit just after 9 with >40 fish. Probably less than 8 of those were caught on minnows, and the rest were on chicken liver. All on various types of glowing jigs under bobbers. For the most part, a light bite, but a few fish that were more aggressive than the last few times we've been out.

[DTro]

Had a great time out there!

Average size was a bit smaller, but we did manage several over 20".

I thought I finally had Brian on the ropes at 13-8, then he made surge at the end and still kicked my butt at 25-17.

I'd suggest that everyone take along a tub of chicken liver with them next time. . Also make sure it's the "local" brand

Here's a real nice one that Brian caught:

[Rick G]

Wow the pod of fish I was on wasnt doing anything like the ones you guys found. I got the crew sitting at the table drinkin the morning joe and after reading how you guys did I think we may just head back there today again but find some new spots. After they read your posts and how well you guys got on em Im thinkin if I cant find the active ones today the boys might find a tree and lynch me Lol.

[aanderud]

Let us know how you did. That was our first time with the liver this year, but I figured after the slower bite the last 2 outings, why not try it. We had good luck on it later in the season last year too.

Every single time i've been up there this year is more of the same -- hardly a bite (even if we do see plenty of fish) before dark. I just try to stay positive while waiting for the night bite.

Perfect example -- pre-bite, while we were scouting the holes we drilled up and down the break we were fishing, I yelled about 30 yards over to Darren "I feel sorry for the fish for the smackdown we're going to put on them later"..."the bajillion fish that aren't giving my bait the time of day now are going to be hungry later!"....several of those type of comments. Of course, every now and then I would crack into another ice cold brew, so I think Darren probably thought I was hammered or something. (keep in mind we didn't get a bite for over an hour prior to my saying these things).

[Larson01]

I have a lake that has channel cats in it that i fish for crappies, how would setting up a tip up for them while crappie fishing work?

[aanderud]

Once in a while they bite aggressively, but I have a feeling that even those aggressive ones that do trip your tip up will not hold it long enough for you to get there and give em the onion. Worth a shot though.

[Rick G]

I have gotten a few over the years on the tip up although I wasnt fishing for the cat when I got said fish on the tip up rigs. Well today was quite a bit better for my group . We first set up at a little hole in the river channel north of the public. We found active fish in this spot but its a small hole so the fish that were present got caught pretty quick. I do know of some other holes up river and would have traveled further up but there still isnt a heck of a lot of ice in places in the river and the current was going pretty good for this time of year. The second place we hit was at around a long main lake bar that drops to around 30fow with a soft mud bottom. We were finding small pods of fish through out the day and picking up one here and one there by moving around a lot. By 4pm the fish were stacked just off the end of the bar so this I where we set up. I think we got them 50/50 on liver/fathead heads. The bite got pretty good just before dark and lasted till about 630. End of day tally 4 people 45+ cats ,half dozen eater walleyes and a hand full of crappies = a heck of a lot better day than I had yesterday.

[Larson01]

We decided not to do the tip up but we just tried chicken liver on a jig under a bobber about a foot off the bottom, but no luck.

[JimBuck]

I was out on the shoe by 10:30 yesterday and fished until 5:30 with no cats iced. Fished anywhere from 22-30 ft. and everything we encountered was pretty neutral. I've had a few sub-par outings the past few weeks, I think I might do some traveling next time around. Activity was picking up as we were packing it up but with no propane since the morning we were eager to get off the ice.

[Genofish]

What access is the choice for reaching the meth hole or any other areas for cats? Heading out this saturday for some catfishing. Anyone in the area going out?

[so haaad]

Use the winter access.

[hockeybc69]

Deadsville today. Fished 9am to 4pm without a single cat iced.

Tried 24-35 ft, graphed a TON of fish. At times clouds of fish filling the screen the bottom 6 ft.

Tried beef liver and minnow heads pinched off mainly. A huge variety of lures and colors.

Maybe tomorrow is the day.

[firejumper]

i will be heading down their saturday morning should be their around 7:30 and fish all day i sure hope theydecide to bit during the day

[DTro]

The last several times we have been up there we might have caught a total of 5 fish before the sun went down and who knows, probably around 200 hundred after.

I can't stress enough how important it is to hit that "window" at sundown.

[aanderud]

Ditto what Dtro says. If I get there earlier, I see fish, but getting them to bite has been a rare occasion. I think I've been up there 8-9 times now this year, and I've personally iced MAYBE 7 cats earlier than 1/2 hour before sunset. They sure do turn it around that last 1/2 hour of sunlight, all through dusk, and a few hours into dark, though. Not unlike crappies, in that respect.

The nice thing about having a solid evening bite and the sun going down later is that we don't have to leave these parts til probably 2:00 in the afternoon and we still get set up plenty early for the bite. Gives me time to hang out with my wife and my 2 year old 1/2 the day and not feel like I'm completely abandoning them! The bad thing about the solid evening bite is that by the time I'm done fishing, it's too late to stop at the now famous lake 4 miles to the south and get a limit of crappies on the way home

[Rick G]

What aanderud said about the kittys turning on around the last half hour of daylight is oh so true especially at this time of year. If you work real hard at it and are persistent getting a few fish to bite during the day in not impossible. Generally I find the willing daytime biters to be either lone romers or very small pods suspended way off the bottom kinda like crappies in that respect. I was out today tryin for a few gills for the pan. The fish I was working sat morning were still there but not very intrested in what I had to offer. I ended up with enough fish for a meal but fast bite it was not but what a beautyfull day it was.

[ZNG_VUE]

hi FMERS,

i was wondering if i could get directions up to saint cloud/ to the meth hole? i will be coming from the cities. also, is it better to get there by late afternoon and set-up for cats? what kind of bait/lures are working @ the moment? any info would be greatly Appreciated!!! thanks in advance

[DTro]

Hi Zing, everything you ever wanted to now, is all right here in this thread. Start at the beginning and read it through. It’s a good read.

At far as how to get there, go to Mapquest or Google Maps and do a search for directions to Richmond. The directions from Richmond to the Meth hole have been posted already within this thread.

Good Luck!

[Rick G]

As for bait a small piece of the local brand chicken liver has been better as of late. My go to rig as of late is thew 1/16 frostee spoons in glow yellow or glow pink. A goog spring bobber or ice buster bobbers or the new venom floats are a must have for the light bite.