Cattin the Chain '11

[fishstick23]

Was out tonight in 37-40 fow by the meth hole,saw alot of fish on the vexilar but was only able to ice 5 crappie and rock bass, missed a couple but all in all not a very successful night, on the other hand I was able to catch a buzz so I guess I will put it in the win column

[FishinVeteran]

Made it out both Saturday and Sunday last weekend. Saturday was by far more productive. Caught a dozen crappies and as many catfish out sitting on the meth hole in 38 fow from 3 pm till 9. Biggest was about 4 lbs, which is my new personal best. (Personal note: WOW can those things fight for their size.) Sunday was way slower, 2 crappies and 2 catfish from 4 pm till 8 in about 43 fow. Didn't catch but 1 or 2 fish on the bobbers all weekend, but then dtro's video didn't get posted till tonight, so I can now honestly admit how many opportunities I missed watching that thing twitch but never really "take" the way I was waiting for it to.

[DTro]

At times, they can be the most lightest biting fish that swims. Up until a couple of years ago, I never even used a bobber and then Aanderud started outfishing me 10 to 1 some nights (exactly like you see in that video). Now, that is about all we do is watch the flasher and wait for the bobber to twitch.

Even after you know what to start looking for, you still have to get the timing right.

[Borch]

I'd say that maybe 10% will take take the bobber under. Many twitch, bounce or the bobber starts traveling. Then it's time to set the hook.

[CarpinMNRiver]

I was up there with my buddy and his nephew Sunday morning until Monday around 6 o'clock. We only got about 15 cats total but we got on some nice crappies. The Vexilar was full off fish from 8 fow to the bottom and we couldn't get them to bite.(or tell they were biting)I have spent 3 days up there now and still haven't got it completely down. It is a pretty cool lake though.

[Rick G]

dtro, aanderud great video at bottom of page. That is how it's done folks

[Pary]

quick question. Are we allowed to park at the dnr access/winter access?? I have only a 2 wheel drive car. lmk. Tia.

[Brad B]

Pary,

I guess a person could park at the dnr summer access but I person ally would not even walk out from there simply because that access is on the river and it flows into the lake thus you may have thin unsafe ice and not know it until it is to late. you can park along 22 by the winter access but on weekends if might be full unless you get there early. even if there was a spot plowed clear on the lake to park you still have the steep hill to get up and down to get on and off. I don't know if a 2 wd could do it.

[Borch]

I saw a front wheel drive midsize car driving out to the methhole Monday night. I don't know if they got back off though.

[Rick G]

Ya they got off. I was right in front of them and waited to see if they were going to have problems. We had a grandprix out with us on Sun. and he also made it off.

[osok]

Fished H.S today. My brother in-law is in town and really wanted to have him hook into a Cat. 25-31 FOW and not one cat to be had. BUT we did catch 2 eyes and 4 croppies.

Unreal the one time I go out there to target cats and not a one.

But man was it coooooold. Thank god for portables and good heaters.

[silverbulletguy]

How's the ice on Cedar Island? Any areas to be wary about? Hope to hit the chain on Sunday and not sure where to go yet.

[IceHawk]

Ice is fine on Cedar Island driveing the main lake isn't a problem. Just avoid the area where the lake cuts back twoards the river!

[DTro]

Yeah, I hear the river section ice is very sketchy this year (even more so that most years).

[T.O.W]

For livers, is there a certain kind that works better than another? Beef vs. chicken. Anyone know where to can find that catfish bait made by Berkley around the Richmond area? Trying to avoid driving into St. Cloud. Thanks in advance.

[IceHawk]

Channel Marine the old richmond marine may have some, worth a shot.

[Rick G]

The shell station in Cold Spring might have some too. Chicken liver over beef And most days fatheads over the liver.

Now time for me to head out there and try not to freeze to death. I sure hope it worth it

[T.O.W]

Maybe see you all out there. I will be in the red wheel house and green truck staying until Monday. Stop in and warm up and get some anti-freeze.

[pushbutton]

last time i was there they had some catfish bait at the S.A in cold spring..never have done well with it though....

[Rick G]

Was a pretty slow day for the cats. I checked a couple of my favorite river holes and could only find small crappies. After a couple hours of nothing big enough to take drag off the reel it was back to the shoe. I drilled a fair amount of holes and found the school thickest in 22-24 ft of water. Got 7or 8 fish that I managed to get the hook into and quite a few that had me feeling foolish. Most of the bites I had were the ones that just twitch the float ever so lightly and I dont think I had one cat that took the float totaly under.

[FishinVeteran]

Made it out again both Saturday and Sunday this weekend and once again Saturday was the day to be on the water. Saturday started out exploring some new water on cedar island and only sat from noonish to 3 before moving over do the Shoe without so much as a nibble. Sat in about 40 fow and had action from then till we left at dark when they shut off. Yesterday I started in some new water on the Shoe in about 35 fow from 11 am till 2, only caught a couple small crappies before heading back to the meth hole from around 3 till 6 when I finally gave in and came home after only catching a handful of small cats and crappies.

[BSG]

Made it up to the Shoe on Sunday, for about 10 minutes. Forgot my stone legacy rod bag + tacklebox included at home. So I drove 50 minutes and drilled 10 holes for absolutely nothing. Oh well, better than working.

RFM you see me in the red GMC? I couldn't tell if it was you so i just went about my business.

[Rick G]

BSG, ya I saw you but I wasnt sure if that was you or not. Sorry to hear about the wasted trip. Had you came over you could have had all the rods and tackle you needed The bite was'nt all that great untill primetime anyway.

[Rick G]

Made the trip out this afternoon/evening and it was a nice day to be on the ice that much I am sure of. My only complaint was the wind was kinda bad but it's still better than -15 and no wind.

The bite was better than it was either Sat or Sun. Didnt get much for big ones I think maybe 24or 25in was biggest but the 14-18in fish were keeping me busy. I never located any large pods of fish but had lone roamers coming in every couple minutes. Most of the active ones I caught were coming in around the 20 ft mark over 30-32 ft of water. Once again color and size of jig I was putting down had a lot to do with my success today. I tryed the glow pink frostee that I got all my fish on this weekend and the cats did'nt seem to respond too well to it so I tied on the green 1/8 forage minnow and that was the one they seemed to want best.

[aanderud]

Nice report, RFM. I'll get out there one of these weekends. Seeing as its almost 2 hours from door to fishing, I can't get out during the week realy. Well, unless I convince myself to skip work and come up tomorrow or the next day. We'll see.

[DTro]

VERY tough bite last night. Worst of the year so far us. We tried both the "crappie hole" and the "meth hole" and a couple other nearby areas.

As in years past this is usually the time of year when lock jaw starts to set in from both being the mid winter and also the amount of pressure.

Won't stop me from keepin at it, but expectations fall off significantly and I know going in that it usually will take a bit more work to find active fish.

Hopefully you all can prove me wrong.

[jnorm1984]

Didnt want to hear that, headed out tonite... hopefully they will be beter to me

[aanderud]

One thing to note is that it appeared that there might be a daytime bite on, at least at the meth hole. Tom got about a half-dozen pre-dark fish, which was more than our total for the whole day.

RFM, sorry the to the south of your house looks like swiss cheese. We drilled a few holes there, from 34 f.o.w. to 23 f.o.w. Nothing doing. We also hit a spot right in the middle of the dang lake, 31 to 37 f.o.w...again, nothing.

Plenty of fish marked -- in fact almost every hole had fish in it at least occasionally. However, the bite was just OFF. Tried jigs big and small, baits ranging from minnows to liver to waxworms, and colors including blue, red, and green.

[harvey lee]

Brian is correct. I started at the Meth hole about 2:30 and drilled about 25-30 holes and only marked about 2-3 holes with fish in 35fow. When Brian and Dtro showed up, we went to another area simply due to the fact I could not locate any pods of fish.

After about 45 minutes in another area, I went vback to the Meth hole in about 35fow again and the fish lite up the bottom 8fow with others suspended a bit higher. The fish were a bit finicky but there were some very active channels in the group. As time went on the bit really slowed and when Dtro and Brian showed up, the bite had about died but there were plenty of channels about.

My fish were caught on a red Linfy flyer with a fathead head. My deadstick did just about nothing. One would jig them close to the bait and then you had to stop and hold it as still as possible.

I probably should have stayed where I was but hindsight is always 20-20.

[Rick G]

RFM, sorry the to the south of your house looks like swiss cheese. We drilled a few holes there, from 34 f.o.w. to 23 f.o.w. Nothing doing.

I havent done much right there either in the last couple times out but I have been doing ok N.W. of there where the hole wraps back around. Sorry to hear about the bite or I should say lack there of guys. That sure is a long drive to have fishing stink