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Thinking about forming a local catfish league maybe have 5 or 6 biweekly league nights with a cat tourney at the end. Maybe every other Wed night. 2 or 3 person teams total weight each meet. Awards for top 2 teams.

Just seeing what type of interest I can drum up.

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An interesting thought for certain.

What might be of more interest, and people are more than welcome to provide feedback on this, would be more of an "all species" summer league.

In my experience, mid-summer in our river brings pretty standard sized, cookie-cutter cats, all around 3-6 lbs. Once in a while you find a big daddy, but they seem to be pretty few and far between.

Anyway, I'm not sure a "just catfish" league would draw much participation, but an all game fish species open bi-weekly event might draw in more attention. I'd include pike, walleyes, smallmouth and catfish for a total weight score at each event, added together cumulative weight toward the end of the year total for the champion, second and third place.

There's a lot that goes into a league like this Dan, including written rules, official weigh-ins, or digital pics that show time and date, length and weight, etc.. If it's an "open" with no weigh-in site, then everyone will need the same tape measures, and portable scales.

You'll need someone to keep a running tally, a set perimeter for when and where what waters can be fished. Is pre-fishing allowed? Is it limited to shore fishing only, or can boats or canoes be used?

It would be fun to see what kind of numbers good anglers could drum up over a 5-6 event summer. Might also consider a point system, simply based on catch and release only of game fish species? I'd really prefer to see a catch-and-release event series.

Interesting idea. I might do this, but I kind of hate to commit to yet another deal, amongst the long list of things I'm already juggling, and also a fishing event that doesn't include all my kids. My kids absolutely love to fish, and I'm not fond of leaving them behind.

Let's hear what other fisherman think in our region?

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All species would be cool..Just a chance to get out and fish more and maybe meet other local fisherman.

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Hey Dan. We're definitely on the same page.

I still can't figure out why this thread (NW MN) gets so little activity. There are tons of fishermen in our area, but everyone seems so tight lipped about anything going on.

All I can think of is small town "click". That, and the fact that we don't have any fishable lakes within 25 miles of TRF. But our river is phenomenal, and I'll enjoy it alone if need be. smile

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I'm in.....I haven't fished the river hard for a couple of years now, but I can't imagine it's changed a whole lot.

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Well....there it is then! We have enough for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place! grin

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Hope you guys get a cat league going.

I fished the Belle Plaine Cat League a coupke years ago and its a greta way to meet people and have a great time fishing.

Some of the best times I had fishing were during that league along with making some pretty good friends.

CANOPY SAM keep promoting it and I hope it flys for ya.

Good Luck

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Hey Gordie! Thanks for the encouragement!

I think you're tearing up some of the same water on the Minnesota River I used to fish when we lived in Waconia. Sure miss those big river walleyes, saugers, and of course the giant channel and flathead cats!

Fishhead (aka. Dennis S.) and I fished the FM Metro area open species tourney together several years ago. I moved away just before the big cat league got started. You guys have pulled together a great program down there. Wish I could have been a part of it.

Not sure this idea is really going to get legs up here. It's not really my parade, as I'm far too busy to put any energy into coordinating this series, but I "might" participate if we do get enough people interested. So far, there doesn't appear to be too much interest.

Here in TRF we do have a late summer city wide fishing tournament that brings in a lot of people, and is a first class effort put on by a local charitable organization. The weigh in, prizes, and whole deal is very cool, and has the feel of a big time fishing tournament, in a small, remote rural town.

Good luck this summer on your cat league! Just a side note, I recently noticed that you and another FM member (was it Tyler S.?) both claim to be the 2009 King of the Cats Champion in your respective signatures. Perhaps this was for different species divisions, or maybe it was two different tourneys on two different waters? Just curious...

Best of luck to you, and be safe on that river!

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Hello? Helloooo?

Dan, haven't heard from you in a few weeks. What's up?

Is there anyone else in and around TRF interested in a lighthearted, laid back bi-weekly fishing league?

It would be interesting to designate different sections of river for different events in the series. Smiley to Kratka bridge for one event. Smiley to Eighth street for another. Eighth street to Golf Course for another. In town dam to Oakland Park for another. St.Hilaire bridge to Mill Pond for another..etc.,etc..

Any thoughts? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler? Buehler? Anyone?......

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I'll be working out of state all summer, otherwise I'd sure be in.

Sounds like a blast.

I should be back around the area around early October and would sure participate after that. It'd be nice to meet the local guys that post on here.

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I'll sure give it a try, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to make them all. If it's a pretty casual thing, i'd definitely be interested. - I just thought it would be a great excuse to get out with my boys (5 & 8) a couple of more times this summer...

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Got busy for a couple weeks with graduation stuff. Its over now I can focus on fishing again.

Some great ideas here I like the changes in boundries, that way we don't just go same spot time after time we get to learn more new spots.

Plus focus on different species for instance, its tough to find cats above the dam.

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It'd be nice to see a little more interest in this. Only 3-4 of us showing any interest at this point.

Might be more appropriate if we simply coordinate a couple FM (Fishing Minnesota) gatherings. Done a number of these over the years in different parts of the state, and they can be a lot of fun as well.

Fun way to meet other fisherman, share experiences, and have a bite to eat and a few beverages. We could meet up at the Armory Park behind Dairy Queen, or any other place of choosing.

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I would be intrested in this as well. Im from Crookston and fish the river in town alot, usually i dump my boat in but the lack of rain has made some of my honey holes hard to get to!! I have never fished the TRF area but this would be a great reason for me to start. Not sure if I could commit to every league day but whould be great to have a get together as mentioned in previous post.

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Hey Cropduster! A fitting name for a guy from Crookston! laugh

A number of years ago, when Rusty was still in Crookston, we had an FM gathering there in town. He did an awesome job of coordinating this event with fishing tips, a big fish fry, dinner at the local hotel, and even prizes from a raffle! Rusty went way above and beyond what these events normally go to, but it was a great time, and we caught tons of fish!

With the removal of the low head dam in Crookston it dramatically changed the fishing conditions in the area, but there are still great opportunities there, and no lack of nice fish. I think we here in TRF benefited greatly from the removal of that dam. It seemed to usher back great catfishing to our area. Something we hadn't seen for many, many years.

Still thinking lack of interest, significant participation, or even guys that cannot commit to multiple "tourney" events might squelch the whole "league" idea, but we can still arrange FM gatherings for local folks who are interested, and maybe discussion at these gatherings might lead to the development of a future river league?

Glad to have you on board, Cropduster!

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