Cattin the Chain 2015-2017

[Storm]

Anyone have an update on the ice? I was out last week with the warm spell and it was a mess. How many inches are people finding was hoping to be able to drive a car out to the meth hole due to a couple people I want to take aren't able to make the walk.

[FshBloodRiverMud]

Tom, I fished two rods. One was a 1/16 once red frostee spoon with a minnow head. The other had a 1/8 once VMC tear drop jig with chicken liver. I fished them from right off bottom to 5 feet off. I tried near the south end of long lake, and near the access of horseshoe lake. Dtro I have done quite a bit research, was just curious. Thanks for a reply.

Best research is time and more holes!!

It's 5hr round for me, so I have been doing overnights+ to get some big numbers on the ice.

[DTro]

I can tell you this, like clockwork every year the bite slows down around the meth hole this time of year, but I assure you there are dozens of spots you could hit right now and catch up to 100 in a few hours. Most of them however have sketchy ice all year. It takes some scouting and recon trips to find them and you have to be very aware of ice conditions, but you will know when you hit paydirt.

[IceHawk]

Well said Dtro you hit the nail on the head! There are numerous spots that hold cats, in fact do some searching and you may find some honey holes of your own. The whole system is full of them trust me

[derbier122x]

Any updates on the ice thickness and or conditions on shoe? I havent made it out their he this year due to no wheeler and not want in to walk a mile across the ice

[Vallejo]

Need an update on the ice thickness, please.

[IceHawk]

12-13 inches average

[Willie Howard]

Thank you for the Update on thickness. We thank you locals for letting us know because that hour drive is tough if we drive there and cant get on the LAKE... I am new to the ice fishing and want to make sure i am safe LOL... Thanks again... Cant wait...

[Tom Sawyer]

Welcome to HSO Willie

[Borch]

Tom, I fished two rods. One was a 1/16 once red frostee spoon with a minnow head. The other had a 1/8 once VMC tear drop jig with chicken liver. I fished them from right off bottom to 5 feet off. I tried near the south end of long lake, and near the access of horseshoe lake. Dtro I have done quite a bit research, was just curious. Thanks for a reply.

I find drilling a lot of holes from deep holes up onto flats and keep moving until you're on a big school. Sometimes 10 feet distance makes a huge difference in whether you catch a bunch or none. Both lakes you hit have excellent cat populations. If you caught crappies cats weren't too far away.

[Vallejo]

Thank you, IceHawk. We'll be up there soon.

[The Chemist]

Good evening, everyone. It's been awhile. I have the need to get back out on the ice. Been 3yrs since I had a chance to fish due to lack of employment and 2 pipes bursting in the cabin the 2011-2012 winter. Now that the cabin was finally completed this past spring and having a job I'm ready to get back out.

Couple questions... looking at getting a new portable, I am looking at either the clam 1660 or xl6000tc or the equivalent ones from eskimo. My boys are too big to go out in the 2man now.

Also is there a get together planned? If so when?

Looking forward to seeing old faces out on the lakes. Is the ice good to drive out now?

[IceHawk]

Chemist glad to hear from you again. It has been a while, sounds like you had some bad luck but things are turning around for you. Good to see. They are driving on with these temps this week things are firming up well. There is going to be a cool cats again this year, but no dates are set yet. Looking forward to seeing and chatting with you on the ice again. Once again welcome back

[Borch]

Good to hear from you Chemist!

Trying to pin down dates for cool cats. A lot of things going on in my personal life is has things up in the air.

Then Thermal units are very nice with less propane used to keep warm and no ceiling dripping on you. They are a bit heavier to haul around though but not too bad.

[The Chemist]

This will be 13 yrs since the initial get together. Have you heard if they decided to go to the expand possession limit for cats. I know that I had read that they were proposing it to go into affect for the 2015 season. To me it would've better served it's purpose if they would've made it effective starting on the 1st of Jan.

[pushbutton]

It's coming. Gubmint ......for good or bad .....does not usually move that quickly. Pretty sure they are even considering Browns and the Eden watershed into the mix. As far as your portable question....whatever brand you get, would certainly suggest thermal. Both blue or red have positive/negative production run issues on any given year, but both seem to make it right if you do have any issues. The standard "8 x 8" ,in my opinion, is only a three man shack. More people and gear than that, look at the twin/possibly the 6 sided.

[jigginjim]

How many guys have tried eating the cats for the chain?

[Rick G]

How many guys have tried eating the cats for the chain?

Don't like catfish all that much, but have tried them a few times now. IMO, the ones from the Chain are not the best tasting.

[Tom Sawyer]

I tried them.........Darren's, aka Dtro, "cat balls" at a Cool Cats Event.

[Horseshoe_Don]

I have made catfish cakes which are ok. Pickled cats which are not good. Deep fried them plain which is bad. Marinated them in milk, black pepper and garlic and they were ok that way. But in my opinion they are only edible in winter or spring. And I use the term edible loosely.

Don

[JBMasterAngler]

That all walleye diet they live on must taint their meat!

[The Chemist]

My family does. I only fish for them on the ice. I have never noticed an issue with taste. I have had them beer battered, pan fried in flour/salt &pepper, and then at the Cool Cats get together. I believe the key is that when cleaning or filleting, the belly meat is not kept.

[teal50]

I have the same taste issue from cats out of the Mississippi in central MN. A strong algae-mud like flavor. Soaking in buttermilk overnight cut it down some but did not eliminate it. Removing the fatty areas seemed to help also. I'd appreciate anything that anyone has found to eliminate this. These cats were caught in the late summer-early fall. Same thing every time I've tried them. Occasionally, we get walleyes late summer from the Mississippi that have a similar flavor. ***This has nothing to do with poor handling of the fish after catching. They were ice immediately and cleaned in a short time frame.

[maxpower117]

Try bleeding them out. Eliminating the blood from any fillet will make them tase better. The fat is a big one too.

I do this with any fish I catch and it has really made me like fish so much more.

[DTro]

I think the word tolerable is the best way you can describe the taste. I've been working on cat ball thing and got it to a point where its not too bad actually. But you get to a point in which you are eating more filler than fish.

So anyways, we had a good night on the chain last night. 4 hours and about 70 fish. I got my butt kicked in the total fish competition, but that is fine I got to watch JPZ put on a clinic.

They were still biting good when we left and JP was reeling in a fish as we were packing up.

River sections should be good to go with ice. Must use caution though. 4-5" in the thin areas. Here's a tip, don't set up your shelter in one of those thin spots on a snow drift. SLUSH CITY!

[rjmiller47]

Wow, my taste buds must be messed up I think it's more an issue on Cats with texture. They are delicious if soaked in milk, vinegar and sliced onion (1 T vinegar to 1 C of milk)in the refrigerator a couple hours.. Then fried with Shore Lunch 50% Corn Meal 50%. Personally speaking for myself and friends whom I've prepared Cats for they are great. You want Cats 1 1/2 pounds or less though, mmmmmmmmm just my 2 cents. Tight lines and good luck.

[eyeguy 54]

do all you can to hide that taste.

[jjz]

My nephew ate catfish about 19 inches, walleye about 16 inches and smallmouth about 17 inches caught this June in little birch Todd county. Cats the best, then walleye, then smallies. Little birch catfish I assume live in the lake all year and it is less riverine than the chain. I would bet lots of the chain cats live in the Sauk river in summer and move to chain in winter. Having grew up fishing and hunting on the Sauk river I can say I would have troubles eating anything caught out of it, lots of runoff and things going on that don't make fish taste good. I grew up eating walleyes off little birch and they don't taste much different from walleyes in brainerd area I currently live. Catfish only made it to little birch when I moved to breezy point and I never got to eat one out of the lake. This year it is my goal to get a little birch cat and compare it to little birch walleye. Most guys from northwestern stearns and southern Todd county thought most fish from the chain tasted similar to fish from lakes that had lots of run off algae bloom problems, and generally avoided eating fish from these types of lakes. Hopefully this summer I can catch both and compare. I find walleyes easier to catch, but cats on little birch are still rare.

[aanderud]

JPZ put on a clinic yesterday. I think he had three times as many fish as Darren. Adam reminded me of that statistic this morning.

Another tip, switch up your bait. We were smokin em on liver early, then 1.5 hours later it slowed a bit. JPZ switched to minnow and smoked 3 real quick. Before long we all had them on and had a virtual-quad. I accidentally quick-released mine 5 feet below the ice, but the other 3 guys were holding releasing fish as that happened.

Luckily I was able to at least tie my 7 year old. Normally he beats me. I had about an 8-fish lead on him early, like 12-4 or something, and he said he was going to catch up to me by the end of the night. JPZ said "that's great optimism, way to go" -- you know, in that way that you sorta pretend like the kids know what they're saying, but you know it'll never happen.... Then at the end of the night we ended up tied

[rjmiller47]

It's sad the notions people get in their heads about foods and flavors. I find Minnesota folks raised on hot dish, bland foods, and the premonition that Walleye are the greatest fish that swims sad. I suppose when offered something different like Foie Gras, Escargot, Oysters Rockefeller, Sushi, etc. all different textures and flavors you go eeoowwww. Given the choice walleye is way down on the list of good eating fish. Just my 2 cents, tight lines and good fishing.