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Horseshoe Cats Slowing Down?


steeplechaser2

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Just a quick observation...my son and I have been hitting the Chain pretty regularly...suddenly, the cats are really dispersing....curious if any know if they go deeper (toward the meth holes) at this point in the winter, or shallower....although we only caught three smaller cats today (4lbs, 2 lbs. and 2lbs) we did manage the motherload of red eyes (rock bass)....the biggest must have been 2 lbs and uglier than any cat I've seen.....Also, what is up with the mottled cats? any else catch many of these????

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Pressure,Pressure,Pressure, Sad but true. The cats are still aroud and there are plenty of them throughout the chain but alot of the community holes have been picked over pretty good. I am not saying all people fishing are keeping the cats but there are quite a few being taken out of these areas. IMO the cats are being fished alot throughtout these holes and aren't given enough down time. Thus this is creating somewhat of a negative to nuetral bite in these areas. Fish can be caught but numbers and size can be a problem. I'ts like any popular panfish bite once the crowd pounds a area consistently in a few short days the bite dies down. The community cat holes are gettin hit alot throughout the week not just on weekends. The cats are out there but I will be honest alot of the fish have adapted to the pressure and have found better haunts! Now the key is to uncover these unpressured areas and you will once again experiance phenomenal winter catting. I have found some of these spots and believe me the bite and size is a lot more consistent. I personally use to have 100 plus fish days as I was one of the first pioneers to explore cats through the ice on the chain. Now big days are 30 plus. I will say that the cats do seem to move shallower and spread out as the season moves on. They always seem to migrate twoards the river sections more. It seems it becomes alot harder to stay with them as they seem to move around alot this time of year. Shallow flats are good areas to search right now and some of the steeper breaklines. Ice Cattin is a blast so get out a find yourself your own little honey-hole and have some fun!!! smile.gifsmile.gif

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okay...i spoke too soon...we iced 14 cats on Tuesday night....biggest pushed 7 lbs...and even managed a few walleyes in the 16" range...funny, no one elese was around! Almost all of the cats were "big"...averaged 3 to 4 lbs...rattle-r-spoons with two minnow heads seems best!

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We had a group out this past weekend, and there was no signs of "slow cats".

LOTS of cats caught. 30+ feet of water, and all caught within a foot or two of the bottom.

Jigging spoons were OK, but the smaller presentations with the baits laying motionless was best.

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Quote:

okay...i spoke too soon...


LOL! I've noticed the attitude of the cats adjusts according to weather conditions, just like other fish. You must have hit them on a better day!

I've had days where they will chase jigging spoons 2-4' up before they hit, just like LOW walleyes. I've also had days where you can lay a cutbait within 6" of the bottom and they won't touch it.

Angler pressure has a lot to do with it, weather & time of day are other factors that play a major role!

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