Catfish on Horseshoe Chain

[katfishkeith]

Hi guys, i'm new on the forum here, and was a little disappointed to see the Catfish lumped in with the rough fish on the species forum, but I guess I understand most Minnesotans think of them like that, but I grew up in Missouri.
 
 Well, if you know how to clean one, you will be fishing for them as much as other species.

Something really fun to do is catch these monsters through the ice, and a great place to do this is on the Horseshoe chain in Richmond. This time of year they start to bunch together and if you can find them, you can have a real blast. Also, like alot of other species, they taste really good out of the cold water.

Well some of my buds have started catching them already and I finally got laid off for the winter and am ready to go tomorrow.

[BiggA]

Sounds like a good time. I never put to much time into cats myself but after my neighbor smoked one for me last spring I may spend a little more time trying.

[Tyler Rother]

Been up to the Horseshoe Chain once for eyes and a family outing, bunch of family up on that lake have cabins.

Awesome lake to fish.

[katfishkeith]

Smoked cat is ok, but kinda like smoked carp, if you have to smoke something to make it edible....i dunno.

The trick is when you clean them to get the dark red (greasy) meat off.
You lay them on the side and go down to the backbone, just like filleting any fish, but when you go to take the skin off, instead of going right against the skin, you leave about 3/16 inch of meat on the hide. This is the striped looking redder meat you don't want. Also the belly flaps have a fishier taste, so I don't keep them either. Then cut into strips.

[DDSBYDAY]

      Is there some point where they hibernate.  I seem to remember a underwater vid from somewhere where they piled up on each other in a deeper hole and just layed there.  Maybe It was a dream.  I can't say for sure.  Never chased them.

[katfishkeith]

They do tend to school up in the winter, and are like other fish, as in more active now then tend to slow as winter drags on then in May they start to come out of it and get hungrier. 
In mid winter you have to downsize and have even been down to smashed minnow heads and a spring bobber to get a bite.
But when you get a nice 8 to 10 pounder on, man does it rock...

[kcarder]

I am not sure what sortta catfish are here in MN.  Some catfish in some bodies of water will "hibernate" and some will not.  If the body or water, be it a river or lake is sufficiently deep they will go to the deepest part and become less active.  A river would be the best bet for winter action.  Usually Blue Catfish are pretty active in the winter, channel cats will be less active and may or may not "hibernate" (depends on the body of water).  I am not even sure that I would call it "hibernate" because they just settle in the mud on the bottoms and become much less active but are still active to a degree. 

Back in Oklahoma the only way we fished for 'em was NOODLING.  That would be a difficult, very cold experience here.  We left the fishing rods and stink bait for the women and children to use.

[DDSBYDAY]

Back in Oklahoma the only way we fished for 'em was NOODLING.  That would be a difficult, very cold experience here.  We left the fishing rods and stink bait for the women and children to use.

    I know enough about NOODLING  that you can have at it.  I will stay back to protect the women and children.   

[kcarder]

I know enough about NOODLING  that you can have at it.  I will stay back to protect the women and children.

Oh com'on!  It would free up some time for ya.  You wouldn't have to sit and make all those nice jigs for fishing.     

[mahmoodmahi]

Welcome keith, good to see more catfisherman coming on the forum. We have two fishable populations of catfish in mn, channels and flatheads, and it is that flatheads that stop feeding in winter. There are a few blues caught on the Iowa border every year, but we dont really have a population. Actually the red river of the north is the best channel cat fishery in the country. The state record for flats is 70 pounds and I know a number of 50 pound plus fish are caught every year. there are channels throughout the state, but flats only on the the saint croix, minnesota and mississippi systems, in the lower half of the state. The thing about flatheads is, you really can catch some big fish, so it is a great trophy fishing oportunity (check out the king of the cats tournament 2010), no need to get a charter in the florida keys. I personally like catfish, and in all honesty the only fish species in mn that I have eaten and didnt like was sheephead (its shocking how much it sucks) but you need to know how to cook fish in different ways, and what to do with each different species,you cant fillet and fry everything.

[Outdoors Junkie]

Hi guys, i'm new on the forum here, and was a little disappointed to see the Catfish lumped in with the rough fish on the species forum, but I guess I understand most Minnesotans think of them like that, but I grew up in Missouri.
 
 Well, if you know how to clean one, you will be fishing for them as much as other species.

Something really fun to do is catch these monsters through the ice, and a great place to do this is on the Horseshoe chain in Richmond. This time of year they start to bunch together and if you can find them, you can have a real blast. Also, like alot of other species, they taste really good out of the cold water.

Well some of my buds have started catching them already and I finally got laid off for the winter and am ready to go tomorrow.

Welcome to MNO.  Catfish has it's own listing now.

[HappyGilz]

wow... that's what I call service!

I fish cats all summer on the Sauk, have a blast every time we go out! Having trouble finding them in the chain though...Caught them between Krays and Great Northern before but they ICE gets sketchy there! Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated!