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Larry Haugh
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The following is a question posed in another forum.
" With the low water conditions on the MN river how have you guys changed your tactics vs. normal flows? We were SKUNKED last weekend and really dont want a repeat of that this weekend! We tried deep holes, eddys, and current break off of faster water....nothing but turtles! Any advise?"
A couple questions to consider in answering this.
1. What section of the river were you fishing? Different areas of the river at times call for different tactics.
2. What time of day were you fishing?
3. Specific species being targeted?
It sounds like you had your fishing/thinking cap on and were doing everything to try to get on some fish. Right now the river level is down as it has been for the last 1.5 months.
The bite has been a little sporadic as of late.
If you can shed a little light on the questions posed above, I can help you with more specific answers.
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Larry Haugh / AKA- Larry Flatcaster / IDO Field Staff
Moore's Bait & Tackle (612)861-7412
EFH Co. General Contractor
There's a reason its called fishing.
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Dave W.
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1. We fished out of Jordan. Thank Gawd we were using a Mud Motor! We hit alot of wood, even following the deep channel!
2. We were on the water around 7pm and fishing soon after, we fished ALL NIGHT! We were off the water about 6:30am
3. Specifically Flatheads, or a Channel on the cutbait.
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Larry Haugh
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Yeah... it was a good thing you had a mud motor, That can be some tough territory when the water is down. It is a good stretch of river.
Saying that... it sounds like you got some experience on your side in targeting the cats.
Log jambs seem to be the ticket for the channels lately, depth hasn't seemed to be a big factor.
For Flats..... The numbers being caught are down compared to past seasons. My guess is the season got off to a late start and the Flats are going to start perking up here any time.
One thing to keep in mind at this time is the river is swarming with bait fish, You probably saw that when you were out last weekend, the bite will be tough for a bit till some of the bait quantities are lowered.
With the recent rains, my guess is that.... it will get things stirred up. Fresh water, cooler temps, run off and introduction of some different foods all could be good variables to turn the bite on.
AS far as locations, you have that part figured out, you just need to find the spot where the fish are. It sounds like you are getting into different areas, if your not moving around every hour or two, I would start doing so.
Last factor is bait, Lots of Flats over the last month have been coming in on cut baits, minnows are working as well, keep a close eye on the line, I've missed a couple because they have been hitting so light.... (I thought it was the bait doing it, until I reeled up and my minnow was chewed).
Hope that this helps you out. Good luck this weekend. I'll be getting out sunday night to see what I can hook up with.
Keep us posted on how it goes.
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Larry Haugh / AKA- Larry Flatcaster / IDO Field Staff
Moore's Bait & Tackle (612)861-7412
EFH Co. General Contractor
There's a reason its called fishing.
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Dave W.
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Quote:
Yeah... it was a good thing you had a mud motor, That can be some tough territory when the water is down.
For Flats..... The numbers being caught are down compared to past seasons.
One thing to keep in mind at this time is the river is swarming with bait fish, You probably saw that when you were out last weekend,
It sounds like you are getting into different areas, if your not moving around every hour or two, I would start doing so.
they have been hitting so light.... (I thought it was the bait doing it, until I reeled up and my minnow was chewed).
We wouldnt have a lower unit we were running an outboard.
Our numbers are way down to last year.
We did move often....until we fell asleep in the boat, then we were in one place for a while... 
I had that EXACT thing happne...I fugured it was a channel.
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channelcatben
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I'm talking channel cats here, since I seldom get a chance to go out after dark, and the channels are the only ones that play with me during the daytime.
I think it's true that the water is absolutely full of baitfish, and the cats are having little trouble eating them. It was about this time last year that I started using frogs, grasshoppers, and whatever other terrestrial prey I could find. It helped me out a lot. I did far better on frogs than any other bait. The hoppers would get a few eaters, but the bigger kitties absolutely blew up on frogs. The problem there, of course, is finding and catching frogs... but if you can find them, I've found they outproduce cutbait this time of year.
I fish from shore, and had my best luck keeping the bait pretty close in to shore near log jams and cut-away sections of bank, like on an outside bend where the drop-off to moderately deep water is immediate. In the evenings, and at night, I've caught channel cats in really shallow water, right next to shore.
Good luck!
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The two best times to fish are when it's rainin' and when it ain't.
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Bullet21XD
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Quote:
We wouldnt have a lower unit we were running an outboard.
Sure we would have. I'd have just been driving faster...and hitting less! Those Mercs are tough!
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Low water tactics
