2021 produced a great trophy bite on the Red River of the North and being in the right place made all
the difference. Cody Fahrmann just wanted a 20-pound channel cat. This was one of five on that day.
Fish Where the Fish Are
by Brad Durick
There’s a saying: 80 percent of the fish live in 20 percent of the water. It’s true.
In May of 2016, I knew conditions on the Red River of the North were setting up for a huge channel catfish bite. My schedule had a few open dates before the start of guiding season, so I shot an email to friend Larry Myhre, now the former outdoor writer for the Sioux City Journal in Sioux City, Iowa, inviting him to come fish with me while the bite was hot.
At this point, Larry was wrapping up a long career of outdoor writing, and the man had seen it all. In fact, in the early 1990s, it was him who ventured to the now famous Lockport, Manitoba, Canada to see if all the hype of the giant channel catfish was true. It was his articles that forever changed the tourism from the Midwest heading to Canada to catch catfish.
When we were driving to the section of river where I was on fish, I asked Larry about his Canadian trips and what were the best days he had seen. He told me the best day produced 42 trophy channel cats, and on many days, the numbers landed were in the 30s. I quickly slipped in, “I can beat that.”
We went on to beat that 42 number in under four hours and finally quit fishing when we got into the 70s. It truly was an epic day for big numbers and big fish. Larry’s story about that trip, which later ran in the Sioux City Journal, pointed out that when you want to catch fish, “go where the fish are.” That day we fished less than one mile of river.
80% of the Fish in 20% of the Water
What is Traditional Trophy Channel Catfish Water
Traditional reaches of a river that will hold the best trophy channel catfish are a bend or bends in a river that have everything a catfish wants to be comfortable and well fed. These areas will have deep fast water, deep slow water, shallow water and ample cover such as a laydown or big log jam. A catfish or a few big catfish will move into these areas to feed and live there until the next environmental or seasonal trigger tells them to move.
When fishing for trophy catfish, there can be large sections of rivers or lakes that are void of life. Sure, you may be able to catch a fish sometimes, but the odds are against you if you are in the wrong section.
Time of year and conditions can quickly tell where your best shot at a trophy catfish will be. Over time, it will become easier and easier to determine where these high-probability areas should be. Remember, though, it is still fishing and nothing is set in stone.
During the spring prespawn, channel catfish tend to move upstream on a feeding frenzy. Many times, they will keep moving upstream until the water temperature reaches the point that tells them to go find a nest, or they run into a barricade such as a dam and get bottled up.
I find that when the water temperature reaches 50 degrees, big fish start to make this move. They are still sluggish for the most part but looking relocate. In my home stretch of river, I like to start looking a few miles below a dam in pretty traditional locations that are a little shallow and get direct sunlight to help warm the water. As the water temperature gets into the higher 50s and low 60s, these fish will begin the migration upstream, eventually running into the dam. If you fish every day, you can literally follow them to the dam or other barricade.
If conditions are such that the fish cannot easily cross the dam to keep migrating, they will gorge below the dam and then move off to rest and repeat. This means that most of the fish are in a small portion of the water, and you can work within that area to find more trophy-sized fish.
Trophy Channel Catfish from Spring to Summer
I mentioned the spring upstream migration, but what about after the prespawn when the fish move back down for the spawn? And what about the rest of the year?
In a lot of cases, I move away from fishing below dams to fishing above dams as the catfish will move downstream and take up residence for the rest of the season.
If you are fortunate enough to fish an area with a dam, it can be as easy as launching above the same dam you previously fished below. This is another example of upping your odds with the theory that 80 percent of the trophy fish live in 20 percent of the water.
High vs. Low Rivers
When targeting trophy channel cats in rivers, it is also important to understand what ideal conditions tend to be for trophy fish, especially when they are not migrating. When rivers are higher than normal trophy catfish will move into long straight sections of river and hang out near the bank or in structure to escape the main current. When rivers are lower than normal, these straightaways become dead zones when the catfish move into more traditional catfish waters such as expansive curves that provide food and comfort.
If you want to catch trophy catfish, you have to fish where the fish are. Not all bodies of water have trophy fish to catch. You have to find a body of water that has trophy fish, then understand how those fish move and what 20 percent of the water they want to call home throughout the year. Follow these steps and you will consistently see more big fish come over the rail or up the shoreline.
(Captain Brad Durick is a nationally recognized catfish guide on the Red River of the North, seminar speaker and author of the books “Cracking the Channel Catfish Code” and “Advanced Catfishing Made Easy.” For more information, go to redrivercatfish.com.)