Anglers are catching the occasional bigger channel cat mixed in with smaller fish using frozen sucker as bait. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.

By Brad Durick

The water temperature on the northern Red River has stayed fairly stable all week and is beginning to go up again with this week’s warm up.

The water temperature as of May 12 registered 57 degrees, n some sections of the river this has the fish beginning to kick into high gear and in other sections it really has not made a big difference yet. It may be that because the river is extremely low and the lack of current is not spurring the upstream migration that we are used to most springs.

The past week fishing in deeper, faster water has been the key. Anglers are still sorting through quite a few little catfish in order to get to the big ones. Frozen sucker has been a great bait with fresh offerings picking up more each day; goldeyes are also working well. Things still have room to pick up as we get warmer weather over the weekend and into next week.

As mentioned earlier the river is extremely low and caution should be exercised when boating (especially below dams) to ensure your safety and that of your equipment.

Brad Durick is Dakota Edge Outdoors Contributing Writer and a licensed N.D. Fishing Guide focused on the trophy channel catfish of the northern Red River in and around Grand Forks, N.D.