Skinny Cat. Catfish like this 34-incher should weigh 15 to 18 pounds this time of year, this one only hit 12 pounds on the scale. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.

By Brad Durick

We have had a bit more rain and the flow on the Red River in Grand Forks is nearly double what it was last week. It appears to still not be enough for the catfish to respond positively with a more consistent bite. They are still lined up on the back of inside corners and just hanging out. Like the past few weeks if you can find current you will find fish.

All baits were working with frog and frozen sucker being the best. This past week, frog was the answer to getting bites. This is not surprising given the rains have made way for dew so there is much more frog movement during the night than there has been.

An observation over the past couple of weeks has been that fish that are about 26 inches and below are looking just fine. The fish above 30 inches still look horribly skinny. It is occurring to me that the bigger fish are just not able to hunt down the amount of food required to bulk up. It’s almost like they are conditioned to work the current and have food brought to them. This could explain why they are sitting on inside corners. That is where they tend to sit after fronts and in times when they are not actively hunting.

Brad Durick is a Dakota Edge Outdoors contributing writer and licensed ND fishing guide specializing in trophy catfish on the Red River in and around Grand Forks.

Featured Photo: Skinny Cat. Catfish like this 34-incher should weigh 15 to 18 pounds this time of year, this one only hit 12 pounds on the scale. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.