Still Going! Big catfish continue to provide strong action into September on the Red River, with some waiting required. Best baits include frogs and sucker with goldeye starting to come on strong. DEO Photo by Brad Durick

By Brad Durick

It has been a good week for channel catfish on the Red River once again. There are lots of fish that are willing to play. Fish right in the middle of the river at the heads of holes or back in the middle of them. The catfish seem to not be liking the biggest deepest holes but more the ones that are three to six feet deeper than the flat running into them. Sit times must be at the very least an honest 20 minutes, even 30 to be safe. We have seen many spots that there are no bites at all until just about the 20-minute mark before the biggest fish commit to the bait.

All baits seem to be working. Again, this week they seem to be rotating between frogs and suckers so you will want to have both on hand. Goldeyes seem to be coming back on as baits too.

It is a pretty normal bite rather than the destruction of bait that the bigger fish had been doing. Now is a good time to downsize hooks (especially circle hooks) to prevent blinding catfish that are caught.

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