Still There.  Bigger catfish remain on the bite as summer fades to fall on the Red River. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.

By Brad Durick

With the North Dakota youth deer season, I have only fished two times since last week’s report, but I am happy to say that my boy harvested a very respectable buck on Sunday night.

On the Red River, most anglers are still reporting good catfishing. The flow has fallen again to the lowest level of the year.  Everything is still very fishable with a boat but it is noticeably lower. We can go down to three-ounce sinkers now.

Catfish patterns remain the same. Fish the mid-river holes moving every 20 minutes or so to stay on active fish. With the unsettled weather don’t stick to just that, if one location is not working look at other patterns, especially after fronts move through. So far nothing is indicating that the catfish will shut down any time soon.  Looking at the forecast ahead, we do have a cool off coming on the weekend and beyond. This won’t shut things off, but it may bring that seasonal slowing of the bite as water temperatures drop.

Two- or three-days dead sucker or frogs remain the clear bait winners for me.  Some anglers are saying goldeye is working well now as well. Conditions still say the rest of September will be good for big fish and I have dates available. Call or text 701-739-5808 for information or to book.

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.