By Brad Durick

The water temperature on the Red River finally reached 50 degrees last Friday and with that increase the bite has started improve a little each day.

There has been lots of picking and pecking by catfish with some good solid hits mixed in, showing an increase in activity. The big fish are coming alive right now and it appears it will only get better from here.

With these recent improvements, there really is no set pattern as there are fish to be caught everywhere. Anglers are using cutbait or frogs set at the bottom using a 20 to 30 minute sit time to connect with fish. Have a few places staked out for your efforts and keep moving until you find what works for you.

We have a few more cool days and cold nights in the northern Red River valley before the weather is supposed to turn to sunny and temperatures warm consistently into the 60s and low 70s. This matched with very stable water levels will kick the pre spawn bite into high gear in the coming days.

Brad Durick is a Dakota Edge Outdoors Contributing Writer and a licensed ND Fishing Guide specializing in catfish on the Red River of the North.