Through the Ups and Downs.  It’s been work to catch cats on the fluctuating levels of the Red River over the past two weeks, but with a bit of effort and trying the right spots, anglers are getting a few still in pre-spawn mode. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.

By Brad Durick

We are back in the business of chasing big channel catfish on the Red River! Grand Forks ramps are open. East Grand Forks ramps are just a few days away. Fargo and south will be about a week yet as will the towns north of Grand Forks. The river has fallen nicely over the past few days and is back to a very fishable level for most boaters. Temperatures have been holding around 66 degrees meaning the pre-spawn is still on. 

All that good news aside, fishing is very tough. When you have river levels rise and/or fall really fast catfish tend to get confused and not readily feed. Over the past two weeks the Red at Grand Forks has risen nine feet, fallen five feet, risen five feet and is now falling about a foot per day.  That is pretty dramatic in the life of a catfish. We have been catching fish tight to the shore in snags, on humps near shore on inside corners and under the lips of big cut banks. As this report comes out the fish might start to move to the current seams a little bit and get into more of a biting pattern.  

Bait really has not mattered. I have used only sucker because the muddy water has made goldeye more difficult to catch on the main river.

I expect things to level off over the next week and become much more normal and seasonal which will improve catch rates and overall access to the river.

NOTE: The Marley Concrete Cats Tournament scheduled for this Saturday, June 15th in Moorhead has been cancelled due to the recent high water and mud that is left behind causing safety concerns.

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