So probably my major goal for this hardwater season is to ice a channel. I know there are a few lakes in the metro area that hold decent populations of channel cats and the one i want to try has some deep water(about 40 ft.) with pretty steep dropoffs and culverts where water may stay a bit warmer. Should these be the areas I try and does anyone actually target channels in the metro? Also, what presentation do you give them? I was thinking minnow heads or cut bait on a spoon or a spoon/leader to jig combo.

Never fished for them thru the ice any info would be great. Thank you

Hey guys, instead of having 2 discussion I merged them together.

Catching Channels through the ice is a lot of fun. I've only had experience doing it at a couple specific locations so I cannot help out in the Metro area.

Like you though bgreen, I plan on doing some searching this winter to try and find some. I have a couple in mind already.

You really don't need to do much different than fishing for Walleye through the ice. There are times when a spring bobber will help with the light biters, but Walleye gear works good.

Try using small pieces of cut Shiner or Fathead on a jigging spoon and another small piece on a plain hook hung just over the bottom.

Good Luck and I'll try to post some reports here as I get out. I know a few others here also will help out as well. Maybe Tyler Holm can chime in as he did quite well last year in some not so typical spots.

bgreen82

If you can make it tomorrow night to Thorne Bro's Wednesday night seminar, it will be about Metro area Lakes. Check out the Sponsor Forum for time.

Matt Johnson covered some local Metro lakes that hold good channels last Saturday. One I have never even known about in the NW Metro .

Also just today I went to the DNR Lake Finder and reviewed a couple Metro and surrounding area counties lakes. I was amazed at how many lakes the DNR for the last 10 or so years have been stocking some lakes with channels. Look at the DNR Netting info also. Some lakes hold channels over 30”. Kind of a slow and go for info, but start with your county and go to every lake and look at the info page. One tip, do not stop after a couple pages of Unnamed lakes. There are many lakes the start with letters after the "U" If you go threw a county list of lakes, you will know what I mean.

I have honed in on a local rumor of a larger lake north of the metro that has a very good channel bite. Very close to the HS Chain, so I have heard

Good luck guys!

i frequent the dnr lake finder almost as much as i do this website. i have a pretty good idea of which lakes i wanna try to hit in the metro, and i want to get up north at least once, maybe the HS chain.

When I said the above, I ment the bite was close to the same as the HS chain . So they say!

The lake is on the other side of the state Sorry

Once I get some time to head over to said lake, I am sure some info might be leaked out It is a pretty big lake.

Shackbash,
Since I live N. of the metro on the other side of the state I can only think of 1 or 2 possible places you could be talking about. If it's the same place I catch cats there from march to october. Never tried it during the ice season, but I've always wanted to. Wanna shoot me an email and we can possible plan an attack?

Some good places to start:


Recent stocking reports




Anoka County

Crooked - 02008400
Channel Catfish - 1,294 yearlings weighing 85.1 lbs.
Channel Catfish - 1,309 yearlings weighing 256.7 lbs.*

East Moore - 02007501
Channel Catfish - 1,316 yearlings weighing 86.6 lbs.

Golden - 02004500
Channel Catfish - 3,004 yearlings weighing 197.6 lbs.

Peltier - 02000400
Channel Catfish - 38,253 fingerlings weighing 503.4 lbs.
Channel Catfish - 2,500 yearlings weighing 164.5 lbs.

Carver County

Firemen's Clayhole - 10022600
Channel Catfish - 25 adults weighing 74.0 lbs.

Riverpointe Pond - 10025000
Channel Catfish - 59 adults weighing 174.0 lbs.

Clay County

Silver - 14010000
Channel Catfish - 114 yearlings weighing 114.0 lbs.

Dakota County

Rebecca - 19000300
Channel Catfish - 7,686 fingerlings weighing 126.0 lbs.

Rogers - 19008000
Channel Catfish - 3,440 fingerlings weighing 56.4 lbs.

Faribault County

Bass - 22007400
Channel Catfish - 10,473 fingerlings weighing 195.4 lbs.

Hennepin County

Powderhorn - 27001400
Channel Catfish - 85 adults weighing 249.8 lbs.

Unnamed - 27108500
Channel Catfish - 27 adults weighing 89.7 lbs.

Unnamed - 27108600
Channel Catfish - 25 adults weighing 83.3 lbs.

Unnamed - 27108500
Channel Catfish - 400 yearlings weighing 23.5 lbs.

Webber - 27111800
Channel Catfish - 10 adults weighing 29.4 lbs.

Kandiyohi County

Foot - 34018100
Channel Catfish - 9,981 fingerlings weighing 151.0 lbs.

Willmar - 34018000
Channel Catfish - 6,534 fingerlings weighing 91.0 lbs.

Le Sueur County

Tetonka - 40003100
Channel Catfish - 121,325 fingerlings weighing 986.9 lbs.

Ramsey County

Beaver - 62001600
Channel Catfish - 2,913 yearlings weighing 571.0 lbs.*

Bennett - 62004800
Channel Catfish - 1,030 yearlings weighing 67.8 lbs.
Channel Catfish - 1,046 yearlings weighing 205.1 lbs.*

Como - 62005500
Channel Catfish - 150 adults weighing 441.2 lbs.
Channel Catfish - 3,864 yearlings weighing 682.0 lbs.*

Island - 62007500
Channel Catfish - 1,990 yearlings weighing 406.0 lbs.*
Channel Catfish - 1,997 yearlings weighing 131.4 lbs.

Loeb - 62023100
Channel Catfish - 38 adults weighing 111.6 lbs.
Channel Catfish - 1,040 yearlings weighing 204.0 lbs.*

Silver - 62008300
Channel Catfish - 1,440 yearlings weighing 90.0 lbs.

Scott County

McColl Pond - 70001700
Channel Catfish - 88 adults weighing 258.8 lbs.
Channel Catfish - 1,200 yearlings weighing 70.5 lbs.

Stearns County

George - 73061100
Channel Catfish - 100 adults weighing 294.0 lbs.

Washington County

Tanners - 82011500
Channel Catfish - 1,689 yearlings weighing 111.1 lbs.

I see one very near to the Ice Show that I might have to "investigate" this weekend

Very good info Dtro! As always, you do the leg work for us!

Very nice ref. list!

Barbelboy, send me an e-mail at shackbash@aol.com please!

Thanks!

Thanks for the info. Dtro. This sounds like a blast. So you mentioned that we could essentially fish for them the same way as we would fish for walleye? Do you mean that as far as tackle and location? Should I be looking for any current,snags,holes etc? Cheers guys.

Well if you call [Right Click-->Copy-->Paste] doing the legwork, well then OK


Thank BrianK for compiling that list

I did take the time to make the counties Bold though

Finding a deep hole is always a good place to start. They won’t necessarily be right in the hole, but it seems like they relate to it in one way or another.

Obviously having a camera down there is a good way to locate some fish or at least indentify what you’ve found on your flasher.

Also if you’ve heard of guys catching a few unintentionally here or there by accident, there’s a good chance there are more in the same area.

Hennepin County "unnamed" - there's a lot of help

Information served on a bronze platter.