Brad's Bites: A Late Start

We finally got in the Red River at Grand Forks on Sunday, June 12. As far as I know the two Grand Forks ramps are the only two open boat accesses on the on the Red River right now. As of now there should be little change.

Due to the river levels falling more than one foot per day, the fishing has been very slow. The channel catfish are confused and it has to level off some to allow them to get their bearings. Add to that the water temperatures are in the low 70s which will be triggering the beginning of the spawn. It is very odd to start the angling season at the same time as the spawn, which also makes it difficult to pinpoint a pattern.

For now, we are fishing pretty tight to the bank trying to be right on the slower current edge. We are getting lots of bites as the fish are there, but confused as mentioned earlier. Longer sit times of 25 to 40 minutes are required, and a bit of sorting through bites for fish. If the falling trend continues, things should level out over the weekend and get the catfish in the groove and if it hits 21-23 feet (at Grand Forks) they will move more to the middle of the river for active feeding. Those catfish heading to the nest will be tight to the banks in the holes.

Get out, put bait down, and do the best you can! Hopefully things settle down and it stays warm to push the spawn through and we can get to some normal fishing.

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.