Catfish & Musky

[RavYak]

Got my master angler catfish. Approx 35 inch.

[dryflyguy]

Impressive fish!

[Poppa]

and believe it or not, that's the average size for the Red. Tons of fish in the 38-39" range. 35 is generally accepted as the average. It's really crazy.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by Poppa

and believe it or not, that's the average size for the Red. Tons of fish in the 38-39" range. 35 is generally accepted as the average. It's really crazy.

30-32 inch seems to be the average, almost all of the ones I have caught have been in that range. 34+ is considered a master angler fish so average has to be below that.

[Poppa]

Originally Posted by RavYak

30-32 inch seems to be the average, almost all of the ones I have caught have been in that range. 34+ is considered a master angler fish so average has to be below that.

Nah...I'm from MB....a MA cat is just about the easiest one to achieve. If you talk to the guides on the Red...Todd Longley, Donovan Pearease....they'll tell you that 35s are about the average. A 40 is unheard of...it's a unicorn fish. But 38-39 is very doable. There's actually a good clip during Season 2 of 39 Hours where Jay and Aaron catch a 35, and Jay talks about how that's just the average in there.

Certainly not taking anything away from your fish...it's a beauty.... just saying that the Red River is a RIDICULOUS fishery, especially for channel cats.

[RavYak]

Uncut angling fished for them in this video and caught 8 or so fish, most around 32, one 34.5, one 35.

https://youtu.be/hylHYgaM3X8?t=540

Here is "just a hog" 36 incher by Aaron Weibe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxPWprFN0bE

I'm not posting to defend my fish, I know there are lots of these master angler cats (uncut angling caught 2 that one video) and much bigger out there. It is a nice fish but nothing special.

35 inches definitely isn't the average though, there are tons of 32 and smaller fish caught meaning tons of 38+ inchers would have to be caught if the average was 35 inches.

[EZM]

You have come a long way young man - I remember almost running you over with my boat, freezing our arses off on a few crazy ice fishing excursions and now you are lighting it up and enjoying life.

Sounds like you guys had a great trip - which is ALL that counts anyways.

[RavYak]

I was chatting with a local about the catfish size, he fishes up there a fair bit and said a boat is key which is what I had already realized by watching the boat vs shore fishermen.

The bigger fish like a handful of spots that aren't really fishable from shore, if you know the hot spots and how to target bigger fish can catch a number of master anglers in a day. If you fish average spots and from shore you will mostly catch fish in 30-33 in range and can get the odd bigger one.

So it might be possible to average near 35 in if you know how to do it but the average fish size is definitely under 35 in. Makes it pretty clear why you see all the boats anchor on top of each other and fish the same few spots.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by EZM

You have come a long way young man - I remember almost running you over with my boat, freezing our arses off on a few crazy ice fishing excursions and now you are lighting it up and enjoying life.

Sounds like you guys had a great trip - which is ALL that counts anyways.

It's been a journey. 8ish years ago when you were trying to run me over (time flies huh) all I knew how to catch consistently were pike and walleye. A few years of dedication later and the species list is probably in the 30s or 40s now. Have slowed down a bit these past couple seasons but it has been fun targetting a few new species out here in some new waters.

We should do some ice trips this winter, I havent looked at new regs close but believe we can finally keep a fish again lol.

[OL_JR]

How far away roughly are you from Brandon to get into some catfish? Asking as my sister recently moved there and she has room to accommodate our family. Would day trips from Brandon be realistic?

[RavYak]

Brandon is about 2.5 hrs from Lockport.