Catfishing has been good as the calendar turns into September.  A shift in the weather is what anglers should watch for impacts on the fall Red River bite. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.

By Brad Durick

Catfishing on the Red River this week has been very good with both good numbers and great fish. It seems to be sort of a grind, as you need to stay on the move, but give good honest sits in each spot. 

Most spots are one or two and done before moving on so it seems slow but at the end of a day you can put together a great basket (figuratively of course). The best areas to fish have been in the main channel next to the faster current. Shallow and fast has not been the answer yet so keep that in mind also.

As I write this, we have the annual September cold blast starting up. This will last a couple days and how it affects fish is not yet known. It could mean nothing or it could slow the fish down for a couple days pushing them out of the current or to deeper water. 

Sit times have been in the usual 20-30 minutes. I expect that to go to as much as 45 after this cold front moves through. According the forecast, times should shorten up again by the end of the weekend or early next week. Either way, the September push will be on once things straighten out.

The best bait is still dead sucker for me. I have not even tried anything else lately and numbers have been good. September fishing still looks great after this big front is finished. I have many dates available to take advantage of this.

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 the Grand Forks area.