By Brad Durick

It has been a trying week on the Red River for those of us who catfish a lot. For me, it’s been a lot of stress and even a little sleep lost but things appear to be looking up. The water on the Red has fallen back and leveled out around the Grand Forks area. The weather appears to be shaping up some and the fish seem to reacting positively.  All in all, numbers of fish have been okay, but we’ve been lacking in big fish over the past seven days.

Right now, I have two patterns that are coming together. First, fish are holding in holes right in the middle, with sit times of at least 30 minutes and even longer. This has been an “all-or-nothing” endeavor but it has produced good numbers and a few really great fish. Second, some fish are using less shallow holes that are more out of the current than in it. These fish and locations require a shorter sit and you can be quicker on the move. I seem to be sorting more small fish with this option.

Bait has shifted to the deader baits, with the best option being two-to-three-day dead sucker more than fresh. The forecast looks pretty good for now. Water temperatures are holding in the high 60s meaning spawn should get rolling shortly.

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.

Featured Photo: Waiting It Out.  Patterns for the Red River’s catfish are changing with fluctuating waters, pre-spawn stall outs, and unstable weather. Some areas have required sit times of more than half an hour to entice a bite from a big catfish during the past week. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.