By Brad Durick

The Red River is currently the second lowest level I have seen in my entire catfishing career on the water. That means some sections are unacceptable to bigger boats and others have no current.

Right now, the pattern is more of a poke and hope strategy. With very little current you can’t set up a decent scent trail for catfish to target, so you have to fan your offerings out and hope a fish can find the bait. This means keeping bait fresh and longer soaks to allow them time get on it. 

Deeper water seems to be the key, and make sure to give the spot a solid 45 minutes. If you hit the right spot, you can spend more time there and get some nice fish. If you can find a good visible current, get in the head of that and there should be some catfish there. But right now, finding that current is the hard part.

All baits are working right now.  I personally cannot get a fish on a frog so will be sticking to sucker and goldeye. If you have a day with any north wind at all, be prepared to use a back anchor to keep the boat from swinging backward to the current.

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: Make Scents.  With limited current on the Red River right now, it takes more time to lay down a scent line for big catfish to follow.  Giving baits a longer soak helps get that out there for cats to follow. DEO Photo by Brad Durick.