Sak Van Hook 6-16 and 6-18

[Petras]

Welp, Friday was a GREAT day on the water! We hit the Van Hook arm of Lake Sakakawea. The day started out a bit slow, but after making a quick move the action was on. We found our fish in about 14' of water around a few submerged islands. Fish size ranges from 15" - 23" with Collin nabbing the big fish of the day. Crawlers are what worked the best for us, but with 30 boats around us and nets flying at all times , I'd bet that leeches and minnows were being used by some as well.
The rigs that worked best for us are these two linked below!
https://www.legendarytacklecompany.com/.../death-rig-9/9...
https://www.legendarytacklecompany.com/.../death.../44...

Today was another stellar day out in Van Hook! When we headed out this morning there was ZERO wind so we knew we'd have to look a little deeper than Friday. We found em pretty quick in about 22' of water. We bounced around for about 2.5 hours in 18-22' to get our 15 plus a bonus catfish again. Crawlers behind a couple chartreuse beads and a chartreuse Back-T-Back blade outcaught everything else 3 to 1. Biggest one today was 22".

 

[Vollmer]

yessir

 

[Allen]

Not a lot of people keep catfish out of Sakakawea, but if you're looking for a good eating cat...there's no place better. Plus, if you target them they are damn plentiful on the river side of Sak. Sounds like you all had a good time!

 

[svnmag]

Countdown Raps and shaky rigs if you don't want to destroy the Earth by trolling. Clip off the pecs and dorsal and fillet the cat like any other fish. I don't care what or where; red/belly meat is trimmed and discarded: Fish must be bled into ice and soaked in mild saltwater.

I'm rambling. That is all.

 

[Petras]

We cleaned them just like a Walleye, except we trimmed around the ribcage instead of cutting through it. cleaned all the red/yellow meat off and directly into a pan of saltwater in the fridge for an overnight soak. I've had them out of Sak before and they are darn good eating. In the past we have done a beer batter and made fish sammiches with them.

 

[MicLee]

I have never tried a catfish. I really should.

 

[wslayer]

Nice score . . .