Every season, I try to learn something about catfishing. It could be some little nugget about reading water, or whether a piece of equipment make life easier. Most of the learning I do is because of observation and record keeping. Some things are very small, and others are big, but all are learning, nonetheless. Here are five things that I learned, or learned more about, during the 2025 season.

There are more catfish than we think

I know there are many catfish here in the Red River, and I know that not all fish bite at the same time. Thanks to the world of electronics, we can see fish on the bottom and know that they are there, but sometimes refusing to eat your bait. 

One week in 2025, right before the spawn, the bite was a little tough. I knew there were more fish in the area than were biting. I was very happy with the bite, but I was stunned when the Minnesota DNR rolled in to run test nets for a couple days. They were setting up on the same pattern that I was fishing. In less than a 20-hour soak, they were pulling nearly 100 catfish per net where I could only catch one or two catfish with hook and line during a 20- to 45-minute sit. The numbers were eye-opening as to how many fish move through an area and how they bite—or don’t bite.

Aged baits work more consistently

I didn’t really learn this in 2025, but rather solidified my beliefs that “aged” dead bait really does work better than fresh cut or frozen. After the success I had in paying attention to aged suckers from the 2024 season, I paid extra attention in 2025 to how long bait was dead when I used it, and what worked best. I went as far as to label bags by date for the experiment. The conclusion for the second year in a row is, two days dead minimum, up to five days dead, works the best. Even up to seven days in some cases.

The key here is that the bait must be taken care of so as to not rot and get out-of-hand stinky. It must be packed live or fresh dead, then packed tight in ice and remain there with as little air as possible until use. This will start the breakdown process but keep it mostly fresh. I learned the technique of how to pack baitfish from a meat manager at a grocery store who explained how they package and ship fresh fish to the Midwest.

Catfish really do eat chicken

I wrote about this a few months ago with the Great Bait Debate article, but I did learn it in 2025 after years of making fun. Chicken breast mixed with strawberry Jello and garlic powder does catch catfish.

I first heard about it in 2011 and made fun of it ever since, until a trip to Canada when we could not take bait over the border with us. With nothing to lose, we tried it—with great success. I have tested it at home with limited success, but not as much as we had that weekend in Canada.’

Guide customers love seats

This one kind of caught me off guard. Since 2009, I have run center console jon boats for guiding. They are big and wide, easy to get around in skinny water, and easy to fish out of. One thing very lacking for more than two people in a jon boat, however, is seats. 

It never seemed to be an issue. The way the floor to the front deck was set up, people could just sit there, and it was not a big deal. Except for a few older people, nobody ever complained.

Fast forward to 2025. I made a complete change in boats by bringing in a KingFisher with a forward console. With that came real seats. A driver’s seat, passenger seat and two padded benches that could seat two people each. 

It did not take long for this captain to decide that a driver’s seat was the bomb, but I was stunned at how many long-time customers, who have been with me for as long as 15 years, commented on the seats. Some even went as far to say, “You finally have decent seats.”

I guess I really had no idea that it was that big of an issue, and point taken on good seats.

Another addition I got with this boat, which, I did not know I needed was a good bimini top. On this boat, it connects to the windshield and extends back. It also has optional side windows and full back, along with a door to make an enclosure. 

While the enclosure was nice in early spring, the bimini top almost never came down. I loved it for staying out of the sun, and even more importantly, staying out of the rain. Maybe I am just getting old.

Tournament fishing is still not for me

One would think that if you guide for living and fish on your days off, that you might really be great at tournament fishing. Not quite the case for me. I tend to have my worst days of fishing on tournament days. Over time, I have figured out that I am my own worst enemy and that I let my brain mess things up. Now that I admit that I am better at the tournament thing these days, it’s too late to get into a lot of the local tournaments now—as I run most of them. 

While I was convinced that I hated tournament fishing, I loved being around it, and became a tournament director—so that is where I am most of the time.

This past summer, I did step into small-time tournaments by entering a few nights of the Red River Valley Catfish League to be a fill-in partner for my son, and one time for a friend of mine. I am normally the “fish weigher” for league. We only had one bad event where we did not get into the top four, but by the end, I decided that even four league nights was more than I care to fish in a season.