7-25-11 Mon

7-25-2011 Mon

7:30 PM – 11:15 PM

Weather: calm, clear, 74 ˚, 29.84 steady
H2O: 79 ˚, 9.07’, rising, 81 kcfs, dirty

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: bluegills for bait, flat heads 5, 10 and 40.5 pounds

Partners: none

Comments

I was out tonight looking to supply some fish for our yearly up north vacation. The fish I was looking for were flats in the 5-10 pound range. Well, I succeeded and then some. I fished three spots in a very short period of time. I do believe not staying in one spot can up the odds when fishing for these bottom dwelling fish inhaling finned predators.
I had three flats bite and I hooked all of them. They really seemed to be aggressive. When they hit, the poles almost wanted to come out of the rod holders.

Observations

Still a ton of current, but the fish are catchable.

7-24-11 Sun

7-24-2011 Sun

6:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Weather: E 10, clear, 80 ˚
H2O: 80 ˚, 9.03’, rising, 80.6 kcfs, dirty

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: 3 LMB 12,13,and 17 inches, crappie 12” and one pike 25”

Partners: none

Comments

Tonight I was pounding the water looking for bass and pike. I did not find a lot of either. I did see some major minnow chasing going on for a very brief moment, but the only thing I caught out of the frenzy was the crappie.

Observations

None

7-23-11

7-23-2011 Sat

6:30 PM – 12:30 AM

Weather: E 9, clear, 81 ˚, 29.90 – rising (7:53 PM)

H2O: 80 ˚, 8.86’, rising, 79.1 kcfs, dirty, floating weeds

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: Bluegills, and one perch and one sauger (bait), 15” small mouth, 17 LB flat head

Partners: none

Comments

Scott and I were hoping to repeat the luck we had last night this evening. It did not materialize. We had several misses but we did not bring one flat head into the boat. The bluegills are still biting rather well out in the sloughs. The key to finding them is wood with some type of current break.

Observations

Very limited fish fly hatch tonight with scattered storms around the area.

7-22-11

7-22-2011 Fri

6:30 PM – 1:30 AM

Weather: SW 8, clear, 82 ˚, 29.86 – rising (7:53 PM)
H2O: 81 ˚, 8.67’, rising, 77.7 kcfs, dirty, floating weeds

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: Bluegills for bait, two flatheads 8 & 10 lbs

Partners: Scott

Comments

The flat head fishing was good tonight. I caught two and Scott caught three, which included on nice 31 pound fish. We targeted a deep water area just parallel to the main channel. This area had lots of current, a depth of around twenty feet and plenty of wood. We fished two spots and at both locations we tied up to downed trees that were creating somewhat of a current break. I do think this current break was the key to our success.
Unfortunately I was unable to get a picture of Scotts’ fish. As Scott was getting the cameras ready for pictures I was holding the fish in the water to keep it healthy. When Scott was ready for a picture I started hoisting the fish into the boat and at that time it had a different idea. It gave one mighty roll and broke my grip on its jaw and it was gone.

Observations

Main channel areas with some sort of current breaks appear to be the key for the flats. We had a major fish fly hatch tonight.

7-21-11

7-21-2011 Thr

6:30 PM – 9:30 PM

Weather: S 6, clear, 80 ˚, 29.85 – steady (7:53 PM)
H2O: 81 ˚, 8.63’, rising, 77.4 kcfs, dirty,

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: 1-16” LMB

Partners: Scott

Comments

The fishing was very poor tonight. It had been awhile since I had targeted bass on the main lake, so that is what we did. I caught one and lost one other and Scott caught two. It was a very poor fishing night.
We tried the dredge holes, Ashley Point and the wash out areas on the lake. It did not seem to matter, the fish were not responding.

Observations

The water is still very high and dirty.

7-18-11

7-18-2011 Mon

7:30 PM – 11:30 PM

Weather: calm 93, clear, 93 ˚, 29.89 – steady (7:53 PM)
H2O: 82 ˚, 8.39’, rising, 75.6 kcfs, dirty, somewhat weedy

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: Bluegills, and one perch and one sauger (bait), 15” small mouth, 17 LB flat head

Partners: none

Comments

What else can I say, it was fricken hot!!! I knew I was in trouble with the heat when I pulled up to the boat landing and the wet tracks from the last rig that had left the water were steaming. It looked like a scene out of Ghost Rider when he burned out on his motorcycle and left smoking tracks.
One other observation that I got a chuckle out of was an older gentleman working on his boat house. This guy was in his whitey tighties as he worked in and out of the water removing debris from around his dock. Of course he was fairly large, very white and his whiteys were no longer white.
And now on to the fishing report: I knew that with all the rain that we have been having upstream I was going to be challenged by dirty water. My plan was to do a little bass fishing, and if possible catch a few gills for flat head bait. The bluegills were very tight lipped as were the bass.
The flat head fishing was pretty good. I pulled a nice one in right away and lost one and missed about four others. I was having a hard time sticking the fish, which made me believe some of the misses could have been the result of catfish and their light biting.

Observations

I have come to the realization that the river is never going to be normal this summer. The fish are still there and will bite, I just have to accept it and change my tactics. I targeted the main channel for flats and they did seem to be there.

7-14-11

7-14-2011 Thr

7:30 PM – 11:50 PM

Weather: S 7, overcast, 76 ˚, 29.95 - steady
H2O: 76 ˚, 7.66, falling, 69.7 kcfs, dingy

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: Bluegills and crappies (bait), 3 flat heads 2 – 6 LBS, 1 – 10 LB

Partners: none

Comments

I have wanted to flat head fish some main river spots lately, so that is what I started out fishing. The first spot I went to was Sommners, it is one of my spots where I always catch something. The flow has subsided somewhat on the river, but it still was ripping here. I set up on my favorite point that was next to a wash out that dropped down to about thirty feet. I like this spot because I can target both deep water and a shallow flat.
The current was really doing some strange things here. I had a terrible back current to contend with. I almost left with-in the first ten minutes. I did stick it out and caught an eater size flat within about twenty minutes. This spot is also home to lots of gar, and they caused me lots of problems. Gar will hit very aggressively, but they are very hard to hook. I missed lots of them. You can usually tell a gar by the way they act. They will hit the bait and run hard and fast, and then when you set the hook nothing is there. Also, the bait is usually still on but the bluegill is dead and its sides are sliced up.
The final spot I tried is a popular spot off the main channel with lots of wood and a fair amount of current. I missed about three hits on my outside pole before I finally connected. I almost learned the hard way that I can lose a pole in the rod holder if it is not attached to anything. If it would not have been for my quick action and some acrobatic maneuvering I would have lost my first cat rod to a fish.

Observations

The river slowing starting to get to its normal summer level, but we have a long way to go and I am sure we will be getting more rain shortly!

7-13-11

7-13-2011 Wed

9:30 AM – 4:30 PM // 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Weather: E 7, sunny, 75 ˚, 30.08 - steady // E 6, clear, 72 ˚, 30.06 MB - steady
H2O: very clear, 78 ˚, 9.45’ falling, 57.3 kcfs // semi – clear, 78 ˚, 7.95’ falling, 72.2 kcfs

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 4 (Nelson) // Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: white bass (3), pike (3) 2 – 22”, 33”, LMB 15”, SMB 15”, walleye 17” – Nelson, WI
Bluegills and crappies (bait), channel cat 4lb, flat head 8lb

Partners: Myself Pool 4. Scot Pool 7

Comments

I had the day off today, so I was in the exploratory mood. I had wanted to get back up to Nelson later in the season to see if any pike were still around. I also wanted to see what the area looked like where I had caught pike this spring. I was rather surprised by what I saw. The area that had held the pike looked super shallow. I had thought the areas would be all lily pads, but it was more like all reeds, and it was pretty much impenetrable.
I did catch a few pike out in the big water, but as I had figured they were few and far between. What really surprised me was there were no bass. I did not catch one in the backwaters, nor did I see any. After thoroughly exploring the back waters I headed to main channel areas. This area was ripping with current, but I did catch a few fish. In fact it was the first time I had actually seen stripers or fish of any kind for that matter chasing minnows. If it would not have been for two isolated spots holding fish it would have been a very poor fishing day.
The evening was finished out fishing for flat heads with Scott. I caught the only fish and both the channel and the flat head came on cut bait. Fishing was also very slow; we only caught the two and missed only one other.

Observations

The flow is still very high, but the clarity at Nelson was very clear. I was easily able to see the bottom in three to four feet of water, both in the backwaters and out on the main channel. The clarity here on pool seven is about six inches.

7-10-11

7-10-2011 Sun

10:39 AM – 4:00 PM // 7:30 PM – 11:45 PM

Weather: S 8, clear, 84 ˚, 29.87 MB, falling
H2O: semi-clear, 78 ˚, 8.33’ falling, 75.1 kcfs

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: LMB 10 & 15, SMB 15, 10 crappies 7-10”, 6 bluegills 5-7”// five pound flat head

Partners: Jeff // Scott

CommentsToday I got out with my brother Jeff. He had called this morning after the rain and said his fishing date had canceled. I told him to come over when he was ready and we would see what we could catch. We started out bass fishing, and we had very limited success.
We then moved onto the snags and fished for pan fish. We caught some bluegills and crappies and even a sprinkling of perch, but it was not fantastic. The fish were in very specific areas. They wanted to be in the snags but if there was too much current the fish were not. We found two spots that had the ideal conditions: depth, timber and limited current. We did ok on the pan fish and Jeff even took home about six nice crappies and two decent perch.
The second half of my fishing day was with Scot fishing for flat heads. We were able to catch enough bait in the limited amount of time we had. I went back to the same spots where Jeff and I had caught pan fish earlier in the day.
The flat head fishing was not fantastic, but we both managed to each catch about a five pounder. We also missed two other bites. The night was extremely hot and humid and we had some bad storms early in the AM on Monday.


Observations

The flow is still very high, but the clarity has improved dramatically.

7-7-11

7-7-2011 Thr

7:00 PM – 10:15 PM

Weather: SW 5, clear, 76 ˚
H2O: semi-clear, 78 ˚, 8.66’ falling, 77.6 kcfs

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: Nothing

Partners: None

Comments

The main mission tonight was attempting to retrieve my headlamp that had fallen off my head and landed with a splash. I had brought a strong magnet along, and I was going to attempt to find it. I put the magnet on a pole and prodded the depths as if I was fishing, but it was to no avail.
I had brought my cat poles along just in case I had the inkling to attempt to catch a flat head. I decided to see if I could catch some bait in the sloughs and thought what better place than where I was. Surprising it was quite easy. I caught some very nice gills and a couple of decent crappies. But, that is where my luck ended. I flat head fished for about forty-five minutes and never had a hit.

Observations

None

7-6-11

7-6-2011 Wed

7:30 PM – 11:00 PM

Weather: N 9, clear, 80 ˚
H2O: cloudy, 79 ˚, 8.82’ falling, 78.8 kcfs

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: Bluegills and perch that were used for flat head bait

Partners: Ty

Comments

Ty and Myself finally got out flat head fishing tonight. We had wanted to get out, but it just never has worked out. Bait gathering was relatively easy in the slop out from the channel cut. We caught both perch and bluegills. The first spot we set up flat head fishing was just across the slough and downstream from popcorn. We had a couple of hits on cut bait but no hook ups. I ended up losing my nice expensive headlamp to the miss; I leaned back in my chair, heard something hit the side of the boat, and then heard the sickening splash of my light. It was gone, and I was fit to be tied.
With little action at this spot we headed across the slough and fished just around the corner from popcorn. Again we drew a blank. We did not even have a hit.

Observations

The water is still ripping, but the clarity is getting better.

7-4-11

7-4-2011 Mon

2:30 PM – 6:00 PM (fished approx. one hour)

Weather: S 10, clear, 88 ˚, 29.97 MB, steady
H2O: dirty, 78 ˚, 9.04’ falling, 80.7 kcfs

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: Nothing

Partners: Karen

Comments

Today was more of a boat ride than a fishing trip. Karen wanted to get out on the river so I took her for a ride in the goat boat. For tackle I was only armed with one bait caster with a swim jig tied on.
My plan was to make trip up one of the Black Rivers tributaries and circle around to Hammond Chute and do a little casting there. We made it upstream to the main part of the Black then headed downstream towards Hammond. About fifty yards on our trip down stream we ran into dumb and dumber. Here was a father and son who were taking their pontoon upstream on the black and somehow managed to get it wedged between two log jams. As soon as they saw us they were waving and motioning for us to help them. The way they were acting one would have thought they were there for days!
They practically begged me to help them and of course I did. I would have to say there is an unwritten rule on the river to always help someone out when they are having troubles. These two were not the sharpest tacks in the box and Karen and I were laughing the whole time I was helping them out. I pretty much blanked the two out as they tried to tell me their ideas on how to become un-stuck. I came to my own conclusions on how to get them out of their situation and it worked with very little assistance from them.
They came out of the ordeal unscathed but I broke my new sixty dollar pair of sunglasses and Karen fell back in the boat and hurt her tail bone. If only I would have had a video camera I am sure it would have been a hit on America’s Funniest Home Videos.
After our little ordeal we continued on our way. I fished for probably an hour and hit three different spots and never caught a fish or even had a hit.

Observations

None

7-3-11

7-3-2011 Sun

8:00 AM- 12:00 PM (Mississippi R. Lake Onalaska)
6:30 PM – 2:30 AM (Mississippi R pool 6 and Trempealeau R.)

Weather: calm, clear, 77 ˚, 30.09 MB, steady / calm 81-64 ˚, 30.00 MB steady
H2O: dirty, 78 ˚, 9.26’ falling, 85.3 kcfs / muddy 78 ˚, 5.11’ .4 kcfs steady

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 – Lake Onalaska (upper end) / Pool 6 and Trempealeau R.

Caught: Approximately four largemouth bass between ten and seventeen inches and bait for flathead fishing and one thirty-pound flathead (Mark T.)
Partners: Mark and Jake Tupper

Comments

I started out the day bass and pike fishing on Lake Onalaska. It was very, very slow. I tried lots of different areas and had very little action. I finally had to go to Ashley Point to boat my first fish. The water was much clearer here, which definitely improved my odds. The last spot I hit was right out from the cut where I had been doing well the past week. The fish were still there! I caught a quick three quality fish here and called it a morning. I cannot figure out where the pike have gone to, I may have to look for them in the dredge holes.
That evening I met up with Jake and his dad for some flat head fishing in the Trempealeau River. Bait gathering was a little tough, but we did manage to put some gills and a few perch in the boat. Jake had installed a new live well in his boat, so he was excited to give it a try-out. The try-out failed! The pump ran but it did not pump water into the live well. Luckily Jake had a back-up plan. After about an hour of flathead fishing all our bait fish except about three were belly up and stone cold. Definitely not good; sometimes flat heads will take cut-bait, but usually you want to use bait that is nice and lively.
We did manage one nice flat. Mark had the honors of taking the first bite of the night and he handled it perfectly. For his first flat head ever to weigh in at thirty pounds is very impressive.

Observations

The water on pool six does not look as muddy as it is on pool seven. The Trempealeau River is a very muddy river that has a few prime looking cat fish spots!

7-1-11

7-1-2011 Fri
9:30 AM- 3:30 PM (Mississippi R. bass fishing)
6:30 PM – 10:00 PM (Black River cat fishing)

Weather: SW 10, clear, 92 ˚, 29.81 MB, steady / SW 15, 82 ˚, 29.75 MB falling
H2O: dirty, 78 ˚, 9.44’ falling, 85.3 kcfs / clear 78 ˚, 4.29’ falling

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 – Lake Onalaska (upper end) / Black R.

Caught: Approximately twelve largemouth bass between fourteen and seventeen inches and about fifteen pan fish for flat head bait
Partners: Bass fishing – myself, / flat head fishing – Jake and Mark T.

Comments

I tried a multitude of spots in search of bass and pike, but most spots were void of either. I did find one good concentration of bass where one of the Black Rivers tributaries empties into the Mississippi. The fish were really stacked there and they were very aggressive. All of the fish came on a swim jig, I was very surprised I could not get any of them to commit to a Senko.
In the evening I teamed up with Jake Tupper and his dad Mark for some flat head fishing. This father son combo is a riot to be with, there is plenty of good nature ribbing and teasing that goes on between the three of us. It was hot and very muggy, which I figured would make perfect conditions for the flats to be on the chew. We had a perfect night of fishing ahead of us as there was virtually no chance of storms in the forecast.
As we headed upriver towards Trempealeau and one of the Black Rivers tributaries the building dark cloud band in the northwestern sky was a wake- up call to be mindful of a possible severe weather threat.
We set up and were fishing for a grand total of thirty minutes when the sky started to light up with a quite impressive light show. One quick call home and my suspicions were confirmed; a storm packing winds up to seventy miles per hour and half in inch hail was a possibility and heading in our direction! With no time to waste, we were packed and heading back towards the safety of home. I was quite nervous the entire trip; we had the slow goat boat and we had a considerable distance to cover. The light show from the lightning was quite brilliant, but in the same breath it made me feel uncomfortable.
About two-hundred yards from the safety of the channel cut behind the house it felt as if someone had opened the refrigerator door; the cool air felt amazingly refreshing as it announced the presence of the storm front. When we were about one – hundred yards from the safety of the cut when all hell broke loose. We did not have much for rain, but the wind sounded like a gale blowing into shore. If the wind would have been this intense just a few seconds earlier I would not have attempted to make that last two hundred yard unprotected crossing with my small overloaded boat.
The wind was fierce for as we hurried to unload the boat and get to the security of the house. The storm was probably over in less than ten minutes, but it left its mark with plenty of broken branches and damaged trees.

Observations

The water is still abnormally high and quite dirty, but the temperature of the water is starting to be normal for this time of year.