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.