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.