8-28-11 Sun

8-28-2011 Sun
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM / 6:00 – 10:30 PM
H2O: 6.17 falling, 37.2 kcfs, 74 ˚, clear
Weather: SE 3, clear, 64 ˚, 29.96 rising
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: Bluegills for bait / Troy 2 flat heads ( 5 & 20 lb.) myself 1 flat head (10 lb.)
Partners: Troy

Comments

Today was a chore day most of day, but I did sneak out around three for a couple hours of fishing before I was to meet up with Troy. However the fishing never really happened. I ended up having goat boat problems. Luckily the motor died very close to the landing and I was able to fish my way back in with the trolling motor.
That evening Troy and I went out for some flat head fishing. Troy and I were quite common fishing partners, but this was the first time together this year. We caught ample bait and set up on a main channel wing dam for the first set up of the night. We did not have any action here, but I did make us up some great grub that consisted of steak and foiled potatoes on the grill.
Our next set up was the spot where Scott and I had such good action the other night. Troy and I did not have fantastic action here, but we caught two and missed one other. The final spot of the night was Somners where we finished of the night with Troy catching a twenty pounder.

Observations

The weather has been about as close to perfect as you it can get, the only downfall is the mosquitoes think it is also. I don’t ever recall seeing this many of the needle- mouthed pricking blood suckers.

8-27-11 Sat

8-27-2011 Sat
2:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 652.07 falling, 38.8 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: W 8, clear, 80 ˚, 30.02 steady (1553)
Location: Mississippi R. Fountain City
Caught: lots of bluegills and a few small SMB
Partners: Jake and Mark Tupper

Comments

Jake’s son Mark got his revenge on us today. Generally this kid is unable to scoop minnows out of a full minnow bucket, but today he showed his dad and me how to catch bass. He is generally so unlucky at fishing we constantly throw a few jabs his way when we area catching fish and he is not. In fact he is so unlucky his grandfather hooked him in the face a couple weeks ago with a crank bait and he had to have surgery to remove it from his eye. But today his catch of largemouth bass was impressive.
You would think after an experience like that the kid would be as nervous as a minnow in a fish tank with full of piranha’s. But he did not even flinch or think about his past unpleasant experience.
This was only the second time I had fished this pool and I was quite impressed with it. The pool has an awful lot of back channels and bays to explore, and the size of the bluegills we caught was very impressive! As an added bonus the town has a nice bar and grill right off the water and the service and food hit the spot for three hungry fishermen.

Observations

Except for a large amount of fishermen fishing close to the state park, this pool seems to get pretty light fishing pressure.

8-26-11 Fri

8-26-2011 Fri
7:00 PM – 11:45 PM
H2O: 6.5 falling, 46 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: NW 3, clear, 74 ˚
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 main channel areas
Caught: bluegills (bait), Scott 2 flatheads and myself one, none of the fish were big
Partners: Scott

Comments

Scott and I got a late start catching bluegills, but we did get plenty. The only bad part was I wished we had been able to start flat head fishing about one half hour sooner. I picked a spot that I had never fished for flat heads before, but it had a good combination of depth and wood and it was close to the main channel.
It did not take long to see that I had chosen wisely. We had action almost instantly and it lasted for about an hour. The only thing is we did not have much to show for our efforts. We definitely had plenty of action and missed most of the bites. Scott committed a major blunder; he lost a decent fish close to the boat when his knot on the hook came un-tied. I think it made him feel like he had lost a major race because he ran out of gas in his race car, but yet he had not filled up his tank before the race started.
We tried four spots, and fished all but the first one for no more than thirty minutes. I have a new philosophy for flat head fishing now; except for the first spot of the night, do not camp in one location and move every half hour.

Observations

The flow is coming down and the water is getting clearer.

8-25-11 Thr

8-25-2011 Thr
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 6.47 falling, 45.2 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: NW 4, clear, 74 ˚
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 Somners Chute, main channel and Hammond
Caught: six SMB all small except for one 17”, bluegills 2 (caught on crankbait)
Partners: none

Comments

Tonight was going to be the first night of a regular Thursday night fishing get- together with some fellow employees from Holmen. Well, the get together did not happen. The other two could not make if for various reasons, so I said the hell with them and went out by myself. The night ended up being pretty much a bust. The fish were not active and the ones I did catch were small.
One advantage of fishing with other people is you are able to throw a variety of baits and presentations at the fish and figure out what is or is not working much more quickly. The down side of fishing with others is you have more of a Democratic situation and you may not always get to fish what and where you want!

Observations

None

8-23-11 Tue

8-23-2011 Tue
6:00 PM – 10:30 PM

H2O: 6.75 falling, 49.6 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: S7, clear, 77 ˚, 29.68 falling
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 side channels directly off the main channel
Caught: Lots of bluegills for bait / Dillon – 10 lb. flat head, Tim – 20.5 & 27 lb. flat head
Partners: Tim and Dillon Leis

Comments

Tonight I was taking a co – worker and his son for some flat head action. Dillon is going into the fourth grade this fall and he has plenty of energy. When I met the father and son team at the landing I could tell Dillon was loaded with excitement. He told me he likes to fish and he was very excited to be going.
We started off fishing for bluegills at a spot I had discovered the other night. Dillon was the main bait catcher, and poor dad could not get the fish off quick enough and of course never did get to fish for bluegills himself.
After catching plenty of gills for bait, I decided it was time to give dad a little fishing time for bass. Of course, Dillon strongly objected to this. It is hard for a young boy to leave a spot where the fish are almost jumping into the boat to go into the unknown and possibly not catch any fish. We fished for bass for about thirty minutes with very limited success, but at least Tim was able to make a cast or two.
We started off flat head fishing a large scour hole on a side channel off the main channel. Tonight was a special night and I was grilling burgers and potatoes in foil. I knew we would eat well and with any luck we would catch a flat sometime during the grilling process. After about thirty minutes of fishing and grilling it was fish on. Since Dillon was the youngest guest on the boat I handed the rod and tugging fish to him. I soon realized he needed immediate assistance or else the pole or both he and the pole were headed for the deep. After a brief battle with a broken reel our first flat was smiling for the camera. Dillon was quite apprehensive of these large creatures of the deep and did not want to get any closer to the fish than he absolutely had to.
After a nice meal I decided it was time to pack the poles in and move to another spot. Just as we were getting ready to organize things before bringing the poles in one of them got slammed. The sound was unmistakable, it was a definite hit and it was done with some force. Tim handled the fish perfectly during the brief battle. Shortly Tim, Dillon and the not so happy flat head were posing for the camera.
Our final spot resulted in Tim bringing the largest fish for the night boat side. For the final portrait Dillon was calmer and more settled down and not quit so cautious of the fish.
It ended up being a very successful night with all three of us having a very good time. Tim told me the next day that Dillon was just a jabbering about the fishing trip all the way home. I always enjoy taking young kids and others who are not as fortunate as I am to experience the wonders of the Mississippi!

Observations

The largemouth bass along with the baitfish have pretty much vacated the Hammond Chute area.

8-22-11 Mon

8-22-2011 Mon
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

H2O: 7.0 falling, 53.5 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: S9, clear, 82 ˚, 29.93 falling
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 back water areas
Caught: Lots of bluegills
Partners: none

Comments

I was out searching for gills tonight. I always need to find a new supply spot for my flat head fishing trips.
A person can pretty much find gills everywhere, but the nicer ones seem to be in wood cover just off the main flow of current. One thing I have learned during the quest for pan fish; if you do not catch fish almost immediately, move on!

Observations

The wild rice is quite thick and the majority of it is in the tassel stage.

8-21-11 Sun

8-21-2011 Sun
6:30 AM – 10:00 AM / 5:00 PM – 11:30 PM

H2O: 7.17’ falling, 55.9 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: AM – N5, clear, 66 ˚, 30.03 steady / PM – NW7, clear, 74 ˚, 30.00 rising
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 Minnesota side of channel am / Hammond Chute and Somner’s PM
Caught: AM – 6 SMB 10 -16”, 2 pike 22 & 36”, 8” bluegill (caught on crank bait), 15” LMB,
PM – All of us - Lots of gills and perch for bait, myself – 24”pike, Chris – 2 LMB 14-15”, 15lb flat head
Partners: Roger and Chris Fish

Comments

Tonight I was taking another customer and his son out for a little catting adventure. We were able to catch our bait in a relatively short time, so we were did some pike and bass fishing until it was time for the cats to start prowling.
The bass and pike fishing have really slowed down in the Hammond Chute area. I am thinking with the reduced flow on the river, the fish are starting to move into the main channel areas.
Flat head fishing was also very slow. We did not even get a hit at my favorite wing dam up by Hammond Chute. We ended up finishing the night off fishing Somners and our only fish did not show up for the party till 11:30 pm.

Observations

The river is still making it march downward from being into the trees to settling into its banks.

8-20-11 Sat

8-20-2011 Sat
7:00 PM – 8:15 PM

H2O: 7.22 falling, 56.5 kcfs, 76 ˚, semi-clear
Weather: W 5, mostly cloudy, 72 ˚, 29.97 falling
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 (Somners area)
Caught: 1 LMB 15”, 2 walleye 14 & 22”, bluegill 8”, gar 26”, sheep head 16” and myself
Partners: none

Comments

I basically wanted to do a little fishing for walleyes tonight. I have not targeted them at all, and I wanted to try some sand drops and rock for them. I figured with the water dropping and the reduced current the fish would respond in a positive way.
On the way out to Somners I decided to hit the sand drops to check to see if any largemouth had decided to take up residence. I caught one bass in a very slack water area in very shallow water. I then went out to the main slough and threw cranks on current breaks and rocks. I did pretty well, except for the misfortune of catching myself.
It happened like this: I hooked a gar and was trying to unhook it. Now you have to understand gar, they are not submissive and they do not give up. I made the mistake of grabbing the dam thing and that was my downfall. It was relaxed for about ten seconds before it started thrashing. I ended up getting hooked in the palm and the gar gained its freedom. The hook was embedded deep in the palm of my hand and my first attempt at pulling it out with a forceps caused immense pain with no results. I then formulated a new plan. At first I contemplated asking some nearby fishermen to pull it out for me, but I shelved that idea.
I cut a long piece of fishing line, wrapped it around the offending hook and got up the courage to do what needed to be done. I knew I would only have enough will power to do this once, so I gave it one quick and mighty jerk and it came out. My hand was a bloody mess, but I was relieved and best of all I could continue fishing after the wound stopped pumping blood.

Observations

When I loaded the boat tonight I remembered I left my camera at the house. I was in too much of a hurry to go back and get it, and I now regret it. I missed out on getting a pic of a nice walleye and the lure sticking to my hand. Unfortunately I never thought of using my cell phone camera.

8-17-2011 Wed

8-17-2011 Wed
9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

H2O: 7.86 falling, 68.2 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: AM –NW 7, clear, 78 ˚, 30.06 falling / PM – calm, clear, 68 ˚, 30.01 steady
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: AM - the boys and I caught quite a few bluegills but the size and numbers was not fantastic / PM – lots of bluegills for bait (smaller gills between 5-6 inches, 3 flat heads 8, 17 and 31 pounds
Partners: Derek, Kyle Mark and Autumn

Comments

I started out the morning taking my nephews out for some fishing, lunch and fun in the sun. We all caught some bluegills, but it was not really very good. Fortunately we did have enough action to keep the boys interested.
Kyle was a very good fisherman for his age. I taught him how to cast and in a short time he had mastered that and was fishing mostly on his own. He also showed very good patience. For some reason he had no interest in touching the fish or worms though. Mark on the other hand got bored when the fish were not biting, but he did find other things to play with to keep himself occupied. Mark was definitely not afraid to touch the worms or fish; he is really a hands on type of kid and very inquisitive. Derek was Derek. He enjoyed the moment and stayed rather quiet.
In the evening I went out flat head fishing by myself. The flatheads have been pretty active, and I thought tonight would be a good night. The first spot I set up in was Somners Chute in about twenty-five feet of water. I fished here for about forty-five minutes (thirty minutes before dark and fifteen after). The first spot I fish I usually give the most time to, but if I have not caught a fish within an hour it is definitely time to move on. My theory for flat heads is prime time is sunset to about fifteen minutes after dark.
The next spot I set up on was a side channel right off and parallel to the main channel. Within a very short period of time (twenty minutes) I had caught three flat heads and missed two others.

Observations

I definitely had a flurry of action that corresponded with the moon rise! I tried to set up on some shore ward sides of wing dams, but the current was too much for the anchors to hold.

8-15-2011 Tue

8-16-2011 Tue
7:00 PM – 11:15 PM

H2O: 7.96 falling, 69 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: SE 10, clear, 77 ˚, 29.96 rising, lightning in sky
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: 2 flat heads (Larry – 17lb, myself 8lb)
Partners: Larry (work customer)

Comments

I was joined on the water by a work customer. Larry had expressed an interest of going along on one of my flat head adventures, and I figured why not. I am always a little nervous taking someone along for the first time. I always worry about not bringing any fish to the boat. On top of that we did not have much time to gather bait, and right now catching bluegills is not a slam-dunk for me.
Since the water has dropped considerably since last week I decided it was time to hit one of my favorite wing dam holes. We got four poles baited and in the water and within five minutes Larry was battling a nice fish. He was quite excited and thought it was a good size fish. Unfortunately the fish was not ready to come to the boat and wrapped itself around a snag. In the meantime one of the other poles got slammed and I promptly brought in an eight pound flat.
Larry’s fish was still snagged up, but I was not ready to give up on it yet. I released the anchors (Cajun – poles stuck in the ground to hold us) and headed towards the stuck fish. After some maneuvering and wrangling I managed to free the fish and handed the pole to Larry to resume the battle. Shortly thereafter a grinning Larry was posing with his first flat head.
The trip home was accompanied by some lightning flashes courtesy of Mother Nature. When we got to the landing Larry commented that I sure know the river quite well. It is always an exhilarating dark ride in for the first timer.

Observations

None

8-15-2011 Mon

8-15-2011 Mon
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM

H2O: 8.29 falling, 71.6 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: SE 6, clear, 72 ˚, 29.95 rising
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: 12 bluegills 6-8”, perch 7”, 3 SMB 8-12”
Partners: none

Comments

Tonight I just wanted to get out and try some new areas for pan fish. The pan fish are available, but it is not really that easy to find them. I have not really found any great concentration of them anywhere this year. One spot may produce one or two or maybe ten, but they definitely are not that easy for me to find!

Observations

None

8-14-2011 Sun

8-14-2011 Sun
7:30 AM –11:30 AM / 7:30 PM – 11:00 PM
H2O: 8.59 falling, 73.9 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear (floating weeds)
Weather: AM - N 7, clear, 63 ˚, 30.07 rising / PM – calm, clear, 70 ˚, 30.00 steady
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 AM – back sloughs, PM – main channel areas for flats
Caught: AM – 2 LMN 14& 16”, 6 crappies 9 – 12 “, and a few gills / PM – 10 crappies and gills in total (bait), 2 flat heads 12&10 lbs
Partners: none

Comments

This morning I started out on the Somners Sand Flats looking for bass and pike, but found none. I then tried a few areas around Somners for bass and pan fish with limited success. In the evening I caught some of my bait in Somners, but the majority of it came from the snag area by Popcorn. I fished Somners for flat and caught two. I fished both the north and south sides of the slough.

Observations

Water is still rapidly dropping and tonight was a full moon.

8-12-2011 Fri

8-12-2011 Fri
7:00 PM –8:20 PM

H2O: 8.85 steady, 75.8 kcfs, 76 ˚, clear
Weather: N 6, partly cloudy, 71 ˚, 29.84 falling
Location: Mississippi R. (Lake Onalaska)
Caught: 1 – 12” LMB
Partners: none

Comments

It was a short fishing trip, but I did a lot of exploring in a very short period. I basically tried main lake weed edges and the area where Somners Chute dumps in. Besides the one bass I had a rather large pike bite me off. The bite off should never have happened. You see I have had very little pike action this summer so I figured I could get by without a leader. The dumb part about it is I took a swim jig from my tackle box that already had a leader on it and I cut it off. Was I asking for trouble or what?

Observations

The rice to the south and west of the Prairie Cut is really starting to spring up.

8-11-2011 Thr

8-11-2011 Thr
6:00 PM –8:30 PM

H2O: 8.85 steady, 75.8 kcfs, 74 ˚, relatively clear
Weather: SW 8, clear, 80 ˚, 29.89 steady
Location: Mississippi R. (Hammond Chute area and stumps in sloughs)
Caught: 4 bluegills, 1 perch, 1 rock bass, 1 – 13” walleye, 12 crappies 9 – 11 “, 3 LMB 15 – 16” (kept two bluegills, the perch and four crappies)
Partners: none

Comments

I had heard the crappies were in the sloughs relating to wood and biting. And they were! They were pretty easy to come by. The strategy I used was to cast a small jig dressed with plastic and allow it to sink a few feet before retrieving it. If there were any crappies present I would have a fish within the first or second cast.
I then moved to the Hammond Chute area looking for perch, I caught one along with several bluegills. I did catch a couple of pretty nice bass to round out the evening.

Observations

The weed growth in the Hammond Chute area is much less than it normally is for this time of year.

8-10-2011 Wed

8-10-2011 Wed
7:45 PM –10:15 PM

H2O: 8.85 rising, 75.8 kcfs, 74 ˚, backwaters are clear, main channel is dirty
Weather: calm, clear, 67 ˚, 29.89 rising
Location: Mississippi R. (Hammond Chute area)
Caught: 6 bluegills and one perch (for bait) no flat heads
Partners: none

Comments

I have been playing the part of a frustrated mechanic on the go devil last night and tonight and I finally got it fixed tonight. So, I was ready to fish! It was late by the time I got finished with the go devil surgery, so in order to get any amount of time on the water it would have to be for flat heads.
Bait catching went down to the line, but I had enough. The first spot I fished was just to the west of Floyd’s Slough. This spot is usually very good early in the season, but I have yet to catch a fish here as the summer moves into July and beyond. After being bite less for forty-five minutes I moved downstream a quarter mile to an inside scour hole on a wing dam. I also struck out here.

Observations

Not as many fish tonight in Cole’s Corner bay. The rice is coming up fairly thick in front of the house and some of it is starting to tassel.

8-7-11 Sun

8-7-2011 Sun
7:30 AM –11:30 AM / 6:30 PM – 11:15 PM

H2O: 8.78 rising, 75.3 kcfs, 76 ˚, backwaters are clear, main channel is dirty
Weather: N8, overcast, 74˚, 29.80 rising
Location: Mississippi R. (Trempealeau area and Main Channel areas for flat heads)
Caught: 23 lmb between 10 -16” with most between 14 and 16”, 3 pike around 20-22”, and one huge dog fish / 3 flatheads 20, 18 and 8 pounds of which I caught the 20 pounder and Tupper caught the others
Partners: none AM / Tupper PM

Comments

I was back on the home waters and I was excited. Every year I am disappointed with the fishing on the Chippewa Flowage, so I am always very excited to get back to the river. And today I was not disappointed!
Basically I was fishing for bass and pike and I was targeting one of my favorite areas. I have not been up towards Trempealeau yet this year so I did not know what to expect. The fishing was good. I got into quite a number of nice large mouths in the Hammond Chute area.
The strategy I used today was I would fish with a spinner bait and catch a fish or two, then I would follow up with a Senko. I am still amazed at how well that Senko works rigged wacky style.
The dog fish I caught was huge. It was actually fun to catch. I was retrieving my spinner bait and a huge wake came out of nowhere and attacked. I got a good hook set on what I thought was a great pike, but it was not. I had one heck of a time handling that fish and getting it un-hooked. As it was it did make off with my trailer hook!
Flat head fishing with Tupper was amazingly good. We caught all the fish in the first spot, which had a lot of current. In fact we were on the edge of a large scout hole and our baits were actually being dragged upstream.

Observations

It’s great to be back to the home waters even if the level is unreasonably high for this time of year.

8-5-2011 Fri
8:00 AM –11:00 AM

Weather: high 88˚, light wind, sunny
Location: Chippewa Flowage (East side)
Caught: about a dozen bluegills with a few nice ones
Partners: Dwayne

Comments
Dwayne and I started out fishing the sunken bogs with very limited success. It seems as if the fish have vacated the sunken bogs. After catching very few fish we turned the rest of the morning into a scouting trip. We located some cribs, but again the locator was telling us that no fish were present and we should not waste our time.

Observations
The water is quite high and the west side has a significant algae bloom. Today is the last day on the flowage for another year!

8-4-11 Thr

8-4-2011 Thr
7:30 AM –11:00 AM / 6:00PM – 9:30PM

Weather: high 88˚, light wind, sunny
Location: Chippewa Flowage (East side AM) / West side PM
Caught: four largemouth bass and two small mouth bass (West side) / some bluegills AM
Partners: myself

Comments

I fished the sunken bogs this am on the east side and had limited success on bluegills. In the afternoon I moved to the West side and fished for bass and pike. I caught some bass, but no pike.

Observations

The water is still rising and all normally exposed sand beaches are submerged. The water is up to the tree trunks that dot the shoreline.

8-3-11 Wed

8-3-2011 Wed
7:00 AM –11:30 AM / 8:00PM – 9:30PM

Weather: high 86˚, light wind, sunny
Location: Chippewa Flowage (West side AM) / Musky Bay PM

Caught: I caught a few bass and a couple of pike in AM on West side, nothing on East side

Partners: myself

Comments

I started out the morning on the West side looking for bass and pike. I found a few of each, but it was very slow. Most of the action came on the NE corner of the west side. That evening I fished Musky Bay for what else muskies. Musky Bay is very close to the resort and that is probably the reason I have never fished there. Supposedly lots of muskies have been caught there. I did not have any musky action here either.

Observations

The rain has caused the water to rise significantly. When we first got here on Saturday we had some exposed sand on the beaches where we set up to water play for the day. Now today very little sand was exposed. I also noticed there is a little bit more debris floating in the water, of course it is nothing compared to what it would be like on the Mississippi after having that much rain.

8-2-11 Tue

8-2-2011 Tue
11:00 AM –1:30 PM / 8:00PM – 9:30PM

Weather: High 86, rain, fog and mist am, sunny after 2 PM
H2O: 76 ˚
Location: Chippewa Flowage (East side)
Caught: a few bluegills in AM
Partners: myself

Comments

This morning we had heavy rains and lots of lightning move in. From what the locals were saying we had five to six inches of rain in a very short period. In fact, my boat looked like a floating bathtub it had so much water in it.
I scouted the sunken bogs out in front of Dun Rovin Resort this morning. I caught a few bluegills and saw lots of crappies on the camera. In the evening I fished for muskies at Walleye Point and Hells Half Acre, I never had any action. Dwayne and the kids fished the sunken bogs that I had located earlier. They caught about a dozen crappies with a couple of nice ones.

Observations

We had lots of rain the last twelve hours and I expect the water to go up a couple of inches.

8-1-11 Mon

8-1-2011 Mon
7:30 AM – 11:30 AM / 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Weather: High 80 with light wind
H2O: 76 ˚, clear (East side)
Location: Chippewa Flowage

Caught: SMB 14” and rock bass
Partners: myself am and Dwayne and Brandon PM

Comments

I hit a lot of spots this morning on the East side. I pretty much fished for anything and everything and I caught nothing. I started out on the walleye humps out by Leech Beach then I moved to Pete’s Bar and then down to Moonshine Lake and Pokegama Lake. Then on the way home I hit some cribs. By the way the cribs are very easy to find with the new side finder I have. I did see a musky porpoise twice out on Pete’s Bar, which was very cool.
In the evening Dwayne, Brandon and myself went back to walleye point. We did not catch a lot, but Brandon did catch about a sixteen inch walleye and Dwayne caught a fifteen inch small mouth bass. I ended up catching one fourteen inch smallmouth and a seven inch rock bass on a crank bait.

Observations

We had storms chasing us off the water for the third night in a row.

7-31-11 Sun

7-31-2011 Sun
7:30 AM – 11:00 AM / 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Weather: calm, clear, 71 ˚, 30.09 falling (7:53 AM) / variable, clear, 75 ˚, 30. 03 rising (7:53PM)
H2O: 76 ˚, clear (East side) green (West Side)
Location: Chippewa Flowage

Caught: Nothing in the am, walleyes 16.5 and 18 inches and 16” SMB in PM
Partners: myself

Comments

I did some exploring this morning. I went over to some of my spots on the west side where I had done well last year on both bass and northern. My old hot spots did not pan out. I also went up into Crane Lake and had a big fat zero there. I fished for both bass and northern and also did some musky fishing.
In the evening I went back to Dun Rovin or walleye point as we now call it. Dwayne had caught his two walleyes here this morning so I figured it was as good a spot as any. I caught my two walleyes and a small mouth bass in short order. I then fished for musky the last half hour, with no luck. The fish were very active tonight; there definitely was a lot of surface activity. The mosquitoes were horrendous; it had to have been one of the biggest concentrations of them I have ever seen.

Observations

The east side of the flowage is slightly green, and the West side is very green. The East side seems to have fewer weeds this year and the West side has a bumper crop.

7-30-11 Sat

7-30-2011 Sat
6:30 PM – 9:00 PM

Weather: calm, storms in area, 73 ˚, 30.00 rising
H2O: 76 ˚, clear (East side)
Location: Chippewa Flowage

Caught: Nothing (Dwayne caught one 16” walleye)
Partners: Dwayne and Jake V.

Comments

Tonight is the first night of vacation on the Chippewa Flowage. Jake and Dwayne and myself went out to get our feet wet on the Flowage for the first time this year. My friend Scott told me he caught a musky on Dun Rovin Point two years ago and when he had fished it this year he saw lots of people walleye fishing it.
So Myself and Jake fished for Musky and Dwayne casted for walleyes. Dwayne was the only one to connect on a fish.

Observations

The east side of the flowage is slightly green.

7-29-1Fri

7-29-2011 Fri
6:30 PM – 11:00 PM

Weather: calm, clear, 82 ˚, 30.02 rising (7:53 PM)

H2O: 78 ˚, 9.28’, steady, 75.2 kcfs, dirty

Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7

Caught: bluegills for bait and Michael caught a five pound channel cat and a eight pound flat head

Partners: Michael and Anthony Gullickson

Comments

Tonight I took a co-worker and his son out for some flat head fishing. It was a very hot night and the action was a little on the slow side. We were able to catch our bait, but it was not fast and furious.
The first spot we set up on did not even produce a bite. After an hour at flat head alley we moved out to some water closer to the main channel. We caught two fish. They were not big, but Michael had fun bringing them in. Overall all it was a good trip. We did not catch the numbers or size we were hoping for but Anthony and Michael had a good time.

Observations

River is still very high and ripping.