9-3-2011 Sat
7:30 AM – 2:30 PM
H2O: 5.69 rising, 31.7 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: calm, rain to sunshine, 73 ˚, 29.86 steady
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7 (back sloughs and mud lake area)
Caught: many nice crappies (25?), bluegills (10), LMB (12?)
Partners: None

Comments

What better way to kick off the start of a Labor Day weekend and more importantly a three day weekend than to seek out some crappies. I have not really seriously fished for any crappies yet this year but today I figured it was time to sling some light jigs and see what I could come up with.
The weather was not what I would call ideal and comfortable conditions for a fair weathered fisherman, but the fish did not seem to mind. A good rain coat was a definite must for the first couple of hours.
The crappies were quite active today and were holding on wood with adequate depth in the back slough areas. Most spots held from two to six crappies with an occasional good sized gill thrown in the mix. Crappie fishing was pretty good, but not even comparable to what it was like just a few years back.
In the afternoon I tried a little largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing along with some searching for some new crappie spots. I caught some nice largemouth in one particular spot and a few smallmouths along the main channel on some rock banks. The key to finding the largemouth was and continues to be looking for out of the way areas that do not get pounded by every bass fisherman in the area.

Observations

The wild rice is very abundant out from the house, but it is very sparse in the Mud Lake area. The rice is definitely attracting a large following of red wing black birds and increasing numbers of ducks.