1-27-12 Fri

1-27-2012 Fri
4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Weather: NW 22 G 26, light snow, 33˚, 29.80 rising
Water: 5.05’ rising, 22.9kcfs, clear, 2” ice
Location: Mississippi River Pool 8, Dresbach Dam
Caught: four walleyes (small) and two saugers – kept one sauger
Partners: myself

Comments

I had wanted to get back out walleye fishing yesterday, but work kept me longer than I had wanted last night. Tonight I was a little more hesitant on going back out onto the ice and making the trek to the short wall. The river stage was rising and the flow had doubled since Wednesday, and there were very few fishermen on the ice when I arrived. I did not have a spud along to test the safety of the ice as I walked, so that made me even more nervous.
I did pair up with another fisherman on the trek out there and he did have a spud. He was also a little nervous and I told him I would follow behind and if he got into trouble I would help him out.
We both got out to the area of the short wall okay and I began to re-tie my bait onto my line. As I was doing this chore a strange little feeling crept into my mind; I thought I could sense the ice moving. After I finished tying my bait to my line, I took off my glasses and surveyed the situation. It was not my imagination! The ice was not moving laterally, but it was moving up and down. It seems with the warmer weather and the increased flow, the ice now had the motion of slow moving waves. The vertical rise and fall was not great, but if I was to gander a guess I would have to say about eight to ten inches.
Needless to say since I had never experienced this before I was slightly nervous. I fished long and hard tonight, but the bite never materialized. I marked quite a few fish on the locator, but not many were in the feeding mood.

Observations:

The river stage is creeping up and the flow along with it. The ice seemed very soft tonight, and I do not expect it to last much longer below the dam.