8-6-12 Mon

8-6-2012 Mon 6:30 PM – 10:30 PM
Weather:
(2053) E 5, clear, 73˚, 29.98 falling
Water:
4.8 falling, 5.78 kcfs, 79 ˚, clear
Location:
Mississippi river pool 8, Dresbach Dam area
Caught:
bluegills (approx. 25) 6 – 8”, 4 – 6 small, small mouth bass
Partners:
None

Comments

I wanted to try a different area tonight, so I took the boat to work and headed to the Dresbach Dam area at quitting time. I wanted to quickly catch some bluegills for bait, do some scouting and then fish for flat heads in the tail water areas. The bluegills were very easy to come by, just about every place that had rocks had bluegills. The best place I found for the larger bluegills was south of the railroad bridge on the Minnesota side in front of the exposed wing dams.
It was in this area that I had a very lengthy battle and a very captive audience with a creature of unknown genus and size. I was using an ultra-light rod and reel and eight pound Power Pro line. With my light set up I acted like a defensive fighter in the corner; being very cautious, taking some hits, but staying in the match. From start to finish I probably battled the fish for twenty minutes and accumulated an audience of a half dozen shoreline residents.
Eventually I gained some ground and started to see the water boil from time to time when the beast got irritated with me trying to bring it to the surface. It would quickly plunge back to the safety of the depths. Eventually the fish that I thought, and hoped to be a large flat head turned out to be a very large carp. I estimated its size between twenty and twenty – five pounds. Once I saw what it was I got a little disappointed and became the aggressive boxer. I was not playing anymore rope a dope; no I was going to put this monstrous foreign invader on the carpet of my boat. Unfortunately I got careless and grabbed the line, and the fish seized my moment of weakness and delivered a knockout punch that straightened my hook from its mouth!

Observations:

The water level is quite low here with plenty of rocky shoreline exposed. The bluegills seem to be everywhere; unfortunately the flat head were not.