8-28-13 Wed

8-28-2013 Wed. 7:15 PM – 8:00 PM
Weather: (1953) E7, mostly cloudy, 84˚. 30.01 Steady
Water: 4.98 steady, 12.2 kcfs, 84 ˚, green
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: nothing
Partners: none

Comments:

I put the go devil boat back in the water behind the house, and since I had it in the water I decided to fish for just a short time. I did not really expect to catch too much; I was just eliminating unproductive water. Amazingly I had a strike on my frog on my first cast, and one more about thirty casts later, but that was the extent of the action for the night. I never did boat a fish, nor did I see much activity.

Observations:

I went out through the cut and across the lake to where Somner’s Chute dumps into the lake. The area between the cut and Somner’s is a total mess with all the weeds. I really think the only boat that can navigate that route is a go devil style boat.

8-27-13 Tue

8-27-2013 Tue. 5:00 PM – 12:00 PM
Weather: (2253) calm, clear, 82˚. 29.86 rising
Water: 4.97 steady, 11.7 kcfs, 80 ˚, green
Location: Mississippi river pool 8
Caught: Bluegills (bait), 4 flat heads 18. 15, 13 & 8 lbs.
Partners: Marvin, KP

Comments:

It was a flat head trip with Marvin and KP. They made the trip up from the Milwaukee area on a quest to catch their first flat heads. They have both done quite a bit of fishing, but they have never tangled with a flat head.
We started the evening catching our bait (bluegills) and that task was accomplished with relative ease. We set up on a wing dam about an hour before dark in hopes of catching a few channel cats and possibly a flat head, but neither succumbed to our offerings. We moved to another main channel area just before dark and that is where KP caught his first flat head. It took another move to get Marvin his first flat head. At the end of the night KP and Marvin each landed two flat heads. We did try fishing for channel cats, but none could be coaxed into biting either stink bait or crawlers.

Observations:

The water and flow is definitely at their low summer time levels. The only time we experienced any current was when a barge moving upstream past us caused the resulting push of water to flow over the wing dam upstream of us. It was interesting because that was the only time we got a bite on the main channel.

8-25-13 Sun.

8-25-2013 Sun. 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Weather: (1253) S17, G25, clear, 91˚. 30.07 falling
Water: 4.88 steady, 7.76 kcfs, 77-81 ˚, green to clear
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: LMB approx. 12 up to 19”, SMB (3) 12-13”, pike 6 up to 34”, crappies (6) 8”
Partners: none

Comments:

It was my day to do some backwaters game fishing. I expected to catch some LMB, but I was very surprised as to how active the pike were. I had great action on both bass and pike. I even got a little crappie fishing in on a snag up by the spillway.
The bass and pike hit swim jigs, buzz baits, frogs and Senko’s. The small mouths hit Senko’s and crank baits. I started out fishing the gadwall hole and headed north from there. I pretty much found fish everywhere. The frog bite was very good, and it accounted for my largest couple of bass. I was surprised at one spot I frog fished at. It was very shallow and scummy and I did not think there would be a bass anywhere near here, but I managed to catch two and missed several others. The cover over the water was not duck weed but that scummy looking moss, which made it even more surprising that I caught a bass here.

Observations:

The water is quite low and if it gets much lower it is going to get difficult to navigate the back waters. The rice out from the cut is in full bloom, but the rice up by Trempealeau is not.

8-22-13 Thr.

8-22-2013 Thr. 6:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Weather: (2153) calm, clear, 69˚. 30.10 rising
Water: 4.91 steady, 8.9 kcfs, 76 ˚, green
Location: Mississippi river pool 8
Caught: Bait (bluegills – rather large ones), flat head: 12 Lbs.
Partners: none

Comments:

I have been trying to figure the flat head bite out and I have not been having much luck in doing so. Tonight I was on pool seven just north of La Crosse. The first spot I tried was over in the West Channel near where the Bikini Yacht Club used to be. The area has nice depth and lots of wood, too bad the flat heads don’t seem to know about this spot. I never had a bite here.
I then went out to the main channel and fished behind a wing dam and caught one that I estimated to weigh about twelve pounds. I think I have caught this fish before because I recognized it by the exposed gills it had on its left side on account of a past injury to its gill flap.
The bluegill fishing down here is quite incredible. There seems to be bluegills all over the wing dams and they are of the magnum size.

Observations:

The wing dams north of the entrance to the West Channel area exposed.

8-21-13 Wed.

8-21-2013 6:30 PM – 11:30 PM
Weather: calm, clear, 75˚
Water: 4.94 steady, 10.2 kcfs falling, 76 ˚, green
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: Bait (bluegills), 1 soft shell turtle
Partners: Adam W.

Comments:

It was the first time this year that Adam and I got out fishing. We tried three main secondary channel spots and never caught a fish. The last spot of the night was Somner’s Chute and that was dead just as it has been pretty much all year.
The bluegills are still fairly hard to come by, but they can be found in numbers if you are persistent in searching for them. I have not caught hardly any this year on the rocks on pool seven. Very strange!

Observations:

We are definitely into our summer pattern: low flows, green water and lots of vegetation.

8-18-13 Sun.

8-18-2013 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Weather: (1753) S12, clear, 81˚, 30.09 falling
Water: 4.99 steady, 12.8 kcfs, 77 ˚ rising, pretty clear
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: LMB: Approx. 15, 12-18”, 1 – 22” pike
Partners: none

Comments:

I have not been out just bass fishing on this pool for a while and it has been even longer since I have taken the goat boat out. Since I was fishing out of the go devil boat I planned on fishing close to home. I really did not think I would get much tonight, but I actually ran into quite a large concentration of large mouths.
I found them using a swim jig and I cleaned up on them using a Senko style worm rigged wacky style. I am always amazed how I can catch a fish or two with a swim jig, and then I put on a Senko and I catch many more after the swim jig bite has disappeared. Once again the frog bite was non-existent.

Observations:

It was a pretty quiet evening out tonight, not much for boat traffic and even less for fishermen. Some of the rice is starting to tassel out and I would have to say the weed growth has to have reached critical mass.

8-15-13 Thr.

8-15-2013 6 PM – 12:30 AM
Weather: (2053) calm, clear, 69˚, 30.17 steady
Water: 4.99 steady, 12.8 kcfs, 74 ˚, pretty clear
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: Bait: bluegills, perch and crappies, 18, 16 and 8 pound flat heads
Partners: Scott

Comments:

It had been awhile since Scott and I have fished together. During the past two weeks I or Scott had been away on vacation. I was a little worried about bait catching tonight. I had told Scott that I would supply the crawlers. I did supply the crawlers, but I only had three small ones in the container. We were soon out of them, and we did not have enough bait in the live well to make it a very serious night of flat head fishing. We called another friend of ours who was heading out cat fishing and we asked him if he would come past us and supply us with a few more crawlers. He graciously did!
We started out by Trempealeau and ended the night down towards Dakota. The bite was not fantastic, but we did manage to boat three, so we did do pretty well.

Observations:

Tonight there were lots of cat fishermen out and about. We saw three different boats set up for cats and we knew of at least three other groups that were also out cat fishing. It was a very nice evening, but after sunset it became quite cold. We both donned extra clothes to ward off the night chill and Scott even went so far as to dig out and wear his stocking hat. We did make a trip up to mud lake looking for gills, and I was amazed at how choked off the area is with wild rice, there is not a lot of area up there that is not covered with rice.

8-13-13 Tue.

8-13-2013 Tue. 6:15 PM – 12:00 AM
Weather: (2053) calm, clear, 63˚, 30.14 rising
Water: 5.27 rising falling, 27.1 kcfs, 74 ˚, slight algae bloom
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: bluegills and crappies, 17, 8 and 3 pound flat heads
Partners: Reed and Tucker
Comments:
Tonight it was a guided fishing trip with Reed and his son Tucker. Reed had some experience with fishing flat heads, but Tucker had very limited exposure to them. Bait catching was very easy tonight; in fact I caught most of the bait in about fifteen minutes before I even picked them up at the landing. The first spot was a main channel scour hole with a maximum depth of about thirty feet. This is where all three flat heads came from.
The second spot was a major side channel just off the main channel with plenty of wood along the bank. We had one very good bite here with a good run. Reed was up on this fish, and instead of giving it a nice rod sweep he gave it and all you can give hook set. Unfortunately the line broke about ten feet from the rod tip. I do not know if the line was weak or frayed at that spot or if it was a very large fish and the line just could not handle the force of the hook set. Anyway, things happen. I felt bad and I know Reed felt bad.
We finished off the night in Somners Chute and never had a bite.
Observations:
It was once again a very beautiful night with no wind, absolutely no boat traffic and a few shooting stars streaking across the abyss of the night sky. On the trip back to the landing we took the route of the lake, and man was it ever weedy, in fact it was darn near impossible to motor through it. Most of the vegetation was celery grass but towards the upper end there was lots of rice.

8-12-13 Mon

8-12-2013 Mon. 5:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Weather: (1953) NW6, clear, 73˚, 29.97 rising
Water: 5.15 rising, 21 kcfs, 74 ˚, slight algae bloom
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: bluegills and crappies
Partners: none
Comments:
I was pre-fishing for an upcoming flat head guide trip on Tuesday. I checked out a lot of areas in the backwaters looking for crappies and bluegills, and I did not find too much. I caught an adequate amount for bait, but it was not spectacular.
The flat head fishing was even worse. I tried two different areas in Somners Chute and never even had a bite. It however was not a waste of time as I did eliminate some unproductive water.

Observations:
It was a very pleasant evening tonight, although the nights have been pretty chilly for this time of year. I did see a few meteorites streaking across the sky. I guess the next couple of night’s are supposed to be very active for them.

8-11-13 Sun

8-11-2013 Sun. 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Weather: (2053) E5, mostly cloudy, 70˚, 30.06 rising
Water: 5.03 rising, 14.6 kcfs, 74 ˚, slight algae bloom
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: perch, a few bluegills, LMB and pike
Partners: none
Comments:
I had an all-day fishing trip scheduled today, but the trip was cancelled on account of the storms we had this morning. The morning and early afternoon were pretty dreary so I just chilled out on the couch. I do have to do that once in a while just to remind myself that I do not care for that too often. I finally caught a breath in the afternoon and headed up river towards the backwaters of Trempealeau. I have not been up to this area for quite some time, so I did not know what to expect.
I did find some perch, a couple of bluegills and one crappie. The pan fish sure have not inhabited this area like they use to a few years back. I also fished for bass and pike and had pretty decent luck with some of each. Most of the fish came on swim jigs, but I did manage at least one pike on a frog.

Observations:
The water is at its summer level, but we still have a pretty decent flow. The Pike Hole area has some vegetation, but it is a lot less than it normally is this time of year, and it seems as if the rice is not as abundant up in this area. There is a pretty good flow of water coming through the pike hole, which supports my suspicion that more and more of the Black River’s flow is coming through its upper tributary.

8-9-13 Fri

8-9-2013 Fri. 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Weather: (2053) NW 8, clear, 70˚, 30.06 rising
Water: 5.02 falling, 14.2 kcfs, 74 ˚, green
Location: Mississippi river pool 8
Caught: bluegills for bait, four LMB 12 – 14”
Partners: none

Comments:
I have a couple of fishing trips coming up in the next few days, so I have been out pre-fishing for them. It has been tough! I can catch bluegills in numbers, but that is about all I feel overly confident in catching. Tonight I easily caught flat head bait, along with a few largemouth bass. The flat heads on the other hand were elusive tonight. I never even had a bite, and I tried three different spots. I tried some of the spots that were so good last year. One of my favorites was a main channel wing dam tip, but tonight it was a no go. There is more current this year than there was last year at this time, so I am thinking that may have a bearing on it.

Observations:
The water is quite low, but the current is still clipping along at a pretty good pace. The water below the Dresbach Dam is quite green and the upper landing is difficult to use on account of the low water.

8-8-13 Thr.

8-8-2013 Thr. 7:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Weather: (2053) calm, few clouds, 68˚, 30.00 steady
Water: 5.22 falling, 55.9 kcfs, 72 ˚, clear
Location: Mississippi river pool 7
Caught: bluegills for bait, one 21 pound flat head
Partners: Autumn - bluegill fishing

Comments:
Autumn is starting to show some interest in fishing and she wanted to try “for those smaller fish that are easier to catch”. I needed some bluegills for flat head fishing tonight, so she came along for that portion of the fishing. She found out those smaller fish are not so easily caught either. She was a little confused on how I could catch 20 to her 1. She did catch one small crappie at the end of the night and she was satisfied with that. She also wanted to take it off the hook and she found out the hard way that crappies have some pretty sharp spines on their lower front fins.
I fished for flat heads in two different spots over a two hour period and I caught one twenty one pound fish. I wished Autumn would have been along and caught that fish, I think she would have been hooked on catching those big whiskered cats.

Observations:
The vegetation growth is probably at its peak right now. The rice is particularly abundant this year and it appears to be taking over the east lakeside from the end of the dike down to Ashley Point.

7-28 through 8-2-13 Chippewa Flowage - Hayward

7-27 through 8-2-2013
Weather: Generally cold for this time of year with the first couple of days very cold, with on and off rain showers
H2O: East side had a fair amount of algae bloom with the west side much clearer, 67 -70 ˚
Location: Chippewa Flowage, Hayward, WI
Caught: Multiple pike and LMB, a few SMB and three incidental crappies
Partners: Dwayne, Autumn and Colin
Comments:
It was our annual vacation week at Hayward and it has been cold! We got up here Saturday afternoon and we were greeted by rain, wind and upper fifty degree temperatures. Sunday morning was not much better, but at least it was not raining and there was no wind. The rest of the week was not too bad weather wise, but the temperatures were definitely below normal.
Surprisingly the fishing turned out to be pretty good. I caught northern and bass in the thick weeds, with lily pads being the best location. I fished both the East and West sides and had pretty good luck for the first time on the East side. I never fished for muskies much, except the last day on Friday night I gave it a solid four hours. I never caught a musky, but I did have a couple of follows over by Dun Roven Lodge. I even caught a couple of crappies out on Pete’s bar on a crank bait. I never caught a walleye this trip, but I never fished for them either.
Observations:
The water on the flowage for this time of year is cold, but the fish are still pretty active. The clarity is pretty good, with limited algae present in the water, but as the week went by and the temperatures rose, the amount of algae also rose. There is not as much weed growth on the flowage this year, which in a way is nice, since most of it is water milfoil anyway. I would have to say the water level is a little higher than normal, with exposed sand quite limited.