7-23-14 Wed

7-23-2014 myself, Dick, Nora and Ike
Weather: (1853) NW9, clear, 80°, 30.14 steady
H20: 7.18↓, 56 kcfs, 77°, fairly clear
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: All: bluegills, catfish, carp, suckers, drum, small mouth bass

Comments:

My brother Dick requested that I take him and his grand kids Nora and Ike out fishing, so I graciously agreed. From the smiles on their faces and the giggles in their voices I would have to say they had a good time.
We started out fishing for panfish and that was slow. we then went bottom fishing and we caught a multitude of different fish. Nora's main goal was to catch a catfish for a fish fry and we caught two for her to take home. Ike really enjoyed reeling in the fish and was a little hoggish on the bites. Nora seemed to enjoy other people catching fish even more than herself, which was very nice to see.

Observations:

There was no sign of any fish flies tonight. The river continues to recede and the rice is starting to stand up.

7-21-14 Mon

7-21-2014 myself, Norm and Riley Jambois
Weather: (2153) SE9 overcast 83°, 29.93 falling
H20: 7.89↓, 64 kcfs, 77°, fairly clear
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: all: bluebills, Riley: 3 flat heads 8-14 lbs.

Comments:

I had a request from my old friend norm to take him and his daughter out flat head fishing. How could I refuse! From a past outing with Riley I knew she had a passion for fishing, and I can truthfully say that fire is still burning.
Riley got to handle all the flat head bites, and she did a good job of it. We had good action and three fish made it boat side.

Observations:

The river is finally in good shape for flat head fishing. We were easily able to anchor on a main side channel next to the main navigation channel. A major fish fly hatch was taking place this evening out on the man made islands.

7-18 through 7-20-14

7-18 through 20-2014 myself, Jeremy, Eon, Colton P. and Hilliard
Weather: Pleasant, sunny 72 - 78°
Where: Moose Junction, WI

Comments:

It was a weekend of establishing and checking bear bait stations. We put a total of five out and had three get hit. We also ran bear with dogs on Saturday night with Pete. I could write a book on that expedition.

Observations:

The woods are not as wet as a person would have imagined, but the mosquitoes and deer flies are quite bad.

7-16-14 Wed FRITZ

7-16-2014 Wed 2PM-9PM myself
Weather: N5, sunny, 76˚
Water: 8.83 ↓ 79kcfs, 72˚, dingy
Where: mississippi R. pool 7 Big Lake and Lake O.
Caught: Approximately 10LMB 12-19", 3 pike 22-26"
Comments:

Today was a sad day of fishing, on account it was grief day. Fritz my faithful bird dog, hunting companion and buddy could no longer get around very well and life was becoming a burden on him. It is a very hard and emotional decision to end your dogs life, but a person usually waits too long and the dog needlessly suffers.
I got Fritz from my brother Dick when he was about three years old. His first two and one half years were spent with a wealthy family from the Chicago area. I am sure he probably spent the majority of his time cooped up in a portable kennel. Apparently Fritz was too wild for them and they sent him back to the kennel where he came from. Dick knows the owner of the kennel and that is where he came into the picture, he took Fritz hoping he could make a good bird dog out of him. Dick cared for him and trained him for about a year. I took Fritz up to he cabin one week in the fall and we never parted company after that.
I was very impressed by his pointing and hunting instinct; he had drive. Of course we had a few discipline issues from time to time, but we both worked through it. Fritz accounted for lots of ducks, grouse, woodcock, and pheasants. He even hunted coon and one fall and he recovered a bear that I had shot with my bow. Ducks were Fritz's favorite. He especially showed his displeasure when I missed, he would bark and get wild when the duck flew off unscathed.
In Fritz's later years he calmed down enough to make the move into the house from the outside kennel. This move did not happen overnight though, we had many instances where he made himself unwelcome in the house. Once he made the permanent move he was always underfoot or within sight of Karen or myself. Fritzy, buddy you are sadly missed but not forgotten.
The topwater action was pretty good tonight. The frog coaxed a lot of the bass out of their lairs. I did try one of my small mouth spots along the channel over on the Minnesota side but I did not catch a fish.

Observations:

The high water is receding quickly and the rice is starting to stand up. There is a lot less aquatic vegetation this year, particularly the lily pads.

7-13-14 Sun

7-13-2014 Sun 5PM-630PM myself
Weather: (1753) W14, clear, 79˚, 29.90 ↓
Water: 9.64 ↓ 87.3kcfs, 72˚, dirty
Where: mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: 1 perch 4", 1 bluegill 6"
Comments:

The plan was to go out and catch a pile of bluegills, but guess what fishing sucked. The wind was howling and the water was dirty. I did not give the fishing much of a chance; I was just so discussded with the conditions both today and the past month or so.

Observations:

The river is once again getting dirty on account of all the rain we had yesterday. The only bright spot I am seeing as a result of all the high water is the milfoil and the wild rice does not seem as prolific this year.

7-12-14 Sat

7-12-2014 Sat 9AM-4PM myself and Scott
Weather: (1353) S9, heavy rain, 70˚, 29.99 ↓
Water: 9.86 ↓ 90.4kcfs, 72˚, dingy
Where: mississippi R. pool 8, Stoddard
Caught: Me: 9 bass, 2 pike, Scott: 13 bass, 2 pike, 1 eye, 1 white bass

Comments:

I was hoping for an all day fishing trip today, but the weather cut those plans short. The morning started out with good action on both small mouths and large mouths. The best action came south of Stoddard fishing the rocks with stick baits. In the early afternoon we took a little lunch and beer break over at the Shell Horn bar just south of Brownsville. Once back on the water we were greeted with rain showers and downpours. we called the day short around 4PM on account of the rain and the nasty north west wins.

Observations:

The current is still ripping along the channels and combined with all the floating weeds, fishing is rather difficult in areas of current. The water around the Stoddard bay is relatively clear, but over on the Minnesota side it is very dingy.

7-10-14 Thr

7-10-2014 Thr 730PM-1115PM myself and Adam W.
Weather: (2153) S7, clear, 76˚, 30.06 ↑
Water: 10.6 ↓ 103kcfs, 74˚, dingy
Where: mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: Bait: bluegills, crappie, perch, rock bass, no flat heads

Comments:

It was another big zero night fishing for the flat heads. I think that makes three outings in a row with neither a flat head or a channel cat coming boat side.
The only bright spot of the night was catching bait. That task was rather easy off the main made islands out in the lake.

Observations:

The river is still roaring and quite dingy. The crops around the area are looking really on account of all the rain. I have even seen a large field of sweet corn that has started to tassel.

7-6-14 Sun

7-6-2014 Sun 4PM-9PM myself
Weather: (1853) thunderstorms in vicinity, E5, 80˚, 29.67 ↓
Water: 36.6 steady, .781kcfs, 72˚, semi clear
Where: Black River Flowage, Black River Falls, WI
Caught: 3 small mouths 12-16", no muskies

Comments:

Today was another exploratory trip around the Black River Falls area. I was targeting both muskies and small mouth bass. I did not have any success on the muskies, but I did catch a few smallies.
This body of water was extremely beautiful, especially the upper portions where it was shallow and there were no dwellings. From the landing I headed upstream until it got too shallow for a normal boat, then I went upstream another half mile. All the bass I caught came upstream of the railroad bridge. The only muskie action I had was a possible follow (wake) that happened in the shallow upstream area.

Observations:

This flowage is not very wide but it is fairly deep and protected by high rocky banks. The scenery is very beautiful and very pristine in the upper shallow stretches.

7-3-14 Thr

7-3-2014 Thr. 730PM-1130PM myself and Scott
Weather: W5, clear, 75˚
Water: 13.32 falling, 165kcfs, 74˚, dingy
Where: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: Bait: bluegills, no flat heads

Comments:

Scott had the idea for a flat head fishing trip and I went along with it. I had told myself a couple of days earlier that I was not going to go out flat head fishing again until the river stage was below ten feet. But, an invite change that attitude.
I was not expecting to catch any flat heads, and that is exactly what happened. Scott did have one bite, but he missed that fish. We were able to catch our bait out on the man made islands, and we were thankful for that.

Observations:

The river has finally crested and is now slowly receding. The destruction out on the islands from all the high water is easily visible in the form of all the new trees that are in the process or have already fallen into the swollen river.