8-23-14 Sat

8-23-2014 Sat 6PM - 1AM Scott and Myself
Weather: (2153), SE6, clear, 78°, 29.94↔
H2O: 5.44↑, 37 kcfs, 76°, green
Where: Mississippi R. upper pool 7
Caught: Bait, Me: 2 flats 8&35 lbs Scott: 2 flats 21 & 23 lbs

Comments:

It was an early action night for us tonight. All the fish and the majority of the bites came in the first hour at our first spot. Our second spot produced a couple of lack luster bites but no fish. I am not sure if that was on account of it being a bad spot, or on account of our limited supply of bait and the size of that bait being in the jumbo category.

Observations:

The rice is really starting to tassel and I think I was smelling it while cat fishing tonight.

8-22-14 Fri

8-22-2014 Fri 530PM - 1AM
Weather: (2153), N6, clear, 76°, 29.97↑
H2O: 5.42↑, 37 kcfs, 76°, fairly green
Where: Mississippi R. middle pool 7
Caught: Bait, Me: 2 flats 8&27 lbs Ryan: 3 flats 5,8 & 50 lbs

Comments:

It was the big flat tourney night and Ryan and I won it with a fifty pound flat. We had good action all night with five fish making it to our hands. We got a total of twelve bites, which made for an action packed night. Ryan caught the big fish of the night, but I just had to get a picture of myself holding such an impressive sized fish.

Observations:

The flats seem to be on the main channel areas that have submerged wood. We fished depths between twelve and twenty-five feet.

8-21-14 Thr

8-21-2014 Thr 6PM - 8PM
Weather: (21530, SE8, partly cloudy, 77°, 29.87↔
H2O: 5.47↓, 37.5 kcfs, 76°, fairly green
Where: Mississippi R. Pool 7 - Shoe Slough
Caught: Bluegills and a few crappies

Comments:

I have a small flat head fishing tournament on Friday, and I was out tonight pre-fishing for potential bluegill spots. I fished about a half dozen spots and found concentrations of bluegills in about three spots. All the fish seem to be relating to heavy timber with some current and depth also being a key ingredient.

Observations:

The water by the boat landing is quite clear, but the main river areas are fairly green.

8-16-14 Sat

8-16-2014 Sat 1PM - 8PM
Weather: overcast, 74°, calm to 10-15 NW
H20: Bear: stained, 74°, St Croix Flowage: clear and weedy, 75°
Where: Bear Track lake and St Croix Flowage
Caught: Bear Track: 1 musky 28", 2 small pike, St Croix Flowage: small pike and small LMB

Comments:

I was up north bear baiting and I decide to pull my small boat up and leave it there through bear season. Troy and I fished two lakes on Saturday: Bear Track and the St Croix Flowage.
Bear Track is my old reliable musky lake, and it did not disappoint this time either. Although the Musky and the pike were small at least I caught a musky. I have a suspicion the lake is getting lots of pressure.
We then fished the St Croix Flowage till dark and had fairly good action about the last hour of daylight. All the fish we caught were fairly small.

Observations:

Bear Track has the most rice I have ever seen on it; the lake is completely ringed with it and very few lily pads are visible. The St Croix Flowage is very weed choked and it has rice on the Eastern side.

8-13-14 Wed.

8-13-2014 Wed 7PM - 1115PM
Weather: calm, clear, 62°
H20: 5.3↔, 35 kcfs, 79°, dingy
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: Bait, 2 flat heads 17 & 22 lbs

Comments:

I was a loner tonight cat fishing. Bait catching was a little difficult on account of I stopped at a friends houseboat and had a beer with him, which limited my time in which to catch bait. I did catch some bait, but most of the bluegills and the one crappie were of the magnum size.
The first spot produced one fish before I had all three poles out. The same thing happened with the second spot. It seemed if the fish were there they were going to bite. I was planning on keeping a couple of fish for future meals, but both were too big to kill.

Observations:

none

8-10-14 Sunday

8-10-2014 Sun. 9AM - 11AM
Weather: E5, clear, 75°, 30.13 ↔
H20: 5.57↔, 39 kcfs, 79°, dingy
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: 2 LMB 13 & 16"

Comments:

Yesterday I never left the house on account of a nasty cold, so I was going stir crazy and had to get out for at least a little while. I had a game plan in my head before I started, but that was soon shot to hell as soon as I saw everyone else had the same plan. I did some exploring a caught some fish, but all in all it was quite dismal.

Observations:

The river is starting to get the late summer scum look!

8-7-14 Thursday

8-7-2014 Thr. 6 - 1115 PM, myself and Adam W.
Weather: E6, clear, 74°, 30.03 ↑
H20: 5.59↓, 39 kcfs, 79°, dingy
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, lower end
Caught: Bait, 1 flat heads 8lbs.

Comments:

I was fishing with my friend Adam tonight. The fishing was not very good, we had several bites but only connected with one. The one fish we did catch was at a new spot down by the dam.

Observations:

none

8-5-14 Tuesday

8-5-2014 Tue. 7 - 1130 PM, myself and Troy
Weather: calm, clear, 60°
H20: 5.7↓, 40 kcfs, 79°, dingy
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: Bait, 4 flat heads 2 - 15lbs.
Comments:

It was a flat head fishing trip with my friend Troy. Bait catching was relatively easy in the sloughs and we did manage to boat four fish. We did not catch anything big, but it was still a pretty good night.

Observations:

The wild rice has really sprung up, but none of it has tasseled yet.

8-3-14 Mon

8-3-2014 6 - 830 PM, myself
Weather: (1653) W9, clear, 84°, 30.05 steady
H20: 5.7↓, 36.1 kcfs, 80°, dingy
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: 6 LMB 15-17", 1 SMB 13", 4 pike 22 - 32"
Comments:

It was a Sunday evening fishing trip and I was targeting bass. Even though I was fishing bass, I also caught plenty of pike. The largest pike in particular gave me a great thrill. The first time I saw it the fish had come completely out of the water when it tried to ambush my frog. On the next cast it was not quite so fortunate when it successfully grabbed the frog and I set the hook on it.
I used two baits tonight: a white frog and a swim jig. Each bait accounted for about half of the fish each.

Observations:

The summer high water has filled in many portions of the back waters. It has also done considerable damage to the many islands.

8-2-2014 Sat

8-2-2014 myself
Weather: (2053) calm, clear, 75°, 30.08 rising
H20: 5.76↓, 36.6 kcfs, 80°, semi clear
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: bait: bluegills and one crappie, 15 lb flat head
Comments:

It was my first day back from vacation at Hayward and as tradition dictates when I get home I have to go out fishing to catch something. It is always nice to get back to the home waters.
Both the bluegills and the flat heads were utilizing the the wooded areas for both cover and food. The rock areas along the main channel were pretty much void of and bluegills. The deep scour hole areas along the main channel were also not holding any flatheads.

Observations:

The reduced flow summer time conditions are starting to emerge with the exception of the bluegills on the rocks and the flat heads in the deep scour hole areas.

7-27 through 8-1-2014 Treelands

7-27 through 8-1-2014 myself
Weather: Pleasant, average high 75°, some rain storms, generally light winds
H20: east side clear, west side some algae bloom, 72º
Where: Chippewa Flowage, Hayward, WI
Caught: large mouth bass, 1 small mouth bass, pike, one 25" musky
Comments:

It was once again our family vacation time at Treelands Resort. Treelands is located on the Chippewa Flowage and about twenty minutes east of Hayward, Wisconsin.
The fishing was tough all week. I mainly targeted large mouth bass and pike, with a little musky fishing thrown in. The only pattern that developed was that the bass were not shallow and I did not know where they were.
I did take Brandon Swenson and his fried Dalton out one night casting. Dalton had never fished much before and he was excited when he caught a crappie on a crank bait. I also took a friend out that I had met at the resort. His name was Andy and he was from Rockford Illinois. Andy caught two pike and one crappie and I caught nothing.
This year I also booked a guided river float trip for muskies and small mouth bass. We were guided by Jason from West Fork Guide Service. I was also accompanied by my brother in law Dwayne Swenson. The fishing was not great, but the experience was enjoyable.

Observations:

The flowage is pretty full of water and there are not too many exposed sand beaches. The water was pretty clear and the mill foil is almost non-existent this year.

7-25-2014 Friday

7-25-2014 (430-615PM) myself
Weather: (1753) S12, mostly cloudy, 78°, 29.83 steady
H20: 6.81↓, 51 kcfs, 76°, dingy
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7
Caught: 2 LMB 14 & 15"
Comments:

It was a quick outing before the start of our vacation in Hayward on Saturday. I was fishing for LMB in the slop using a rubber frog. I caught the two bass, missed several others and missed one pike.

Observations:

The water is receding quickly and the clarity is starting to return. The weed growth out on the main lake is really starting to kick in.