10-25-15 Sunday 12 – 8 pm, myself bass and walleye fishing and squirrel hunting
Weather: (1353) calm, partly cloudy, 59°
H2O: 5.1’→, 20 kcfs, clear, 54°
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 near Trempealeau
Caught: 20+ small mouth 12-17” (kept 3), 2 sauger (kept) 13”
Bagged: One fox and one gray squirrel
Today I had a pretty fun and adventurous outside day. I started out fishing rocks and wing dams for small mouth bass and walleyes. The small mouth were quite cooperative, although the bites were subtle. On the other hand the walleyes were almost non existent.
After fishing for a solid four hours I switched it up a bit and chased squirrels. I saw a fair amount and bagged two.
At dark I continued on with my quest to catch walleyes or saugers. I had started the day off with plans of keeping my limit, so I had my work cut out for me. The first spot I fished I got two in about five minutes. A jointed shad rap fooled both these saugers. I continued fishing using a lead head jig fishing vertically and never caught another fish.
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Saturday, October 24, 2015
10-22-15 Thursday
10-22-15 Thursday 5 – 9 pm, myself flat head fishing
Weather: (1753) N 3, clear, 57°
H2O: 4.62’→, 12 kcfs, clear, 54°
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 main side channel
Caught: Bait: approx. 10 perch 8-11”
This was going to be my absolute last time flat head fishing for the season. It has been a very warm fall but the cool down in on its way. Once the water temperature falls into the lower 50’s the flat head bite is over for me anyhow.
Bait catching was very easy; unfortunately it was all perch and only one dink bluegill. For flat heads I tried two spots in close proximity to one another and had no action until the end of the night at the last spot. Just as I dumped the bait out to leave I got a hit. The last fish of the season outsmarted me and got my bait without becoming hooked!
Tonight and the previous night out I had a stow- away on board. The stow-away was a mouse that crawled up my leg on the previous outing. On this trip I could hear it rattling in the leaves and it would also make a light buzzing sound. I also could see it now and then in the moonlight as it scurried around the boat. At one point it scurried up onto one of the rod holder and up my pole. Unfortunately for it this was a grave mistake and I was able to knock it into the water and rid the boat of the-stow away. I thought I had solved the problem, but I was wrong. The mouse either had a partner or it was able to swim to one of the anchor ropes and make it back into its floating condo!
Weather: (1753) N 3, clear, 57°
H2O: 4.62’→, 12 kcfs, clear, 54°
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 main side channel
Caught: Bait: approx. 10 perch 8-11”
This was going to be my absolute last time flat head fishing for the season. It has been a very warm fall but the cool down in on its way. Once the water temperature falls into the lower 50’s the flat head bite is over for me anyhow.
Bait catching was very easy; unfortunately it was all perch and only one dink bluegill. For flat heads I tried two spots in close proximity to one another and had no action until the end of the night at the last spot. Just as I dumped the bait out to leave I got a hit. The last fish of the season outsmarted me and got my bait without becoming hooked!
Tonight and the previous night out I had a stow- away on board. The stow-away was a mouse that crawled up my leg on the previous outing. On this trip I could hear it rattling in the leaves and it would also make a light buzzing sound. I also could see it now and then in the moonlight as it scurried around the boat. At one point it scurried up onto one of the rod holder and up my pole. Unfortunately for it this was a grave mistake and I was able to knock it into the water and rid the boat of the-stow away. I thought I had solved the problem, but I was wrong. The mouse either had a partner or it was able to swim to one of the anchor ropes and make it back into its floating condo!
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
10-20-15 Tuesday
10-20-15 Tuesday, myself flat head fishing 5-10PM
Weather: (1753) warm! SE6, clear, 70°
H20: 5.8 →, 12.7kcfs, clear, 54°
I had thought I was done cat fishing several weeks ago, but the warm summer like weather convinced me to try it again. There is no longer much daylight in the evening after I get home from work to catch bait. Tonight I ran out of daylight catching my bait. I did catch an ample amount of perch, however most of them were of the jumbo variety and quite big for flat head fishing. I really don’t have a problem with big bait, but for this time of year the fish are less active and I think smaller sized bait would be better.
I did have action tonight. I had what I figured to be about four bites. Three of those bites were quite subtle and weak and resulted in missed fish. The best bite of the night resulted in what I thought was a good hook-up. The fish gave me a good fight all the way to the boat. The battle ended just before I was able to see the whiskered critter. The fish must have gotten tired of the tug of war match and slipped off. I don’t think I ever had a hook in it, I am almost positive it was just hanging onto the bait and then decided to let go once I started to raise it off the bottom!
Weather: (1753) warm! SE6, clear, 70°
H20: 5.8 →, 12.7kcfs, clear, 54°
I had thought I was done cat fishing several weeks ago, but the warm summer like weather convinced me to try it again. There is no longer much daylight in the evening after I get home from work to catch bait. Tonight I ran out of daylight catching my bait. I did catch an ample amount of perch, however most of them were of the jumbo variety and quite big for flat head fishing. I really don’t have a problem with big bait, but for this time of year the fish are less active and I think smaller sized bait would be better.
I did have action tonight. I had what I figured to be about four bites. Three of those bites were quite subtle and weak and resulted in missed fish. The best bite of the night resulted in what I thought was a good hook-up. The fish gave me a good fight all the way to the boat. The battle ended just before I was able to see the whiskered critter. The fish must have gotten tired of the tug of war match and slipped off. I don’t think I ever had a hook in it, I am almost positive it was just hanging onto the bait and then decided to let go once I started to raise it off the bottom!
Monday, October 19, 2015
10-16,17&18-2015
10-16,17&18-2015, myself and Jeremy and his two boys Ian and Colton.
Weather: Beautiful, sunny with highs in the 50’s and 60’s and cool at night with lows in the lower to mid twenties.
Location: Douglass County, Wisconsin at the hunting shack
Bagged: Me: 1 grouse and 1 mouse, Colton: 1 pine squirrel
It was a weekend up to the cabin with Jeremy and his boys Ian and Colton. It was not a serious hunting trip; it was more or less just a chance to get away.
Mice have been numerous at the cabin this year. The little bastards even chewed a hole into the tote in which I keep my sleeping bag and pillow. The ungrateful vermin chewed a hole in both the sleeping bad and pillow and left a stash of acorns sprinkled on top of them. At least they didn’t chew my hair as I was sleeping like they did another year.
We did a little hunting and four wheeling, but nothing major on either activity. I did show the boys how to make fire with a bow and spindle and Colton was all over that. In, fact that is about all he wanted to do during a good portion of the day on Saturday. He never was able to develop a coal but he did put plenty of effort into it. Colton did shoot a pine squirrel on Saturday and I told him since he killed the animal we had to eat it. We all tried it except Ian; he just could not do it. It was good; it tasted like grilled meat and a lot less chewy than gray or fox squirrel. I also fried up the grouse for them to try and all of us liked that. I also grilled them bunny burgers on Saturday night and they all thought that was very good!
It appears there has been plenty of moisture up at the cabin this year. There also appears to be plenty of grouse and acorns, and it looks as if the deer numbers area probably higher than last year. The bears raised hell with our bait barrels this year, they got into and emptied several of them and destroyed one of the hard rubber ones.
Weather: Beautiful, sunny with highs in the 50’s and 60’s and cool at night with lows in the lower to mid twenties.
Location: Douglass County, Wisconsin at the hunting shack
Bagged: Me: 1 grouse and 1 mouse, Colton: 1 pine squirrel
It was a weekend up to the cabin with Jeremy and his boys Ian and Colton. It was not a serious hunting trip; it was more or less just a chance to get away.
Mice have been numerous at the cabin this year. The little bastards even chewed a hole into the tote in which I keep my sleeping bag and pillow. The ungrateful vermin chewed a hole in both the sleeping bad and pillow and left a stash of acorns sprinkled on top of them. At least they didn’t chew my hair as I was sleeping like they did another year.
We did a little hunting and four wheeling, but nothing major on either activity. I did show the boys how to make fire with a bow and spindle and Colton was all over that. In, fact that is about all he wanted to do during a good portion of the day on Saturday. He never was able to develop a coal but he did put plenty of effort into it. Colton did shoot a pine squirrel on Saturday and I told him since he killed the animal we had to eat it. We all tried it except Ian; he just could not do it. It was good; it tasted like grilled meat and a lot less chewy than gray or fox squirrel. I also fried up the grouse for them to try and all of us liked that. I also grilled them bunny burgers on Saturday night and they all thought that was very good!
It appears there has been plenty of moisture up at the cabin this year. There also appears to be plenty of grouse and acorns, and it looks as if the deer numbers area probably higher than last year. The bears raised hell with our bait barrels this year, they got into and emptied several of them and destroyed one of the hard rubber ones.
10-13-15 Tuesday
10-13-15 Tuesday, myself casting cranks 530-630PM
Weather: calm, clear, 55°
H20: 5.0 →, 20kcfs, clear, ?°
I took a quick run out to Somners Chute to see if the walleyes were there and active. They were not.
The river is in great shape for fishing, it is fairly low, clear and not much for current. Now the fish just have to cooperate. I did notice there are plenty of ducks around Somners. I guess some of that can be contributed to the duck season being closed for the break between the first and second season.
Weather: calm, clear, 55°
H20: 5.0 →, 20kcfs, clear, ?°
I took a quick run out to Somners Chute to see if the walleyes were there and active. They were not.
The river is in great shape for fishing, it is fairly low, clear and not much for current. Now the fish just have to cooperate. I did notice there are plenty of ducks around Somners. I guess some of that can be contributed to the duck season being closed for the break between the first and second season.
Monday, October 12, 2015
10-9-15 Friday
10-9-15 Friday 6pm – 7pm, myself, fishing for pan fish
Weather: (1753) NW 8, clear, 58°
H2O: 5.18’→, 21 kcfs, clear, 56°
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Caught: 7 perch 8-12”, 2 crappies 8&12”, 2 bluegill, 4LMB 10-12” Kept four perch, 1 crappie and one bluegill
Tonight was more of a test of my Go Devil motor than a planned fishing trip. The motor ran flawlessly after I changed out the spark plugs and the fishing was no too bad either. The fish were relating to deeper water that was void of weeds, but within close proximity to weeds.
Weather: (1753) NW 8, clear, 58°
H2O: 5.18’→, 21 kcfs, clear, 56°
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Caught: 7 perch 8-12”, 2 crappies 8&12”, 2 bluegill, 4LMB 10-12” Kept four perch, 1 crappie and one bluegill
Tonight was more of a test of my Go Devil motor than a planned fishing trip. The motor ran flawlessly after I changed out the spark plugs and the fishing was no too bad either. The fish were relating to deeper water that was void of weeds, but within close proximity to weeds.
10-11-15 Sunday
10-11-15 Sunday 2:30 – 7:30 pm, myself and Scott fishing for bass, walleye and pike
Weather: (1753) S 14, clear, 80°, 29.46↑
H2O: 5.18’→, 21 kcfs, clear, 61°
Location: Trempealeau, WI
Caught: Me: 1 pike 24”, 1 walleye 13”, 1 sauger 11”, 5 SMB 12-18”
Scott: 5 small mouth bass 12-15”
It was another Sunday afternoon fishing with Scott. This week we fished the upper part of our pool near Trempealeau. We started off fishing the backwaters area in an area that is called Big Marsh. This area was almost completely dead. I just have not had much for action in the back marsh areas during the fall.
After a couple of fruitless hours we moved out to a wing dam by Hammond Chute. This area was very difficult to fish on account of the strong south wind. Anyhow we had the same results there. Our next stop was north to the spillway on the Minnesota side. This is where we boated our first fish and a couple more. We definitely did not have as much action there as I thought we would.
For the last forty-five minutes of daylight we hit a couple wing dams just south of the dam, and it was there we had more favorable results. Heck, I even caught my first double on one bait! We finished up the night jigging for walleyes, where we struck out doing that.
Weather: (1753) S 14, clear, 80°, 29.46↑
H2O: 5.18’→, 21 kcfs, clear, 61°
Location: Trempealeau, WI
Caught: Me: 1 pike 24”, 1 walleye 13”, 1 sauger 11”, 5 SMB 12-18”
Scott: 5 small mouth bass 12-15”
It was another Sunday afternoon fishing with Scott. This week we fished the upper part of our pool near Trempealeau. We started off fishing the backwaters area in an area that is called Big Marsh. This area was almost completely dead. I just have not had much for action in the back marsh areas during the fall.
After a couple of fruitless hours we moved out to a wing dam by Hammond Chute. This area was very difficult to fish on account of the strong south wind. Anyhow we had the same results there. Our next stop was north to the spillway on the Minnesota side. This is where we boated our first fish and a couple more. We definitely did not have as much action there as I thought we would.
For the last forty-five minutes of daylight we hit a couple wing dams just south of the dam, and it was there we had more favorable results. Heck, I even caught my first double on one bait! We finished up the night jigging for walleyes, where we struck out doing that.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
10-5-15 Monday
10-5-15 Monday 5:30 – 6:45 pm, myself bass and pike fishing
Weather: calm, overcast, 53°
H2O: 5’→, 20 kcfs, clear, 59°, miserable amount of floating weeds
Caught: Nothing
Since Scott and I had fairly good success fishing for bass yesterday I was hoping to continue on that success today. Well I did not happen. The fishing really sucked, the weeds really sucked and my motor really sucked! And to top it off I discovered a new invasive species of plant on the lake. Almost every cast was fouled by floating weeds, which just added fuel to my burning frustration.
The invasive I found is known as water lettuce and it has never been documented in La Crosse County. I forwarded a picture and location onto the invasive species coordinator for the Mississippi River. The lakes health this fall looks very poor, it is choked with weeds, rice and algae and it just looks and smells bad! It is in the worst state I have ever seen!
Weather: calm, overcast, 53°
H2O: 5’→, 20 kcfs, clear, 59°, miserable amount of floating weeds
Caught: Nothing
Since Scott and I had fairly good success fishing for bass yesterday I was hoping to continue on that success today. Well I did not happen. The fishing really sucked, the weeds really sucked and my motor really sucked! And to top it off I discovered a new invasive species of plant on the lake. Almost every cast was fouled by floating weeds, which just added fuel to my burning frustration.
The invasive I found is known as water lettuce and it has never been documented in La Crosse County. I forwarded a picture and location onto the invasive species coordinator for the Mississippi River. The lakes health this fall looks very poor, it is choked with weeds, rice and algae and it just looks and smells bad! It is in the worst state I have ever seen!
10-4-15 Sunday
10-4-15 Sunday 2:30 – 7 pm, myself and Scott fishing for bass and pike
Weather: (1653) E 6, overcast, 53°
H2O: 5’→, 20 kcfs, clear, 58°, floating weeds
Caught: Me: 1 pike, 1 rock bass, 7 large mouth bass
Scott: 2 small mouth bass, 6 large mouth bass
It was a fall Sunday afternoon fishing excursion with Scott. Our main target was bass and pike. We did succeed in finding both, but we lost more of the pike than we caught. We never did find any great concentration of either, but we did pick up a fish fairly regularly. The scattered fish we did contact were fairly aggressive.
We fished for the bass and pike out by the man made islands along the weed edge when we could find it. What I mean by that is the lake is terribly choked with weeds and it is very hard to find any area that has less than six feet of water that is not choked with weeds. We finished the last hour of daylight fishing for walleyes on the wing dams. We never did get any walleyes, but we did catch the rock bass and the small mouth bass off the rocks.
10-1-15 Sunday
10-1-15 Sunday 5:30 – 10:30 pm, myself and Scott cat fishing
Weather: (2053) E 6, clear, 54°
H2O: 5’→, 20 kcfs, clear, 62°
Caught: bait (bluegills and crappies), 1-8 lb flat head
It may well have been the last cat-fishing trip of the year. The air and the water temperatures are starting to take a dive and once the water temperatures fall below the mid fifties temperature the bite is pretty much over.
We started out in a side channel area in about twelve feet of water, but we had not bites there. We also tried another more main side channel spot and also struck out there. The one fish we did catch came from a main wintering area. We also had several other bites in this wintering hole.
Fall is starting to appear! The leaves area starting to change and we had our first frost last night. Also, the pan fish have started congregating in the dredge holes on the lake. The pan fish are there along with an army of greedy anglers.
Weather: (2053) E 6, clear, 54°
H2O: 5’→, 20 kcfs, clear, 62°
Caught: bait (bluegills and crappies), 1-8 lb flat head
It may well have been the last cat-fishing trip of the year. The air and the water temperatures are starting to take a dive and once the water temperatures fall below the mid fifties temperature the bite is pretty much over.
We started out in a side channel area in about twelve feet of water, but we had not bites there. We also tried another more main side channel spot and also struck out there. The one fish we did catch came from a main wintering area. We also had several other bites in this wintering hole.
Fall is starting to appear! The leaves area starting to change and we had our first frost last night. Also, the pan fish have started congregating in the dredge holes on the lake. The pan fish are there along with an army of greedy anglers.
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