March 28, 2016 Mon. 530-7PM-pike and bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Brice Prairie area
Weather: (1753) calm, sunny, 58°
H2O: 8.46 ↓, 73 kcfs, 49-52 °, clear
Caught: Noting
Observations: Still not too much sign of spring from the plant life. However, I did see some water lily leaves starting to emerge from the muck in one of the back bays.
I was very hopeful that fishing would be fairly decent tonight. I figured with the warmer day and water temperatures shooting up 8-10 degrees I would have more action than yesterday, but it was not! I started out north of the chute and made my way south to Ashley Point, but I found not active fish.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
March 27, 2016 Sun
March 27, 2016 Sun. 330-7PM-pike and bass fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Brice Prairie area
Weather: (1653) NW10, overcast, 46°
H2O: 8.7 ↓, 75 kcfs, 42 °, clear
Caught: Almost one pike (lost boat side)
Observations: There is a ton of waterfowl around the river right now; the spring migrations are in full swing. The reed canary grass is staring to emerge on some of the islands and it is about one inch tall. The emerald ash borer beetles devastation is showing on the islands. I am no longer going to include the barometric pressure reading on my fishing reports, mainly because I have never seen a correlation between what it is doing and how well the fish are biting.
I fished for about two and one half hours tonight and explored an island for another hour. I did bring one medium sized pike boat side but was unable to land it. I don’t think I got a good hook set on it mainly because I was surprised to have gotten a bite.
The devastation from the emerald ash borer is very apparent on the islands. The woodpeckers have completely stripped the infested trees of their bark to get at the bugs. It doesn’t look like any ash trees will be spared!
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7, Brice Prairie area
Weather: (1653) NW10, overcast, 46°
H2O: 8.7 ↓, 75 kcfs, 42 °, clear
Caught: Almost one pike (lost boat side)
Observations: There is a ton of waterfowl around the river right now; the spring migrations are in full swing. The reed canary grass is staring to emerge on some of the islands and it is about one inch tall. The emerald ash borer beetles devastation is showing on the islands. I am no longer going to include the barometric pressure reading on my fishing reports, mainly because I have never seen a correlation between what it is doing and how well the fish are biting.
I fished for about two and one half hours tonight and explored an island for another hour. I did bring one medium sized pike boat side but was unable to land it. I don’t think I got a good hook set on it mainly because I was surprised to have gotten a bite.
The devastation from the emerald ash borer is very apparent on the islands. The woodpeckers have completely stripped the infested trees of their bark to get at the bugs. It doesn’t look like any ash trees will be spared!
Saturday, March 26, 2016
March 25, 2016 Sat.
March 25, 2016 Sat. 130-7PM-walleye fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 6, Winona Dam
Weather: (1453) S9, clear, 44°, 30.01→
H2O: 9.89 ↓, 79.7 kcfs, 42.5 °, clear
Caught: 1-15” sauger
Observations: The Gates are still open and water is very high. However, it is clear. The banks and hills are still snow covered from the snowfall the other day.
It was Good Friday and I had the day off, so that meant I was going fishing. Since the water was very high and the gates were open I did not expect much for action. But, as I look at it you never know. Sometimes I have some great fishing action when I least expect it.
If it had not been for the one sauger I caught the day would have been a complete blank. I was able to find some nice eddy spots with reduced current and fishable water, but the fish were either not biting or just were not there. It was a very slow day!
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
March 22, 2016 Tues.
March 22, 2016 Tues. 630-9PM-walleye fishing with Scott
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam
Weather: NW6, clear, 59°, 29.16↑
H2O: 10.76 ↑, 102 kcfs, 42 °, dingy
Caught: Me: 1-11” sauger, 4 walleyes 12-13”
Observations: The water is very high and dingy and all the gates are up.
I did not expect the fishing to be great tonight and it was not! Two weeks ago I thought we were going to have an early spring, but that has all changed. The weather has turned colder and is probably even a little below average as of late. In fact, as I write this we are experiencing a blizzard and the area is expected to get 7-12” of snow tonight!
The fishing was pretty slow, but I actually had more action than I thought I would have. I did miss quite a few bites and I think that was on account of the water being so dingy and the fish being unable to clearly see the lure. The river was raging along quite fast, but fishing was not to bad if you found a little current break and fished the slack side of it.
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam
Weather: NW6, clear, 59°, 29.16↑
H2O: 10.76 ↑, 102 kcfs, 42 °, dingy
Caught: Me: 1-11” sauger, 4 walleyes 12-13”
Observations: The water is very high and dingy and all the gates are up.
I did not expect the fishing to be great tonight and it was not! Two weeks ago I thought we were going to have an early spring, but that has all changed. The weather has turned colder and is probably even a little below average as of late. In fact, as I write this we are experiencing a blizzard and the area is expected to get 7-12” of snow tonight!
The fishing was pretty slow, but I actually had more action than I thought I would have. I did miss quite a few bites and I think that was on account of the water being so dingy and the fish being unable to clearly see the lure. The river was raging along quite fast, but fishing was not to bad if you found a little current break and fished the slack side of it.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
March 20, 2016 Sun
March 20, 2016 Sun. 7-8PM-walleye fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam off the wall
Weather: NW14, clear, 45°
Caught: 1-13” sauger
H2O: 10.11 ↑, 93 kcfs, ? °
Observations: The river is high and the gates are all open. The water at the upper landing is to the bottom of the turnaround curb. The lower landing is still useable. There is not too much sign of spring yet. The rhubarb along with the bleeding hearts are not barely starting to break the ground surface with their new growth.
Tonight I needed to get out a do a little bit of fishing someplace. I decided to keep the boat in the driveway and go the easy route and fish from shore. Well almost from shore. I went and fished off the wall at the Dresbach Dam. I caught one sauger in and hour. I possibly had another bite or two, but I am not totally sure about that. There were probably ten other fishermen fishing off the wall when I got there, and none of them were catching much. It looked like half were fishing for perch and the other half just didn’t know what they were doing.
Where: Mississippi R. pool 8, Dresbach Dam off the wall
Weather: NW14, clear, 45°
Caught: 1-13” sauger
H2O: 10.11 ↑, 93 kcfs, ? °
Observations: The river is high and the gates are all open. The water at the upper landing is to the bottom of the turnaround curb. The lower landing is still useable. There is not too much sign of spring yet. The rhubarb along with the bleeding hearts are not barely starting to break the ground surface with their new growth.
Tonight I needed to get out a do a little bit of fishing someplace. I decided to keep the boat in the driveway and go the easy route and fish from shore. Well almost from shore. I went and fished off the wall at the Dresbach Dam. I caught one sauger in and hour. I possibly had another bite or two, but I am not totally sure about that. There were probably ten other fishermen fishing off the wall when I got there, and none of them were catching much. It looked like half were fishing for perch and the other half just didn’t know what they were doing.
March 17, 2016 Thr
March 17, 2016 Thr. 7-730PM-bluegill fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: W15, 45°
Caught: 2 small bluegills
H2O: 7.88 ↑, 68 kcfs, ? °
It was a quick little outing behind the house again. I keep expecting to catch some bluegills but it has not yet happened. Usually from ice out to around mid-April the little bay next to the boat landing is loaded with gills. Not this year! I did catch a couple little ones and had some bites, but it is definetly not a normal year for that spot.
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: W15, 45°
Caught: 2 small bluegills
H2O: 7.88 ↑, 68 kcfs, ? °
It was a quick little outing behind the house again. I keep expecting to catch some bluegills but it has not yet happened. Usually from ice out to around mid-April the little bay next to the boat landing is loaded with gills. Not this year! I did catch a couple little ones and had some bites, but it is definetly not a normal year for that spot.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
March 15, 2016 Tues.
March 15, 2016 Tues. 5:30PM-6PM bluegill fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: E8, light rain, 49°, 29.58↓
Caught: nothing
H2O: 7.51 ↓, 64 kcfs, ? °
It was a quick walk behind the house to the river to see if any fish had moved in since last week. They had not! I did have a few bites, but I would have to say they were either small bluegills or shiner minnows.
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: E8, light rain, 49°, 29.58↓
Caught: nothing
H2O: 7.51 ↓, 64 kcfs, ? °
It was a quick walk behind the house to the river to see if any fish had moved in since last week. They had not! I did have a few bites, but I would have to say they were either small bluegills or shiner minnows.
March 12, 2016 Sun.
March 12, 2016 Sun. 9AM-230PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and Roxy and Nate and his dogs Ruger and AnnieWhere: Crivitz, WI
Weather: (1215) E15, mostly cloudy, 43°, trace of snow
Bagged: Me: 1 hare
Observations: The snow did not completely disappear yesterday, but it did get extensively reduced.
Today we started out in a small spruce and tamarack swamp. We had several runs started but the dogs could not sustain anything. I am not sure what they reason was but it did seem a little icy right away this morning.
Around mid morning we moved to some higher ground that we had ran at the end of the day yesterday. The area was composed mostly of a clear cut that was probably around six years old. Nate kept Ruger in the box at this spot and also for the rest of the day.
We had one great run here, with the dogs just screaming on the hare. After a rather long and successful run the hare fell to dose of lead from my 410 shot gun. I had seen the white bunny three different times before I was close enough to make the shot.
We tried a couple other spots before the long trek home. Unfortunately no more hares were raised. It is with both sadness and relief that this is my last hunt of the year. I am always worried running hares, because where there are hares there are wolves. I am very thankful that we had no run in with those big critters and my wonderful dogs are safe and at home.
March 12, 2016 Sat.
March 12, 2016 Sat. 930AM-5PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and Roxy and Nate and his dogs Ruger and Annie
Where: Crivitz, WI
Weather: (1215) W5, clear, 59°, trace of snow
Bagged: Nate: 1 hare
Observations: Most of the snow is gone except for the sheltered and shaded areas. The lakes are still locked up with ice here, and unfortunately the ticks are also out!
I traveled over to the northeastern part of the state this weekend for some hare hunting with Nate (member or the Ragged Rock Beagle Club). The first two spots we hunted were thick jack pine groves that Nate had hunted earlier in the year. Nate said earlier they were plenty of hare there, but they seemed to have left when the snow cover disappeared. The day was not great, but we did get three good runs in.
Where: Crivitz, WI
Weather: (1215) W5, clear, 59°, trace of snow
Bagged: Nate: 1 hare
Observations: Most of the snow is gone except for the sheltered and shaded areas. The lakes are still locked up with ice here, and unfortunately the ticks are also out!
I traveled over to the northeastern part of the state this weekend for some hare hunting with Nate (member or the Ragged Rock Beagle Club). The first two spots we hunted were thick jack pine groves that Nate had hunted earlier in the year. Nate said earlier they were plenty of hare there, but they seemed to have left when the snow cover disappeared. The day was not great, but we did get three good runs in.
March 9, 2016 Wed.
March 9, 2016 Wed. 6:30PM-930PM Walleye fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 Dresbach Dam
Weather: W10, 45°
Caught: approx. approximately 12 sauger and 3 walleye, kept 3 walleye and 3 sauger
H2O: 5.98↑, 44.6 kcfs, ? °
I started out fishing the area where the boats lock through. I was targeting areas with little to no current and the current seam next to the bull nose. I caught a couple of sauger and missed a couple of other bites, but the action was pretty slow here.
Next I moved out into the current along the wall from the second bull nose up to the restricted area. The current was quite strong here, but it was still fishable. The action was not red hot, but it was decent. About half the fish I caught here came from casting upstream and the other half came from casting downstream. The bites I did get were not subtle.
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 Dresbach Dam
Weather: W10, 45°
Caught: approx. approximately 12 sauger and 3 walleye, kept 3 walleye and 3 sauger
H2O: 5.98↑, 44.6 kcfs, ? °
I started out fishing the area where the boats lock through. I was targeting areas with little to no current and the current seam next to the bull nose. I caught a couple of sauger and missed a couple of other bites, but the action was pretty slow here.
Next I moved out into the current along the wall from the second bull nose up to the restricted area. The current was quite strong here, but it was still fishable. The action was not red hot, but it was decent. About half the fish I caught here came from casting upstream and the other half came from casting downstream. The bites I did get were not subtle.
March 8, 2016 Tues.
March 8, 2016 Tues. 5:30PM-6PM bluegill fishing
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: SW12, 30°
Caught: approx. 4 bluegills 4-6”
H2O: 5.93↑, 43.5 kcfs, ? °
Observations: All the sloughs and areas with current are fully open. The bay where I fished next to the landing is still ¾ covered with ice.
The back bay behind the house and next to the landing is still mostly ice covered, but I was able to fish between the ice and the shore. The fishing was really slow and the fish I did catch were quite small
Where: Mississippi R. pool 7 behind house
Weather: SW12, 30°
Caught: approx. 4 bluegills 4-6”
H2O: 5.93↑, 43.5 kcfs, ? °
Observations: All the sloughs and areas with current are fully open. The bay where I fished next to the landing is still ¾ covered with ice.
The back bay behind the house and next to the landing is still mostly ice covered, but I was able to fish between the ice and the shore. The fishing was really slow and the fish I did catch were quite small
Sunday, March 6, 2016
March 5, 2016 Sat
March 5, 2016 Sat. 8AM-230PM, ice fishing with co-worker Nate Hoffman//630PM-123OAM walleye fishing with Scott
Where: Ice fishing: Mississippi R. Goose Island//walleye fishing Trempealeau Dam
Weather: Ice fishing (1153): N10, overcast, 37°, 30.20↓, 10” of ice//walleye fishing (2053): S6, overcast 35°, 30.21↓
H20: 6.08↓, 46.1kcfs, 34°, clear
Caught: ice fishing: Nate-22” northern, me-nothing//walleye fishing: me-approx. 15 walleyes/sauger, Scott: approx. 20 walleye/sauger, kept 10
Observations: All the areas on the river with any amount of current are ice-free. Most of the snow is gone. Sheltered areas with not current and adequate depth for pan fish wintering areas are disappearing.
The first trip of the day was an ice fishing trip with one of my co-workers. The late winter ice conditions were just perfect to make it to a couple of the remote spots I like to fish when the sloughs are ice-free. With the open water I am able to take a boat to get to these spots. Whereas in the winter it is either dangerous to walk to them or the distance makes it prohibitive. Unfortunately I had issues with my motor and the boat to idea was scrapped. We did try a couple other areas around Goose Island that we could walk to. Unfortunately we only caught on fish. In retrospect this trip really sucked!
I wasn’t home for ten minutes from my ice fishing misadveventures , when I got a text from Scott asking me to go walleye fishing. I decided what the hell, even though I was tired and discouraged I needed to get some good fishing in. The fishing started out slow, but gradually improved as the night went on. It ended up being a late and tiring night, but the action was pretty decent.
Where: Ice fishing: Mississippi R. Goose Island//walleye fishing Trempealeau Dam
Weather: Ice fishing (1153): N10, overcast, 37°, 30.20↓, 10” of ice//walleye fishing (2053): S6, overcast 35°, 30.21↓
H20: 6.08↓, 46.1kcfs, 34°, clear
Caught: ice fishing: Nate-22” northern, me-nothing//walleye fishing: me-approx. 15 walleyes/sauger, Scott: approx. 20 walleye/sauger, kept 10
Observations: All the areas on the river with any amount of current are ice-free. Most of the snow is gone. Sheltered areas with not current and adequate depth for pan fish wintering areas are disappearing.
The first trip of the day was an ice fishing trip with one of my co-workers. The late winter ice conditions were just perfect to make it to a couple of the remote spots I like to fish when the sloughs are ice-free. With the open water I am able to take a boat to get to these spots. Whereas in the winter it is either dangerous to walk to them or the distance makes it prohibitive. Unfortunately I had issues with my motor and the boat to idea was scrapped. We did try a couple other areas around Goose Island that we could walk to. Unfortunately we only caught on fish. In retrospect this trip really sucked!
I wasn’t home for ten minutes from my ice fishing misadveventures , when I got a text from Scott asking me to go walleye fishing. I decided what the hell, even though I was tired and discouraged I needed to get some good fishing in. The fishing started out slow, but gradually improved as the night went on. It ended up being a late and tiring night, but the action was pretty decent.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
March 1, 2016 Tues
March 1, 2016 Tues. 5PM-6PM, ice fishing by myself
Where: Mississippi R. lower landing at the Dresbach Dam
Weather: NW9, clear, 21°, 30.07↑, 12” of ice
Caught: nothing
I was on a brief scouting trip after work tonight. The fishing was not good and the wind was very cold. I did mark a few fish and managed to miss a couple of bites, but I believe they were just small perch judging by their actions. Sometimes this area will hold a good number of decent sized crappies, but today was not the day.
Observations: All the areas of the river with any amount of current are now ice free. However the sheltered areas still have an adequate amount of ice to easily support a fisherman.
Where: Mississippi R. lower landing at the Dresbach Dam
Weather: NW9, clear, 21°, 30.07↑, 12” of ice
Caught: nothing
I was on a brief scouting trip after work tonight. The fishing was not good and the wind was very cold. I did mark a few fish and managed to miss a couple of bites, but I believe they were just small perch judging by their actions. Sometimes this area will hold a good number of decent sized crappies, but today was not the day.
Observations: All the areas of the river with any amount of current are now ice free. However the sheltered areas still have an adequate amount of ice to easily support a fisherman.
Feb 27, 2016 Sat
. 10AM-5PM, snowshoe hare hunting with Zeta and RoxyWhere: Hannibal, WI
Weather: S 11, clear, 45°, 6” wet melting snow
Bagged: 3 hares
My once a weekend rabbit and hare hunts are winding down and soon they will be over for the season. The morning started out cold with some very crusty snow conditions. On account of the crusty snow and the possible damage it would do to the dog’s feet, I elected to do a little scouting for the first hour and a half. I did not find too much for sign and in the limited run time for the dogs they never located a hare.
Around noon I headed to a know spot with and abundance of hares. When I got to m first spot I made the mistake of trying to get off the road too far and ended up going into the abyss of a snow filled ditch. Since the dogs and myself were chomping at the bit to hunt, I said screw it and put off the inevitable of getting unstuck for a later time. In a very short time frame the girls had a hare up and running. After a two-hour chase and two missed shots the hare finally succumbed to the birdshot fired from my simplistic single shot .410 shotgun.
Now it was time to pony up and suffer the consequences of my misguided judgment. After two hours of digging and a rutted up ditch the truck was still unable to get enough grip to crawl out of the ditch. Just at the time I had given up in frustration and exhaustion a lost sales man comes along asking me for directions. I told him there was nothing down the road he was going but a dead end and a very probable situation just like the one I was in. Then he asks “and how is your day”! Not worth a shit was my reply.
The salesman Ryan gave me a ride back to the beginning of the road and to the nearest house with a big truck sitting in the garage. I was hoping to get lucky and find a sympathetic person to hopefully improve my day somewhat. Luckily I landed at the right spot and Dean was both sympathetic and very helpful. Dean had a big old diesel Ford and the big powerful truck hardly even strained as it pulled me up and out of the ditch. I tried to send Dean on his way with a couple of twenties, but he just laughed and said “are you serious”. Finally after some insisting on my part he agreed to take a single twenty but only if I gave it to his 8 year old co-pilot that was riding shot gun on this adventure.
I ended the almost perfect day with another two hours of beagle music and two more hares.
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