day 289 2-1-2010 Mon 76 to go

Day 289-76 to go
2-1-10 Mon
5:30PM-6:15PM

Weather: E5, light snow, 22°, 30.15 falling

Water conditions: 639.41’, falling, 13.2 kcfs, clear, 18"

Location

Mississippi R, Pool 7-Lake Onalaska (Half-Way Creek)

Caught

1. Crappie 10”, minnow

partners

None

Comments

Today I was not prepared for fishing: I did not have my boots or locator with me in the truck. My original plan was to fish below the dam for saugers. But since I did not have the proper attire or gear that idea was shelved.
The situation did not get much better with plan two. I came home and got my boots and minnows but forgot the locator. I was fishing deep water dead-sticking minnows for crappies and was pretty much lost without the locator. It reminded me of trying to tie on a fishing lure without my glasses; I may get lucky and tie the knot but the odds are not very good! I set the depth of the minnows in the water column the old fashioned way. I measured the depth of the water by contacting bottom with the lure then I measured it in arms lengths. I then would then set the minnow half-way down to the bottom, which was approximately two arms lengths.
Using this blind approach I was able to eek out one crappie in the first five minutes and that was it.