8-28-2011 Sun
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM / 6:00 – 10:30 PM
H2O: 6.17 falling, 37.2 kcfs, 74 ˚, clear
Weather: SE 3, clear, 64 ˚, 29.96 rising
Location: Mississippi R. Pool 7
Caught: Bluegills for bait / Troy 2 flat heads ( 5 & 20 lb.) myself 1 flat head (10 lb.)
Partners: Troy
Comments
Today was a chore day most of day, but I did sneak out around three for a couple hours of fishing before I was to meet up with Troy. However the fishing never really happened. I ended up having goat boat problems. Luckily the motor died very close to the landing and I was able to fish my way back in with the trolling motor.
That evening Troy and I went out for some flat head fishing. Troy and I were quite common fishing partners, but this was the first time together this year. We caught ample bait and set up on a main channel wing dam for the first set up of the night. We did not have any action here, but I did make us up some great grub that consisted of steak and foiled potatoes on the grill.
Our next set up was the spot where Scott and I had such good action the other night. Troy and I did not have fantastic action here, but we caught two and missed one other. The final spot of the night was Somners where we finished of the night with Troy catching a twenty pounder.
Observations
The weather has been about as close to perfect as you it can get, the only downfall is the mosquitoes think it is also. I don’t ever recall seeing this many of the needle- mouthed pricking blood suckers.
Monday, August 29, 2011
8-27-11 Sat
8-27-2011 Sat
2:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 652.07 falling, 38.8 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: W 8, clear, 80 ˚, 30.02 steady (1553)
Location: Mississippi R. Fountain City
Caught: lots of bluegills and a few small SMB
Partners: Jake and Mark Tupper
Comments
Jake’s son Mark got his revenge on us today. Generally this kid is unable to scoop minnows out of a full minnow bucket, but today he showed his dad and me how to catch bass. He is generally so unlucky at fishing we constantly throw a few jabs his way when we area catching fish and he is not. In fact he is so unlucky his grandfather hooked him in the face a couple weeks ago with a crank bait and he had to have surgery to remove it from his eye. But today his catch of largemouth bass was impressive.
You would think after an experience like that the kid would be as nervous as a minnow in a fish tank with full of piranha’s. But he did not even flinch or think about his past unpleasant experience.
This was only the second time I had fished this pool and I was quite impressed with it. The pool has an awful lot of back channels and bays to explore, and the size of the bluegills we caught was very impressive! As an added bonus the town has a nice bar and grill right off the water and the service and food hit the spot for three hungry fishermen.
Observations
Except for a large amount of fishermen fishing close to the state park, this pool seems to get pretty light fishing pressure.
2:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 652.07 falling, 38.8 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: W 8, clear, 80 ˚, 30.02 steady (1553)
Location: Mississippi R. Fountain City
Caught: lots of bluegills and a few small SMB
Partners: Jake and Mark Tupper
Comments
Jake’s son Mark got his revenge on us today. Generally this kid is unable to scoop minnows out of a full minnow bucket, but today he showed his dad and me how to catch bass. He is generally so unlucky at fishing we constantly throw a few jabs his way when we area catching fish and he is not. In fact he is so unlucky his grandfather hooked him in the face a couple weeks ago with a crank bait and he had to have surgery to remove it from his eye. But today his catch of largemouth bass was impressive.
You would think after an experience like that the kid would be as nervous as a minnow in a fish tank with full of piranha’s. But he did not even flinch or think about his past unpleasant experience.
This was only the second time I had fished this pool and I was quite impressed with it. The pool has an awful lot of back channels and bays to explore, and the size of the bluegills we caught was very impressive! As an added bonus the town has a nice bar and grill right off the water and the service and food hit the spot for three hungry fishermen.
Observations
Except for a large amount of fishermen fishing close to the state park, this pool seems to get pretty light fishing pressure.
8-26-11 Fri
8-26-2011 Fri
7:00 PM – 11:45 PM
H2O: 6.5 falling, 46 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: NW 3, clear, 74 ˚
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 main channel areas
Caught: bluegills (bait), Scott 2 flatheads and myself one, none of the fish were big
Partners: Scott
Comments
Scott and I got a late start catching bluegills, but we did get plenty. The only bad part was I wished we had been able to start flat head fishing about one half hour sooner. I picked a spot that I had never fished for flat heads before, but it had a good combination of depth and wood and it was close to the main channel.
It did not take long to see that I had chosen wisely. We had action almost instantly and it lasted for about an hour. The only thing is we did not have much to show for our efforts. We definitely had plenty of action and missed most of the bites. Scott committed a major blunder; he lost a decent fish close to the boat when his knot on the hook came un-tied. I think it made him feel like he had lost a major race because he ran out of gas in his race car, but yet he had not filled up his tank before the race started.
We tried four spots, and fished all but the first one for no more than thirty minutes. I have a new philosophy for flat head fishing now; except for the first spot of the night, do not camp in one location and move every half hour.
Observations
The flow is coming down and the water is getting clearer.
7:00 PM – 11:45 PM
H2O: 6.5 falling, 46 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: NW 3, clear, 74 ˚
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 main channel areas
Caught: bluegills (bait), Scott 2 flatheads and myself one, none of the fish were big
Partners: Scott
Comments
Scott and I got a late start catching bluegills, but we did get plenty. The only bad part was I wished we had been able to start flat head fishing about one half hour sooner. I picked a spot that I had never fished for flat heads before, but it had a good combination of depth and wood and it was close to the main channel.
It did not take long to see that I had chosen wisely. We had action almost instantly and it lasted for about an hour. The only thing is we did not have much to show for our efforts. We definitely had plenty of action and missed most of the bites. Scott committed a major blunder; he lost a decent fish close to the boat when his knot on the hook came un-tied. I think it made him feel like he had lost a major race because he ran out of gas in his race car, but yet he had not filled up his tank before the race started.
We tried four spots, and fished all but the first one for no more than thirty minutes. I have a new philosophy for flat head fishing now; except for the first spot of the night, do not camp in one location and move every half hour.
Observations
The flow is coming down and the water is getting clearer.
8-25-11 Thr
8-25-2011 Thr
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 6.47 falling, 45.2 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: NW 4, clear, 74 ˚
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 Somners Chute, main channel and Hammond
Caught: six SMB all small except for one 17”, bluegills 2 (caught on crankbait)
Partners: none
Comments
Tonight was going to be the first night of a regular Thursday night fishing get- together with some fellow employees from Holmen. Well, the get together did not happen. The other two could not make if for various reasons, so I said the hell with them and went out by myself. The night ended up being pretty much a bust. The fish were not active and the ones I did catch were small.
One advantage of fishing with other people is you are able to throw a variety of baits and presentations at the fish and figure out what is or is not working much more quickly. The down side of fishing with others is you have more of a Democratic situation and you may not always get to fish what and where you want!
Observations
None
5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 6.47 falling, 45.2 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: NW 4, clear, 74 ˚
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 Somners Chute, main channel and Hammond
Caught: six SMB all small except for one 17”, bluegills 2 (caught on crankbait)
Partners: none
Comments
Tonight was going to be the first night of a regular Thursday night fishing get- together with some fellow employees from Holmen. Well, the get together did not happen. The other two could not make if for various reasons, so I said the hell with them and went out by myself. The night ended up being pretty much a bust. The fish were not active and the ones I did catch were small.
One advantage of fishing with other people is you are able to throw a variety of baits and presentations at the fish and figure out what is or is not working much more quickly. The down side of fishing with others is you have more of a Democratic situation and you may not always get to fish what and where you want!
Observations
None
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
8-23-11 Tue
8-23-2011 Tue
6:00 PM – 10:30 PM
H2O: 6.75 falling, 49.6 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: S7, clear, 77 ˚, 29.68 falling
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 side channels directly off the main channel
Caught: Lots of bluegills for bait / Dillon – 10 lb. flat head, Tim – 20.5 & 27 lb. flat head
Partners: Tim and Dillon Leis
Comments
Tonight I was taking a co – worker and his son for some flat head action. Dillon is going into the fourth grade this fall and he has plenty of energy. When I met the father and son team at the landing I could tell Dillon was loaded with excitement. He told me he likes to fish and he was very excited to be going.
We started off fishing for bluegills at a spot I had discovered the other night. Dillon was the main bait catcher, and poor dad could not get the fish off quick enough and of course never did get to fish for bluegills himself.
After catching plenty of gills for bait, I decided it was time to give dad a little fishing time for bass. Of course, Dillon strongly objected to this. It is hard for a young boy to leave a spot where the fish are almost jumping into the boat to go into the unknown and possibly not catch any fish. We fished for bass for about thirty minutes with very limited success, but at least Tim was able to make a cast or two.
We started off flat head fishing a large scour hole on a side channel off the main channel. Tonight was a special night and I was grilling burgers and potatoes in foil. I knew we would eat well and with any luck we would catch a flat sometime during the grilling process. After about thirty minutes of fishing and grilling it was fish on. Since Dillon was the youngest guest on the boat I handed the rod and tugging fish to him. I soon realized he needed immediate assistance or else the pole or both he and the pole were headed for the deep. After a brief battle with a broken reel our first flat was smiling for the camera. Dillon was quite apprehensive of these large creatures of the deep and did not want to get any closer to the fish than he absolutely had to.
After a nice meal I decided it was time to pack the poles in and move to another spot. Just as we were getting ready to organize things before bringing the poles in one of them got slammed. The sound was unmistakable, it was a definite hit and it was done with some force. Tim handled the fish perfectly during the brief battle. Shortly Tim, Dillon and the not so happy flat head were posing for the camera.
Our final spot resulted in Tim bringing the largest fish for the night boat side. For the final portrait Dillon was calmer and more settled down and not quit so cautious of the fish.
It ended up being a very successful night with all three of us having a very good time. Tim told me the next day that Dillon was just a jabbering about the fishing trip all the way home. I always enjoy taking young kids and others who are not as fortunate as I am to experience the wonders of the Mississippi!
Observations
The largemouth bass along with the baitfish have pretty much vacated the Hammond Chute area.
8-22-11 Mon
8-22-2011 Mon
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 7.0 falling, 53.5 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: S9, clear, 82 ˚, 29.93 falling
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 back water areas
Caught: Lots of bluegills
Partners: none
Comments
I was out searching for gills tonight. I always need to find a new supply spot for my flat head fishing trips.
A person can pretty much find gills everywhere, but the nicer ones seem to be in wood cover just off the main flow of current. One thing I have learned during the quest for pan fish; if you do not catch fish almost immediately, move on!
Observations
The wild rice is quite thick and the majority of it is in the tassel stage.
7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
H2O: 7.0 falling, 53.5 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: S9, clear, 82 ˚, 29.93 falling
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 back water areas
Caught: Lots of bluegills
Partners: none
Comments
I was out searching for gills tonight. I always need to find a new supply spot for my flat head fishing trips.
A person can pretty much find gills everywhere, but the nicer ones seem to be in wood cover just off the main flow of current. One thing I have learned during the quest for pan fish; if you do not catch fish almost immediately, move on!
Observations
The wild rice is quite thick and the majority of it is in the tassel stage.
8-21-11 Sun
8-21-2011 Sun
6:30 AM – 10:00 AM / 5:00 PM – 11:30 PM
H2O: 7.17’ falling, 55.9 kcfs, 75 ˚, clear
Weather: AM – N5, clear, 66 ˚, 30.03 steady / PM – NW7, clear, 74 ˚, 30.00 rising
Location: Mississippi R. pool 7 Minnesota side of channel am / Hammond Chute and Somner’s PM
Caught: AM – 6 SMB 10 -16”, 2 pike 22 & 36”, 8” bluegill (caught on crank bait), 15” LMB,
PM – All of us - Lots of gills and perch for bait, myself – 24”pike, Chris – 2 LMB 14-15”, 15lb flat head
Partners: Roger and Chris Fish
Comments
Tonight I was taking another customer and his son out for a little catting adventure. We were able to catch our bait in a relatively short time, so we were did some pike and bass fishing until it was time for the cats to start prowling.
The bass and pike fishing have really slowed down in the Hammond Chute area. I am thinking with the reduced flow on the river, the fish are starting to move into the main channel areas.
Flat head fishing was also very slow. We did not even get a hit at my favorite wing dam up by Hammond Chute. We ended up finishing the night off fishing Somners and our only fish did not show up for the party till 11:30 pm.
Observations
The river is still making it march downward from being into the trees to settling into its banks.
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