Pool 7

Went out today (Saturday) about 8 AM… Returned home around Noon… Windy, cold (the heavy air went right to the bone)… Air temp ~50 degrees, water temperatures ranged from 40.5 – 42.2 depending on channel, creek, backwater, etc. Must have been 50 Walleye boats up under the Trempeleau Dam and surrounding wing and closing dams… could have played cards there were so many and in such tight quarters… The water has come up about 8″-10″ since fall and current is moving with dirty water the norm… however, it is *way* below where it should be this time of year… has me a bit concerned, given the low water and state of the river last year.

My buddy and I fished a little, mostly running around and just being glad to be on the water. Graphed fish in the places they should be this time of year, but to no avail did we hook any. Tryed Spinners, Rogues, Craws, Tubes, Rattle Traps, Lizards, C-Rigging, and even jiggin’. Oh well, with some more sun and warm temperatures, the water will get into the higher 40’s and they’ll start to turn on.

FYI: The Eye guys were commenting when we at the launch, some fish were being caught before light and NO ONE was catching anything after about 8:30 AM.

And so the year begins!

Here is my intent at being nice but after the bite I had on Sunday I fear it will be in vein.

First, How do you know the fish you were marking were anything more than just shad.

Next, what types of areas are you considering “Early Spots” and finally can you be more specific on what was happening. I would love to give some insight or try to learn from your experience but I am finding it hard to gain anything from your post. I don’t mean to be rash but I am irritated that the weather pattern has lent itself to week day fishermen. –Blasts- I need a nice day for both the fish and the fishermen. Spring can not come fast enough.

Jc

Jeremy, sounds like you needed to be in my boat this weekend

Amen to that Champman

You must have made it out saturday.
The fishing on sunday out of pool 10 was less than good. If it wern’t for the rain, falling temps, rising water, and dirty water everywhere I might not have froze my tail off and been able to enjoy part if it. I have made the 3 hour trip a couple times this year and every time I get the shaft from good old mother nature. Yep, I was and am still a little grumpy. I’ll try to restrain myself. I am happy for the guys who had a good time. The time between the end of winter and getting that first nice day to fall on a weekend I fear is getting the better of me.
jc

I was thinking of saying: “Grumpy old men should stay home. At least you were out on the **LIQUID** river rather than walking around on ice.”

But, then I decided NOT to post that…

Then, I decided to try this approach…Jeremy…and others…I apologize if my post wasn’t thorough enough…or, it was too vague. Perhaps a “formal” posting strategy and format should be established…

Seriously, to your point, I will try and place some clarity to the post.

First, how is anyone to know if what shows up on your electronics isn’t something other than the 5 lb bass you hope they are? I have 2 Garmin Fishfinders on my boat and the finder’s differentiate between small and large… both sizes were displayed… for all I know, what was displayed was “junk” floating in the water… some of it was for sure, but I doubt all of them were, especially given that the display had typical fish patterns of schooling fish (as well as isolated ones) in deeper holes, drop-offs, and typical staging areas. Anyone have any help on the subject of reading output on the graph?

To clarify my post, the weather on *Saturday* was cold, windy, and downright tough…but being on the water made it enjoyable. And, “throwing” after a long winter was truly enjoyable – all my reel repairs and maintance worked beautifully… With the 41 degree water, I trying the post-winter, pre-pre-pre-spawn locations… deeper points off sand and rocks for Smallies on the wind-blown sides… deep holes with little to no current in the backwaters near shallow mud flats for Largies. I tried shallow and deep near areas in the summer that are thick with vegetation. I tried near, around, and in wood that offered shallow areas with access to deep water for both species (backwaters and channels). I tried areas adjacent to wing dams that *will* hold fish… As previously stated, all areas were hit with a multitude of presentations, to no avail.

Hope this helps place clarity to my post.

And, Jeremy – no hard feelings, only hard tugs on the end of the line!!!

I sense and feel the frustration. We’re all struggling to get the season started but this weather won’t cooperate. I went to Red Wing on Saturday with my small boat and with the SE wind blowing up the channel we had really rough water. I launched down stream from the dam and just couldn’t range out. Yesterday I got the bass boat out and headed back to Red Wing. My first choice was an over-wintering spot that I need my small boat to get into but I didn’t want to get beat-up a second day. On the way to Red Wing I discover Lake Pepin is ice-free but the west wind is howling down the lake. I wanted to fish it but there was no way I could make the presentations I needed to catch the fish. It was good to be out and work out the kinks, but for the 2 days I got 1 smallie, 1 walleye, 1 northern and 2 carp. WHEN WIIL THE WIND STOP BLOWWING?????????
Champman, you seem to be hiding in the woods. What was happening in your boat?

i’ll just say it was about every cast in certain spots!

JC…..quit your job then

Champman… you do separate from the boys…

any chance of at least getting a pattern/presentation established??

“If I could make 200 dollars a day fishing, I’d quit my job!! “

Just the right words to say to this.

Hey, from my point of view, it be a fine idea to hire champman for a Sat. & Sun. trip.

Down South it’s $250.00/day, and every time I go out, I learn alot; what I learn is incredible! It’s saved me years of figuring & searching to come to the same conclusions that I did with a guide.

If you think about it a bit, it’s just like math. Why rediscover algebra when you can hire a tutor? Once you get an understanding of a given body of water, go out on your own & just get “tune-ups” when you need’em.

Thanks ,

Quote:

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Hey, from my point of view, it be a fine idea to hire champman for a Sat. & Sun. trip.

Down South it’s $250.00/day, and every time I go out, I learn alot; what I learn is incredible! It’s saved me years of figuring & searching to come to the same conclusions that I did with a guide.

If you think about it a bit, it’s just like math. Why rediscover algebra when you can hire a tutor? Once you get an understanding of a given body of water, go out on your own & just get “tune-ups” when you need’em.

Thanks ,

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Onthe water…if your asking me in a round about way to take ya fishing…I suppose I could

So, Just to clairfy. You were pulling fish just about every cast on Sunday…. Saturday the bite was good from the people I have talked to. Sunday I have to say that 5 or 6 bites in 5 hours was not what I was hoping for.
Pool 8 however has a nice protected area with warm water discharges making that area a much friendlier spring spot.
jc

The word from Martha Stewart is that Reaction type baits are key I think i’m gonna go BACK to some spots that might of had some ice on them a few weeks ago when i was out.

I hope to go check some areas on Wednesday that had ice and had many visuals of nice bass swimming around . Not sure how to catch them, but I am going to give it a whirl

Went out for a few hours today after work. I put in over at Dresbach (THANKS BLUE ) Checking things out on the river for this week. I was really surprised to see how fast the current is whipping through the sloughs and such. The wind was also a bit stronger than I had anticipated. I didn’t like the LMB scene while scouting so I went looking for some smallies instead. Found a couple. Nothing all that impressive, as you can see by the size of this fish. Had a few others about this size as well.

Oh yeah…almost forgot…I caught a White Bass and now i’m going to have to clean the carpet on my boat, HE was dripping Spawn all over the place. Looks like I spilled milk on the front deck of my boat. It was disgusting

This one is a little better:

I thought this one was going to go about 8lb’s….then i saw it.

Slop-Where did you put in on 7? It looks like you found some fish . This week looks to be very nice so the fish should be biting soon.

Went out of Black Deer this afternoon for a few hours after work today. Not alot to report. I managed a handful of short fish. All were caught on spinner baits. I tried the plastic but couldn’t get bit. It was real windy and there were quite a few boats out. My best locations were already full of bass boats. Oh well, it made me try some different areas. Weeds are really coming up strong so hopefully the topwater bite is about to really get going.