Pool 8-9 last 4 days

What a forgetable last four days I have had… First Neil(A GUIDE CUSTOMER AND TOURNEY SUBSTITUTE), and I blanked(not a fish over 13 inches that made it to the boat all day!!!!) in the BWS.. Fishing the exact same areas Terry and Jack had fished with me the day before,(14#s for 6 fish losing two more larger fish not included in the 14#s) ),….. as if that was not bad enough we both were so disgusted that we went right back to fishing. We found the way back up that creek channel I mentioned I couldn’t get a boat up alone. He put on a Berkley Finesse worm like he had used previously that day…dropped down three times and before I even was ready to fish we had 2 keepers. Now that was real tough to take… we both put our equipment away…went and picked up a canoe and explored that creek and two others through the rain.. until Dark with no rods and reels. Neil has stayed three more days and fished catching 5-9 respectable fish a day.

But here’s the BIG OUCH…. DURING THAT 4 DAY PERIOD I HAVE NOT CAUGHT A SINGLE LEGAL BASS MYSELF. NEIL HAS CAUGHT NICE FISH BUT I HAVEN’T CAUGHT A SINGLE BASS OVER 13 INCHES IN 4 DAYS. Yah sure I was guiding and try to let him front end me and get the best shots at the spots , but I still fished at least 50% of the time without a keeper myself . So the next time anybody is feeling bad about a bad tourney finish or an unbelievable dry spell…remember two things…this post…… and that the alternative would have been to not be fishing at all.

I have never been happier to see small keepers come into the boat in my life. None big enough to finish high at Ace tourney tonight, but the jinx is broken.

thanks for the straight skinny !!! My place at Genoa is screaming my name…but no point in just heading that way for little stream trout. Guess its gonna have to be lakes for a few more days. Here’s a question for ya : what do you think the OPTIMUM POOL LEVEL is for good bassin on 8 and 9 ? Liiks to me like we’re still a good 2-3 feet over ideal river levels. Whaddya think ?

First I should tell you that last night brought 3-4 inches or more in many local areas. The Badaxe, and especially the three streams near Genoa were dumping trees and limbs by the hundreds into the river and that little creek bt Engns was not only full but roaring like a whitewater rapids,(no exageration).

Three feet ago it was a lot of fun. I like the river at everything from about 3 feet below flood stage right down to water like we had part of last year when the backwaters were real shallow and the fish were pushed closer to the channel. I’m really a shallow rocks and wood guy and there are nice shallow rocks in the depths above. Just at different locations. Bass have just started to show up for me at summer locations, and from the spots I hear the guys are catching them now I would say the majority of the larger fish are still in early transition from the spawn and we believe we had a female and two males actually still on the bed Tuesday???? She was huge and the two males weren’t any slouches themselves.
To be quite honest we are catching northern,bass and walleye everyday,(there for a few days they just weren’t on my rod).. There are also some real nice Bass being caught by others. I have the unique job of trying to match, skills,safety,species preference and equipment so there are places I just don’t feel comfortable with guide customers. That in turn means I have very little time to go find the big bass or scout new locations with no time between guide trips. I pretty much have to rely on similar conditions in previous years if I am going to find a new area. Walleye are in the right spots for me but the Bass aren’t.