12.7 At La Crosse? what’s up with that?

11.7 by Saturday! 12.7 predicted. What’s that going to do to the fishing?

What’s that going to do to the fishing? I suggest you find a different hobby for a while. Anything over 10 ft and the river goes to ‘NO WAKE ZONE’. If you know of any good inland waters now would be a good time to fish them. The river is gonna get high fast and probably dirty.

Didn’t realize the river went to wake as I was planning on fishing it this weekend. Is this the entire Upper Miss or just below the Dresbach Dam.

For the most part it is all the river in the area. I’m not real sure how it relates from pool to pool. It sucks big time that river is coming up. But a no wake zone in high water helps prevent erosion.

A no wake rule in High water helps prevent erosion. I might be off base but I don’t think anything my boat can do holds a candle to what mother nature is doing right now… Unless of course you are talking about the erosion of flowerbeds and parking signs.

Pray for dry days ahead.. Maybe these spawning fish will have a good success this year!
jc

I just called Tri-State bait shop in La Cresent and they told me that fishing today Weds. (05/13)is good (8 on a scale of 1-10). Tri-State tells me that the level is 8′ today and expected to crest to 9.8′ on Sat. Their prediction is that fishing on Thurs. and Fri. should be OK. Sat. may be iffy and rain is predicted on Sun.

I live in Chicago and plan on fishing the river Thurs (05/15) thru Sun (05/18). From Chicago its 5 hr drive. I have been looking forward to this fishing trip, but I don’t want make the trip if the river is unfishable. Will I be able to fish the river this weekend? Please give me your opinion/predictions. Thanks for you input.

Did you really think a bait shop would say.”The fishing sucks dont bother.” Good luck..

Stay home Joe. I’m from the Chicago area also. I came up Sunday to get my boat ready for the season and do some fishing. I didn’t launch because of the high water and its going higher yet in the next couople of days. Minnesota has had 3.89 inches of rain so far this month. Normal for the month of May is 1.10 inches. Save yourself a trip. I e-mailed my wife and told her I’ll be home early.

LK

Joey D,

I’ve known Bob at Tri-State Bait for at least 15 years and he would tell you they are killing the fish in the river even if the river had dried up and blew away. He’s a salesman and he sells bait. He will tell you what you want to hear. I don’t want to tell you to not come up. But it is pretty ugly up here. It’s only going to get worse. The forecast for the river has it at about 11.5ft on sat. Take it for what it is worth. Good luck if you come up.

On a side note, my comment about preventing erosion was based on the boats travelling up and down the river. The waves some of those boats throw can do some real damage to yards and beaches. Granted it doesn’t hold a candle to what Ol’ Ma Nature is doing but it does help. How would you like to have your yard covered in water up to your doorstep and have one of those big tuna boats come cruising by throwing a 3 ft wake. No thanks!

Tom you are cracking me up. I was really making fun of regulations. I think shoring up the bank with riprap would be better. I have to admit that I forgot about “idiots”. You make a good point. I would hate to see one throwing wake over my deck and eroding my tulips.
The ironical part is that this is all our fault in the first place. Funny how things come full circle.
jc

Blue Fleck although I amazed he even said what he said was stating his opinion about BOB. Although I have never known him well enough to call him a close friend he has gone out of his way many times to find out and get this and that that I needed, Willow Cats, ETC. Since there are about thirty bait shops in the area I fail to see the profit to him in lying. Furthermore for those of us that spend the time to chat with him and ask for details he often has excellent tips on the bite and exact locations and presentations. So that no one thinks I have a hidden agenda here Bob has only sent one guide trip to me in three years.
I guide on 8 and 9 and we are still catching fish. The bass have slowed down a bit with almost no clear water they aren’t going to get any better. I have already rebooked or moved all my Mississippi trips, (one I haven’t reached), through next Tuesday. Each day through then the fishing will probably get worse. But very nice fish will be had during that time, it is just much harder, and at some point unsafe.

You know what, I know Bob well enough to call him a friend. A very good friend that has done a lot of favors for me also. Including allowing me to work for him at that bait shop for over 10 yrs. What I posted may have come across to you as slanderous but rest assured I meant no ill will. I did NOT call him a liar. Like I said, he is a salesperson making a living selling bait and tackle. Of course he is not going to tell someone to come up. That is turning away a sale. Maybe next time when I post a comment like Quote: “he would tell you they are killing the fish in the river even if the river had dried up and blew away.” I should put one of these next to it. Then that way you would know I was trying to make light of the situation. What I posted about the fishing conditions is true. It is ugly and getting worse. How do you think JoeyD would have felt if he had driven all that way to come up here only to find The Mighty Miss. has turned into a large chocolate shake. mmm…chocolate (see that was humor)