With the weekend came a need to wet a line. Weary of the long rides to the big river, I decided to dump my boat a mere 10 minutes south of my home and fish the Cedar from Palisades Kepler to the route 1 bridge. After devouring some provisions from the Casey’s here in Mount Vernon, we headed to the ramp and were on the water by 7:30. It proved to be a long morning. 
The area within the park, especially below the ruins of the breached dam is a well known neighborhood catfish spot. I had heard 50,000 walleye fingerlings were stocked annually so we decided to troll cranks to survey the river. Other than a few exciting snags, nothing seemed interested. We concentrated on rocky shelves, deep holes, and some shallow sand dunes near drop-offs with nothing to show for our efforts. 
After spending 3 hours within the first 1/2 mile below the dam, we decided to float downriver; convinced that the area was devoid of gamefish. Targeting other potential spots similarly failed to produce. Nearing 1PM, we slowly headed upstream. This is a wild river with no channel markers, hence the slow progress as we struggled to keep at least 3′ of water below the boat.
Some surface activity near some snags drew our attention. I slow trolled a small jig near the branches and got my first bite of the day! 
We continued to see surface action near the snags, but were unable to entice a fish to hold on. I figured these must have been some sort of panfish. If we had some waxworms or crawlers, we may have been able to do something.
I’m not gonna give up yet. We’ll try her again… 
Regards,
Joe Jiacinto