High Water Strategies

Pitched jigs and threw cranks around Pepin a bit on Friday with not too much going on. The same sauger pattern seemed to be intact, with people pulling just offshore quite a bit on both the WI and MN sides. Not much in the way of high water yet at that point, in fact it was quite low, but muddying rapidly. By now, I’m guessing it looks like a swell of chocolate milk you could ride a surfboard down.

Given the stable weather it looks like we’ll be seeing from the extended forecast, about how long before you start putting high-water tactics into play? Has the water flooded enough willows yet for folks to be moving that shallow? I’m hopeful it gets high enough and stays there awhile to put some different looks into play.

Joel

The water is high enough to crank flooded willows, but the color of the water, at least on the north half of pool 4 is crap. In a day or two the only what to catch a walleye on the north half of pool 4 would be dynamite i think. Hope I am wrong. Hope people prove me wrong. Good luck.

Even Friday fishing a jig was getting difficult. Lots of debris and color to it. Can only imagine what it looks like right now! Hopefully the water stays and color fades.

Joel

We caught fish Saturday and Sunday shallow in the river pitching or draggin jigs. You just had to find clean water though, she was chocolate milk. Our fish from Saturday moved or couldn’t see what we had down there in that mud water, but we found some in a little cleaner area.

Buds we were with did a little trolling on Pepin and did decent on the south half. Head of lake/Baycity was chocolate milk also though and we pulled there for a bit with nothing to show for it.

I wouldnt give it very long. 2 to 3 days or rising water and its time to start checking those high water spots. It doesnt take long in changing conditions and the fish struggling to find food that they are hungry again.

The best part of high water fishing is getting to fish areas that you dont get to fish for most of the year.