Where to go this week-9, 10, 11, 12?

The vacation tank here at the office needs to be bled off a little.

So, with all this warmer weather and rain, I am getting pumped up to head to the big river. I remember last year there was an excellent bite below the dam in Bellevue in that first week of the “opener”, which I missed out on because of prior committments. Once I made it out there, they had opened the gates (due to melting ice and rain) and it took me all day to find the fish about a mile or so downstream of where they were ealier in the week. Its the classic, “should have been there yesterday” story, but any day away from the the office is a good day, in my book!

So, professional guides, retirees, lottery winners, college students, and the self employed-speak up! Help those of us stuck working our lives away by sharing some intel on where the fishies are biting!

I heard some good reports coming in from Guttenberg and up in Lynxville, about a week or so ago.

I’m debating whether I head up there or stick with Bellevue or maybe even try fishing below the dam in Dubuque. Bellevue and Dubuque will likely be crowded, but crowds on openers don’t seem to bother me as much as they do at other times of the year. There is something about it that is almost festive.

Regards,

Joe

Rain or shine I will be at Bellvue chasing some eyes for the opener………Thursday can get here soon enough but this cold weather is also good as I have the last week in March off and that might be perfect if the weather warms up after this week. The water temp was 38 degrees yesterday so Im sure it will drop after the weather we will have this week. Guttenberg is slow but u can catch fish……..

I will be back up at black hawk this weekend for sure wether they are having a walleye tournament or not. Caught alot of fish up there yesterday.

Fished Lynxville Sat. and caught good size male walleyes(16-18″) but not a lot of numbers. Great day to be out anyway. Probably head back up Tues. of Wed. regardless of weather. Good Luck to ya!!

Sounds like things are picking up here and there. The days are much noticeably longer, and with more daylight to warm the waters combined with rain, the fish should be starting to move off some their winter haunts.

Luke had a nice report on da Gut’. Really any of these pools can have their days, beyond that, the scenery along river and squeal of the eagles soaring overhead is sometime therapy enough!

The Bellevue pool (13) is one that I really wished to fish some more of last year. I only made a couple of trips out there and really liked it-looked like it had a lot of potential. From where I live in east-central Iowa, it is almost a wash if I want to drive to Guttenberg clear down to Muscatine, because of how the river curves and where the pavement is. Its more or less the same drive, +/- 30 minutes. Dubuque and Bellevue are probably the closest, in that particular stretch of river, to my house.

Our new house is finally complete and we have moved in. Most of my free time last year was spent studying house plans with my wife, interviewing general contractors, and selecting building materials. I think I dropped the ‘ole war pig in the river all of 3 times. In 2004, it was easily closer to 20 times!

But, with my growing family, we needed a new house; and now in 2006, I should have some more opportunities to get out.

Decisions, Decisions…

I am thinking it might be Bellevue for me, this Friday…