bellevue

Just wondering does the opener start wed. or thurs at the dam? Any info would be appreciated, thanks.

Closed through Wednesday and open for fishing finally on Thursday. I will be one of the hundred boats there. I hope there isnt that many but Im sure there will be plenty..Good luck and should be fun weather permitting. There was a 40 % chance of snow on the forecast….

I am going to wait a few days after “the opener” before hitting Bellevue. Partly because I have other stuff to do, but also because the weather is going to be cold (I don’t like cold fronts in the spring, and neither do the fish), plus I am betting there will be about sixty boats out there. In another week or two the water should warm up and the fish will respond, and the crowds will thin out a little during the week. It might be fun to be at Bellevue, Dubuque, or Clinton this Thursday morning to watch the boat ramp follies, though.

Vike:

You’ve fished around these parts to know plenty more than me.

Just a quick story on my Bellevue experience last year, I think I posted something about it; it may even be archived.

Gianni and I were busy with other things so we missed the opener. We headed up the following Monday or Tuesday, if memory serves me correctly. The weather was perfect, and there were still easily 20+ boats on that morning.

Earlier in the night, unknown to us (plus it wouldn’t have mattered-we already had plans and wife approval) they opened the gates up and drastically changed the flow. Traumatized was out there in his boat that day as well

The fishing was S-L-O-W, to say the least. The previous week, reports of limits were common. It took us nearly the whole day to finally find some fish on a channel edge downstream of the dam. I can visualize the spot in my head, but down’t remember if it was a 1/2 mile or more. I think its programmed in the GPS. Of course, we needed to head home by the time we got on ’em! In hindsight, it makes sense that the fish would have drifted to rock piles and gravel banks downstream, out of the main channel and stronger current.

Anyhow, conditions change and it seems the bite below the dam is tied to the flow as much as it is to weather and anything else-stuff we all sorta know, I guess.

I’d watch that flow closely; if it changes much on the day of a trip, if the dam is slow, head downstream just a little bit and see what’s up.

I suppose some of the “incidents” at the ramp on Thursday could easily qualify for “America’s Funniest Home Videos”.

At this point, they are calling for snow on Thursday. More and more, I am thinking of maybe waiting until Friday, or even next week…we’ll see!

Does anyone know if MacBride is ice free? (I assume it is) I wanted to take my boat on a quick “shake-down” cruise befor taking a 50+ mile trip to the river and was thinking of places close to home that might be open…

Macbride was 95% open last Saturday morning (details on the Iowa General Fishing Forum), and it should be completely ice-free by now. I had my boat out there making sure my motor ran right after doing some work on the lower unit. Coralville res. was completely open last weekend.

I have only fished Bellevue once, and that was last November. I have fished the lock and dams in Minnesota a lot, though, and the same rules apply to all of them. I found the same channel edge you mentioned, and did well on it…for white bass. That day there were probably fifteen boats out, and no one was doing much on walleye and sauger.

http://www.rivergages.com and http://www.mvp-wc.usace.army.mil (both run by the COE) give up-to-the-hour info. on water levels and flow, as well as water temps below the dams, which is a great tool to have. Water levels are supposed to remain stable and low for the next week, which is another reason I don’t mind waiting to hit Bellevue.

I fished a couple of in-land walleye openers in Minnesota, and the ramps were total zoos, especially since several of the fishermen came right from the bars to launch. I doubt if trailers will be lined up to hit the water right at midnight in Bellevue, but rest assured that one of the first boats to hit the water before dawn will have some sort of issue that will clog the ramp up for everyone waiting behind them.

To all of you fishing the opener, be prepared for some very dirty water, and probably fast flows. Pool 14 looks like chocolate milk yet today due to the storms, very heavy rains, etc. of a few days ago. Think bright colors!

Thanks guys and hope to see ya’s out there!