Dresbach Report 3/31/07

First thing in the morning I had a few smaller saugers hitting a Catalpa and a Chartreuse Pepper Super Doo using a 3/8 oz jig tipped with a minnow. With the high water and fast flow the early bite was tight to the bank in 8 – 15fow with a rip rap shore line. As the number of boats multiplied the fish I was on started to shut down or they moved out. This was fine by me because the first thing I noticed after launching the boat was a water temp at 46 degrees 45 degrees is when I like to start pulling 3-ways.
A 4oz cannon ball with an 18” drop tied to a 3-way, and a Black/Gold #7 floating rapala with 40 inches of leader produce some fish. I moved out to the channel edge to get out of the boats thinking the fish might have done the same and starting pulling up river. Following the edge of the main channel in 22fow produced a few fish and made for some fun. This 21 inch girl pictured here hit like a bus After the pic and release I landed her sister in a pouring rain. That was the 2 nicest fish of the day for me. I did catch some smaller saugers and kept one at 14 inches for breakfast.
Once back at the landing and taking off wet clothes a car pulls up and says “nice to meet you Bret” It was Mudshark and it was a pleasure shooting the bull for a while and meeting another local IDA’er All in all it was not a ferocious bite and the weather was wet but, it was a great feeling to be pulling Rapalas again!

Good luck Fishing People

Bret

Great looking fish there Bret You are definitely braver than I, one look at the radar this morning and I could tell it was going to be a very wet day
Once again, you beat the weather and the conditions and got on some fish You da man

Nice fish Bret, looks like you had a great day on the water .Thanks for the report .

Nice post Buddy Bret. I told Mike as we were pulling out mid day that you would find them yet. You da man

Bret-

Nice fish and nice report!

Curt

Way to go Brett! That’s a great looking walleye. Noticed any males milking?

nice catch Bret, haven’t had the chance to go for a week, nice to see they can be had. thanks for the report.–John

Bret….It was a pleasure to meet you in person!!

My original purpose that day was to shorefish for some sheephead for the garden…Too darn wet but when I noticed your truck I just HAD to wait for a bit to see if I could finallly talk in person to the “imfamous” Bret Clark

Glad I did……

Thats one hec of a nice 21” eye there Bret. Thanks for the report and pic. Nice green color to that fish.
Thanks, Bill

I have had a few PM’s asking me what is a cannon ball and how am I using it.
This is a picture of a 5oz Cannon Ball (which I am sure will be needed tonight).
In the La Crosse area I use to buy them from DJ Sports, but he is no longer in business Gander did not have them last year but I haven’t checked this year.
I tie a snap onto the end of my 18 inch dropper so that I can change out the weight without tying every time I need to change. The trick for me is to get my bait to run no more than a 45 degree angle from the boat. You will pick up less junk on your line and you keep the correct angle on the 3-way for the 18 inch drop to work. If you need to run out more line to stay in touch with bottom lengthen your drop line. I run a 40 inch leader to the bait.
As I am trolling up the river I pull the bait forward then drop it back. Sometimes the fish will hit it when you give it a pull and sometimes they like it when you are dropping it back at them. I use 10# mono on my drop and 10# PP for my leader. This way if the cannon ball gets hung up you don’t lose the whole rig.
A good Baitcast reel is need to handle this much weight at the end. You can use a spinning reel but it just dosen’t handle the load all that well. My rod is a 6.5’ IM6 Berkley Lightning, heavy. It is not the best for this much weight but it works. With this rod I can still feel if my bait is running properly.
Hope this helps answer the questions that I have been receiving. This topic comes up every year and there are some pro’s a lot better at running 3-ways than myself (please chime in guys) The biggest part is find what works for you and get your confidence built up. That will happen when you start putting fish in the boat using this technique!
Good Luck!
Bret

Any one been out after this last cold blast of air. I am heading that way for the weekend and woundering if this weather will shut down the bite.
Good looken fish on the 3ways. This high current sure makes them shine.

I pulled 3-ways after work last night 4/4/07. It was tough, there is a lot more garbage in the water right now so I went vertical. I did find a good Sauger bite in 13fow on a 3/8oz Chartreuse Jig head matched with a chartreuse twister tail tipped with a minnow. I had the place to myself last night. I’m sure the dropping temps and winds played a factor in it
You should be able to find a bite, I did have to slow down the presentation. The good new is the water temp was still holding at 46 degrees.
See ya down there this weekend!
Bret

Nice fish Bret