I unfortunately was one of the boats who had engine trouble on 7. Nuetral position sensor went out and I could not get on plain. Co won the event but I could only manage 4 for 12.61 as I decided to lock down as I wasnt sure if the motor would keep idiling. Spent an hour pool 8 with no pre fishing and managed to drop 4 fish on a frog To top the day off I ended up having one die on me choking on a gizzard shad! Wasn’t meant to be. I can’t say I didnt have my chances but I definitely could of atleast got my limit on 7 with another half hour.

congrats to Eric Sanft on the co side as well as those 47 guys who got their fish in the boat! That is a fanatastic fishery and hasnt changed a bit for quality since I was last there 6 years ago. Im jealous of those who fish that on a daily basis!!

Why was I hearing a rumor that something bad had happened to pool 9 and killed a bunch of fish???

What weights has it been taking to win tournies out of pool 9/pool 10?

I see a lot of weights in the 12-13lb range that have won smaller tournaments on these pools but that seems very low!

So sorry about the WI side of the channel comment. Not used to talking about that pool. Good thing you picked that though

Go into Grey Cloud, it is definitely worth your time!! There is a barge loading station down that way as well on the MN side of the channel that is good for a few as well. Never done a whole lot north of there this time of yesr

Ive never been one to follow guys, I just like taking their money! Hopefully I will have some insight to share after a few months on the river. You guys don’t chat a lot about patterns, are we nervous? Im just kidding, I just like to talk and figured maybe someone here wouldn’t mind listening

Hey Coyote give a guy a break! Never hurts to get a little educational chatter on the website

Thanks for the reply guys but maybe I should have worded this differently. If you take the top five impoundments in the country that the elite series or FLW tour at some point will make a stop at and look at what wins these tournaments year in and year out you can eliminate half of the water. Our one day tournament format has sheltered the average fisherman from what being ” on fish ” really means. ANYONE can go out and stumble on to a school and whack em one day. YOu start adding 2 and 3 more days to that same tournament and your looking at a totally different leader board. Now, to get back to the ” area” deal. I understand that it is to our advantage to go out and explore water that does not get the pressure. What is the answer when that is not possible? You put 150 boats on any pool of the Mississippi for 1-3 days of practice and even a 1 day tournament and you have pressured fish. My experience has been that you need to place yourself around as many fish as possible in this situation and focus on presentation and lure selection. In the outside chance that I have an area that I believe I can win in but I am only fishing for 5 bites all day, how does a guy go there when the pressure is the same per the quantity of fish?

I am a boater

You guys have open back waters down there? I am guessing that this area you are fishing has some access to deep water? Not trying to find your spot just trying to put together where to start looking myself. So much ice in the cities though it could be tough!! Spent a lot of time on pool 4 in the spring and the backwaters dont seem to get going until mid to late april

Am I the only one who sees a problem with these guys running a ” bank”. Does anybody pay attention to the 150 feet from shore law anymore? Why do waakeboarders, skiers, jet skis have to get so DA*# close to shore I will never see why we should have to put up with these guys thinking its ok to throw 4 foot rollers around like tis nothing and we should just accept it. I strongly believe that this will have to come to an end before there is nothing left to our lakes

that is true as well,I think the low water has made some of these areas a lot less desirable spawning areas for the fish as well.

The backwaters I fished had no current and gravel, and, or wood. These areas have always held fish, but now the water is low and the temps are higher than normal and the fish simply are not there. The fish we found were in the current with structure, but we did not boat any largemouth 2.5lbs or better at all. It seems the fish are still in pre spawn despite the warm water temps, plus the lack of vegetation in the backwaters on pool4 doesn’t help either

Thanks gentlemen!!

Ryan is a friend of mine as well, everyone please keep him in mind as he works through this point in his life. The details do not need to be discussed just know his actions were not intentional.

I guess having a functional boat doesn’t matter when you own a Ranger!

Thanks guys I appreciate all the help I will update on any further tips I would have on doing this once I have it completed

Well I would like to start by flushing out the system and take it from there. Has anyone done this process before, getting the air out of the system can’t be a bad thing to do for maintenece either.

It is a little loose and it is also a 4 year old boat.

Thats my point bud

It is sad that we all have to deal with this regardless of what species you fish for. However I can say that us bass guys are typically more courteous of spots I guess the only way to get rid of them is to buy a paintball gun

The fish are starting to pull “shallow” but there are still plenty of fish to be caught in the clearer water on deep rocks and weedlines.

Fish to your strengths and this lake will give up some nice fish, the lake is just that good

Cade,

I think you need to get a new scale as well if that top fish is 4lbs Maybe it is the camera angle or Roland Martin syndrom. Just giving you a hard time nice fish!

Post deleted by In-depth Webstaff

Congrats to Chris he is a great stick down on that part of the river and I think he might even use outkast tackle

The water temp in my livewells when I recircualte all day is only a few degrees cooler than the surface temp. I am just trying to keep from taking on surface water in the heat of the day. Water temp varies a lot obviously from the surface down a few feet so those fish are not exposed to that 80+ degree water. As far as the waters chmeical balance with waste I do pump a gallon or two of fresh water in the livewells throughout the day to avoid. I personaly have never had a problem with fish dying so I guess all I can say is it works for me.

Doesn’t hurt to have the best livewells on the market either Skeeter fish always stay alive!

I have not EVER had a 25 pound bag in the well but I have had a few good ones in there. My personal opinion is ice and recirculation. Seems like if you continue to recirculate the same water it stays at a constant cooler temperature which helps not to shock the fish. I throw two handfuls of ice every half hour to 45 minutes when it is hot. Another little trick I do is fill my livewells as soon as I put the boat in I fill the wells while in reverse to get the coolest water I can and then recirculating that same water all day. I have not found that Rejuvinate or Bass Medics has helped keep my fish alive.

Never thought of adding weight to their fins to keep them upright though that is a nice little trick

Yep d-nort I got it! I think maybe thereis some fish in the lake…maybe Rush Lake Giving you a hard time fluker I appreciate any info I can get

I should be able to find you a few fish like that No guarantees of course but the lake has a lot of options

You river guys need to stay off our lakes!! You will get spoiled on Tonka, that has to be one of the best lakes for numbers of big fish ( over 4lbs) in the midwest. Living half an hour away from it I get to fish it once in a while If anyone would like to come up and spend a day on the water up here I would gladly share my boat

If you are having a lot of trouble with hook sets on the frogs try runnings a 5″ tube over the slop. I have found that they have a tendency to get that bait better than a frog. Another thing to try would be the Sumo frog. They are about 8 bucks a piece but I have had better success with hookups with these.