Hey, I recognize those fishing spots. Nice fish guys! 
I’ve been using chubby darters much the same way James was using blade baits. In the past I would see guys using the old stand by method with blades which is a sudden rip up – flutter back. You will snag a few fish that way, but I definitely prefer something that stays close to the bottom and more subtle. The lure will impart all the action you need as it sweeps along the bottom. 
I was contacted too Brian about my boat, very un-easy feeling about him. I sold my boat to a local person instead.
I will chime in too Gary. Fantastic for upper Mississippi river musky. 
http://www.catstaillures.com/super7.shtml
Yep Rootski, its all sight fishing and you need to be able to cast at least 40′, which was a real chore for me. I think I hit Alex a couple of times when the wind was blowing. 
It has a tendency of lofting the fly and you loose control of the line and the cast.
I highly recommend a trip to Mexico in the winter for bonefish, if not for the obvious reason, it’s warm!!
I can help a little perch. I fished the north end lagoons with local guide Alex Euan this past February.
I posted this report on another site: The whole purpose of this trip, for me, was to catch a bonefish using a fly rod. One, I’m at an intermediate level (at least I thought I was) when it comes to using a fly rod. Mostly from fishing SE MN streams as a kid for trout and back then I used a 7′ fly rod. I found out quickly that I was a novice with the equipment Alex uses. A 9′ – 8 weight rod, saltwater fly reel, 8# leader with about 40 yards of floating fly line and what seemed like 100 yards of backing. My estimates are probably off, but close enough. After that first hook-set, I can see why he has soo much backing!! The only fish I was able to boat used nearly all of the backing and he peeled it off in less than 10 seconds. Half way into his run I start laughing – Alex starts laughing and I could tell this was going to be a fun day.
It took me about an hour of practice before I nailed that fish, but it was worth the wait. The fish tail in the shallows in groups of three or four and you can see them for 100 yards milling around and then they will move off. When they move is when you have that opportunity to make the cast. I lost count but I probably miscued and missed around two dozen of these pods all because of my lack of concentration. When I did everything right though, which was on three fish, man was that a blast. Like I implied above, they run faster than any fish I have hooked.
Let me explain the whole fishing experience for me, as best as I can:
1. Watching, patience & stealth count for this fish more than any other I have fished.
2. Cast’s have to be accurate and in front of the fish, about 8′. Their eye sight is excellent and you can spook them by placing the fly too close. I did.
3. My side arm (SE MN style) of fly fishing doesn’t work! I was rushing my back & forward cast too much and I didn’t point the rod down on the forward motion which shoots the fly line out through the guides. Finish the cast.
4. Short strips with your rod tip almost touching the water. As Alex put it, 4″ to 5″…strip…strip…strip short pause to let the fly sink and strip again. What this does is make the fly jump and man do those fish respond!
5. When they hit the fly, set that hook! I had two decent fish get off because I didn’t “rear” back and hit them hard.
I heard multiple times from the back of the boat…..ai yai yai Jon
Alex ties his own pattern which looks like a shrimp. Real beauties too! I had a barracuda hit one and it was gone in a second.
He really worked his tail off to put me on fish. He uses a pole to push the boat, man am I glad I have a minnkota!!
Congrats Mike (and mom)! 
Let me know if you want to try the upper miss this summer. I’ve got a new toy that will need a workout. Jon
Lucky man for certain! I will be putting in a call to ticketmaster myself to get there…hopefully.
Roxanne…you don’t have to put on the red light
Nice fish John! I’ll bet you didn’t need a parka in Africa?
Bugbee on Koronis is a nice family resort Wade. 
Jack and Audrey are great hosts. Jon
Great article John! I wonder what is influencing accelerated growth rates in gamefish on pool 4?
A comparison of Mississippi river smallie growth rates up here (central MN) versus down there would be interesting.
I will echo Danno’s comment about shooting squirrels in the head versus body shots with a 17! 
I rolled a grey that was destroying my wifes bird feeder at 50′. Holy moses, tiny hole on the front and huge hole on the backside.
I’ve been shooting out to 125 yrds with my budget model Savage and Federal TNT’s. I like the results.
I will echo Danno’s comment about shooting squirrels in the head versus body shots with a 17! I rolled a grey that was destroying my wifes bird feeder at 50′. Holy moses, tiny hole on the front and huge hole on the backside.
I’ve been shooting out to 125 yrds with my budget model Savage and Federal TNT’s. I like the results.
I have been using it for the past two seasons Derek and it’s good stuff for the river and lakes. I bought 6 lb and 8 lb for my spinning reels. The abrasion resistance is pretty good and it’s still a line that cast’s well. The memory is on pare with a trilene XL and the stretch is definitely better than XL. Also, better abrasion resistance than XL. I use it for after-dark crankbait trolling on central MN lakes.
The red line gives a “little” better visibility than regular mono too.
I was using Iron Silk solar mint for situations when I wanted a his vis line, but I didn’t like the premature break-offs from incidental hang ups in the rocks. I was expecting something called “Iron Silk” to take a little more abuse than what I experienced. The stuff casts great and has low stretch and memory, but I think it was a little too brittle. There are always trade-offs with anything.
…in the sauce. Now who still uses that saying…oh yeah, a catfishermen! 
Any plans for 1/8oz? Nice color combos!
Any plans for 1/8oz? Nice color combos!
Any plans for 1/8oz? Nice color combos!
I’ve been down that road too Brad and I have decided that there isn’t one rig that covers lakes and rivers to my liking. You just can’t beat a deep-v boat for running the lakes you mentioned. And you can’t beat a flat bottom boat with a jet for running shallow rivers.
I’m running a 175cs Alumacraft Mag for the lakes and I am getting a Blazer jet boat for the shallow rivers I like to run. The total cost for both rigs is around 22k. This was a factor in my decision too.
I’ll echo Big G’s comments. It’s a real nice place! Take a stroll north along the beach and once you clear the Melia resort, you can fish the surf too. I did every morning before the sun came up. I had a small ray break my line off on the 2nd cast. The snorkeling right in front of El is real good. Usually they feed the fish every day, which is real popular with the kids.
Have a Bahama Mama for me!
Hey no problem Chris, I’m happy to help. As far as the northern parts of the river goes, here is a year in review (notice a musky reference too):
Quote:
This past year on the upper Mississippi river was as usual a real delight! It never ceases to amaze me at the quality of fishing we have here in central & northern MN.
This year was definitely a numbers game with just a few smallmouth in the 4 to 5 pound range. I’m seeing a decent population of 14″ to 16″ fish that in a few years will be real trophies.
The muskies were on a tear in July in water less than 5′. And keep this in mind, I don’t fish for them. They were chasing bass tackle, spinner baits and crank baits.
Now I’m not real comfortable about self promotion, but if you want to see some smallie action on the upper Mississippi river then go to Bob Jensen’s website (Fishing the Midwest) and look up TV schedules for a show that was shot this past fall. I think it airs the end of Feb or the beginning of March.
Chris,
I’m not sure if you are just talking about Pepin or other parts of the Mississippi river. I can only add what I know from fishing Red Wing to Minneiska as a kid and now plying the waters from St Cloud north.
This is something I wrote 3 years ago about Pepin:
Quote:
Anyone for Pepin bass?
I know the subject line is in the form of a question….it was suppose to promote responses to these questions:
1. How often do you purposely fish for bass on Pepin?
2. More successes than failures? or vice versa?
3. Methods that have work?
4. Seasonal patterns you have discovered?
5. Time of the day, water temp., water clarity?And on and on with the questions. I have found over the years that asking questions such as these help me focus on what is needed….FIND & CATCH FISH!!
If I was to focus on one area, it would be seasonal patterns. This would be true of any species of fish. In the case of bass, it’s especially critical because they are fairly predictable creatures. In order to develop seasonal patterns, I have been keeping a log book for recording (water temp, clarity, date, time of day, weather conditions, specific fish locations, what worked and what didn’t). I keep the info concise and to the point.
What I have found interesting about Pepin bass, smallies, is that water temperature drives their location more than any other item I have listed. For example, last Thursday the midday water temp was 43 degrees in the areas we fished. In previous years and under the same conditions, I have found bass deep (approx 20′) and adjacent to rip-rap shorelines south and north of lake city and along the RR tracks north of maiden rock. What I have also noticed is that as the day goes on I would catch fish making movments to the shallows. The deeper fish would hit slow moving jig/plastics combo’s with a jig head weight of at least 1/4 oz. The plastics were everything from flukes to tubes to craws. The lure combos for shallow fish were essentially the same except the weight was 3/16 oz max. One cold-water tip: For deeper fish I use jig heads that have rattles.
My experimentation with patterning largemouths on Pepin is an on-going subject. What I have found to date is that greenies are temperature slaves too, but water conditions such as flooding changes their locations dramatically and more so than smallies. I ran head on into this after fishing 4 conscecutive days during flooding one spring. The bass moved tight to shoreline cover and went from 6 to 8′ of water to less than 1′. You would set the hook and the smaller fish would go air born!!
So, let’s hear it. Seasonal patterns anyone? Hey, even preferred methods? I’m always in the mood to hear about other peoples successes (and failures).
Holy hanna! Enuf said.
Two years ago I switched from a Ranger 681c to a new 175cs Magnum from Alumacraft and I absolutely love my boat. Nothing to report problem-wise. Everything worked great and still does. The nicest thing is I don’t HAVE to wash it everytime I use it. My glass boats would start to look a little nasty if I let them go without a wash once a month. Also, as far as rigged package goes I liked the fact that I could get any motor I wanted. Last fall Winni tried it’s best to beat the ever loving crap out of it and it’s still rock solid. 
My fish of choice and has been since I was a kid walking the Zumbro river.
Bob,
I’ve had good luck with two tone colors (ie dark body & light tail) under low light conditions and that would be true with most of the soft plastics I fish. I think that contrast coupled with the action of the plastic is a key, at least in my humble opinion.
Yeah, but the donuts need to delivered by the swedish bikini team, on the water! If we’re dreaming. 
Sorry for the late reply. A few years ago I did the light tackle/wade fishing in the Mo’ bay area for snook (on my own) and a buddy used these guys: http://www.flyfishingjamaica.com/ We both had a real good time! If you have never surf/wade fished before, give it a whirl. It’s a blast.
