It was one heck fo a weekend!
The river levels have come up and the bite for BIG walleye has really turned on over the last 2 – 3 days. There’s not much I can add to my report from a couple days ago as my approach has stayed exactly the same… including general locations and presentations with the only change being the appearance of LOTS of big fish in the 27 – 28.5 inch range for my boats as well as Dustin Stewarts c-liner!
Click here to jump to the report from May, 20th. –> 5/20/04 Fishing Report
With the water levels rising the fish are moving around quite a bit and setting up in numbers in the available eddies and along edges of slack water. My AM go-to presentation has been to work the side channels and cuts off of the main channel with crankbaits to locate fish quickly and then to follow up with live bait on jigs once the fish have been found.
The top jig colors in my boats has been orange… followed closely by orange. 
The fish are relating strongly to the fallen timber up and down the river, main channel and side channel but I’ve found it more convenient to avoid the commercial and recreational traffic and get off the main channel whenever possible.
Jeff Milbrath is shown in the first photo holding a dandy 27 inch + fish that fell to a #5 shad rap trolled in 6′ of water. With the water levels rising and the visibility falling bright patterns like firetiger have dominated my lure selection with patterns like craw and perch that were taking fish last week falling off sharply. I have had some success with chartreuse / pearl shad raps as well as orange n’ black wally divers but that #5 shad rap has been hard to beat.
The water temps are still hovering right around 60 degrees as they have been for over a week +. Some warm nights (which we have not been getting) will do wonders for warming the water and once this happens I would anticipate a positive effect on the activity level of the fish.
Trolling speeds are still in the low – 2 MPH range… topping out around 2.5 MPH.
We are projected to see a continued water level rise over the next 4 – 5 days and this will be guaranteed to move the fish around from where they are located at the present. The good word about this is that once they’re found they tend to get bunched tighter as the water levels force them to huddle up in the current breaks they can find. 
Night crawlers have been the top livebait choice for me, hands down and I’m beginning to wish I had found the time to get out at night and do some crawler pickin’ vs. giving all my bait money to the bait shop guys… but I guess they have to make a living too! 
Click on any photo in this report to see a full-sized image
James Great photos….Great indepth report..
The orange jigs have been finding there way onto my lines quit a bit the last few weeks also. Great report.
You are STILL the man James!!!
Great fish & report! 
Sure wish I could be on the river 
The water temp is stuck on 53 for a week. Oh well…could be a LOT worse 
Here its rain, cold front, rain, cold front , rain, dah ta dah….Geesh!!!!
Think of me next time you stick a BIG Piggie!
James,
Are you putting those crawlers on a light jig and just dragging it on the bottom?
Can you give me any more detail on the jig/crawler presentation? 
Thanks!
John
Yup… threading a light jig and just slowly lifting and dropping it just above bottom. Very straight forward actually. Around timber you’ll need to “hold it high” and on sand you can get a little reckless and keep things tight to the bottom. Any other questions just holler.
James;
Thanks for the great trip yesterday. My father had a great time. He is now convinced that you don’t need to go to the “far north” to catch big fish and alot of them. I had no clue, that such a small area would hold so many fish!
I had a great time in the boat.
Also, thanks for teaching me how to pull cranks on the system. I really learned a great deal from what you taught us yesterday. Man, I do love them Wild River rods………I think I got to get me some of those!!! Father’s day is just around the corner!
Gary
Fishing with you and your father was an absolute treat for me. I loved your dad’s stories and as always, your company and humor was awesome.
Here’s a pic of our very first fish boated yesterday. About 3 minutes into the day.
And of course, your pike. Gary tells me at the beginning of the day that he has the uncanny ability to catch nice pike when none are being caught. I tell him “good, ‘cuz I haven’t caught any where we’re headed!”
PS – When you’re 6′ 7″ tall and 300 Lbs… you make nice fish look a HECK of a lot smaller than they really are… lol
Very nice!
Thanks again and see you soon on the water!
Nice fish Gary!
Thanks Wade.
Yes, this is an advertisment for James……..
My father is going to be 80 in August. He gets around very well, and is in the shape of most guys in their mid-60s.
However, the patience and the work that James did for my dad was outstanding. I can’t thank him enough. Dad is currently bragging to his buddies at all the fish and big fish we caught. James is a class act, who does his job very well. We caught fish all day and lots of them. The fish were a bit “off” and were biting very light. We probably had about a 100 hits, if not more. However, James stuck to it and we worked them hard. This guy was consistently assisting my dad, setting him up, teaching him EXACTLY what to do, and walked him through everything. He gave my dad 100% of his time and 110% effort to ensure dad had a great time. Mission accommplished! It was a GREAT trip.
James, again, thanks a million! Fishing yesterday was no different than the dam fishing in March………maybe better. I had no clue a guy could catch so many fish and big fish this time of the year, where we went. WOW again.
Thumbs up to you bud!
nice report James, is good to see the bigger fish showing up. keep those reports coming. thanks Jack.