4/8-11 Miss P7 Walleyes

The ever changing conditions on pool 7 4/8-11
Change. “The process of becoming different” If there was ever a time that the single word “change” could describe, it most definitely was this week of April 8-11 on Pool 7 chasing eyes. Fortunately, a relaxed attitude, great company, and an open mind allowed us to adapt to the hour by hour changes in the river conditions and led us to success.
Foremost, I was joined by my brother Ted, who has some serious health issues and one of my best friends Scott (Mile_Mark714). Given Ted’s limitations, we weren’t in the typical run/gun mode as Scott and I usually attack the river. This trip was focused on getting Ted a fish of a lifetime and dissecting locations apart. In conjunction with the rising water levels and flow, we quickly found that this was going to be the daily task.

Monday morning we had 39 degree water that was a little dirty and an elevation off 641.X. By the end of our stay, we were in the 36ish degree, muddy, and almost 644’. Not exactly the conditions we begged for from ole’ Mother Nature. But, that’s all part of fishing and the mental game of figuring it out.
Our strategy was to avoid the east side of the river and find current seams and pockets that had reduced current flow. Between the flood stage of the Trempealeau River and all the debris it was puking down, the East side of the channel was nearly impossible to fish. Not to say that there wasn’t fish there, it just was way to frustrating to make any type of precision presentation with the volume of leaves, weeds, sticks, and everything else being flushed down.
Like a mink investigating every nook and cranny, we took our time electronically scanning flats, sand/pea gravel, clam beds and closing dams. After some poking around, we began to mark fish in seams in about 9 to 14 fow. It didn’t take long from there to begin sticking a few fish. ¼ oz H2O jig and a white/pink 2.45 Pulse-R got the welcomed THUMP. I really wish I could say that that was the magical bait, but as we would soon realize, all things had to change.

As quickly as we hit some fish, we could tell the very subtle change in the current and the bite would end. That resulted in a steady rotation of baits to find what was next; or if it was time to move. In some cases, a BFT B3 (pink) ¼ oz blade pitched through the seam and worked extremely slow would pick up that last one or two fish. As things would slow down further, we found dragging a pink and white hair jig very slowly would be the only thing producing for periods of time as well.
Tuesday was the bitter sweet day of endurance – 20+ mph winds, rumbling of distant thunder, and an all-day horizontal rain. It also gave us the best activity and largest range of baits that we caught fish on. The river had risen significantly and the seams were empty of fish. Scott and I relied upon an old high water tactic of finding fish in the trough on the front side of the closing dams. It took some searching for the spot on the spot. But when we did get them dialed in, we were on quality fish.
I got one spurt of crank’n some eyes that really turned on well. Casting to the top of a closing dam and grinding down into the trough on the front side began to produce some very healthy and chunky females. My Mississippi go-to baits Koppers Live Target Rainbow Smelt, Lipless Gizzard Shad in ½ oz, and the Gizzard Shad Crank. For a short window of time, I was able to stick quite a few fish in an areas that was all of about 50 feet.

Well, all good things end as fast as they start….and so did the crank bite. However, we found a pattern developing before us. Have you noticed how often I mentioned PINK??? Troughs??? You got it, and that is how we spent the remaining time on the river. Identifying the right trough is finding the just perfect amount of current the walleyes are desiring until the water stabilizes more. As we experienced every day, the level changed, flow changed, clarity (MUD) changed, amount of debris changed, and so did the exact location of where the eyes were staging. However, what we found didn’t change as dramatically was the presentation. A slow drag or sweep through the trough with blades, Pulse-Rs, Moxies, ringworms, and Pink/White hair jigs all produced fish for us. Each had their moment and I’m grateful I gave into to accepting the need for a plastic index in the boat. Having a variety and being willing to “change” put many more fish in my boat than anyone else that we spoke to.
Conditions in general are deteriorating and the increased flow is sending a lot of junk down the river. Use caution and respect as an accident in these conditions can be life threatening.
Equipment:
• Quantum EXO 7’ medium Fast rods
• Quantum EXO 101 baitcasting and size 25 spinning
• BFT B3 Blades & Custom blades
• BFT Pulse-Rs, moxies, ringworms
• Hutch’s Hair jigs ¼ & 3/8 oz
• Live Target Rainbow Smelt (RS91D) Gizzard Shad lipless (GZV62SK) & Gizzard Shad Crank (GZC70M)