Getting up early has been the key to putting some quality fish in this boat… On the river at 0530 and set up making that first cast has been a rush of excitement !!
Dropping the Ranger in at the landing…no other boats at the landing…the only noise are the birds making their plans for the day… A far better time to be on the water then at midday for this fisherman.
These past mornings have required a hoodie with the most comfortable temps in the 60’s.. Surface temps on the river here have gone from the mid 80’s to the lower 70’s now..
We are still a couple of feet over normal river stage..9.1 at the time of this outing… Around the mid 7’s is what i consider pool 10 to be at average during the summer months… But with the past rains this year and in several past years, we have not seen that for most of the summer. The water clarity is cleaning up nicely now… Not too much razor grass yet either.. Come the end of Aug it will start coming down out of the large fields above
Lynxville Dam and Genoa Dam making impossible to use crank baits.. But now.. i am going to take advantage of every day till then !!!
Knowing where the wing dams are is relatively easy…Most mapping chips will show where the wingdams are generally located…knowing exactly what the water tells you is key to knowing how to fish a wing dam..
In this photo I tried my best to show where the rock wind dam is relative to the tell tale sign on top of the water… I like to cast to the ripple or just past it and pull my diver to where I am hitting the back side of the rocks, working it slowly up the back side and over to the front(upstream)of the wind dam. The noise of the lip smacking the rocks and the rattle of the bait will call in the fish to that location.
The crank baits I have been using at Rapala’s JSR’s Jointed Shad Raps in size 7 mostly… the reason for that is I have to get down to the rocks and the depth of these WD’s are at 6 feet or so.. as the river stage comes down, the size of the crankbait will too !! Colors of baits have been very inconsistent…. At the time of this outing , Fire Tiger was ON FIRE !!! .. previous trips it has been the Bleeding Copper Flash, Black and Gold or Perch… Strange as the clarity of the water improves the brighter the cranks have been…
Well I love the river and it’s ever changing ways… It can be a challenge to say the least to be able to master it… There are some great anglers out there that spend their time daily on her and they get great rewards for their efforts…
Till my next outing… The Tug is the Drug Baby !!!
05:30? IN THE MORNING?
Good report Dave.
When I first fished the river alone in ’86, I was told eyes hung out around wing dams. So I putted my 3hp Johnson to the closest wing dam near Hastings, MN and started casting Shad Raps.
I didn’t have a clue about where to fish a wing dam, but through trial and error (and a number of lost lures) found the sweet spot. Once they were on the back inside corner near shore.
Not always eyes either. Smallies, white bass and out of one summer of fishing there, 3 huge gills. ‘Course had Ido been around then a report like this would have shortened up the learning curve!
Where the heck were you then!?
Always like that early morning this time of year for the same reasons. The river is quiet except for the birds singing and the fish are biting. You get first crack at those fish that crept up on those dams feeding at night and are still hanging out before the sun gets to high. They also have not seen any lures from other fishermen for the day yet.
Nice report & fish Dave!
Getting up early definitely has its rewards in terms of fishing. I’m with you…being the only boat at the ramp, getting out there when there’s a chill in the air….then the first fish. It’s super gratifying to be putting it to the fish before most people hear their alarm!
Joel
Nice job Dave!
There’s just something special fishing in the early morning all by yourself with a nice walleye tugging at the end of your line. 
Nice Koonce….I love being the first boat at the ramp. Always fun to be coming off the water when others are coming on. – QB
First boat at the ramp is always nice and sometimes being the last boat is good to.
Nice read Dave. A couple times a summer I like to be on the water before the sun comes up. It makes for some cool pics.