A walk from the house to the shop too jump in my truck and head out fishing was a sure sign there would be some numb fingers in the boat early morning, not sure about Mike C or AmWatson’s fingers, but mine made it to the tingling stage 
It was a balmy 30 degrees with a 15mph South wind when the three of us jumped into Mike’s boat and headed to the dam. The South wind was causing some early morning rollers making for a wet boat ride…thanks for letting me run the boat up there Mike 
With kidding aside the wet ride was worth the trip, it took some finesse but, we did put a nice 3 man limit of Walleyes and Saugers in the live well.
The first couple of hours fishing were cold, making for iced up rods. The bite was light with the fish just picking the bait up causing a drag on the line at times making it fell like you picked up a weed and other times there would be a dull thud, nothing overly aggressive. The depths holding fish were from 15fow to 22fow along the channel edge and out towards the center of the channel. As it grew later in the day the color didn’t matter near as much as the presentation. With that said, I never was hit on Oyster or White.
A Catalpa Super Doo tipped with a minnow and Firecracker Chartreuse Tail ringworm both on a 3/8oz jig head producer for me. Pink Bubblegum Pepper ringworm and a Bleeding Red Paddle Tail (no longer in production) stuck some nice fish for Mike. AmWatson finished strong with the Bleeding Red Paddle Tail also. Some hair jigs were tried but plastic with meat seemed to be the way to go.
So you might ask, with a lite bite, the fish scattered and, no magic color what was the trick…….presentation was the main key to catching these chilled downed filets.
98 percent of the fish we caught were taken by long lining slowly up river against the current. In the early AM the fish like the bait jigged somewhat but as the day wore on they preferred the bait being dragged.
Between the three of us there were some dandy saugers and nice eyes put in the boat. If you are in the La Crosse area there is no reason (other than good company) for a pool 4 run just yet. We still have open water and a good year class of saugers taking the baits in our own back yard at this time. I advise you to dress warm and get in on the action before it dies off.
Good luck on the water people!
Bret
A couple more dandy sauger and a 3 man fish fry
Great job in quickly finding the right presentation Bret
Nice report!
With this moon phase, was there a certain time frame where the bite was better or was it steady all day?
Nice report Bret!
Looks like the makings for a mighty nice fish fry.
Boog
The bite wasn’t fast and furiouse but steady all except for one period around 1:30 – 2:30 without a bite. Mike C then slowed us down some and the last 3 fish were in the boat in a hurry
great report Bret, very nice fish!
Just let me know when the fish fry will be.
Once again, it was a great time in the boat with Mike and Bret
But after getting smoked by these 2 guys for most of the day, I broke down and used a minnow. I didn’t really have a best color, but I did catch some using oystershell, fire and ice, and the bleeding gold chart.. In the course of the day I threw hair, blade baits, ringworms, paddletails, and Super Doos.
For me, I resisted using meat for most of the day because, well, I am stubborn that way
The day was just one of those days where it was a waiting game between bites. It was on again and off again and it appeared the fish were moving up and down the breaklines all day. We found the right general area after that it was patience that played in for our success.
Thanks for another great day on the water Mike and Bret
Wow, Nice job guys. Looks like we picked the wrong time to head out
sounds like we got there just in time for the “lull” that you guys are talking about. Thanks for the tip with the long-lining. I didn’t really know how to do it at all, but I figured I must have been doing something right when I started getting bit..A little later in the day it picked up for a little while, but the bite shut off just as quick as it came for us. after missing a few I finally figured things out and we caught a few saugers and eyes but nothing real nice. I was using a purple/blue fleck ring worm with a chartruese tail, and my dad was just dragging a hair jig with a minnow for a few fish as well. As always with new techniques, its a good feeling to learn a new one, whether its bass, walleyes, or panfish 
. Thanks Bret.
I can’t think of a better way to spend a cold, windy Saturday than on the river with Bret and Wats.
It would have been easy to give up at almost any point during the day but with the good company in the boat there was never a 
dull moment. Like Bret said we threw just about everything we could think of at em. Sometimes the changeup would produce a fish then nothing. I took a lot of “heat” 
for trying the bubble gum w/ white jig until it produced a nice sauger then you couldn’t get a bite on it – so time to try something else like the bleeding red paddle tail which produced 2 nice fish then it was done. My best producer was a gold knucklball jig 
( I think it’s called) with a chart pepper super doo and some meat.
Great day on the river guys – when we doin’ it again? 
Like Bret said there is a good bite going on right now if you’re patient. Dress warm and enjoy it while it lasts.
Remember Cade, Wats and I offered to send Bret over with you guys…
“your going too fast, are we moving now at all?, you’re too far out, now we’re too close to the wall, do you want me to run the trolling motor?”
Nice fish Guys!!
Great Report and some nice sand pike Bret !!
I’ll keep an eye out for ya in the future so I can sneak in and say hey
You guy’s musta had a blast……..
See ya on the ice SOON
Nice report and great job Bret! Have not been up there for a long time.
How far back behind the boat did you guys have to go and how fast? Nice looking saugers!
Great report guys.
I don’t know what was more fun; catching fish or listening to Mike and Bret bicker like a couple of “grumpy old men”
A guy should just bring along a video camera and film them two, it is hilarious 
Thanks for the atta boys and taking the time to read the report people
Targa,
The lines are far enough behind the boat that when I drop the tip of my rod back I can feel the jig just hit bottom. The faster you are moving against the current the more line you will need out. Sometimes even a heavier jig head will be required to keep you near bottom.
We varied are speed, in the earlier part of the day the fish wanted it moving faster than the later part of the day. By the end of the trip a slow crawl was the ticket for us.
Mike and I have fished together enough that we can finish each others sentences like a married couple. That takes years of practice
If someone didn’t know we were the best of friends they would wonder what keeps us from hurting each other
Great report guys, Spent my day in the woods with my smoke stick. Looks like I need to get out more(fishin).
What the ??????
No one told me
This color has caught me several fish…I was up to Everts Resort for a day of fishing on the way home from Mille Lacs and that color Rocked !!!
Lots of this color in stock in PT’s,RW’s and KG’s…
Great report guys !!!
Mr. Koonce,
That der is one purdy Paddle Tail. The Paddle Tails being used were probably suppose to look like that one but, the Paddle Tails we used were the hand outs from a few years ago at the Omni Center in Onalaska. They do not have the Chartreuse across the bottom.
Sorry for any confusion I may have caused. You my man do have the best plastics on the market