Upper Mississippi River Mn Smallie opener 2008

The long winter wait is finally over for this guy as Mn smallmouth bass season has finally officially started! With months of waiting and wishing and wishing and waiting for that first fish to take a snap at your jig…it feels so good to hook up again with these beautiful river bronzebacks. A late spring and very high water greeted me this weekend and it looked completely different than my winter dreams portrayed. The water levels appeared to be on the drop in dramatic fashion dropping nearly 8” a day.

After a quick synopsis of the river conditions….high water and very quick currents, I knew these spring smallies would not be hanging out in this current and finding slack water was key. After a few hours of digging around some main channel current breaks, I was only able to put together a small handful of fish. I decided to get back further away from the current and tuck my way amongst some backwater island cut areas that has plenty of current protection and I immediately found small concentrated pods of nice smallies.. With water temps still a little cool, I had to keep my offerings to a real slow drop rate in order to getting any of these fish to bite. Hard to believe that the fish were that finicky with water temps were in the high 50’s, but we have had a strange late spring and I let the fish dictate what they wanted.The day overall was very slow for numbers of fish but the size made all the difference with 2 fish that hit the tape a little over 20” mark. One fish was 20-1/2” and the other was just a tad over the 20” line. Also thrown into the mix was a giant stray post spawn walleye that measured a lengthy 30-3/4”. What a fish! Unfortunately, I do not think the fish went any bigger than about 8# as skinny as she was. An amazing fish none the less! I got a quick pic of her and put her back in the immediately to swim another day.

Monday (Memorial Day) Bill Grierson and his father-in-law Bill joined me for a day on the same stretch of water that I visited on Saturday. Upon their arrival we discussed that we had our work cut out for us for the day but the size should keep us very intrigued. Upon our first stop we tucked backed into an island cluster and found a large current seam that looked very promising. We picked off some aggressive fish right away and then we had to really finesse the more reluctant fish into biting, but proved well worth the persistence! As the day went on we covered lots of miles of river and with water levels dropping as fast as they were, spots looked a lot different on Monday than they did on Saturday morning. After hitting 4-5 spots, we bumped into a seam that was holding 3-4 fish and then we would keep on moving. By days end the bite appeared to be getting better and better and the fish typically responded right away within a few casts and we could adjust our milk route of spots and be a little more efficient! Bill G got the top honors for the day with his big beautiful smallmouth that went 20-1/2” and I am certain she was all of 5-1/2# even though she did not meet the scale. One of the more stockier fish we had seen all day! Nice fish Bill and congrats!

Jimmy D’s NEW 3/32oz Riverbugs were undoubtedly the best thing going for my boat over the weekend. I had experimented with lighter 1/16th oz that I typically through with slower results….Coupled with the strong winds we were dealt with and the 1/16th oz felt like throwing a kleenex into the wind! Black, Pinks and whites were all effective but I got to admit that I do prefer the white and pinks for the shallow more clear water. With overcast skies it gives me a great visual and when that jig disappears, more often than not it was snarfed up by a hungry bass! The smallies are a few weeks behind schedule from this late spring we had and appears fish are just now making their way to the shallows. As warmer days approach, more and more fish will draw into the shallows. I cannot stress this enough however…..this time of year these fish can be so vulnerable, I would like to pass on my word of caution and consider quick and careful handling of these fish to get them back into the water as soon as possible. These fish are the future of the river fishery and our dedication and commitment will help keep this wonderful resource around for generations and generations.
Until next week, good luck to all!