Mississippi River Pool 4&5 bass fishing year end

Now that 2003 is almost over an we are about to start a New Year I would like to thank all my clients this year for all the great an memorable times we shared.Can’t wait for 2004 to come.This year was full of many differnt goals.

My main focus was the smallmouth bass. Largemouth are lots easier for me to pattern then the smallmouth. I took many days just chasing these beautiful fish. Another goal was to educate myself an my clients more an learning how to pattern bass more then just guessing on where they might be. Learning how to pattern bass will take longer then just this year.lol If I have it down before I’m 30 I’ll be happy.2003 started out great with the smallmouth schooled up in full force by the middle to end of April. When April came around it was time to start fishin my tail off. One of the biggest bass tournaments for the year was right around the corner. In early May I found of my fish on sand flats wingdams, an current breaks. The fish were still in the prespawn mode. Jigs, cranks,traps were all big producers. After a hard week of prefishin me an partner Andy Loos gave it are all an finshed 11th in the KFAN.

When May rolled around I pretty much had the smallies zeroed in. There were many days with 6+ fish all over 3lbs.The wingdams really started to come into full force once May rolled around an the fish were in post spawn mood. June was full of many up an down water levels. Wingams were still hot. Towards the end of June the water was finally starting to come down. Crayfish colored tubes were a big producer for me in June. With the fluke trailing in a close 2nd.

July was another month with high water levels. I found many largemouth holding tight to wood.Many big schools of whitebass an smallies thrashing the surface for bait fish. Many different baits were hot in July, tubes, superdoos,flukes,twister grubs,pop r’s,chug bugs,buzzbaits,spinnerbaits,scum frogs, ang jigs..The month of July taught me a lot. For example I learned how smallies hold in the fastest current out there.

There were many smallies caught that surpassed the 4 1/2lb mark this year. But the biggest one goes to (drumrolllll)…….ME. This smallie weighted in just over 5lbs…This beauty was caught on a lime colored super fluke in the middle of May on a sand point. There were many more in there in the 3-4lb range.This year I really learned the art to working a fluke that helped me out a lot in many different situations.

August was the best month for me. The quanity wasn’t there but the quailty made up for it. August was full of many guide jobs and helping friends for the bfl. August was a low water month. Most of the month consisted of a hit an miss bite could smoke the big girls one day an come back the next day with identical conditions an not get a bite. I some some of the warmest water ever on the Mississippi River in August. I graphed some backwaters with a 80-82 degrees water temp.This was a great year for me an my clients the bass gods really were really great to me and I learned a lot. I would also like to thank my sponsors. Without them we couldn’t make all this happen.I would like to thank St Croix rods for making some of the most affordable and dependable rods on the market.B FISH N tackle an there great plastics. Those K-grubs an superdoos do a number on those smallmouth..And last but not least www.indepthangling.com an there top-notch fishing website that so many people enjoy.

<b> Merry Chirtmas an Happy New Year to Everyone <b/>