River rising to flood stage AGAIN

River rising to flood stage AGAIN

Pool 9 has been holding fairly steady @ around 629′ for the past several weeks, at this level there are still edges of land between the flooded trees which make it easier to corral perch and walleye/sauger. Areas which load from downstream at this level or lower still hold fish at the upstream edges. BUT conditions will continue to deteriorate as the river rising to 631.5 by next Saturday, submerging the edges and pushing water through the trees and moving fish to uncharted waters where they can get out of the current expending less energy.

Water temp is now tickling 39 degrees on the main channel and running sloughs, but I found some water over 40 degrees last week where there was minimal current near a couple edges that gave up a few perch and eyes.

Spawning urge is another strong variable in fish location right now, with these species looking for a place to carry on the family name.This is not in the ‘traditional’ places. However, a new tradition started last year with perpetual high water. I expect the fish to move to thee areas as waters push into the low 40s this week in waters where its often tough to get a boat to right now.

Walleyes typically spawn here April 15-25 when water temperaturereach 45-48 degrees. Last year the spawn came in fits & spurts…but maybe this is cuz the rising River kept fish on the move, changing the location pattern pretty much every day.

Yesterday I found th perch in an area where the bottom was covered with fallen leaves in 4-7 fow. hey wanted MEAT in the form of a minnow head or a couple redworms, deadsticked right on the bottom.

Problem was, trying to tightline buried the meat in the leaves. Had to rig with 1/8 oz sinker on the bottom and #10 red hook tied in-line about 10″ above it.

Perch in cold water like it simple. but you need to get their attention. A single 5MM orange bead works well. Placement of this bead is key, so its held pretty close to the ol’ fishin’ vest.

With this Covid-19 thing and ban on essential travel, coupled with flood AGAIN I won’t be doing any guiding for the next couple of weeks–just fun fishin’. With patterns changing every day–sometimes hourly–there are days when I run out of time eliminating unproductive water before figuring out the fish.

Folks who are paying good money ae entitled to whine when they aren’t catching. the face that the fish get to vote too has nothing to do with it.
A couple years ago I quit ice guiding because of the whining–even with fish all over the Vex. THE FISH GET TO VOTE, TOO!

The tolerance for whining is even less with passing years. This is why I’m going fun fishin’ for awhile. hard enough to tolerate my own whining when fishin’ is tough.

Those who have shared the Lund with me have heard this pearl “when the River’s on the rise, the fish move away from the flow, when it’s dropping they move closer to the channel’

Gonna start raining here in about 2 hrs. Time to go catch a few ringers for supper. Beats those Wuhan bat popsickles. Fundraiser to send the local 4-H kids to Italy isn’t going so well, so i’m stuck with a freezer full of those beady-eyed little devils–and almost out of ketchup


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