Water temps on the main channel are about 52 as of this morning, 55 degrees in most of the running sloughs. The River level is continuing to drop nicely. if this trend continues, level should be below ‘action stage’ by May 5.

Picking up a fair number of walleye/sauger pulling 3-ways or leadcore in sand-bottomed running sloughs now. Walleyes tend to favor 8-11 f.o.w. , with saugers holding a few feet deeper–usually with a little more current.

White bass are spawning, stacking near current/slackwater interfaces. My all-time favorite search bait is a oxbow pattern Rat-L-Trap. also a big fan of Blakemore Buffet rig (2 roadrunners w/spinners in tandem)

Smallmouth bass are on the move, both migrating up into tribs and staging near wood in dark bottom sloughs in preparation for spawning.

1st guide trip of the year is tomorrow. Until this covid 19 bruhaha ends I am limiting trips to no more than 2 clients. Kinda tough negotiating around the Plexiglass shield around the driver’s seat to get to the net…which is getting plenty of use now!