After about a week of truly wonderful water levels the River is projected to jump a bunch into action stage again just in time for the July 4 weekend. Action has been really, really good for walleyes on the rocks the past few days. Looks like we’ll have maybe 2-3 days to cash in on this bite before the River spikes again.

Bass/pike fishin’ is pretty easy and should remain so as these fish push back into the nether reaches of running sloughs away from the main channel as the River begins to rise.

the key for catching just about all active fish will be targeting areas which load from downstream as the River goes up. this pushes cleaner water at the upstream edge of these areas providing 2’+ visibility which is key in finding aggressive fish. Right now the water temp is about 73 degrees.

Obvious emergent weed edges will be a little tougher to find by the weekend, as rising water makes these edges submergent again. Optimistically, this just concentrates fish into fewer areas, which should make fishin’ easier…once you know where to find these areas!

truly, there is nothing more important than time on the water. Those folks who are out there pretty much every day have a good handle on where fish will be and how they will behave under these ‘new normal’ conditions.

i’m out there pretty much every day and it still takes me about an hour–every single day–to figure out both fish location and attitude.

The Navy SEALs mantra is “the only easy day is yesterday” . Pretty much true on the River…but fishin’ is certainly easier–and better than it’s been since 2017.

Bottom line: any day you can get out on the River is better than any day spent NOT on the River. When a fish finds the hook, it’s even sweeter than when fishin’ is too easy. For some of us, not fishin’ is NOT an option. So there ya go.