Mother Nature FINALLY turned up the heat on Mother’s Day! Water temps FINALLY moved beyond 55 degrees. They won’t dip back down below 55 until fall.

55 is a magic temp for many species. SMB go on the move toward spawning areas, dropping their eggs shortly after temps reach 61 degrees. We’re already there right now in many running sloughs.

Submergent weed growth has really taken off in dark bottom backwaters, drawing pannies which in turn draws predators like pike, bass and WALLEYES.
An amazing number of quality ‘eyes get caught by folks chasing bass in the sloughs. The walleyes are in the backwaters BECAUSE THE FOOD IS THERE.

Probably the best multi-species lure in the backwaters right now is a #Zman chatterbait with a 3″ fliptail trailer. I modify these by removed the snap and replacing it with a 4″ steel leader. My fave chatterbait color is black or white or crawdad, Color choice is driven primarily by water clarity.

The River level is dropping steadily now. With no massive rains upstream pool 9 should be below ‘action stage’ by may 16, making almost all boat launches available without getting feet wet.

My beloved #RatLTrap in oxbow pattern is always rigged on at least one rod. On yesterday’s trip a sizable dogfish inhaled a client’s lure. No suprise. But when a 15 lb. bigmouth buffalo slurped the Rat-L-Trap in it was a jaw dropper, Conventional wisdom says this species simply don’t do that!

yesterday’s trip produced a half-dozen fish species throwing Z-Man , Mepps double blade spinners, spinnerbaits & of course the TRAP.

Tomorrow a couple of folks from S. Carolina are booked. They have never fished the upper Miss. This, and helping kids realize their fishabilities are two major reasons why I still guide .

For the past month fishing has been generally tough. three +30″ walleyes already BUT generally tough putting numbers in the boat. Willocat have been the best weapon for both quality SMB & ‘eyes. This is always true. But with temps now past the point of no return the catch rate now averages 4-5 per hour…after the hour it takes to figure out what kind of mood the River is in.

I have a couple of open dates this month and a few more in June, but I’m not anxiously waiting to book them. Having too much fun just fishin’. Good chance this will be my last year to work. Stay safe out there!