In late winter there is a hot bite for walleyes between the time ice comes off til the river starts to rise with snowmelt, usually 7-10 days.

There is a seldom window of opportunity in late summer when water temp drops to 72 before a never-ending mass of sandgrass makes any crankbait presentation on River mainstem rocky structures like wingdams & closing dams essentially impossible.

There was a short window which checked all the boxes late last week. I got out ‘fun fishin’ one afternoon and put 13 legals in the boat pulling a purple ghost MR-6. kept 2 fish.

Water temp went back up to 75 the next day. similar amount of effort where I KNEW ‘eyes were holding produced only 2 legal fish.

By Sunday afternoon water temp had climbed back up to 77. Active-bite window with water this warm is just an hour or so at dawn/dusk.

So this blog is about “you shoulda been here next week”. Water temps are supposed to cool down beginning next weekend. There will likely be a few days when we see that 72 degree trigger temp before the Sea of Weeds shows up.

When the weeds of September make their appearance time will be better spent chasing flathead cats with bluegills (or better yet bullheads if you can find ’em) at the leading edge of deeper River holes along the channel edge.

The best fishin’ should be Sept. 15-20 hen flatties should be active all day long during influence of the full moon.

The Upper Mississippi River is one of the most dynamic, challenging riverine fisheries in North America. THIS is a primary reason I’ve chosen to live here in my waning productive fishing days on the planet.

It takes me AT LEAST an hour to figure out the River’s mood every single day–even being out there 5+ days a week during the open water period. Sometimes all the ducks simply won’t line up. But at least 60+ years of fishing this Immortal River usually reveals why.

I’m no Ron Popeil (inventor of the Pocket Fisherman). No promise of “more fish…bigger fish”. But I WILL promise you’ll get out of my boat a better angler than when we howdied & headed out.