Welcome Fogust

Welcome Fogust

After seven weeks of flood conditions water level of Pool 9 has returned to normal summer levels, leaving behind a brand new River in the backwaters and running sloughs of the flood plain.

Siltation wasn’t a major issue on the Pool until 2019 when we also experienced prolonged high water conditions. Now that we’re at summer pool level use caution when navigating to honeyholes beyond the channel.

A couple days ago i was headed for one such spot on the upper end of the pool where I have run wide-open to for years. Even with the lowest of pool levels there has always been at least 4 fow
on a 20 yard cut on the way to this sweet spot.

Good thing i idled through there the other day. Just 18″ of water under the keel–and the level has dropped since then.

Following a route on your electronics at warp speed can bring a boat from 60 to zero in about 18 feet! Fog is one condition where following a route on the electronics is invaluable. We experience fog in the River valley about 70% of the time during the month of ‘Fogust’. Usually, the fog burns off by about 9 a.m.–and the humidity/temp jumps from bearable to hotter than Billy Hell.

A sea of sandgrass has made bait presentation challenging on both the River mainstem and in running sloughs for the past week or so. This situation is getting worse, not better. Kinda like September came early.

When you can get a salad-free hook in front of a finny face, your string will almost certainly get stretched. Talkin’ ALL species here.
I’m catching quite a few eyes drifting sand cuts in 7-13 fow. Had to go to a B-Fish-N “draggin jig” for consistent success. Pulling salad off of a jointed crank about every 50 feet is not very productive–or much fun.

There is a legion of 6-10 inch buck bass in the system this summer, both LMB & SMB. Talking fish on every cast. Find them, and quality fish are holding just a little deeper.

Quality SMB have been holding in 6-10 fow on the deep side of main channel rocks. When you slide just a couple feet deeper on a steep break the big marks on the screen are sheepshead–many of mongo dimensions. Don’t disparage these wonderful fish! They pull great!!

My sure-fire goat killer is a B3 blade bait, snap jigged right along the breakline. Find the sheep and you’ll hook up about every 10 minutes. Not a slow bite when you consider it takes a good 5 minutes to tussle with a big one!

For this old River Rat goat ropin’ is the definition of fun fishin’! Every once in awhile the blade finds a quality toother. With surface temp a solid 80 degrees the quality pike are usually in deeper water with a little current or suspended under emergent vegetation–in either case you’ll find ’em where the food is.

Shad are a popular forage for all gamefish. Find a nice pod and the gamefish don’t be far away. I always keep a fluke rigged on a swim jig head–just in case.

With all the high water now downstream I feel like a guy who just had a near death experience with a passing freight train…one month ago I was catching nice bass fishing the flow of a pair of drain tubes which pass under the Army road about a half-mile west of New Albin, 1.5 miles west of the boat ramp. My Lund was spot-locked on the Army road, with 10 fow under the keel.

When the Army road opened up last Friday The Admiral & me drove to the launch in her car. I stopped at the drain tubes. Had this been possible a month ago, the water would have been up to my eyeballs IF I WAS STANDING ON THE ROOF OF THE CAR!

Consider the awesome power of all that water, flowing with purpose down the immortal River!

I have quite a few days still open this month and in September if you wanna book a trip. Regardless, I’ll be out there at least 4 days a week, lord willin’


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