This year Labor Day weekend falls on the cusp between Fogust & Slumptember. The River doesn’t care if folks don’t find fish where they usually find them this time of year.

The River has been flowing long before our species came up with the concept of time, long before native Americans used the moon and stars in an attempt to find patterns that would help the hunters & gatherers feed the camp.

My time on the planet started about 30 trips around the sun after man thought he could bend the River to his will by constructing 33 massive lock & dam systems. A half century before this time that fount of wisdom : Congress, mandated the USACE maintain a channel for navigation.

With my time on the River winding down to just a few trips around the sun–maybe only days–the USACE is well along in achieving their mandate as far north as pool 9.

have you noticed the river mainstem seems to be moving just a little bit faster as we transition between Fogust & Slumptember? Gravity will force water to do that in a big straight ditch!

Most who have had some experience fishing on the fast flowing ditch mainstem of the River during the clownfest called Labor Day are wondering why bluegills aren’t hanging on mainstem structures like wingdams like they are SUPPOSED to do come Labor Day.

The short answer is that the River is running a couple feet deeper than thy are used to over this holiday. River level is driven by rainfall or snowmelt entering the system from across one-third of America. With Pool 9 morphing quickly into a big ditch this is the new ‘normal’…and ‘gills are gonna go with the flow.

The situation is akin to walleyes relating to wingdams. When the river is running faster and higher, eyes relating to wings will move closer to shore. when current here is too great, they’ll stage on the downstream side of the wing.

Closing dams run parallel to the flow. Wingdams run perpendicular. The active walleye bite happens on closing dams before marble eyes become active on wingdams when the River is rising or falling somewhere between easy fishin’ on the rocks because there is even less current on the backside of a closing dam than there is close to shore below a wingdam–generally speaking. They’ve been pretty active here over the past few days as the River continues to fall below ‘action stage’ after that big rain induced bump that happened mid-month.

The same pattern holds true with bluegills relating to mainstem rocks near that time we call Labor Day. The gills are staging on mainstem rocks, preparing to move just a little to wingdam rocks which will happen when the River is ready to fall another foot.

If you follow this blog you know about my special Saturday & holiday weekend guide rate. My good neighbor’s daughter just got home last night from college, with a #1 priority of goin’ fishin’.

Robert says he will help me take down an elm tree that’s uncomfortably close to the house once the ground freezes. I took him out Friday morning to look for ‘gills on the rocks close to the rocks where those who don’t fish the River every day expect to find ’em during clownfest.

We only fished ’em for about an hour. He took home 15 jumbos–my self imposed limit on gills coming home in my boat. I’ll wage young Violet will get her string stretched several times at this spot when the sun shows up in about 3 hours on Saturday morning.

Lord willin’ I’ll be back on the River Tuesday after all the Darwin award finalists are done ramp camping, returning to that world driven by clocks and calendars.

Be safe out there this weekend!