Glancing up at towering bluffs which shield the mysteries of pool 9 on the Immortal River the splendor of fall color is clearly visible behind the facade of late summer greenery.

Focusing on the business of serious fishin’ electronics should reveal a surface temperature in the low 60’s–maybe upper 50’s.
Just one week ago the river was flowing at a cool 61 degrees, maybe a couple degrees warmer on a sunny afternoon. She was flowing near action stage. Walleyes & bluegills weren’t biting aggressively on the wingdam rocks like they typically are by mid-September–and the leafy sentinels guarding the River’s passage were a serious summer green.

The carpet simply hasn’t matched the drapes so far this month–with the exception of eel grass sliding downstream making lure presentation ‘challenging’ most of the time.

On 9/11 the River level started falling toward typical summer pool levels. Three days later the water temp had rien a solid 12 degrees, goading fish to ponder instead of pounce.

Fish activity became incrementally better as we eased into mid-week with stable water temperatures and River level–even with grass forcing pretty much a single hook presentation to consistently hook up..

The white bass activity which was rampant on rocks and current seams on 9/11 with water temps in the 60’s has slowed from frenzy time to one or two between a pretty easy SMB bite with the occasional bonus walleye.

With River levels remaining stable these willing scrappers are subtly herding shad waiting for a 10 degree drop in water temperature to signal go-time.

Bluegills are now on the rocks in good numbers, crappies are staged in deep water trees about halfway down in the water column, willing to bite but not exactly eager yet.

With nature getting back in sync over the next couple weeks green bass will be dogging balls of baitfish in typically unproductive spots back in the running sloughs and joining pike to chase bluegills on the rocks.

A lifetime on the Mississippi has taught the importance of LISTENING TO THE RIVER. Curve balls like rapid & significant changes in water temperature and River level will always slow the bite for a couple days.

A change in wind direction carrying barometric pressure movement can have a similar effect. A passing towboat can have the same impact. Fishing can go from red hot to stone cold in a matter of minutes.

but the changes can go the other way, too. if you’re in harmony with the River you can actually FEEL it and take advantage of the bounty–just like dipping birds which see white bass or smallies chasing minnow to the surface.

eyeballs glued to the screen of a Forward Facing sonar might reveal bass hanging suspended off a tall muddy bank which didn’t look “fishy”, but eyes trained by grandpa to recognize a colony of crawdad holes on the bank often has fishers diving for landing nets before those folks playing NASCAR on the water bring their flashy , rude rockets down off of plane.

When the veil of green pulls back from the bluffs to reveal full autumn splendor in just a couple weeks most of humanity will leave the river to chase other dreams.

This ol’ dog can hardly wait. The time is fast approaching when the river might even see my Lund on a Saturday!