Water temp has been hovering in the mid-60’s, with River levels still near historic lows. Several days ago it got down to 620@ Genoa–something not seen since 8-1-06…1988 before that. When allowing for siltation we’re literally looking at new ground.

Most quality gills have been either on main channel rocks or close to bottom on deep wood. Crappies in the same wood, suspended 2-5 ‘down over at least 10 fow.

SMB & LMB beginning to stack in great numbers over small structure. Wed. trip clients boated 7 decent fish in just 20 mins. @ end of day throwing #Zman Ned w/ liquid willowcat sauce.

Pitching/dragging #B-Fish-N Tackle Pulse Rs in crystal ice & bubble gum most productive for me the past several days. Better fish have been hold in 14-17 fow. Trolling DT10s also effective if you can get away from the weeds.

Ironically, bigger pike have been hanging in deeper water, too. Not back chasing pannies in the weeds like the normally do in Oct. because low water has either moved forage base elsewhere…or its too tough to navigate through the shallow, weedy water to get to spots where they are hiding.

Coming of age in the 60’s was a blessing. The 60’s are also a special time on the River. We haven’t seen the 60’s here since May…But they’re Baaack!

Fish know seasonal change is on the way. River is on the rise again from historic low levels to near-perfect pre-autumn stage–and water temps are a solid 65-67 degrees in both the River mainstem and running sloughs.

Rising river levels bring weeds. Contending with weeds is a fact of life in autumn–either contend with them by modifying presentation or move to where you can fish without bringing in salad on every cast.

Talking dead, floating weeds. Not elodea( coontail) which is a magnet for perch. The projected one-foot River rise over the next couple days will push the perch into the elodea in 18 inches- 6 fow.

Crappies are already staging in the wood–4′ down over at least 10 fow. Gills are still on main channel rocks but will begin to move toward over-winter areas as the River continues to rise–which it most certainly will over the next month or so.

There is a tremendous amount of food–mostly shad–available to gamefish now. Bass &pike won’t be far away, once you find them.

Some walleyes, too. But with temps now in the 60s I would rather go after the easy fish–relatively speaking, since willocats are now tough to come by. With a finite number of main channel rocky structures getting so much boat traffic, I’ve gone to plan B: drifting outside channel edges in 9-15 fow in running sloughs with a half-crawler threaded on a #B-Fish-N Tackle 3/16 oz Precision jig in Pyrokeet pattern.

True, 3 out of 4 fish will be shorts–but when you catch 15-20 its LUNCH…and that sweet rush of adrenaline every time you set the hook!

After tickling the ‘action stage’ a week ago the River quickly dropped down to really good early September levels, with projections calling it to remain stable for at least another week.

Overnight lows in the mid-50s are causing water temps to fall as well, setting the stage for some tremendous fishing in the weeks ahead.

it takes me at least an hour EVERY SINGLE DAY to get in sync with the River. When not actually on the River, I’m usually thinking about the River. A couple recent thoughts: If the River can rise from ultra-low to action stage in 72 hrs. from just moderate rains upstream for a couple days, what does it say about siltation in quiet waters clear up past LaCrosse?

Weeds are a perpetual problem in the fall. Nutrient-rich substrata with more siltation translates into more aquatic weed growth–not a bad thing– until the weeds start to die off and head downstream. Thinking the next wew weeks will be tough for throwing multi-hook presentations. Thinking single hook with a split shot “shock absorber’ 18” up the line might weigh in presentation at least for the short term.

Fishing is usually better on a rising River, BUT we’re now back near levels which fish have become acclimatized to since mid-May, making behavior/location easier to pattern.

I haven’t been on the water since Friday morning and won’t get back out there until maybe late tomorrow afternoon. Nobody wanted to book a trip at the special holiday weekend rate: $10,000/6 hrs. (includes a cheese sandwich) Time to re-think my biz plan. Thinking about bumping it to $12K and including a vennie stick next year.

With Labor Day behind us , the $1000/4 hr Saturday rate has been reduced to $250/4 hrs for the rest of the open water season. Of course, this means I’m gonna have to work a little more–maybe 4 days a week. This leaves 2 days for ‘fun fishin’. Just me & the dog. Fishin’ with “buddies” is still guiding. It’s in my “sheepdog” nature to put others sharing the boat in the best orientation to hook up.

Throwing a $20 for gas helps offset the $42 it takes to launch the boat–barring a major breakdown like lower unit, trolling motor or electronics.
Adding a third boat to the fleet doesn’t help this bottom line BUT it’s kinda fun petting the boats when its fleet week out on the River.

Very impressed with the new Garmin on the “Pinta” , #2 boat. Humminbird updated the software and fixed problems on the helix 10 with a turnaround of just 11 days on the Santa Maria. Only ran a couple of trips without electronics in this time frame–which just confirms you really don’t need electronics when fishin’ a river…even THE River.

Not gonna apologize for lack of inside skinny, solid fishin’ info on the blog this time. Whining cuz of not being on the water for 50 hrs. My choice. Sometimes you’ve gotta let the passion of the pull simmer for awhile after more than a half-century of serious fishin’ to build back a hotter fire.

Even Kevlar Chapstik won’t help those scaly critters when one of the fleet gets wet tomorrow. Lord willin’

The River is projected to rise FOUR FEET over the next couple days, bringing us into “action stage” by Sunday afternoon–last time the River was this high was late March.

What this means is all gates are open @ most lock & dams and access may be challenging at some ramps like New Albin. For the next couple days fishin’ will be challenging BUT once we go 48 hrs. without rain backwaters which load from downstream will start to clear up on the north end, concentrating fish.

Influx of all this water should also drop water temp a bit. it was 77 on the mainstem yesterday.

navigation will be challenging, as there will be lotsa wood & other dunnage coming down–especially downstream from confluence with tribs like the Bad Axe & upper Iowa. The upside is, running aground is much less likely. You can also expect floating weeds to be a factor for at least the next few days–maybe until late fall.

By this time next week fishin’ should be really REALLY good. With prevailing low water conditions pretty much all summer finesse was needed most days–even throwing crankbaits.

From this point forward it will be a brand new ball game! Right now it looks like the sharp rise might reach crest by Tuesday. Until then, the challenge will be figuring out where fish are heading before they get there. Plan on doing considerable froggin’ around til this time next week.

Back in my college days I made the mistake of taking a 400 level course ‘History of Greek Philosophy’. One drunk Greek said it was impossible to step in the same river twice. Another drunk Greek said you couldn’t step in the same river once.

I’m thinkin’ the 2nd Greek got it right. In vino vertitas. I’m out there pretty much every day and it still takes me at least an hour to get in harmony with the River.

I KNEW she would come up substantially, eventually. Plum tickled that this day has arrived. May sound weird, but the more water headed downstream, the easier it is to reach that point of harmonic convergence.

Just took 4 fish (2 eyes/2 sheep) out of the smoker. The Admiral says she likes the sheep better. No surprise here! It’s all good–but when it comes to eating smoked fish, my vote is for the goat!

River projections call for stable level @ about 620.1 @ Genoa for the next few days. Just one wk. ago it was flowing @ 623.8. Then it dropped 2 1/2 FEET in just 24 hrs.!

Discretion and supply chain issues have me running @ idle prety much everywhere beyond the channel. The best part of extreme low water is you now can mark rock piles, etc which will be hidden when the River rises again–which history says it WILL–at least a little–before ice up.

The River drop last Monday moved many fish species. Many sloughs are now weed choked/covered slack water.Current seams in running sloughs are good. Current seams out on the River mainstem are even better for producing fish.

This even includes channel cats! Yesterday key was moderate current, hard bottom, above snags in 10-16 fow, Today is a walleye trip. fortunately, I have willocats.

Fog is an issue until about 8-9 most mornings–but ‘eyes are most aggressive in low light conditions. Floating eelgrass is already an issue. I like throwing cranks on rocks if you can get through the weeds under these conditions.

But sometimes willocats are the only game in town..Guess i’ll find out in about an hour. Even when you’re out there pretty much every day, it still takes at least an hour to get in sync with the River–at least this humbling fact is true with me.

The Immortal River is the Creator’s best handiwork I’ve ever experienced. After 10K+ days on the water all I know is the River will give you what She will and you need to find peace with this reality. What a spectacular place to work!

Just woke up from a rainy Saturday nap. Upper pools are getting a substantial soaker–so River level @ Genoa should be on the low end of just about perfect by this time next week.

The USACE projection can change quickly. But its hard to imagine this late summer rise will get anything besides better. I’ve always figgered 623′ @ Genoa is perfect–give or take a foot.

This summer has been one of historic low levels. If you look at the history of low water on the Miss, it almost always happens in late summer. We’ve been at 621 for awhile. Projected rise is to about 622. Really don’t think it will drop back to 621 for the rest of the year. Guess we’ll cross that sandbar if we get to it.

A sharply rising River means substantial change in River clarity. Chocolate milk fishin’ is never good. But the rise will push water with at least 2′ clarity, and active fish will be waiting in ambush nearby.

For the past few days the easiest target has been bluegills on main channel rocks. The ol’ split shot, wire hook and a pinch of crawler will always catch fish. But a drop shot presentation with a couple orange beads in-line above the hook has been producing significantly larger gills.

Channel cat have been another easy go-to. But we’re at that point in the summer where a 2-worm presentation produces more quality cats. Fiddlers continue to jump all over the typical dipbait worm BUT a smaller, shorter worm with the dimensions of a ‘ladyfinger’ firecracker tend to give up bigger fish.

Quality pike are still close to the panfish–but deeper water is the key to finding the good ones under low water conditions this time of year.

Bass fishin’ is pretty easy under almost any conditions this time of year. Willocats are the best way to catch too-big walleyes now. If you’re looking for slot fish and shorts try a Bill Lewis lures MR-6, Rapala DT 6 or Bomber 6A. All these profiles work, but some colors work better than others.

I have a couple openings during the week the rest of this month if you’re looking for a guide. you won’t see me on the water the 1st weekend in Sept. Maybe its time to change the “Labor Day” designation…nobody works anymore. I propose “migrants day”: no fishing license, no bag limits, no mask required.

Enough rant. haven’t fished in 48 hrs now. starting to get the shakes

Low speed impact with unforgiving structure on July 7 put a serious crimp in both guide work and fishin’. Was able to run several trips out out client’s boats since prop, propt shaft & pinion/forward gear sent the structure kiss up the line. Outboard still ran well enough to sneak out close to home–but not well enough to take folks out on the River for hire.

Biggest snag:pinion/forward gear. Zero available in the 4 nat’l distribution centers. Just 3 in dealer inventory nationwide. I was able to secure the one out in KS. Lord’ willin’ will be back on the water soon.

Here’s the deal: amount of ‘fishable water’ has dropped about 70% below an average summer do to historic low water levels in the Miss. Navigating just a few feet beyond the channel can have dire consequences. 3 out of 5 guides working this stretch of River have had lower unit impact issues over the past couple months–and all of ’em have a pretty fair idea of how to run the River.

With such a decrease of fishable water obvious spots are getting POUNDED. Quality gamefish realize this. Finesse is key to hooking up! A great deal of this is bait presentation, often driven by boat location/orientation.

Often, the scenario is like deer hunting from a strategically placed stand instead of even a well orchestrated drive. Putting that hook at the optimum point for a quality fish to slurp it in may take a drop shot or Ned rig presentation for bass & walleyes. Z-Man products set the bar in both these presentations.

I’ve had a fair amount of success drop shotting willocats–both live and #liquidewillowcat plastics doused with ‘da juice’ for quality walleye over the past couple months and the #liquidwillowcat leech for SMB. Downside of getting bit is the mixed blessing that the fish tear these baits up. The Z-Man ElaZtech plastic is usually good for several fish.

Weird thing is some of the nicer SMB have chomped when the drop shot is firmly snagged in the rocks! Fishin’ 40 lb. braid to the hook and 10 lb. floro to the weight means the weight is often lost, but a fish is in the net.

29,30 & 8/2 are open for half-day trips in the a.m. Next open date for an extended tour is 8/9…with maybe a half dozen open days during the week the rest of the month.

have y’all ever seen the movie “Second Hand Lions” starring Robert Duvall & Micheal Caine? That’s kinda where guide john Bomkamp & me are right now…with Galen Bremmer still ridin’ hard but slowing down.

The FWS extorts a $3 ‘head tax’ on every person we share the wonders of the River with as fishin’ guides. Of course, my thought of being compensated for working at teaching others is counter to conventional government wisdom. Paying folks not to work is why there are only 3 forward gears available for 90 h.p E-techs in the entire USA. Maybe I’ll invoice the FWS for 15-20 folks I wasn’t able to take out when my motor was down. Oh, well the FWS inequitable tax for ‘administrative purposes’ is Biblical…right out of Isaiah 5:20.

stay safe out there!

Grass and heavy fog usually aren’t an issue on the Immortal River until mid-August. But both are definitely a factor now.

Water levels remain near historically low levels, with August going into September typically the lowest levels in a low water year. The Great Rainmaker will let us know soon enough.

Although most summer panfish action is in the running sloughs and backwaters, navigating there is truly, TRULY hazardous. When the grass starts coming down pannies have always been a go-to option. This is still true…but it tougher to get to where the big uns are. Pretty much.

With almost all accessible fish located near the River mainstem there is now incredible fishing pressure and jockeying for position at the usual prime spots–especially on the weekend. The past couple weeks I’ve transitioned to secondary spots and have had fair success on walleyes & SMB using willocats and Da juice on Liquidwillowcat.com plastics–also on 1/8 oz hair jigs & Ned rigs.

The bite for channel cats is still almost sure-thing good–but I’ve had to peg a small split shot up the line about 3′ to intercept weeds. Flatheads are also intercepting willocat intended for walleye on just about every trip.

Boat position/control is critical, regardless of target species. The “active bite” seam may only be a couple feet wide, especially during the mid-day period.

The active bite in general is pretty much over by 8 a.m. on a sunny day, not picking up again until after 5. But hey, it’s August. Maybe we’ll get October in Sept. this year. I’m OK with that!

Channel cats are almost too easy to catch now , with the river running extremely low. Even though these whiskerfish are called ‘channel cats’ the best place to hook up is beyond the channel in running sloughs and side-cuts with several habitat parameters.

All you need to do is find 7-12 fow, hard bottom, moderate current and fish above a snag or driftpile . No need to go fishin’ at midnight! This is where the forktails are living now. Knock on their front door with a desirable meal and they will answer within FIFTEEN MINUTES.

Anchoring cross-current to spread lines when fishing on the bottom is the best way to eliminate unproductive water. If cats are home, at least one rod will start bouncing within 15 minutes. Frequently, a rod at one end of the boat will be the ‘hot’ rod. This is because the bait is spot-on in the scent trail leading downstream to the waiting fish.

Summer cats tend to stack up in a narrow band–like speed skaters racing around the oval. If one rod is ‘hot’ repositioning the boat to put more lines on this scent seam will result in more fish.

Once you’re on fish, it’s time for the FIVE MINUTE RULE. If you go five full minutes without an active bite, its time to move–either to another spot along the snag or to similar habitat UPSTREAM. Eventually, the number of quality, active cats will be depleted–leaving only ‘fiddlers’ who want to lick frosting instead of chowing down.

Channel cats are omnivorous. Dipbait–with the right ingredients and consistency is usually the best bait. Cutbait from a freshly caught, oily baitfish like a mooneye will also work. Fishing a half-crawler on one line to catch a mooneye is a solid plan. Cutbait usually produces bigger forktails.

A 1/8-1/4 oz. egg sinker is plenty of weight when anchored up above a snag with the ideal habitat parameters, as you are fishing DIRECTLY UP CURRENT from the fish.

A barrel swivel keeps the sinker from sliding too far down the line. On the other end is the hook–6-12″ below a leader. I like a 12 lb. test mono leader below at least a 20 lb. test main line. If you’re fishing where the fish are you’re gonna get hung up. Worst case scenario is USUALLY just losing the hook.

When looking for baitfish, a #4-6 slow-death, light wire hook is ideal. Serious cattin’ requires a hook with a little more steel. If using dipbait, either a species specific plastic worm with a #10 treble in the tail or a #4-6 treble with that spongy foam used to pack around window air conditioners, etc. to hold the bait.

There are only a couple of consistently productive dipbaits which are available at the tackle shop. Sonny’s Super sticky is still the best even with my longtime pal ol’ Clarence no longer there to ensure quality control.

My friendship with Sonny Hootman dates back more than 40 years. He never shared the exact proprietary formula with me–but he provided enough clues over the years to blend my own stuff–which is what a real river rat needs to do, anyway.

My recipe will go to the grave with me. But i will tell you waste cheese, soybean oil, shad flies and turtle liver go into the mix. If the bait gets too runny, add cattail fuzz, too stiff–a LITTLE soybean oil.

About 30 years ago Sonny came up with a batch he called ‘golden glue’. The stuff was beyond amazing. But subsequent attempts to replicate it could only come close.

I just finished a 2-day species specific cat trip with a couple guys from the city. This required crafting a new batch of bait. Won’t be so bold as to compare the stuff to golden glue–but it certainly works!

White bass on the River are always a mystery wrapped up in an enigma–finned dingos forever dogging their forage base.

Other than the occasional stray, those wonderful whiteys have been absent from the picture all summer long on pool 9–until just a few days ago. They just showed up on wingdam & closing dam rocks busting shad and river shiners in top water feeding frenzy which–in my opinion– is the most fun fishin’. period.

SMB are usually somewhere close by, too, taking advantage of stunned baitfish left behind.

Cashing in on this bonanza requires two rods–one rigged with a bone pattern Pop-R or Chug Bug/Tiny Torpedo in clear pattern, and another with a ‘search bait’ to target wayward whiteys between eruptions on the surface.

My fave search baits are the Rat-L-Trap, white dot #4 Mepps black fury, RoadRunnerand my latest fave– the Z-Man Willowvibe bladed jig in shiner pattern with a Z-Man Slim Swimmer plastic in Blue Glimmer SP.

If your search bait is getting slapped–but not eaten you’re retrieving too slow. It is IMPOSSIBLE to retrieve any of these baits too fast–with one exception: The Willowvibe bladed jig with a BLUE GLIMMER SP tail. I think this is cuz this bait profile/color is EXACTLY what the whiteys have been chewin’ on.

Sometimes the best plan is just waiting for the topwater frenzy, locked & loaded and pitch the pop-R into the middle of the melee. The frenzy can end in the time it takes to put down the search rod and cast the topwater.

Boat position can be key in cashing in! Don’t try following the topwater frenzy as fish surface here and then there. Find the most frequent place where they explode and anchor up an average cast DOWNCURRENT. A boat positioned upstream will quickly goad ’em into blowing up elsewhere.

Towboats are a mixed blessing. When a barge passes by it can turn ’em on–or shut ’em down.

It’s hard to leave when getting bit on almost every cast. But eventually the action will slow down. The fish probably haven’t moved much. Good time to enact the ’10 cast rule’. Don’t leave until you make 10 casts without a response. On yesterday’s trip it took my guys almost an hour to leave and chase walleyes after they were plum tuckered out from catching fish!