Wednesday flow was about 10,000 CFS and dropping, Thursday in the 9,000 range, dropping fairly quickly. river still has no visdbility, temps 58 degrees. short sleeve weather. it seems like everything in nature is running at a higher rate to make up for lost time. what isn't active would be easier to list. in many places the current is still blowing at a pretty good clip near the shore, most slack water areas aren't real wide yet. A short cast from shore, I still have many places where a 1/2 oz jig won't get bottom. The usual paths along the shore are still underwater.
Wednesday, I started on a stretch with flooded grass, brush and woody cover. I went with a 1/0 weighted keeper hook in the slack stuff and next to shore and a 2/0 on the seams. They were paired up with a Berkley Power Pulse worm. If the current seam was 2 ft os less from shore the fish were hugging the bank. If it was more than 2 feet from shore they were on the seam. I did check along the shore in the wider areas and in three cases picked up a bass along the shore. In all three instances the fish from the seam was larger than the shorebound fish. I ended up doing well enough there that I never went anywhere esle.
I had a vacation day for Thursday, so I had all day to fish. I hit a variety of current situations from mudlines at trib mouths, mudlines in point pools below the tribs, slack areas created by points, lifts, and flooded shorelines. For the most part the weighted keeper/power pulse worm was the lure of choice. I did try some Berkley Power Walleye leeches and a nose hooked fluke. The fish were really stacked on the mudlines in the trib mouth and the point pool. If I got off the mudline, I wasn't catching fish. I hit a spot with some woody cover and started getting taps and pull downs on the worm. I switched to the plastic leech and picked up 7 rockbass in the 6 to 7 inch range. Off to the next spot, hit a slack spot caused by a good sized point. I dropped the jig/worm right in the sweet spot at the head of the slack area and immeditely picked up a very nice bass. I moved down a little to fish two smaller secondary points and got a smallie off the tip of those secondary points on the downstream side. Based on the previous day, I started working the seam and picked up a few more. I went back thru fishing tight to shore and just off with nothing to show for it.
Next up I hit a lift, that was close to shore. Just a short distance upstream , a guy with livers and stinkbait was fising for cats. In 5 casts I picked up three cats, all about 2.5 to 3 pounds. I think they were flowing the scent trail and I got them before the hit the stnkbait and liver.
I worked flooded shoreline spots just aboutall of the rest of the time. Today the difference was, every fish was on the seam, regardless of how wide the slack area was. I did hit the mudline at the trib with nosed hooked flukes on the way home. I got into some very nice smallies until it seemed like a battalion of gar moved in.
Homeward for some beef sammiches
somewhere over the mudline,turkey buzzards dine
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Norm Minas
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somewhere over the mudline,turkey buzzards dine
What a long, strange trip it still is .
Put a glide in your stride, a dip in your hip and come onto the mother ship .
Put a glide in your stride, a dip in your hip and come onto the mother ship .
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Special Ed
- Poop Ninja
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Re: somewhere over the mudline,turkey buzzards dine
I like this title better Norm.
I've got to find time to get my fat ass back out on a river or creek somewhere...
I've got to find time to get my fat ass back out on a river or creek somewhere...
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Johndyers34
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Re: somewhere over the mudline,turkey buzzards dine
I'm thinking about throwing some big nasty flies first thing in the morning on the Fox by the Yorkville dam as long as the rain holds up. Work some good water with huge streamers then switch to something a little more Smallmouth material.Special Ed wrote:I like this title better Norm.
I've got to find time to get my fat ass back out on a river or creek somewhere...
"The best fisherman I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them"-John Gierach
http://www.lostandfoundfishingthemidwest.com
http://www.lostandfoundfishingthemidwest.com
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Special Ed
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Re: somewhere over the mudline,turkey buzzards dine
We are training our little one how to sleep in a bed without bars. It's not going well. It will be awhile before I slip out for a morning or evening quickie on the water.
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Norm Minas
- Posts: 296
- Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2010 1:18 am
Re: somewhere over the mudline,turkey buzzards dine
just try to make time for you and the wife, if nothing else just to sit peacefully in each others company.
What a long, strange trip it still is .
Put a glide in your stride, a dip in your hip and come onto the mother ship .
Put a glide in your stride, a dip in your hip and come onto the mother ship .
-
Special Ed
- Poop Ninja
- Posts: 763
- Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:21 pm
- Type in the middle number (1118): 630
- Location: Oswego, IL
Re: somewhere over the mudline,turkey buzzards dine
Norm Minas wrote:just try to make time for you and the wife, if nothing else just to sit peacefully in each others company.
Had a good weekend, took your advice.
I kept my peace with the May issue of the Outdoor Notebook, and I gave her peace with a roll of duct tape and some balled up gym shorts.
All kidding aside, thanks for the tip Norm.