Big Largemouth
- Small Tiger Muskie
- Mason Johnston from Shawnee, KS
Yeah, yeah, the rivers have been too high. The Mississippi has been flowing at over 20,000, the St Croix over 10,000, even the Rum has been approaching 5,000 CFS. No one loves river fishing as much as me, and I will always take water that is a little too high over water a little too low. Current water levels are just not doable though–fish could still be caught-I’ve done it-but the dynamic of the fishing changes a lot and there are serious safety concerns. Last year it was well into July before the Miss was really fishable, this year it looks like we have about another week before the river will be at a fishable, albeit high, level.
Looking forward to lots of good days in the weeks to come. Local Largemouths [and largemouth enthusiasts!] are enjoying the fact that lake levels are on the rise, and huge numbers are possible. A trip with two guys on Monday produced around 30 largemouth, and a trip last week with a friend saw numbers approaching 50. Of course there’s always a few pike in the mix, maybe a muskie, and I’ve always got an eye out for big panfish. On Monday we found some full sized gills [8″+] still hanging around beds. These provided an interesting diversion, and I was really wishing for a fly rod in the boat.