St. Louis River

[GotOne]

Hasn't been a post in a few months. Just wondering if it would be worth a trip next Saturday to look for some walleyes? Anybody fishing the river lately??

[GotOne]

Did the river dry up and go away??? How bout ya Northlander..Thanks

[Northlander]

Some very nice fish are being caught. Not a lot of numbers but those in the know are catching some very respectable fish.

If you know the river you should do fine if you fish sharp channel drops and turn wash outs with current.

[GotOne]

Thank you Steve

[musky hunter]

I have found that you can catch a fish, but you have to work for them. With the low water I'm looking for new places to fish and have found a number that I think will produce, mostly in the lower harbor. Lately I have been targeting bass but Mrs Musky Hunter really put on a show Saturday putting two fat 16" walleyes in the boat plus a few nice bass before I even realized what happened. She used a jig and minnow and nothing would touch my plastics. To make matters even more embarrasing, this was around high noon and quite honestly I didn't think we'd get a thing besides sunburn. That was well upstream where the trees are pretty and the wife can get a good tan while she fishes.

A new secret spot of mine did produce a 21" smallmouth a week ago today, on a green tube bait, the best bass I've boated in 3 years. But overall, the average time to boat a fish for me is up this year, I think the low water has slowed fishing down a bit.

[Northlander]

MH its not the low water its the high water temps. Find cooler water thats either deeper or moving faster and you should do ok.

These are the "Dog Days" of summer so due to all the heat warming up the water way high the fishing will be slow. Dont think your going to catch 20 plus fish like in the spring but you can get a nice 6-12 if you work at it a bit.

As always low light times are best.

[musky hunter]

The high water temp seems to hatch things. I think mayflies are over, but my sonar was picking up some junk that did resemble mayflies. Personally, I think "dog days" means fish stuffed with food before I even get there. The walleyes may well be deep. So here's one for you Steve: The seiche tide can suck in a harbor full of cooler lake water into the lower harbor, from the Bong Bridge downstream if it were really strong. I think that turns fish off. Do you agree?

[Northlander]

I agree mayflies are pretty much over. I do see a few here and there but dont go looking for them now like I did a few weks ago. I really dont think the mayflie hatch effects the river like it does the lakes. Well some areas of the river it does.

There is some sort of a hatch happening now and from what the trout guys say its grasshoppers and another bug I forget at this time. All I know is this hatch has the eyes really feeding up high in a few spots I have been fishing. There are a lot of them and they are agressive as all heck. Some real monsters as well.

As far as the sieche tide filling the bays with colder water your on to something. As far as turning off the fish I dont know. The bays have been fairly slow the past couple years for some reason. Im not really sure what it is. I know water clearity in the bays is at a all time high. Meaning its very clear as far as the river goes. Many more weeds this year in the bays. Some in deeper areas I have never seen them in before. Due to water clearity and sun penatration? Im assuming so but Im no biologist by any means just a "walleye hack".

I dont know if the tidle effect shuts eyes down or if it actually has the reverse effect at times. I do know when ice fishing the times where it switches from one way to the other is when we get a lot of our fish. But your not dealing with a water temp change that time of year like in the summer.

Thats one thing I will have to try and spend some time trying to figure out more. Its hard to do when your trolling though. When jigging and rigging is when I can really tel whats up with the current. That time is coming real soon with the fall jig n rig bite coming up again. Its actually my second favorite time of the year after spring of course. Hard to beat a cool fall day jiggin up eyes on the river with all the leaves changing.

MH a question for ya is do ya have a schedule of times you guys release water at the poop plant? I know it depends on rain etc. but something that I can use as a general marker. I think that warm water coming out of there has a big effect on a few of my spots around there. Not so much this time of year but early and late in the season.

Please e-mail me that info if ya have it. I dont want the other "walleye hacks" gettin it.

[outdoor ran]

Steve, is the honey hole still going good? I'm going to try to take the wife there tomorrow evening if I get out of work in time.

[Muskycrazy]

If anybody catches a Musky sized Stowmaster net between Clough Island and Spirit lake - can I have it back please .

[musky hunter]

I have no information on the scheduling of release of water at the discharge. Most of us know it is higher in the spring due to rain and run off. I do have frequent dealings with WLSSD at my company, one of my duties is to maintain compliance with our discharge permit. Has to do with a plating operation and insuring that chemical discharges do not occur. I know the lead chemist there, and I have had some conversations with him about the discharge and the quality of water being discharged. As for me, the poop shoot is a fishin hole of last resort, and then generally with a good southerly breeze. I was in there once this year and found it to be extremely shallow. Since I do not relish the idea of having to jump out of my boat to push it off grounding anywhere near there, it may be some time before I go back. I do not know what effect it may have on walleyes or any other specie other than in the immediate vicinity. Other than temperature, the discharge must have some organic solids (it's real dark) and there is some higher bacteria count to it. They are doing an excellent job of keeping industrial pollutants out of the waste water stream, and they do treat it to remove heavy metals and toxins, as well as monitor for compliance of all the larger and industrial waste streams into the system. WLSSD samples water daily under the high bridge to monitor bacteria count. I'm told that by the time it flows to there the count has become extremely dilute, the water under the high bridge must be swimmable quality in order for WLSSD to be in compliance with their PCA permit. And by my temperature sensor, I generally cannot detect an increase in water temps by the high bridge under most conditions. Probably more that you wanted to know but public knowledge. And how it affects walleyes a half mile away I cannot say, but I suspect not very much.