opener results

[marblei]

Only made it out for an hour. 1 - 18 inch smally, 1 - 15 inch smally, 1 - 18 inch walleye. Water high, fast, and very stained.(quite normal spring conditions....finally) Tried spinners, no luck, caught all my fish on crank bait. Waiting to hear other results.

[BigMike]

I got out on Monday (I was looking for your Hawgtide) in my waders and did alright. Not a ton of fish, but I did get some good quality fish. 9 smallies, 2 big catfish and a sheepie. 3 smallies in the 17 & 18 inch range, 3 in the 14-15inch range and 3 less than 10inches. Both catfish were 5+ lbs and put up a huge fight on my medium spinning gear!

I had mixed results for baits. Here is the breakdown: 4 bass on white/chart spinnerbait (they didn't go for just the white!), 1 on hair jig, 2 on buzzbait, 1 bass on mepps #3 inline spinner & 1 on senko (I tried it all!!). Surprisingly no bass on tubes, but the catfish and sheepie hit on tubes - weird!! I got a lot of short hits on the mepps & missed a HUGE explosion on the buzzbait! I was bummed, a big smallie launched himself through the air at it. All released for my next trip up there.

[HawgTide]

BigMike, I was on the river from 7:30 to Noon. Didn't see you either.

The fishing started off slow on Monday (compared to Sunday), but it got pretty good at times. My brother in law and I caught another 20-25 smallies and missed a ton more. Them suckers can shake hooks like nobody's business!

I won't be on the river for another week or so. I'm going to Alabama thursday for a Bass Tournament. $8K first prize is calling my name! (I already have my eyeballs on a new 75lb or better thrust trolling motor. I need it for that river current)

I will see you out there in a week or so.

[BigMike]

Hawgtide, good luck in the tourney - you definitely need the heavier trolling motor in that current up there!

Were you guys above or below the launch at Montissippi? I was wading north of the launch towards the plant and along the two islands north of the ramp. I wasn't able to wade out too far because the water was definitely up a lot compared to last fall. Someone with a deeper boat might actually be able to navigate that section with the water at the "normal" level. Most of the water I was wading in was 3-4 feet deep and only a few feet from shore. Have a good time down there in Alabama and I'll see you up around Monti sometime soon. I'm going to try and hit that area a bunch this summer (well that and Elk River & Ostego)

[HawgTide]

I fished above Montissippi all day on Saturday, and only briefly Sunday and Monday. Monday I was near the park around 8am, but didn't see you there.

The river was about 6-8 inches higher on Monday than Sunday. Last year in early June I was able to take my old(prop) boat up stream to the nuke plant with out too much problems. Once July came around, you could forget that.

Thanks for the well wishes and I'll hook up with you when I get back.

[marblei]

Thanks for the results! Always fun to hear how everyone does. Sunday was deffinately a better day for me. Was able to spend a bit more time.(2 hours) Ended up with 10 smallies, all very nice fish.(3 were right at 18") With current being the way it is, pretty hard to concentrate in on area, and miss quite a few spots as you "ZOOM" by on the drift. Deffinately cover alot of water that way.... This 'work' thing is kind of getting in the way this week, but hope to hit the water this eve for a couple of hours....It is GREAT to be back chasing them smallies!!

[BigMike]

Hawgtide, I got there about 8:30 - was that your dodge in the ramp parking area? I parked up in the upper lot (a little less of a walk to get up stream). I'm assuming you went north first thing and then down river. I finally worked my way up towards the first island just south of the plant by like 9:15 and fished from there all the way down to the ramp until about 4 in the afternoon when the rain started coming in. On my next trip I'm planning on work down river from the ramp to try it out - maybe even swing by Ostego for half a day.

I'm jealous that you're fishing tourneys. Are you doing a pro-am of some sort, you're not taking your boat down there are you? Again, good luck - I'll try and send some smallie magnet power your direction .

[HawgTide]

BigMike, No I parked at the Ellison park in Monticello. Stayed down river most of the time while I was out there.

I'm fishing a tourney with my Dad. He fishes a lot of tournaments down there and just asked if I would come down for this one.

Fishing is tough down there now. They haven't had any rain and the sloughs on the river are drying up fast.

Thanks again.