MKFS: Fishing Conditions Archive

June 19

The weekend fishing was hot--typical early-summer fishing, despite very low water. Kovach guides were out en masse Saturday in the services first-ever 4-boat trip. Eight clients from ages 14-80 had all the hits they could handle with bass up to 16 inches and 1.7 pounds, as well as two walleyes, one that went three pounds. Most fish were small and many hits were hesitant, but all anglers went away happy. John Hayes was less happy as his Assault Sled, not designed for skinny water, made intimate contact with every rock and ledge. Of course, he was still gracious enough to tow us down the last mile of Brunswick pool to in a daisy chain.

Strongest lures were small grubs and sassy shads in white, gold, chartreuse, or browns, and larger fish came as usual on zoom flukes though the largest fish prize, and top honors all around, went to patient and skillful fishing by the patriarch of the clan, who boated sixty or more fish himself with patient work and a handful of small silver sassy shads. And kept cranking even after eleven hours on the water, even when the rest had hooked them up and were massaging their wrists and birdwatching.

Fish are even active in the highest sun, though our day Saturday was overcast. Mark Frondorf ran trips on Friday and Monday and reported excellent action throughout the day. Fish will take topwater, buzzbaits, grubs, really anything if it is done consistently.

Remember that a slowly worked lure will even move the least active fish. This is especially important for wading anglers who don't have the luxury of covering lots of water. We've been finding the best fish in transition zones especially near midriver structure or river channels with large, open areas of flatwater--not necessarily the deepest water, but areas which allow the fish to keep a lot of open water around them. As always bottom is important too, especially the broken-up bottoms, boulder-bars, and the darker rock that has established food chain growth.

Though cooler days and cloudy, rainy days have kept the river temps down, it is still very low very early and that means that O2 levels will quickly become an important factor. We're already starting to find fish, including some of the best fish, closely related to the most riffly water. Two of the larger fish came from good cover near ledges that create whitewater flow--indication that they are setting up in oxygen-rich areas. Remember that it takes a while for oxygen blended into water to diffuse to a level that fish find useful, so the first area of whitewater in a long stretch, such as the first line of a ledge, is not always the best choice. Thirty or fifty yards downstream the less obvious areas may be the most productive when the water gets really hot. Also, the shady areas downstream from a riffle or a creek mouth are good locations even if they're a fair distance down.

Another interesting summer phenomenon is the big fish in the middle of the day. Though I've had a lot of good fish come in the cool of the evening or morning, I've seen enough very large fish hit at midday, out of the clearest, hottest spots, to realize that something's up there.

Dave Motes

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