2024 Wrap Up

With another year in the rearview mirror, it is again time to look back and talk about just what made 2024 on the river what it was.

Once again, extremes seem to be the events that really shaped last year. Very low water in April, then gave way to the highest water we have ever seen that wasn't snow melt related, in June/July. This was followed by very low levels by late September that stayed with us through November.

Even with the low water of Early Spring into summer, the bite was solid and numbers were pretty normal. We did catch many of our larger walleyes in deeper water during this early stretch which was expected with lower flows. Fish were spread out over deeper main river stretches due to the less current than normal in these areas.

The extremely high water that ultimately crested on July 2nd would lead us into the best mid-summer bite that I have ever seen. Numbers of fish caught were off the chart in July, August and early September. Current edges that were adjacent to back water lakes seemed to be critical in more than one area. High water most always leads to a good bite and this summer was really a prime example.

Now by late September levels fell back to low or extremely low and remained that way throughout November. Numbers of fish caught during this time were far below average. What is usually a near suicidal bite by mid-November just never developed as such. We had many good days and some really nice fish but even on the good days we had to work our tails off to get them it seemed. Long stretches of main river channel held the scattered fish that we targeted.

I guess the bottom line is, and I sound like a broken record every year, we are very fortunate to have the fishery that we have. The stretch of river from the Twin Cities through the bottom of Lake Pepin never ceases to amaze. The amount and size of so many different species that you can actually catch with success is not normal in most bodies of water.

2024 marked the 20th year for Hahn's Guide Service. The people that come and fish with me every year are what makes this thing tick and many have become good friends over the years. I do appreciate all of you and would like to thank everyone that comes for a visit!

Below I have posted a picture or two from each month and the average number of keeper sized fish caught per full day trip by month for the past year. Fun to look back and compare from year to year.

Jan...24

Feb...16

Mar...31.7

Apr...28.2

May...18.1

Jun...24

Jul...24

Aug...22.9

Sep...15.9

Oct...10

Nov...13.5