Pool 4 (Red Wing) Water Temp: 35 Level: 6.5 Flow:@30,300cfs

The river is on the way up quickly. Water clarity was about 6 inches as of yesterday.

We have fished our way out of the clear water of winter into the dingier water of spring.  The bite during this change can and will likely be challenging at times but barring any big rains we may stay clear and clean enough to catch fish.  Over the past 10 days or so we have been catching enough fish during the day to keep us going.  During the clean water of last week going a little deeper (20-25 fow) was critical to catching any numbers of fish.  Going vertical with jigs/minnows was the best bet while fishing those depths for my boat.  We did catch some fish in shallower water as well but fewer and casting or pulling baits away from the boat was important as usual in those situations.

Yesterday was the first day that it was spring time dingy.  We switched back to Dubuque Rigs and used both minnows and plastic to get bit depending on the area.  It was good to see the fish cooperate even after the drastic change in water conditions.  If we can maintain the clarity we have now we should be able to get bit as the river continues to rise but if we lose that it will likely be tougher for a few days.

Pictures below.....Robert Mckinnon with nice eye caught pitching a jig/minnow.

Aaron Williams and Dave Lasche with the NEW two man limit.  The limit per angler is 4 now instead of 6.

Yours truly with a 20+ incher from Tuesday.

Matt Sayer and Pat Hughes with a few more from Tuesday.