Coralville, Aug 15

[Burwell40]

I neglected to post last night. I was busy.

I went yesterday morning and got bait in the water around 6:30 AM. Didn't really tear them up. I caught 11 or 12. They were biting a little slow, so I tried something I haven't tried since spring...I used shad filet/gut combo. I caught 4 fish with filet/gut and the rest on cut shad or small whole shad. The bite went away mostly around 11:00, but I stubbornly fished for another 1.5 hours. I finished the day with a nice 7 lber. and averaged 4 lb overall. I only had one fish that went less than 3 lbs.

Once again, it was a little hard to figure out where they wanted to be. I was catching them in deeper water though I woudn't necessarily call it "the channel" as I was further downriver. A friend in another boat finally started getting into them in shallower water (4-6 ft) just off the channel. Both of these boats were trolling. I caught the 7 lber in 4 ft. just off the channel.

I also heard a reliable report of several guys catching nice cats anchored in a foot of water way above the bridges. One guy had 11 and another guy had 12 and they both averaged more than 5 lbs. A word of caution. Don't just go heading up there if you're not familiar with that water. It's mostly mud with fairly narrow channels on the far north and south sides. There are still lots of submerged stumps as well so enter at your own risk. In addition, the water level in the upper reservoir has dropped due to low inflow making it even more difficult to get upriver to the west. I've been doing well enough downriver that I've had no real desire to fight my way through the mud although I must admit that I've seen some awesome fishing up there at times.

Enough for now.

Mike.

[sltrnsam]

boy mike dont you ever work, talk about me always fishing lol. i hear that they are catching good numbers on crawdads up in the flats, i tried some last friday night and didnt get a bite. i to try to stay away from going up into the flats, really dont need to go up there. finding those cats can be a bear sometimes thats why we drift and troll to cover as much water as we can, easier to find them. iam getting to old to pull anchor every 15 minutes. well have fun at the state fair.

clayton

[kycatman01]

that is still some great fishing in my book. congrats!!

[Burwell40]

boy mike dont you ever work, talk about me always fishing lol. i hear that they are catching good numbers on crawdads up in the flats, i tried some last friday night and didnt get a bite. i to try to stay away from going up into the flats, really dont need to go up there. finding those cats can be a bear sometimes thats why we drift and troll to cover as much water as we can, easier to find them. iam getting to old to pull anchor every 15 minutes. well have fun at the state fair.

clayton

Hey, I resemble that statement!

Truly, I do have a job and I find that it gets in the way of fishing a lot. It does, however, provide me the means to fish so it's a two-edged sword.

Fishing above the bridges has provided me with some memorable outings. If you can get onto them, you can have some truly remarkable outings. Seriously, you can sit in one spot and catch your limit. I used to do it at night a lot. You just sit in the dark and listen for the splash when the cat hits your bait. You hear them thrashing a split second before your pole bends. It's pretty cool.

In general, Clayton, I tend to agree with you about anchors. Trolling is cleaner and easier overall. If I were getting skunked downriver, I'd be more tempted to head up into the mud. One time, I got out and drug a boat through the mud to get to the channel above...then coming back down, I had to drag the boat through the mud again. We caught 1 fish that day. Never again, I say! That was with the old jon boat. I took my new boat up to the stumps last year sometime. There was a strong south wind and it blew me into the shallow/mud on the north shore. What a pain trying to get out of that mess. I had the trolling motor screaming, the big motor spewing mud and me throwing an anchor out 10 feet and dragging us forward. Golly, I hate mudding out:angry: . Gee, I like trolling in 20 feet of water...:smile2: