St Jude practice Day 1

I thought open water was never going to come! This was one of the latest springs we have had in quite awhile. Global warming? I started out the season practicing for the St Jude tournament on pools 4 and 5 on the Mississippi River in Wabasha. The water was high and cold, which means tough fishing but once you find them they should be biting and schooled up pretty well. I knew I was going to focus on smallmouth as the largemouth would be tougher to find. Brian Brown and I were teaming up for this tournament just as we did last year.

My first day of practice was on May 1st, Brian and I decided to start practicing on pool 4. I had an idea of where the fish would be as I knew going into it, they would be pre-spawn due to the late spring. I started outside of a very popular spawning area looking for isolated stumps and small humps the fish would be stopping on while they were heading to their spawning areas. I was unable to find any fish where I felt they would be and I kept moving shallower. Once I moved a little shallower I found an emergent grass bed where I caught a few fish on a 1/4 oz white Outkast swim jig (my favorite river lure). However, these fish were not the size or number of fish we needed to do well. I then kept moving shallower just making sure that I could rule that out of my plan. I spent a couple hours (more than I should of) investigating a spawning area that usually holds fish. I was unable to find any fish and warm enough water and felt confident that I could rule that out of my plans.

I then decided to make a short run to another popular area that I know has big fish around it but you really need to know the exact spot. I did not know where the exact spot that the pre-spawn fish stop at but there is no other way to find it other than spend time looking. I caught a few smaller fish on the swim jig and a couple pike but was unable to find the "motherload" that I knew was around somewhere. This is an area that I need to spend more time in as it has produced large bags in the past.

My next stop was down river. The river was much higher than usual due to the heavy spring rain. I decided to spend some time fishing in some current outside of a large shallow bay. There are some really good current breaks that Brian and I have caught fish on in the past and I was able to catch a few decent fish on them this year. Although the current was too much to fish them effectively I was able to drift by the "eddies" and throw a bandit fire-tiger crankbait past them and the fish were in the slower water just waiting for some food to come by. I also caught a couple 6 pound plus walleye's here. I checked out a couple other spots in that area that had a few smaller fish on them, but again couldn't get anything that we could bank on.

The day was getting later and I had time to stop at one other spot that was a textbook pre-spawn area. There were a couple points just outside of a marina with good current pushing baitfish onto the points. I picked up a 3.5" Outkast tube in smoke/red pepper color. I made one cast just inside the marina and caught a smaller bass. I then turned the boat to face one of the points and fired onto the top of the point. My line immediatly jumped and I hooked a nice 3# smallmouth. I thought "huh, that makes sense". I made a similar cast again and as soon as the Outkast tube got to the point I hooked another 2.5# smallie. Ok, thats enough for that one. I turned to the other point and made a long cast and got it about halfway back and hooked another 2.5-3# bass. Finally, something that made sense had fish on it. I knew that spot had a lot of potential and there was a reason the fish were there.

I then had to head in and get checked into our motel room and re-tie some rods for tomorrow which would be spent on pool #5. Talked to Brian on the way in and he had pretty much had the same day I had with the exception of the last spot I stopped at. We still had plenty of work to do.