Time to Fish!

[Red Childress]

Ken and Mitch worked nymphs and streamers for 4 hours yesterday morning and had 5 takes but could not get the hooks to stick. We worked several different areas but just couldn’t get the net wet.

My wife and youngest daughter hit the river for the afternoon shift. After my wife loses a decent smallie at boatside, she still took a 1/2 point lead for her efforts. It wasn’t until I made an “illegal” cast that brought the first walleye to the net. Our short tournament concluded under protest and video will be examined sometime today to declare the winner.

Andy and I are planning to musky fish Chautauqua this weekend but we haven’t decided which day yet. It won’t be long before the Chautauqua water will be hitting the 80 degree mark.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Well, Andy and I were not able to make our schedules work for a Chautauqua musky hunt last weekend and we moved yesterday’s trip to another date. So, we will focus on smallies tomorrow with traditional tackle. I am anxious to see if we end up contacting another accidental musky on lite tackle.

Friday’s trip will be a bunch of gun-slinging fly guys looking for a musky or two. The upcoming weather looks pretty stable with little rain likely to hit the ground.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

On Wednesday, Seth and I grinded out a decent day of smallies and walleye. During the first 6 hours, we netted the bulk of our fish. The last 2 hours produced the only 2 legal walleye of the day. Water temps ranged between 64 and 69 depending on location. Conditions are tough with low, clear water and very little tributary influence out there at the moment.

Today, we will chase toothies on the fly this evening and then right back at it Friday morning doing with the same game plan.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We set sail around 4:30 and drove to our first spot. After 9 or 10 casts, Joe hooks up with his first musky on the fly. After a nice backflip, the fish hit the net at 5:10. That was the only fish we would see until Joe missed a small pike just before we quit at 9.

Today, it will be Ryan’s turn to fish thru the areas first. Water temps climbed to 71 before the sun went down.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We decided to fish a different stretch of river yesterday looking for muskies. Joe enticed 2 nice fish to follow his fly to the boat but they just wouldn’t eat it. After 6 hours, we decided to switch rods and finish up with some smallmouth fishing. After landing several fish of various sizes (on Clousers), it was time to quit. As usual for this river, every bass caught had big bellies and were well-fed.

Water temps were varied with an average around 69-71. No fishing for me (again) this weekend but we will chase muskies on Monday if the weather holds.

Here is a pic of Joe’s first musky on the fly:




Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

On Monday, Dylan and I pushed our start time back a little to allow the heavier rain to move thru the area. He was hoping to catch a musky over 40” and beat his PB of 39. We got to our first spot just before 8 and within 7-8 casts, he had the largest fish of the morning come in hot but spooked at the boat. We both agreed that fish was easily over 40. Over the next 90 minutes, he had 3 more fish come to boatside but none would commit. He did stick a decent pike and we finished up at 12:30. The other 3 muskies were in the 34-38” range.

I plan to do some experimenting with a couple different musky presentations on Thursday. It’s always fun trying to modify low-water techniques hoping to get bit more often during the dog days of summer. Today and tomorrow will consist of taking care of some chores hoping to prevent a divorce.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

I really liked 1 of the 2 modifications I tried out yesterday so today I think it will see some live action. We are chasing muskies and smallies this morning in between thunderstorms, hopefully.


Good luck and stay tuned!