Time to Fish!

[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!

[Red Childress]

It was a pretty good day for hooking smallies but a terrible day getting them to the net. It is that time of year when many of the bass are hitting artificial lures very lightly and are difficult to keep hooked. The highlight of the day was when Ryan (17 years old) caught his first musky at the very end of the trip. While his dad and 2 uncles were bass fishing, Ryan kept chucking the new-ish presentation I had just tested the day before. It had been about 4.5 hours since Ryan had his first follow earlier in the day when he got slammed by a hungry musky in shallow water. It was also the last spot we were going to fish before quitting!

No fishing for my boat this weekend. On Monday, we plan to target muskies in the morning but may switch over to “just getting a rod bent” mentality later in the day. Hopefully, the storms stay clear of us.

Here is a pic of Ryan’s first musky. I should have re-positioned his fish for the photos but was in too much of a hurry to get her back in the water.




Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Well, we launched the boat this morning hoping to find some clean water. After a 5 mile drive, we couldn’t find any so we called it a day and went home. We got hammered last nite and every tributary (no matter the size) is running mud today. It very likely could be 2-3 days before things clear up.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

This afternoon, I plan to fish with a local crew who recently bought a jet boat and are trying to learn the travel routes/general fishing areas on the river. If the river south of Warren is still too muddy to fish, we will head upriver looking for clean water. The travel routes will be the main focus.

The river sure was a mess yesterday.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We chased muskies yesterday evening and after not having any action at all, we quit at 9:30. This morning’s plan has muskies at the top of the list as well. The water sure seemed dead last nite. Hopefully, this cooler weather hasn’t slowed down the toothy critters.


Good luck and stay tuned!