Wes and I launched by canoe from McNally Landing on the Upper Mississippi River Refuge confident that we could find active fish in between squalls on weeds edges in the slough. I had two spinning rods rigged and Wes was set up with a casting rod. Rod one was rigged with a 1/2-ounce chartreuse spinner bait, rod two was rigged with a silver #6 panther martin spinner and Wes was rigged with a white spinnerbait with red spinners. We caught several Pike and Wes managed to hook a decent Walleye and a nice Largemouth.
Our technique was basic. We casted from the middle of channels in the weeds to the weed edge and retrieved our spinners with a twitch just above the Prairie Island Spillway. We found the Pike on points in the weed lines, the Bass in the thick of the weeds, and the Walleye on a weed edge with current.
In just over three hours of angling I managed to loose four Pike while landing one 24-inch Pike and a five-inch Largemouth Bass. Wes landed a 19-inch Largemouth Bass, several Pike over 22-inches and one Walleye about 20-inches.
We had a snack of ripe Mulberries when we took the canoe out and both felt satisfied that our time on the water, in the sprinkling rain, was well spent.
