Rock River

[blitzfish]

well, the rock river was a bust for me this weekend. I fished for a couple of hours on sunday and i caught a few short eyes and a caught a couple of crappies. all on slip bobber/minnow set ups. I think i might just have to wait until winter to try it again... especially with how busy I am until then!! GL and TL

Blitz

[deadeternity]

seeds, that is probably correct and, it brings hope to know that the future may shed some light for the river. Who knows, next week it may get better, maybe next year. All I know is I keep returning to the river and, I know it will reward me with time on the water and a great catch of fish....

[blitzfish]

Dead, i could say much different about the forage base, though i do fish way up river from you which could be a big difference from one spot to another. I have seen more minnows this year than in the past, but from my few times fishing down in the Jefferson area every year, it didn't seem to much different. As the WWII vet seeds talked to, You get your bad years, you get your good years.

[seeds]

Out last night for 2.5 hours. I was at somewhat of a handicap with a slight fever,and didn't quite have the "feel" I normally have. I also ended up fishing where it's very dark,so had trouble line-watching....caught a 17",a 19" and a few shorts. Missed one in the 17" range,lost at the net.

The stretch of shoreline where anglers were often doing very well last spring is quite long. It was not crowded. It did,however,require waders....

I'll relate a short story of a codger I met a couple years ago. I was shore fishing from below the main Street bridge in Fort. He joined me for "just a few casts" and we ended up talking for 30 minutes or so. I recognized him as someone who often was leaving the river with a limit when I was just getting there.

WWII vet. Grew up on the river. Had owned numerous boats in his lifetime but liked fishing with friends and "most of his friends were dead",so he'd sold his last boat. Besides,boats are "too much trouble for an old man like me"....A few other things I remember him saying:

"Fished this river all my life - 'cept when I was in Europe. With Patton."

"This spot ain't worth crap since they built the new bridge".

"Saugers are way down,walleyes are way up. Use'ta be almost ALL saugers".

"Don't let nobody kid ya. Fishin's as good in this river as it's ever been."

And this one was not news to me: "It's a river. Ya got yer good years,ya got yer bad years. Sometimes ya gets a few good years in a row,sometimes ya gets a few bad ones. But there's always a few fish to be caught - ya just gotta know where to fish for 'em"

He had a few choice words about the DNR,George Bush,the Ag Dept and John Deere,then he was gone.... I haven't seen him in over a year. I hope he's fishin'.

[deadeternity]

blitzfish, very true about their size structures but, there are still a ton of 14 inchers and, maybe that is a good thing because of natural breeding. Or maybe those are the ones the DNR stocked. The river and lake has alot of fish still but something seems weird with the number of fish around. Who knows, maybe the forage base is way up and the fish are just well fed. But then I think about how I used to see way more minnows in the past. Lets hope we see the walleye fishing get better....

[blitzfish]

if you look at the stocking data of Walleyes in the Rock River. That 2004 year would seem right because the last big stocking of eyes occurred in 1999, which tends to be about right in the maturity cycles of the female walleyes. Since then the stocking numbers are way down, but these walleyes were raised longer and were bigger fish when released, so you would think that survival rates would be up. So that rules out that part, but it can really be hard to tell whats affecting this because so often there are MANY factors that can affect this. It could be that the fish are just very spread out, not putting their feed bag on, less fish, or who really knows. All I can say is that from what I've seen this year there are a lot healthier and bulkier fish than the past few years.

[deadeternity]

Seeds, The shore angling last spring was narrowed down to specific areas due to the flooding, and even them areas were tough. The downtown Fort area was a raging river, 3 ounce sinkers still got pushed against the wall. Then alot of the area dams were over flooded and that was harsh. Then this Fall right when we get great rain we get super warm air temps, and now the river is dropping back down again so that is hurting us with the somewhat warmer water temps still. I seen quite a few sheepshead caught yesterday actually, all small ones to so maybe the best is yet to come for the walleyes.

Last Fall was way more productive, this Fall is horrible with only 1 giant to show for and a few throwbacks in the mix. I will say this again, the river is nowhere near as good as it was even 5 years ago. It seems with each passing year it is slowly getting worse, not sure if the DNR is stocking the walleyes as much, or if the forage base is low. I used to see thousands of minnows swimming by, splashing on the surface and getting attacked, I have not seen many minnows around for a longtime now. I did see a school of rosey reds last spring though, must have escaped someone's minnow bucket.

Also, all them spring floods are ridiculous and cant be doing good for the river, it's fish, and the spawning habitat. My last trully great year of fishing was 2004 on the river. That year I never seen so many fish in my life. I fished for 12 hours 1 day and landed well 100 whitebass, and once it got dark we landed walleyes on every other cast for 3 hours. It was during a flood and, it was pure insanity. Then since 2004 it has gotten worse and worse for myself and several other anglers I speak to. I will try this river again soon.....

[seeds]

Some guys had a very good fall "run" last year - even from shore. the few times I got out I did consistently well.

Last spring was good too. I boated 137 legals during the course of the run. (No,I didn't keep them all). SOME friends had similar success.

This has not been a good fall run - so far - and probably won't pick up significantly. That doesn't mean the fish aren't in the system,just possibly not in the upper stretch of river from Blackhawk to Jeff. in any great numbers.

I've told you my theory about young of the year sheepshead: in autumns when they're abundant in the river,we have a great fall run. In years they're not,we don't. For whatever reason,they're not abundant this year. High water in spring/early summer?

I've still been able to scratch a legal fish or three during a few hours of nighttime shorefishing. (except for this week. Flu/pneumonia. I'll be back out before I SHOULD)....It's still worth the drive.

[deadeternity]

REPORT: Fished the Fort Atkinson area today at a few various spots and we caught 4 crappies, lost 3 right at shore, the crappies were 7", 2 were 11", and 1 was 12" in length. The 3 we lost were really big crappies, easily 13"+. We used minnows on a icefishing jig called the Wades Blade below a bobber for the crappies. Also landed a carp, seen some sheepshead caught, had some bites on the 5 inch grubs but never got a hook in them, and seen a few whitebass and 3 walleyes caught by a boat fishing the the river near us. The walleyes I did see caught were 17" to 20". Beautiful afternoon and evening of fishing but, the fishing was slow.

ROCK RIVER KNOWLEDGE, THOUGHTS, AND MEMORIES: This river is failing me bigtime in the past few years. The only fish worth bragging about was that 27" walleye my fiance caught on Monday, and the 29 1/2" I landed in spring of 2006. I remember earlier this decade and during the 1990's the fishing was so great it was ridiculous. I was just a teenager and little boy and I could catch dozens and dozens of fish, sometimes over 100 a day. The river has potential and great fishing at times but, why it is so poor lately for the past couple years I do not know. The walleyes, whitebass, and crappies just dont seem to be running how they used to to during spring and fall. In the past 5 legal walleyes, 25 crappies, or as many whitebass as you wanted were common, and very easy to catch. I was under 10 years old and I was getting limits of walleyes at one time with a jig and twistertail.

I remember Fall days when 40+ walleyes were no big deal, and 100+ whitebass and crappies were very common. Even summer it was good fishing for them species. Now it is hard to hit the river and go home with a great story to tell because when the fish do come up river, the runs seem to die off very fast. You pretty much better be there on the exact day, time of year, and hour the fish show up otherwise it is hit or miss. I need a damn boat finally, I am saving up slowly for one so I can get out and learn more bodies of water and be more effective on the river. Being a shore angler you are limited to specific spots and stretches of the river. And some of them spots only hold fish for a short period before they move on, water levels rise or drop, or if fish are just passing by at that very moment.

I have fished this river hardcore for 18 years of my life. I scanned it quite a few times from a boat with sonar with a friend of mine, fished it for shore to many times to count, so I know alot about what is going on beneath the surface of my shore spots. As a teenager I fished it day and night almost daily during summer and after school, we landed thousands of walleyes, crappies, whitebass, pike, and catfish. Not to mention all the rough fish mixed into them catches. I got to learn this river as far as shore and boat angling goes very well, spending countless days on the water you tend to learn a thing or two. But the fishing is not even close to what it used to be. I know guys who do well on it still but, their days are hit or miss also. In the past I could guarentee any new comer that they would catch fish. Now I say dont get your hopes up to high, they might catch some.

I'm praying to see the glory days I remember in the past return again, this river is becoming downright frustrating now. You take the time, gas, effort, and money to fish this body of water and, the only fish frys it has produced are whitebass and crappie fish frys the past couple years. With walleyes I either get them to small to keep, or way to large to keep. But your average sized walleye on the Rock River is 14" to 14 3/4" long, somedays it can get annoying when you have to throwback so many tasty critters because they are a 1/4 of an inch under the 15" minimum size limit. I would love to catch monsters all day and night but, some 15"-17" eaters would be awesome also.

SLOT LIMIT NEEDED?: I think a slot limit will greatly improve this fishery because, when you get to many dinky undersized walleyes breeding, the genetics are gonna sooner or later become stunted. Also, they are allowing some of them great breeders in the 18" to 28" size range to be kept. And believe me people keep everything in this river. I even see the undersized ones get kept, not to mention it is impossible to explain genetic breeding and talk a guy into releasing a 22"+ walleye. Now if them 18"+ walleyes were protected, we'd go home with eaters, and we would have better genetics. .

THE END OF MY LONG REPORT: Because it is only an hour away from home, I keep trying my luck on the river but, the past couple years have been extremely lame for me. Only a few decent days in the past 3 years, all the rest are either slow or downright fishless. I hope better days are in my future when fishing the Rock River....

[Get Hooked]

I also fished the same hours with the deadeternity, and when we got there i thought i smelt a stinky dog food smell, only to find out it was a stinky skunk that the river decided to hand out. had the dam to ourselves after 9:30. not that it mattered. did see 2 guys catch a short eye, only to quick pack it up and leave with the fish. i hope you guys that fish here on a regular basis dont have to tough out that smell all the time. maybe the wind was just right, but holy cow, i swear i had a can of alpo tied to my face. heard the crappies were providing action in a different part of the river.