Quillback and Redhorse of the Cannon River

I was fortunate enough to talk my wife into letting me fish one more time before the cold starts to set in. Today could very likely be the last 60 degree day of fall, so I took advantage. Matt's cousin Avery has her first birthday party later this afternoon, and chores to do prior. My window of opportunity was 6:30 - 9:30. Leaving the house it was below freezing at 28. A half hour drive to Cannon Falls it got a few degrees warmer going south, thank goodness.

Arriving at Lake Byllesby Regional Park a half hour before sunrise, I was amazed to again see two cars beat me to it! One truck had the same two guys fishing off the dock above the dam. I asked what they were fishing for and they said walleye. I asked how deep it is off the dock and they told me 8 feet. Amazing, a far cry from 50 feet that a friend told me it was. I saw their bobbers from a distance, nothing going on. Two morning trips three weeks apart and these guys were at it. No bites yet but they told me typically fishing for walleye is good in the fall here.

The climb down below the dam is a little sketchy. On this trip and last I stayed to the path on the left and went under the fence and carefully climbed down the slippery rock wall. Down below in the soft shallow water two fishermen were at it, right in the spot I caught smallies last time. One guy on shore and the other ventured to get his feet wet fishing from one of the giant rocks in the middle of the river. They stuck around for a good 20 minutes and then headed back. I asked if they caught anything and one of the guys said he caught something but did not know exactly what he caught, thought it was a carp.

Likely a carp sucker I thought. Fishing firetiger rapalas I was occasionally snagging up on big fish only to pop off. Then at the top of the pool casting to the far right, I hooked up to a nice one. Snagged in the belly. Not a legal catch nor was I trying to snag, but it sure what one fun fight! These are strong powerful fish! Three quick photos including one of the release and the fish was on his way.



Next I switched over to worms and caught two silver redhorse, right in the same spot as the quillback. Neat! The first one had really colorful fins. The second one was the biggest I've ever hooked. Waiting on a new Panasonic Lumix camera I fumbled with my iPhone leaving the feisty fish to swim around only to wiggle free out of my hands wile trying to take a photo. A very fat redhorse, almost as thick as the quillback!



I walked downstream a bit. The whole limestone bank on the south side is dripping water. In one spot there is so much water I'm guessing this must be some type of spring because it has not rained here in a long long time. Kind of weird to see bright plants growing outside in the middle of November but I'll take it! Downstream was not productive as the river got wide and shallow, only a foot deep, you could walk across here if you wanted to. All solid rock. I cut my losses and decided to try Sucker Creek on my way back home.



Sucker Creek was full of suckers, however the redhorse, carp, and smallies were absent. I'm guessing they went to their wintering holes in deeper warmer water. I used up the rest of my worms that I had for the season. One fish per cast, I pulled a dozen out of there. A few were over 15" and fat but most were the size of an average trout. A few photos of sucker fishing action below. Below the bridge and directly above I got plenty of bites.



My iPhone takes pretty good pictures. Panasonic is being traded in for the newest model since after two years the camera accumulated enough scratches on the lens to where it was affecting camera performance. Specifically camera lens scratches make bright backgrounds look hazy. My iPhone used to be like that too as I never bought a case however I was able to find a replacement cover for the back of the phone that includes a new lens cover for $40.