I so wish I had more news on the fishing end of things for this weeks Missouri River Fishing Report.

I have news and updates, but unfortunately not much in the form of catching fish. Hopefully we are trending in that direction.

The ramps are all pretty much usable up and down the entire river system. The water clarity on the other hand remains an issue. The water temps along with the dirty water is the other issue.

This week water temps have barely reached north of 37 degrees. Seems to me the fishing on this particular system gets better near 40. Our weather just isn’t allowing it to warm up.

The good news is the Knife river to the north of us here in Bismarck, is mostly done with the mud. The Heart River and Cannonball however are still flowing pretty good. The Apple Creek really hasn’t let loose, but maybe by this time it won’t cause much of a problem.

Definitely a define line of cleaner water just above the Heart to the north. Maybe 6 inches of visibility there. Below the Heart River it’s maybe an inch or so.

I have caught fish in the past in these conditions. The only difference between now and the past is we seemed to have more fish around. This is the part that has me a tad mystified. Last fall right before we got hit with a crippling blizzard. I found a mass of fish (walleyes and bait) stacked up south of Cannonball aways.

It’s my fear those fish didn’t move much since last fall. With the Cannonball running as hard as it did here recently. Im guessing a pretty good portion of our fish that normally make a run up into the river may have made a left turn. Same thing happened a few years ago with the Heart River. Only time will tell…problem is the time is now and things are really bare at the moment.

I truly believe this week will tell a lot. The males will be around no matter what, especially after the spawn. The big hens that I’ve been fortunate enough to have caught 4 so far this spring may be fewer and farther between.

We will surely see a decent bite here at some point. Always does, but it just might not be what we have come to expect or what we are used to. I will certainly keep everyone updated as we go!