I shot this panorama while attending the Mud Picnic organized by Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance on 2019-08-24. Wonderful cause and beautiful evening for the event. Most of the event took place off the point of the island just right of center in the image above where a massive sand bar has been forming due to sediment from up river.
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Pool 4 extends from Lock & Dam 4 located near Alma, Wisconsin upstream to Lock & Dam 3 located near Hager City, Wisconsin.
Unlike the Lower Mississippi, much of the upper river is a series of pools created by a system of 29 locks and dams. The structures were authorized by Congress in the 1930s, and most were completed by 1940. A primary reason for damming the river is to facilitate barge transportation. The dams regulate water levels for the Upper River and play a major part in regulating levels on the Lower Mississippi.
Navigation locks allow towboats, barges, and other vessels to transit the dams. Approximately 1350 kilometers (850 mi), from the head of navigation in Mile 858, Minneapolis, Minnesota down to Cairo, has been made suitable for commercial navigation with a depth of 2.75 meters (9 ft) The agriculture and barge transportation industries have lobbied in the late 20th and early 21st centuries for a multi-billion-dollar project to upgrade the aging lock and dam system. Some environmental groups and advocates of budgetary restraint argue that the project lacks economic justification.
Each lock and dam complex creates a pool upstream of it. There are 29 locks on the Upper Mississippi maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—from Upper St. Anthony Falls upstream to Chain of Rocks downstream. The locks provide a collective 123 meters (404 ft) of lift. ~wikipedia
These photos were taken just downriver from Lock & Dam 3 at Everts Resort. The sunset and clouds were fantastic this last Friday.
Looking downstream towards Everts Resort
Everts Resort
Looking upstream at Lock & Dam 3 off in the distance. You can see the steam rising from the cooling towers at Prairie Island Nuclear Plant right below the sun.
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In the western part of the state in Pierce County lies the Rush River. Over 33 miles long this river snakes its way through the county and into Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River. The trout fishing begins at the county line and goes all the way down to a half a mile above where it dumps into the Mississippi. No one road parallels the stream. South of Wonderland Road there is no intersecting road for nearly two miles. The same is true out of Stonehammer Road downstream to the town of El Paso. The stream is full of native brook trout, stocked and native browns, and stocked rainbows. It is classified as a class II stream, but with over 28 miles of stocked water it is anything but marginal water. Fish #18 black stone flies, #16 BH Prince, and #18 black copper john during the early season. Expect to see #16-18 baetis hatching. Crane flies, #22 Hendrickson, and #22 Blue Winged Olives work well as the season progresses. In the larger water around the Hwy 10 bridge expect to catch fish in the 12 to 14 inch range with the occasional 12 in. brookie and 18 in. brown. Lost Creek is a tributary to the Rush and also full of trout. A road parallels the stream giving ample places to pull over.
~ Forgotten WI trout streams | Judy Nugent – November 1, 2006
Rush River @ Wonderland RoadThis is where my love for fly fishing ignited. Before I knew much about fly fishing, I had tossed a Panther Martin #6 spinner thousands of times at trout in most every local stream within 50-60 miles o
I knew a few people that fly fished, but mostly sub-surface with nymphs. I absorbed all that I could with this method and enjoyed catching lots of fish as a result. This method is fun, but it is nothing like matching the hatch coming off the water. Having a trout sip up your dry fly on a drift in the surface film is pretty spectacular.
It was in this very location, just upstream from the bridge on Wonderland Road where I was trying to fish with a dry fly for the first time. It must have been very apparent to the fly fisherman on the bridge that I had no clue what I was doing. This was twenty-plus years ago; before youtube and google. I didn’t have an instructional VHS. I’d seen A River Runs Through It…how hard could it be? I had a fair bit of success nymphing, could this be all that different. YES, it is very different.
I have since forgotten that fisherman’s name, but not the lesson he gave me that day. He took time out of his day, his fishing time, to explain all about the nuances associated with fishing with a dry fly. He even offered up a few fly patterns having seen the atrocities residing in my fly box.
With that newly gained knowledge, I spent the rest of the summer wading that stretch of Rush River practicing presenting a dry fly in the pocket water and various currents. It didn’t take too long after that chance encounter before I landed my first trout on a dry. Things just sort of came together once I understood how the drift worked and how the size was more important than the color or even the pattern at times.
I was almost ready to give up fly fishing that day having tossed my crappy fly rod into the creek at one point. I was completely frustrated and ready to resume spinner fishing. That rod toss was the cue that spawned the intervention by a complete stranger that ended up providing the help to make fly fishing a life-long passion. Never underestimate the impact of helping someone out when they are in need. I’ve met and fished with a lot of great people since that day and have enjoyed many years of fly fishing. That passion continues on today and I am grateful for the lesson.
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A couple of photos from Mother’s Day Weekend Hill Climb 2019. Next event 2019-09-21 Dist. 16/23 Hillclimb. See Indianhead Motorcycle Club fb page for more details. Indianhead MC is celebration their 70th anniversary by hosting grass drags at GAS-LITE Bar & Grill on 2019-09-28.
Other hill climb events in the area: see Valley Springs Hill Climb fb page. Their next event is 2019-07-13.
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Good Morning Red Wing | Sunrise 2019-05-05
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Morning Light
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Sunrise
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ingredients
Instructions
Enjoy with your favorite pasta.
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I wanted to provide an update on a previous post, AS THE WATER RECEDES – Bay City, WI #plasticpolution. Earth Day seemed like a great time to do so.
The water was receding and making progress, but snow melt in Northern Minnesota and recent rains has the water level on the rise once again. I’ve made several trips to Bay City since cleanup effort on Saturday April 6th, watching and waiting for the water level to go down. The Village of Bay City has made great efforts in cleaning up the debris that washed ashore at Saratoga Park.
It was happy to see that only traces of garbage remain.
If you were ever looking for a bit of driftwood, I would think now would be the perfect time to find whatever shape/size you desire. There are numerous piles that have been gathered up.
What boggles my mind though is there was a fresh Mountain Dew can laying on the side of the road. I still struggle with what goes through the mind of the individual that discards a soda can. It isn’t that difficult to recycle.
It was encouraging to see that the campground area was mostly devoid of trash. During the mechanical clean up, more worm and snuff containers turned up. There is a whole lot of natural debris; cleaning that up will take some work. If only one could snap their fingers to change the hearts and minds of those who seeming don’t give a hoot. It’s a process. Tell people how you feel about this sort of thing; make your opinion known whenever and where ever you can. Plastic pollution is terrible, it’s ugly and it horrible for the wildlife.
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