Pool 9

W

wis boz

Well-known member
My son, Jim Jr, and I with a guide finally got to hunt pool 9. Shot some ducks, missed some ducks but enjoyed it. Too early for cans to come in but a few were sighted. Really great getting back on the Mississippi. Have pictures but unable to post--sorry about that.
wis boz
 
Jim, it is good to hear that you two did so well on the Mississippi River. How many years had it been since you last hunted it? What kind of ducks did you shoot?
Al
 
Good for you Jim. That stretch of the river is one of my favorite places on earth. I had heard that the cans were seen north of there heading down river. I imagine they should be in full force within the next couple of weeks.
 
Yeah Pete, it was fun. We were with Capt. Todd. There were a few Cans sighted, some amongst flocks of coot, but, as you know, a week or so too early. The teal were still there but we shot gadwals and mallards. preferring the bigger ducks.
wis boz
 
Al
It was the first time we hunted pool 9. My dad and I hunted pool 8 in the past and I now hunt pool 11. We shot gadwalds and mallards. The teal were still there but we prefered the larger ducks. The feds are trying to save the small islands there by surrounding them with rock walls and dredging bottom muck to fill in. It's costing millions but they feel it will only last 5 to 6 years. Of course there will be no hunting there.
Pool 9 is the only area where wild celery grows and that is the favorite food of the Cans and they come in there by the thousands in November. A few were sighted but we were a couple of weeks too early.
Al, compared to your Rio Grande, the pool 9 is BIG water. You and your labs would have a blast there.
Jim Sr
 
Phil
You're an old hand at Pool 9, does it make sense what the Feds are doing with those small islands?
wis boz
 
Boz,

I haven't been on 9 in a while but what I have seen on 8 - and by your description, sounds similar - appears to be working. The current has slowed down in some areas and the silt is building up and creating more vegetation and therefore more habitat. In one spot I hunt the difference is almost night and day. The edge of the vegetation moved out at least 100 yds. in a few years.
 
Pete
These small islands are just off the main channel and we were told the rocks were placed around them to save them. They close off some good hunting spots.
wis boz
 
Are you refering to Deer Island and the islands on the west side of Lake Winneshiek?

To be honest, I haven't hunted down there in th elast 4 years or so... I am abit out of the loop.
 
Hmmm, ok, I understand what you mean. Are the rocks all around the islands or just on the upstream side? Guess I'll have to make a run over there and take a look.
 
Nice to hear you're getting out. Neat that you got to hunt Pool 9 and hope you can post some pictures later....

Dani
 
Here's the pictures Boz had (he can fill in more info I'm sure):

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His guide Capt. Todd Lensing

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"Here's a shot of me and my son. You can see the Iowa bluffs in the background."

pool9016_zps8ba266af.jpg

"Here's a shot of our guide and my son picking up decoys. Notice the mojos there. They actually got in the way of firing and we held off on a lot of ducks that were in range"

That's a great shot of you and your son....looks like a nice place to hunt too
 
Boz...they are building islands in pool 13 that way. Several years ago hunting with Dave Larsen, he pointed out the how the islands were erroding away. The Cormorant are in such abundance and their droppings are so acidic that they have killed the vegetation on the islands and without a root system the islands have all but disappeared. Last year you could see from Bulgars Hollow ramp how the Corps of Engineers were piling up rocks to build the islands. Sad and interesting at the same time.
 
Jim,
Looks like you had a great hunt.
Regarding the islands, I would agree with Pete. The effect on Pool 8 over the last few years has been amazing. The cans used to mass on Pool 7, but the numbers have been going up every year on Pool 8 since they did the habitat reconstruction.
Rick
 
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