But not this year. Anglers and bait shop owners are waiting anxiously for a month-long flood to subside and a boat ban to be lifted. The river exceeded flood stage April 11 in Winona, and three days later, the U.S. Coast Guard shut down the Upper Mississippi River and a 26-mile stretch of the St. Croix River to recreational and commercial vessels. And that includes the standard 14-foot flat bottom. Business is so bad that these rough times could separate the weak from the strong by the time summer rolls around, said Stacey Leifeld of the Bait Shed in Winona.
Anglers normally have other choices when fishing turns sour.
But frequent rains have interrupted stream trout fishing, and Minnesota's statewide inland waters seasons for walleye and bass don't open until later this month. Wisconsin's opens today. But there are few inland lakes near Winona, and Mississippi fishing is king. A few anglers are fishing from shore, and that's about all that's keeping bait shops going right now, she said. It's definitely been a pinch.