I would imagine the river is on fire this year because of the current. Take away the current and the river can be, and is a whole different story. I'm actually surprised to hear that the river was doing well last year. So maybe my current theory, is for the birds. I haven't been out to Berlin yet this year, but I have been to Mosquito a few times. I think the problem with the weights at Mosquito this year have to do with the way the weeds are this year. They're deeper, and more open within the weed beds themselves. I think it makes them harder to fish, and much harder to pin point specific high percentage spots within them. The fish are still there..... they're just harder to get a bait in front of. Once the 3' - 5' range starts to fill back in with mil foil, and the existing weeds start to fill in and get more defined edges, I think we'll see Mosquito getting back to what it was a couple of years ago.
As far as the river.... I love fishing it...... but it's like Nip said..... a lot of guys wait and see when it comes to fishing the river. I'm one of those people. I just can't see paying in advance when the possibility of the river being blown out, or with no current at all. It's not the entry fee's that are the problem...... it's all accompanying costs, that make it tough to commit to, for me.