Mississippi River

[walleyeslayer23]

Went to the mighty miss (not to mighty right now) very low in pool 13 caught lots of bass all around 2-3lbs except for a couple small ones they were hitting on cranks also caught 3 very nice 18" walleye all caught in the back waters, tried catching crappie but the bass fishing was so hot we didnt try long.they also has a bass tournament going on and they were asking us what we were using, I told my buddy we should of got in the tournament but then we probably wouldnt of caught anything ( you walleye tournament fishermen know what im talking about) will give more info at a later time if you fellers are interested .... also anybody fish the tournaments on the Illinois river for sauger / walleye goto prairielandeyes.com its a great site around tournament time thanks for your site also its great keep up the great work

[Eric Haataja]

Great report!

Eric Haataja

[brewcityfishr]

wow! just found this site today! awesome job guys.

ill be doing a trip to genoa oct. 16th-19th to do some walleye fishing. ill be fishing from the clements fishing barge . i will give a report when i get back. good fishin'

[walleyeslayer23]

yo fellas went to the miss walleye fishing at bellvue dam on 10-15-06 caught lots of different species today walleye 17" , crappie 15 of them at 12" plus, also caught white bass and one keeper sauger and lots of throw backs one hell of a day oh yeh they were all caught around the Illinois pocket the river is very low right now wing dams are sticking out of the water but the fishing was fun weather was chilly but not as cold as the Packers (sorry). hopefully the fishing will only get better down here as it gets cooler. the rock River is also starting to heat up caught a 3plus pound walleye yesterday and a smaller one at the oregon dam, but again very very shallow but come fall come walleyes everybody have a great week and remember to fish hard and fish often..... later

[Z-man]

Heading to Pool 4 at Red Wing tomorrow evening, for four days of fishing. Word has it that the sauger bite has been good to excellent, with some nice eyes starting to show up. Sauger in the low 20's are fairly common in these waters...the biggest I've seen anywhere. And good numbers of eyes as well. with monster potential. If anyone out there is looking for a good last hurrah trip for the season, the upper reaches of Pool 4 is a pretty sure bet, even for newcomers. Watch for my report next week.

[Z-man]

Made the annual November trip to Pool 4, with 2 buddies, one being a newbie to these waters. After 3 ½ days of great weather and good fishing, we reluctantly left for home on Tuesday afternoon, in 55 degree balmy weather. Saturday started by meeting Evert’s substitue manager, Brian K., who promptly “lightened up” our 5:30 am launch with his easy-going manner and sense of humor…my buddy Darrell instantly gained a cousin Darrell, who in actuality was my other buddy Ron. Nice way to meet strangers, Brian. We immediately set out to hit the dam, only to see that one other boat was a little more ambitious than us. After pitching the rip-rap in the area and boating a couple dinks, we joined the host of others vertical jigging in 15 to 20 fow at the dam and below the Y, to boost our confidence, and ended the day with 6 eater sauger, 16 to 18 inches, caught on plastic and jig/minnow..



Started the mornings the rest of our trip the same way…early, pitching the rip-rap on the WI and MN sides of the dam, but the results improved with each day. Either we got better or the fish got hungrier, but it was good action for the first hour or two, with some 18 to 23 inch eyes coming out of 3 to 6 fow, such as the two shown here, and still swimming. When that bite slowed, we went down river to explore and play, pitching into rip-rap and sand areas, and jigging the channel sides and troughs. Purple ringworms/chartreuse tails, and orange catalpa paddletails took many of the fish; even the crappie, white bass, smallies and LM, took a liking to them. Mid-afternoons, we’d return to the familiar haunts of the Y and dam, to finish off the days, jigging and pitching.



While sharing a pizza, cold libations, and stories with Brian K. (all true, no doubt) around the Evert’s campfire ring, we witnessed the measurement and weighing of a goliath sauger, brought to Brian by one of the guests. It measured 26 inches, and fell 5 oz. short of the WI state record. (Sorry, forgot what the weight was).Offered to shove some pepperoni pizza into it’s mouth, but the owner respectfully declined my offer, and the fish was readied for the taxidermist. Fished till noon on Tuesday, and left a bite that was improving day-by-day. Dean was back from shooting Bambi, and reminded us that the fishing on those Indian Summer days in Dec and January only gets better. Ouch! That really hurt, as we recognized that we would not likely be back until our annual March trip, but the memory of November is relished thru the winter months, and another Newbie is hooked.

[Z-man]

.....oops.....correct length on that big sauger was 24 inches, and learned that it weighed 5.7 lbs.

[Eric Haataja]

A buddy of mine did really well last weekend for gills ice fishing in the back waters. All 8-9 inchers with his biggest at 9 3/4 inches

[Walleye-man]

I went up to Clements fishing barge below Genoa yesterday. Fishing was terrible. Jumbo perch were not up yet and was suprised not see any small sauger caught. I did not see a fish caught all day either from the barge or from any boat. River is 5 feet high and had crested on Friday night. Not to the point of flooding but getting there. Water was 34 degrees and very dirty Chartruse disappeared 1 inch under the surface. Still alot of iced areas on river and lots of icebergs coming down. In short it is way to early still lots of snow to melt off and 3 days of rain on the way. I would personaly would stay away for 2 weeks yet. Stopped by Dresden dam on way home (did not fish). Water conditions about the same there river is not quite as high there.

[homerj]

The old man took me out just above and below Dam12 and we had a blast. 30" pike on spinner bait at mouth of a backwater and the cat and sheephead off the bottm with stink bait. we drifted soreline over 5 wingdams for bass and nothin was movin:( fun nonetheless:D

[Z-man]

Made the annual fall trip to Pool 4 last week, fishing all day Thursday thru Sunday. Saw the moon settle down below the horizon while pulling in a few fish in the mornings, and come back up while loading the boat. Great weather, and very good fsihing for numbers. The water level and flow were higher than normal for this time of year, conditions that we were not accustomed to from our time on Pool 4. But with some help from Dean at Everts Resort,however, it didn't take long to start boating "cookie-cutter" size sauger and eyes, many in the 17 to 19 inch range, a few up to 22, and many under. Pretty much had to anchor and pitch, or get into quieter bays to try vertical jigging. Trolling 3-ways with heavy weights was another option, but not usually my cup of tea. Fish came from 6 to 18 FOW, generally going deeper as the sun rose higher. .
Water temps on Day one were at 56 degrees, and down to 52.5 by Sunday. The fish wanted meat to start with, and we about ran out of fatheads the first day, but plastics got progressively better as the days went by and the water cooled, and we all ended up using plastics-only by Sunday. After putting some eater size fish in the boat each day, we'd go searching the shallow rock and sand current seam areas for Miss Piggy, but never got any big fish. An eleven pounder was taken on saturday by another boat, and that kept us on the hunt, probing the river below Everts, and into Pepin.

The fishing on the upper reaches of Pool 4 should just get better and better in coming weeks, and easier water conditions as the river levels begin to recede. Dean at Everts keeps the launch open all winter, and has nice Lund rentals if you're inclined to rent, rather than drag your boats all that way in the winter time. But the fishing can be phenomenal.

Here's a pic of some youngsters trying to retrieve a minnow trap that they got stuck in the rocks. They made it, with no one getting wet...amazing teamwork and trust, at least for the guy on the low end of the totem pole.

[Z-man]

Made it back to Pool 4 for a few days earlier this week. The bite was not fast and furious, but we managed to boat between 2 and 3 dozen decent fish, most between 17 and 22 inches each day, most of them walleye, and a few sauger. With cold temps the first couple days, not getting above 30, and dipping into the single digits at night, there was lots of skim ice or frozen foam in the water making it difficult in the mornings to pitch or drag. But as temps rose, the water opened up in most places, and by Tuesday, no problems with ice.
The plastic bite was slow for us, and after a few hours on the water, we switched over to minnows, and started to catch fish. A Slowwwww presentation was the ticket. Drifting with the current, lindy rigging brought in the majority of fish. Due to frozen water above the dam, not much was spilling over, and theflow was very slow, making the drift-method very effective. There were lots of boats in the community sauger hole by the dam, and we stayed away from the crowd our entire trip. We caught most of our fish in the 14 to 18 foot depth range, with some coming shallower in the early evening.

Water temps on Sunday started out at 33.5 degrees, and by Wednesday, were just a hair over 36 in most of the water we covered. The bite should really be turning on soon, so any of you looking to experience Pool 4 should get on over there if you can. It's time.

The shot of trucks is at Everts Resort, Wednesday morning, about 8 AM. Doesn't anyone work on weekdays anymore??

[FatGuy]

I spent yesterday at Alma with my dad and my daughter. I had been anticipating a trip back down here for some time, as last year we had a blast in the shallows catching everything from walleyes to bluegills to white bass. I might have got one hour of sleep the night before. I know for a fact I was awake 2 hours before my alarm was set to go off.

We hit one of my favorite holes right away, we got into a couple of walleyes right away, including this decent 20 incher.
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u59/fisherman1978/7-20-08020.jpg

Dad hasn't done alot of fishing on the Mississippi, but he got his first taste of catching white bass today. Strangely this was the only one caught on the day. Did not see them doing their sporadic feeding today. Daughter took this picture, and I looked high and low on my computer for a way to rotate this the right way, but couldn't find it. We will just have to deal with a tilted picture I guess!
http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u59/fisherman1978/7-20-08021.jpg

Audrey got in on some largemouth action today. The largemouth were plentiful as always. This came on a Gulp Alive leech.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u59/fisherman1978/7-20-08019.jpg

We found some crappies towards the end of the day, and got a few nice ones including this 12 1/2" brute my dad caught.

http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u59/fisherman1978/7-20-08022.jpg

On the day we caught a mixed bag of walleyes, largemouth, smallmouth, bluegills, crappies, white bass, sheephead, gar, northern, and even a rock bass. We kept just enough for a meal of walleye, crappie, and white bass and the rest went back.

[Walleye-man]

Was up on pool 9 for 4 days. Fished from Dam down to Desoto. All keepers came about 13 miles down river. Nothing but dinks near the Dam. Saturday was a waste as I dealt with engine problems all day. Ended up with 5 eyes, 3 sauger from 19' to 15" . Also caught a few nice smb, crappie, and whitey's. Also boated 2 of the largest sheeps head in my life went 26" and 10 lbs. Numerous dink walleye and sauger. All taken from wing dams on jig and minnows. Fish are still in there summer pattern as water was 62 degrees. Some grass but not real bad. Annoying but manageable.

Tight Lines

[Eric Haataja]

Thanks for the report!

[BigMusky]

heading to Pool 9 next weekend for some duck hunting and walleye fishing....any tips? I have not fished this area before, but will be looking for fish on wing dams and in deeper pools.

[Eric Haataja]

If the fish are active I'd suggest the wind da,s but the breaks in 12-17 feet of water down the river with blade baits of jigs with stingers would be my approach. Day to day there, but at night the fish will move up by the dam and shallow rocks so twister tails and stick baits work well.

Eric

[brewcityfishr]

Any news on pool 4 redwing? I would love to get up there for a weekend! good fishin'

[BigMusky]

my trip a week or so was alright....could not get walleyes to bite, but caught handful of smallies - nothing big. Shot a couple of ducks, because there were only local birds around. It was fun trip.

[brewcityfishr]

BigMusky- did you guys hit the wing dam by the barge at all, or bull nose?

[BigMusky]

I was in Lansing, IA south of Genoa quite a ways. There is a power plant that was near where we fished and the first wind dam near that was the best place we got fish.

[brewcityfishr]

Thanks BigMusky, I think I'm gonna stay closer to home and hit the rock river this weekend....Hothead check your messenger.

[chestr]

Hit the river Fri & Sat. -32 Friday morning burr! Caught 10 walleyes and saugers fri and 7 sat with only 4 keepers total 14"-19". Friday we were the only ones out there and Sat there were plenty of guys. Ice is good for the most part. Spent the first few hours right next to the short bullnose then slid out toward the deeper water as the bite slowed.

We ended up fishing below Lynxville. Jigging raps #5 seems to be the best bets but people use alot of different stuff from big jigs to 3-way river rigs, zips you name it. Lost a couple nicer fish but they come loose alot on the Raps for me.

We planned on fishing genoa but the ice is messed up close to the Dam, they got a couple gates open on the Wisconsin side. There were people out on Sat on the Minn side & by the long bullnoseon the Wi side.

Saturday there were vehicles on all the usuall spots on the way home in the afternoon as we chose to leave at 3 pm. With the swing in pressure in the afternoon that might of been a mistake.