Any venture out today?

Left the back channel dock this morning 14⁰ with a 7 mph wind at 8am we lasted till 230 got 3 fish 2 Sauger 1 eye kinda slow bite

16* and very windy at our gentleman’s start of 9 AM on Sunday. Tough going for us also, worse than it was on Saturday afternoon/evening. Felt a little better when we heard that was the story at the launch and via texts from friends (again). It has been a very, very slow March so far… switching over to panfish for the upcoming week.
Some timber is still making its way downriver, be especially careful out there, the water is too cold for swimming.

A week ago on Saturday we boated 23 and Sunday only 12

That’s been the theme… the wild temp swings are making the bite more inconsistent than usual?
I skipped Saturday because of a really good crappie bite. Didn’t even have to get the boat out either!
Sunday last week I went out alone and only had 4 fish. I guess I “should have been there yesterday.”

Similar to last year, look back at what was working then. Plastics, perpendicular to current. Slow, very slow. Don’t jiggle your rod. Let the endulating plastic in the current do the work and the boat movement puts the plastic in front of fish. Fairly simple and consistent fish catching method at this time.

Thanks Andy that was the key for us lots of fish way below the dam

Went out yesterday, launched at 1 and stayed out until 6. Caught 2 walleye and 2 sauger. 3 out of the 4 were females, 1 26 inch and 2 19-20. The male was 21 inches, they were all CNR. Females were very plump with eggs. Water temp was 37 degrees

Thanks everyone for the reports! Great to hear good and not so good.

Are you all patrolling until you find marks on side imaging and then slowing down to focus on that area or just going to known areas where you have caught fish before?

riverdewey wrote:

Thanks everyone for the reports! Great to hear good and not so good.

Are you all patrolling until you find marks on side imaging and then slowing down to focus on that area or just going to known areas where you have caught fish before?

90% of people out there are first looking for a cluster of boats and then stare carefully for hooksets or nets.

Personally I go to spots I have caught fish before and employ tactics that let me cover water. Dubuque rigs, dragging jigs, pulling small stickbaits on 3 ways all tell you a lot more than vertical jigging areas…or at least for me they do. If nothing is happening or people are getting to close I move on and then really rely more on my electronics to “search”

Random tidbit…the 2 biggest fish I’ve seen pictures of this year were caught in areas that couldn’t be fished until the ice was broken up by barges

buckybadger wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>riverdewey wrote:</div>
Thanks everyone for the reports! Great to hear good and not so good.

Are you all patrolling until you find marks on side imaging and then slowing down to focus on that area or just going to known areas where you have caught fish before?

90% of people out there are first looking for a cluster of boats and then stare carefully for hooksets or nets.

Personally I go to spots I have caught fish before and employ tactics that let me cover water. Dubuque rigs, dragging jigs, pulling small stickbaits on 3 ways all tell you a lot more than vertical jigging areas…or at least for me they do. If nothing is happening or people are getting to close I move on and then really rely more on my electronics to “search”

Random tidbit…the 2 biggest fish I’ve seen pictures of this year were caught in areas that couldn’t be fished until the ice was broken up by barges

I’m not a P4 expert but it reminds me of ice fishing. The community is there for a reason…there are fish in the spots. But, they are heavily pressured and skittish. Get away from crowds and you’ll get fish. I often look for spots similar to the community holes in other areas. Or, stay on the edges of the community til you start to figure out your own spots. Whole lotta river to fish but a lot of imposter syndrome, too. I’ve certainly been guilty of it.

No experience on the Mighty Miss. Fished other rivers *enough. Won’t have my trolling motor until May. Will I be able to get away with anchoring if need be? Or is that sketchy out there?

ganderpike wrote:

No experience on the Mighty Miss. Fished other rivers *enough. Won’t have my trolling motor until May. Will I be able to get away with anchoring if need be? Or is that sketchy out there?

Lotta guys run anchors. Watch the flow and debris but the projected height and flow are coming down already. You should probably be ok.

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>ganderpike wrote:</div>
No experience on the Mighty Miss. Fished other rivers *enough. Won’t have my trolling motor until May. Will I be able to get away with anchoring if need be? Or is that sketchy out there?

Lotta guys run anchors. Watch the flow and debris but the projected height and flow are coming down already. You should probably be ok.

Sweet thanks!

Gonna spend whichever weekday looks best out there next week. Pool 4 virgin so gonna study up on past reports and threads. Is Everts the place to launch if a guy was gonna go in and get bait and ask questions?

When I look at the combined experience of just the guys in this thread it’s pretty awesome – and even perhaps a bit intimidating. However, I’ll have to say that after fishing something like 3 falls now up by the dam, I am getting to know that area some and already have some favorite areas. So again everyone, thanks for sharing of your knowledge and experience and reports for us newbies.

Just make sure you know where the wing dams are. They are probably all well under water right now, but as the water drops that might change. Last summer that one up by the dam was pretty close to the surface of the water.

Regarding Everts, I like it OK. They have a couple of Satellites, a (reasonable) dock, a 24 hr. honor fathead bait tank and vending machines for plastics. IFF you can find someone around you can ask questions and get answers. During busy times you have to park your trailer on the top of the hill and later hopefully find someone to get you back up there or it’s a long walk… Launching is $5. The other 3 downriver are free.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

… perpendicular to current. Slow, very slow…

So does that mean you are going back and forth from one point to the other on the shore or allowing the boat to drift downstream a bit in the process?

riverdewey wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
… perpendicular to current. Slow, very slow…

So does that mean you are going back and forth from one point to the other on the shore or allowing the boat to drift downstream a bit in the process?

Pretty sure he means hovering in the current and moving back and forth across the seam. Let the seam do the work of making the bait wiggle.

No downstream drifting. Don’t need a seam necessarily, just move the boat perpendicular to the current and keep that plastic in the zone. If your in proper current for active walleyes your plastic will move with the water passing by the bait. Side to side movement keep under 0.4 mph right now.

Picture a line of walleyes in the current. Your bait passes in front of their noses over and over as you go back and forth in front of them. If you don’t get bit, move boat upstream a few feet and repeat. You’ll find a line of fish and can pick them off continuously with good boat control.

Fish keying on shad that have barely enough energy to swim up stream. Your presenting a very lethargic bait for best success right now.

“3 way hovering for walleyes”
Was a detailed description I wrote a year or two ago. Google that.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

No downstream drifting…..

Awesome explanation. Thank you for the detail. What’s great about your response is that it is a tactic and a process that can be repeated anywhere and not just a “hotspot”.

If I keep learning and fishing the river I am afraid I’ll never be content to go back to <ho hum> lake fishing LOL.

Just when you figure them out one day, they kick you in the nuts the next time you go. Lots of different ways to catch them this time of year. I wasted 4 hours of my day dragging 3 way rigs yesterday. Switched to pitching rubbers and instantly got onto some super aggressive eyes not too far from the launch. Be on the lookout if you go down river! I had to dodge some massive sheets of ice that broke free. Head on a swivel!

In other words, if something is not working, switch sooner than later to another technique. I think I’ve heard that before but it is hard sometimes to implement.

bigfatcroixbaby wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>riverdewey wrote:</div>
In other words, if something is not working, switch sooner than later to another technique. I think I’ve heard that before but it is hard sometimes to implement.

Exactly, especially this time of year. Pool 4 is a barrel full of fish right now…no need to waste time trying to catch them on something they don’t want to bite. Fact is they are there and there’s a million ways to catch them. When I first started down there years ago I got hung-up on pitching plastics because at the time that’s what everybody on “Fish the River” was doing. Not to say plastics don’t work, they definately do, just keep an open mind and throw the kitchen sink at them until they bite. There’s probably no place else where a guy can launch his boat and be 100% confident the fish are there, because they are, just don’t go with a pre-conceived method on how you’re going to catch them. It may or may not work.

Move spots and change techniques…I agree with this. I still have a tendency to stay on a spot or with a certain tactics, especially if I have confidence in location or tactic. 10 minutes or so on a spot is what I try to tell myself. Have 3 or 4 baits tied up and run through them.