Wingdam spot??

I am planning to do some flathead fishing this summer and I have a spot that I think might be good but I wanted to bounce it off of some experts. Its a wingdam with good current flowing over it and a very deep score hole below it. My question is in the day would I just fish the deep score hole, and at night should I fish in front of the dam in the current or in the slack water next to shore below or above the dam. There is also a pile of floating wood were the dam meets shore. I have always heard that flatheads don’t like current so during the day would you expect any bites behind the tip of the dam.I also have another spot, its a shallow flat with no current, 2-3 ft deep, would bobber fishing work here or should I fish on the bottom.I have never specifically chased flatheads before but would love to tussle with a big girl. Also has anyone had any luck behind deep bridge abuttments. Thanks guys

I might have to tag along with you to make sure this is a good area.

That certainly sounds like the prototypical flathead area. You seem to have the right idea to. Fish in the hole or the timber during the day, then as night falls move up to the shallower part in front of that hole.

I now give the floor to those with much more knowledge and experience.

You guys are definately on the right path. It takes time on the water to find the best spots. You will learn quickly what Flatheads prefer, not all holes and snags are the same. Same as not all reefs are the same in lakes, some produce and some don’t. I tend to look for wood piled up at the head of the hole, with some scattered throughout the hole. Don’t over look sand bars behind these snags after dark. Flatheads are nocturnal, they come out to play when the rest of the world sleeps. Deep water is important too, I like to have at 20-30 fow very near by if the hole behind the snag does not get down to those depths.

Wingdams have not produced to much for me yet, but I have just started fishing them. I gained most of my knowledge on the Minnesota River, so I am still learning the “Big Muddy”. Two very different fisheries, with a few similarities.

Like I said it sounds like you guys understand what you are looking for. Now you just need to get out and play around.
I am always looking for a good net man , I mean fishing partner. So PM me and we’ll get out there some time.

Yea, I guess now that I read what this post was asking, I didn’t really answer your questions But that is exactly how I look at fishing wing dams.

Sorry- I was up late last night and I’ve got a headache right now

You guys are on the right track.. get some lines in the water and let the fish tell you what they are liking this week.

Dont be afraid of the current, especially now with the water and flow as low as it is on the Mississippi. Theres lots more oxygen in that heavy current and the fish do use it now with the ideal water temps(upper 70’s).

If you cant find where the fish are holding and feeding, try to find the fish highways, or a funnel area where fish are very liely to use to move from one spot to another. The highway can be a current seam, eddy, deeper spot off the tip of a wing dam(they will go around it usually, not over it)…

If you have an area with several different structures in a limited area.. sit back and look at the area and the currents, and try to map out where would seem most likely for the fish to travel from one structure to the next. Keep an eye on your depth finder looking for submerged snags also.

I would fish the scour hole during the day. Don’t be afraid to run a musky jig with a sucker or bullhead on it in those kind of spots. There may be a lot of current in your opinion but the bottom foot might be a lot less and they stick their peck fins in the mud or gravel face up stream and wait for food to come to them. We have jigged areas like this before and hit fish on the 8 or 9th time. You have to hit them in the head with it during the day. One good clue is to throw a night crawler down there, If you don’t get bit by a sheepie or something the flat heads have chased the smaller fish out of their lair.

Thanks for the input, I’m not sure when I’m going to fish it but hopefully I will get something worth a picture.

Quote:

---

Thanks for the input, I’m not sure when I’m going to fish it but hopefully I will get something worth a picture.

---

Heck, even 5lbers are worth a picture! That’s an “L” not a “1”

I agree with those who say it is a good idea to drop a large bait in the scour hole right below the end of the wing dam during daylight hours. I have had some success with that down here on Pools 16 and 17. (The walleye fishing isn’t what it is around Winona, so if the walleye bite is off I switch to catfishing, which is usually more productive down here.) Flatheads will also hit crawlers in the scour holes. For that matter, I take a lot of flathead (no one down here knows what I am talking about when I call them “mudcat”) in front of wing dams during the day while fishing for walleye, but those tend to be small. I suspect that small flathead are more active during the day on the Mississippi, as I catch a lot of them in areas that I associate with active fish, rather than resting fish.