I didn’t want to hijack Jame’s post….and I apologize if this question has been asked before….
Ok I’m heading for a wingdam I think may hold fish and I want to try throwing a crankbait. Do I:
1) Anchor near the inside end and let the current swing the bait out over the top of the dam.
2) Anchor out near the end of the dam and fan cast the whole thing from upstream.
3) Anchor at the tip of the wingdam and try to retrieve parallel to the structure.
Thanks !
Rootski
Personally… I think if you are going to anchor… anchor ahead of the wingdam just to the inside. The fish there are there for one reason… to anbush the baitfish caught in the current. That said, the best presentation is one given to them that mimic’s the bait fish they are there to ambush. Throwing down stream into them… and allowing the bait to drift back a little mimics that of a baitfish fighting the current.
Or… I could be WAY of base here. This is how I have been successful anyhow.
Rarely do I anchor inside and cast out retrieving back against the “inside – out” current flow that most wingdams have going across and over the face of the dam.
If the dam is seeing “average” flow I’ll anchor half a cast above the dam and outside of the spot on the dam that I expect to hold fish. When the flow is low I get closer to the dam and make long casts that parallel the length of the dam.
This is a generalization >>>> Higher Flow – Average Flow
Anchor further above the dam and present baits “down and inside.” Use the current that moves “inside-out” on most dams to present the bait to fish in the target area.
(no fair making fun of my drawing. I did it in 3 minutes. 
)
Late Summer – Low Flow Situations.
With little to no current to “blow” your bait out of the strike zone and downstream from the dam an angler can take advantage of long casts across the top of productive wingies to fish that lie in wait right on top of the dams.
Never would I make fun of another man’s drawings! Actually they’re really good and answer my question perfectly.
Thanks James
Rootski
Try not anchoring but instead work your boat back and forth above the dam with your electric trolling motor. If you are fishing a short dam that you can cast the entire dam then throw out the anchor but if it is a longer dam try working the whole dam. Many dams have structure features such as a small breaks in the dam or curved/angled corners that will hold fish. I’ve found walleye on the very inside and the very outside of the same dam at the same time of day. Another plus of working the dam with your trolling motor is you can align your casts so they work along the top of the dam or the trough out in front of the dam. Walleyes like it when you stop the action for a second or so. It seems to trigger them to attack. It takes lots of practice but using the trolling motor will become second nature to you and it will most definately increase the number of walleye you will catch off of wingdams simply because you are covering more area on the dams. I not only do this when casting cranks but I also do it when working a 3-way DBQ rig where my drop jig stays on the front of the dam and my long line washes up on top of the dam. These are the 2 areas where the most actively feeding walleyes will be on a wingdam.
Eyehunter
One more thing to note, if you catch some fish on a dam, don’t be afraid to come back and double check the same spot later in the day.
Quote:
One more thing to note, if you catch some fish on a dam, don’t be afraid to come back and double check the same spot later in the day.
Great advice. I might pop 2 or 3 fish off of a dam early in the morning. I might stop back at the same dam a few hours later and pick up another fish or two. Many times when I do stop back I’ll find the fish further out and deeper on the dam than I found them in the early morning.
Eyehunter
Quote:
Try not anchoring but instead work your boat back and forth above the dam with your electric trolling motor. If you are fishing a short dam that you can cast the entire dam then throw out the anchor but if it is a longer dam try working the whole dam.
I prefer to re-anchor along the dam until I have it all fished. In very low flow situations I’ll hover with the trolling motor but the one aspect I can’t overcome is that when I run the boat so the casting angle is “right” for me in the front, everyone in the back is fishing junk water. Vice versa when I set up the guys at the back of the boat to have the proper positioning and angle… then I’m along for the ride, so to speak.
I’m a “worker” when it comes ot fishing dams. I’ll set, pull and re-set the anchor dozens of times during the day. Another trick I use is that I have 150′ of rope and if I want to fish further in or out I just tie off on the opposite cleat from the direction I would like the boat to move. This slides the boat in or out depending on the cleat used and when you’ve anchored well above a dam and use this technique… you can cover most dams with one set.
It works so good it might be cheating. 
I agree with James on the anchoring. lol Hunter stop hoggin up the dam. lol joking. 
I agree with James also on the anchoring.I will anchor up to 10 diffrent times on the same wingdam sometimes. The tip of the wingdam for me is one of my sweet spots.Especialy if the water temp is above 65 degres, reason being is usally there is a good hole there created by the flow it will make a swale and drop off to 6 to 10 ft deep or deeper.In the high water temp the eyes seem to be in those pockets for the cooler water.It is common to catch fish all hours of the day there. In higher current flow if there is a chain of wingdams I usaly wont tuch the first one.I will fish the wingdams below it the father down the chain I have found less current and easier to fish. Also like James said at least 150ft of anchor rope or more is a must.Also with the extra rope wake from other boats are less likely to rock you of the dam.
Awesome info.Ya’ll forgot more about catchin walleyes than I’ll ever know.Thanks
I’m an anchor man myself. Having lot’s of anchor rope and utilizing different cleats/tie off positions on the boat will usually get me where I want to be and I am able adjust my baot posistioning accordingly
I prefer anchoring too. And when the current is strong its my only option. It seems that when I try to fish a wingdam with the trolling motor I spend more time worrying about my boating then I do fishing.
dd
The X’s represent fish. James was showing the relative position of the boat to the fish. They could actually be anywhere along the dam depending on current, depth, and time of day.
Rootski
Quote:
The X’s represent fish. James was showing the relative position of the boat to the fish. They could actually be anywhere along the dam depending on current, depth, and time of day.
Rootski
Exactly right.
James…the pictures are great for a guy like me. Really helps put it together… Thanks. Ted
Now let me ask this. What’s a good anchor to use on the river??? I have one for my 18 foot Lund and it doesn’t hold at all on the St. Croix when it gets windy… 
The Mississippi flows faster (correct?), so the last thing I want to do is have another damaged prop (which I replaced thanks to pool 4 last fall).
Get a large water spike. Put a couple feet of chain on the anchor and then a good 100′ rope. This has been working well for me. The only place it has trouble holding is in high current and solid gravel bottoms. The flukes just dont seem to want to dig into that stuff.
Been fishing wingdams quite a few years.Glad I finally found this website.It’s nice to know that other guys have the same problems and questions that I have and that we all willing to share the 
info that we have
Welcome Saldydog. Great to have you with us. Please feel free to share and post all you want.
Thanks, Bill
Just wanted to say thanks for the info on fishing wingdams. I fished some wingdams in Pool 9 on Sat. and I caught my biggest walleye to date a 25″, 6lb 4oz, fish that hit a crawdad colored crankbait. She is still swimming today. We also caught some nice eaters to take home.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
