New to river fishing

I am new to fiver fishing and not that good of a fishermen but I WILL FISH MORE my wife thinks I work to much and need to spend more time with our 10 year old. and I like the the river. It is so cool. There is so much to see. I recently bought a 16 ft Nader fishing boat with a 25 horse Johnson ( S&M could not figure out the year of the motor) that I am going to dial in this winter (rod holders, live well, cup holders. etc) we went out the twice this last week and did not have much luck finding fish today we caught 10 sun fish all were about 6 inches long or shorter we found them close to shore in about 6 feet of water.by some trees. my questions are these how can I tell there is a wing dam? what is the area just south of Wabasha bridge called I went though about 50 feet of shallow water (WI side) then found a Chanel and went south to the edge of the tree line and fished that area. any help in my quest to be a fisherman would be greatly appreciated thanks Kurt

You are on the right website for learing about the river and several of the larger lakes around. Poke around the website and look at the many articles written about hte river and how to fish. I’m sure before long the “real” experts will pipe up and help. Didn’t see where you are located, but there are folks that chime in from the headwaters of the Mississippi down a long ways. And welcome.

Welcome to IDO!!
If you have a GPS that you can put a Lakemanster chip into, it will show you exactly where the wingies are. Otherwise, wind permitting, you can see the ripples creating a distinct line from shore going out into the main channel. These are the tops of the wingies….
I hope that helps!

http://www.flwoutdoors.com/image.cfm?id=16014&thumb=1&maxwidth=220&maxheight=120

As Chris was saying the current flows over the rocks and “pushes” up to the surface. This “ripple” is how an angler can tell where there’s a wing dam…or other obstruction under water.

Stay in between the red and green channel markers and you won’t have to watch for wingies. ‘Course the wingies hold lots of fish!

Welcome to In-Depth Outdoors 1dollarbill!!!

Here are some great Articals on Wing Dams.

Dog Day Wing Dams

An In-Depth look at fishing wingdams…

Welcome to the site, Kurt.

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what is the area just south of Wabasha bridge called I went though about 50 feet of shallow water (WI side) then found a Chanel and went south to the edge of the tree line and fished that area. any help in my quest to be a fisherman would be greatly appreciated thanks Kurt

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I just looked it up on Google Maps and it they call it Truedale Lake. Looks interesting.

Another area to check on here is the Mississippi forum.

Welcome to IDO

I would get my self a good 30 or no more then 60 foot flasher and have it on at all times.. why because by the time you see the rock pile on a graph its too late.. flashers are RIGHT NOW and not seconds ago..

take your time and observe the five foot rule.. if its deeper then five foot and you have been there before you can run.. if not IDLE.. and use that trim and tilt on your motor..

Welcome to IDO. I was new to the river 11 yrs ago when I moved to La Crosse. My two sons and I immediately enrolled in a boat safety class. It was a requirement for my boys if they ever wanted to take out Dad’s boat. I/we learned a lot from the intructor – a young river rat who grew up on the river. Some of the best money I ever spent – and Dad had a better test score too which their after taking some heat from the instructor.

I would recommend it strongly if you are fairly new to boating especially on the river and you are on the right site for getting helpful information about fishing.

Good Luck and play safe.