Navigating the Shallows

@jamesholst

Reading over the greatest collection of reports for the upper Miss a guy is constantly reading about side channels, sidecuts, shallow water, such as in this one
https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/fishing/reports/122430/
As a sidechannel newbie who just got into a much bigger boat what kind of rig were you and Dustin Stewart running for all those guide trips back yonder?
Curious on how much water you were treading and what kind of tips anyone here would be able to offer a fellow who’s gonna start exploring these fish haunts?

And what kind of motor equipment was used to attack them, TM, kicker, main? Trolling cranks seemed to be a recurring theme, how were you accomplishing this in 2-4′? How many times did wet feet accompany the trips from pushing off sand bars

Alot of questions there, any lil bit of info is much appreciated. Thanks again for documenting and retaining all that info through the years!

Some guys with some really nice boats drive like their boat is free and when it breaks someone is going to fix it tonight.

Being a long time side imaging user I go slower and slower knowing all the hazards lurking just below the surface.

I love seeing the 60k boats full speed running a spot I wouldn’t idle through!

I figure either they don’t care if they wreck something or ignorance of the hazard… That said, hours on the water can make all the difference.

I also like to turn on my trolling motor depth finder when fishing shallow sketchy water so I don’t have to wait until I’m on top of the problem before I know it is there.

Good article. Nothing in fishing is outdated.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I also like to turn on my trolling motor depth finder when fishing shallow sketchy water so I don’t have to wait until I’m on top of the problem before I know it is there.

That’s a great idea. Going beyond the TM depth finder which I don’t have currently, but sometype of indicator for the bow setup at the minimum depth of your rig, even a visual indicator of sorts.

I went to a hydraulic jack plate this year. Previously when I trimmed up, the angle drove the back-end of the hull and motor downwards and that’s when you grind a prop or a skeg.

Biggest thing is keeping the hull flat vs. trimmed. A jack plate helps achieve that. I can actually get up on plane in 3 fow. Do I do it regularly – no, but if I know the water it sure speeds things up.

I troll P2 pretty shallow in the summer time right along shore. It can get dicey going downstream in shallow water so I trim the motor all the way up and lift the trolling motor a bit should there be a submerged rock. I’ve never had any major issues but the bottom of my boat isn’t pristine, either.

Biggest issue is if you snag or when you hook a fish. I usually make sure I have the foot pedal hooked up so when that happens I can make a quick turn into deeper water. I’ve had some pretty funny moments getting snagged going downstream, though. It’s amazing how fast the line comes out of the spool, especially with braid.

Hm, good points on being able to turn around or hold where you are. Will have to figure that one out as well. Some of the cuts ive gotten fish out of last few springs would be impossible to turn around in the rig.

Just rip them lures free. Tie on another if it don’t come back.

Not the most cost effective, but the most productive.

No guarantee if you turn around to get a snagged lure that you’ll get it, but I can guarantee you’ll lose several minutes of fishing Time and a good chance you’ll be tying on another lure anyway.

When running shallow waters it good to know where you can get up on plain. More important is knowing where you can come off.

nhamm wrote:

That’s a great idea. Going beyond the TM depth finder which I don’t have currently, but sometype of indicator for the bow setup at the minimum depth of your rig, even a visual indicator of sorts.

Go slow and learn how to read the water and flow…..stream Trout fishing helps a lot to learn to read current…..and yes….learn to like wet shoes

Mudshark wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nhamm wrote:</div>
That’s a great idea. Going beyond the TM depth finder which I don’t have currently, but sometype of indicator for the bow setup at the minimum depth of your rig, even a visual indicator of sorts.

Go slow and learn how to read the water and flow…..stream Trout fishing helps a lot to learn to read current…..and yes….learn to like wet shoes

Reading water and flow is awesomely powerful…
It is the man made structure than can be quite unpredictable.

Where than barge grounded last night and moved some rock…etc.

What current does to a river or even some sand on a curb after a rain is easy to understand and predict.

Fully understanding side imaging accompanied with a good comprehension of river structure and current has made me cautions of the man made situations that the surface currents do not always reveal.

But, I don’t like damaging a boat I fully intend to use tomorrow… So I’m cautions- to a point

The backwaters I run frequently all have a saved route on my GPS that I know is safe pending no logs have suddenly appeared. Most of these areas I don’t have to worry about barges moving things so that’s not really a concern for me. The other key thing is if there is a narrow gap you have to run through, mark both sides of the gap with waypoints. Then you just need to worry about sand bars. They don’t always show up real well when watching the surface of the water, and they have the potential to move during high water. If there is one I know I need to run past I normally check them slowly after each high water event, and mark the tip.

Like other people have said probably one of the most important things is knowing were your spot is to drop off plane. I would also find a good soft bottom, and find out how shallow of water you can get onto plane in. I have gotten into areas on plane that are too shallow to idle over(my boat has a deep keel and no trim).

Lastly be sure you have a spare prop, and the tools to change it in your boat if your going to run skinny water. I have helped a couple people over the years that had the prop but no tools.

All of that said my rig probably isn’t worth as much as the tackle in the boat. I would probably second guess some of the areas I run if I had a 60+ thousand dollar rig.

@jamesholst

Reading over the greatest collection of reports for the upper Miss a guy is constantly reading about side channels, sidecuts, shallow water, such as in this one
https://www.in-depthoutdoors.com/fishing/reports/122430/
As a sidechannel newbie who just got into a much bigger boat what kind of rig were you and Dustin Stewart running for all those guide trips back yonder?
Curious on how much water you were treading and what kind of tips anyone here would be able to offer a fellow who’s gonna start exploring these fish haunts?

Back in the day we both ran Crestliner 182 TS boats with 175 HP Yamaha main motors & T8 kickers. We would regularly run the back channel in less than 2 feet of water wide open BUT we knew exactly where we needed to be, down to the width of the boat, to make it without contacting bottom. Advice to offer? Go slow the first time or two, keep track of river stage when you’re making your slow speed runs so you’ll know if your path is safe as water levels change, and build confidence from there.

Remember, I was fishing Pool 4 several hundred days a year back then so being out on the water almost ever day made those back water channels feel as familiar as the desk in my office does today. Would I run the back channel mid-August later this summer without a slow speed pass first? Absolutely not. I’ve been away from it for too long to bank on memories.

And what kind of motor equipment was used to attack them, TM, kicker, main? Trolling cranks seemed to be a recurring theme, how were you accomplishing this in 2-4′?

Both Dustin and I always trolled with our kickers. How did we do this? We always ran heavy braid (30# – 50# braid) so the larger diameter would decrease the amount of depth we’d achieve for every foot of line out. We’d run shallow shad and smaller deep diving crankbaits like #5 Shad Raps on lines as short as a boat length and a half behind the boat. Worried about spooking fish in shallow water? Don’t be. Kickers don’t seem to bother fish all that much when you keep the kicker speed consistent. I can remember MANY, MANY times we would be on a great bite trolling crankbaits with the kicker motor kicking up mud swirls behind the boat. River fish are wired different than lake fish, that’s for sure!

How many times did wet feet accompany the trips from pushing off sand bars

We got our feet wet all the time helping people off sand bars, I’ve got some crazy stories about guys running their boats aground… some of them are still regulars here to this day so I’ll hold those stories to protect the innocent. Neither Dustin or I ever ran our boats aground. We’d sand a skeg or prop once in awhile but we knew the back water so well we never had an issues ourselves that I can remember.

Chopping that learning curve dramatically as always, greatly appreciated and way more than could’ve asked for

Heavy braid, boat and a half back….wrapping my head around that one. Makes sense, but doesn’t, so awesome to share that.

Will make sure to post some reports once I start figuring er out hopefully as well. Try to get that Reports page to keep flowing! Thanks again.

Nick I tossed in a length of conduit to serve as a push pole from time to time. Not saying I ever went places I shouldn’t have but……………

nhamm wrote:

Heavy braid, boat and a half back….wrapping my head around that one. Makes sense, but doesn’t, so awesome to share that.

I’m not sure how much info regarding our rod selection made it into the reports but we relied on some very long rods to get lures out away from the boat versus running long leads. Our outside rods were 11’6 – 14′ in length and playfully referred to as “apple knockers.”

Thanks for bringing up those old reports. My time spent down on the river guiding with Dustin and Steve DeZurik were some of the best times of my life. Both guys are to this day some of the most talented anglers I’ve ever had the pleasure to fish with. Wives…kids…and opportunity have since moved each of us in our own directions but those early years​ on the river and the lessons learned…. priceless.

Stupid question, Steve DeZurik = DeeZee? Didn’t put that one together.

Those reports are the most fantastic things on the internet in regards to fishing intel bar none. I’d go on and on about them and the information they hold but will hold back on the brown nosing, simply Thank you and to all those that contributed. Havent even got through maybe 50 pages and just almost too much there to handle.

I’m sure theres enough on your plate already, but if you were to catalogue those somehow, organize by species, times of year, id easily pay $100 right now plus shipping. Maybe a bonus section in your biography one day? Retirement project?

Wow, reading that old report was a trip down memory lane!!! Back in those days I was just learning the river with a “boy” giving me advice from the passenger seat. No matter how far off the beaten path I was James or Dustin would shoot by with a wave and a smile. James, would you happen to be talking about the regular here who tried to plow a trough through the back channel sandbar during an ARM event??? Let it be known that thanks to a kicker motor I did make it back to Everts and that is the most sand I have ever seen come out of a motor. No matter what you do the river will reach out and grab you once in a while so learn to roll with the punches. I lost a blade off a prop coming out of fishermans cut on a deadhead that was totally under the water—it happens. As far as advice for running the river—I have made every mistake out there and I am still at it so just use your head and learn to smile and laugh at yourself. Life is too short to worry about a scuff on a boat or a dinged up prop. I probably have the record for shortest prop life—-I think I took one out within 15 minutes of putting it on. Caught a bunch of fish that day though so I will count it as a win!!!

nhamm wrote:

Stupid question, Steve DeZurik = DeeZee? doah doah Didn’t put that one together.

Yup, that’s him. Great guy and one heck of a good angler.

nhamm wrote:

Those reports are the most fantastic things on the internet in regards to fishing intel bar none. I’d go on and on about them and the information they hold but will hold back on the brown nosing, simply Thank you and to all those that contributed. Havent even got through maybe 50 pages and just almost too much there to handle.

Ironically we stopped putting up the longer, more detailed reports because people stopped reading them. We watched people’s consumption of online media change drastically from wanting as much detail as they could lay their hands on to wanting to consume short, quick-hitter style blurbs with less substance, more photos instead of detailed explanations. If video killed the radio star shortening attention spans killed the long-form IDO fishing report.

redneck wrote:

ames, would you happen to be talking about the regular here who tried to plow a trough through the back channel sandbar during an ARM event???

No, but now that you mention it, that was a pretty good example. I was specifically thinking of one of the “hill people” piling up on the sand bar below the cabins and hitting it so hard with the boat pushed up on the sandbar so far you could see the livewell intakes. It took a couple guys in the water and Dustin pulling with his boat to get that one loose.

Good times, good times!