Any tips on the methods used to fish the river vs lake fishing? I was planning on going to Pool 4 but it sounds like it’s very busy there. Would Winona or Lacrosse area be less busy? Any tips would be appreciated.
In my opinion it’s not the ideal time of year to “learn the river”. The flow is rising, along with the likelihood of debris in some areas.
Your question is pretty vague. If you’re looking to target saugers or eyes, look toward the upper end of any pool (not necessarily right near the dam though). If you are after panfish, follow the melting ice sheets in bottle neck areas of the backwaters. Perch should be schooled up fairly tight in these areas if you find them. I would be shocked if the Winona/La Crosse ar areas are very busy.
Have you ever boated on the river?
Hire a guide if it’s in the budget , shorten the learning curve. Pool 4 can be intimidating the first time out, if possible use the park ramp when the flow is high.
Everts back in Dean’s day was a wealth or info. I haven’t been there since Dean left.
If not lots of YouTube’s on river fishing , Mississippi included. With that said I haven’t seen a lot about safety in any.
Have you ever boated on the river?
Valid question! I have fished and boated on lakes my entire life…some bigger lakes too, however would not attempt putting my boat in the river. At least not without someone along with a lot of experience. Even then, I may not…much prefer to go with them in their boat. 
I agree with the feedback….methods are one thing but I would focus on safety and navigation the first few times out. Actually not bad to follow the crowds to start. That way, if you have issues there are people to help. It’s only the launches that are a bit busy.
Pick a stretch of river to learn but it’s best to go with someone who has some experience. Ton of stuff of YouTube on tactics but it’s the ever changing conditions you need to be weary of.
Try Marty Hahn as a guide out of Red Wing….been out with him in the past and he’ll put you on fish but more importantly he’ll teach you the river. There are other good ones, too.
Good luck and be safe.
You could go to pool 3. No peeps.
Hire a guide if it’s in the budget , shorten the learning curve. Pool 4 can be intimidating the first time out, if possible use the park ramp when the flow is high.
Everts back in Dean’s day was a wealth or info. I haven’t been there since Dean left.
If not lots of YouTube’s on river fishing , Mississippi included. With that said I haven’t seen a lot about safety in any.
X2
The ever changing current can be the most challenging. But those current seams can hold a lot of fish so I would say try them when you happen upon them. Slack water next to current is always important. If you are looking for a trophy, this is the time of year. Think shallow near creeks, near seams. It all depends on how the flow is so lots of variables but if you cut your teeth on the river, those lakes are a breeze navigation wise. Always be prepared for debris in the spring. Watch where other boats go and be carful of the wingdams. Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions and hopefully I can help.
Anytime the water is rising, watch for debri.
After the long lower water winter time where tree branches (and trees) fall along the shore, the rising water picks them up and can make speed boating hazardous. It’s not the logs/tree that we can see above the water I worry about, it’s the slightly sunken ones that will get you.
Speed is not your friend and always wear your pfd and tether.
I think it was Doug in another post that commented about having the engine running prior to pulling anchor. I’ll go a bit further. We need to be in control of the boat at all time. This includes having the motor running before pushing off the trailer or dock.
Keep a close eye on what’s coming your way if anchored or on spot lock. A tree trump’s anchors…and boats.
Sounds kinda dangerous eh? Not really as long as there’s a little common sense behind the wheel and a person is watching for the unexpected…kinda like driving.
Take it slow any time you’re in unfamiliar water on the river. A sand bar can pop up anywhere. Learn to identify wingdams, some days they’re easy to see, others not so much. The nice thing is they don’t move, the bad thing is also that they don’t move.
Regarding fishing the river, the biggest difference is learning how river walleye are different than lake walleye. I came from fishing lake walleye (Mille Lacs, Leech, LOTW, etc) where you find a nice shelf or hump and fish it. River walleye utilize the current to bring them their food, so it’s important to focus on current seams. They want to be able to save energy in a “non-full” current spot, but grab food as the current brings it by. Where on a lake you might need to find a 10′ depth change to find fish holding, 1′ can often be enough for river walleye. Hot spots to fish them are wing dams, points, rip-rap, sand-rock transitions, clam beds, etc. Find structure that allows them to get out of some of the current, but still be near or next to it. This is my personal preference, but I don’t fish a spot much longer than 15 or 20 minutes at the most before trying the next place.
The Prairie Island spillway in Winona will offer a fairly relaxed kind of fishing if you can settle for panfish. There will be current there, just not like a main channel situation. The public access just above the camp ground has a decent ramp/dock for flows like what’s happening right now. Straight across the channel from the landing you’ll find a large area of partially submerged trees. Don’t assume shallow water there cause its not….lots of 20″ plus kind of water right around those trees. Plenty of crappie and sunfish action there too as a rule. There are a couple areas in the spillway itself that create a heavier flow where you can cast to with jigs for walleyes if the spirit moves you.
Weekdays will likely be less busy but weekends are doable if you are tolerant of some other anglers. But more than anything is that you can get some river fishing experience without the extremes found in the current on a main channel adventure. There’s enough current there that you’ll get the basics down as far as boat handling in current but its not so radical that you can’t take time to enjoy yourself too. Plus you get the half decent fishing found there.
Do a Google Earth search for “prairie island campground, winona, mn”. The landing and parking lot are going to be found just upstream of the campground and below the spillway, which will be visible for reference.
Try it. Good luck.
Have a plan for reloading your boat too… Loading it in the current is a unique advanture… Landings out of the main current are an advantage for the first timer… I am not going to get into the specifics of it as I haven’t done it very often, just reminding you of the ability to be able to get it off and back on. For the first trip, I would specifically try to find a launch that is out of the main flow and my favorite this time of year is in Alma at P5…
Mark
The guide idea doesn’t sound so bad. I think I’ll take my boat out to a few lakes a few times to get used to it before taking it to the river. Does anyone know of a any guides that can show me some spots or techniques in the river?
The griz.
I’ve been out with Marty once – I know others that have gone with him multiple times and it’s been a good experience.
http://mississippiriverwalleyes.com/
I don’t even know how you get ahold of the Griz…..
cant stress this enough – SAFETY FIRST! those that recommended going with an experienced person or just spending your first few times tooling around learning how to navigate the river rather than fish provided good advice in my opinion. I’ve fished the river by boat twice by myself and once with a guide. Im a lake guy like yourself but would like to fish the river more. The river is full of hazards. Not trying to scare you off but you need to be prepared and understand that boating on a lake is a much smoother operation than the river. Gotta be on your toes on the river and some things you just cant learn without experience.
Marty Hahn is top quality. He’s been guiding for a very long time and has his USCG license for guiding on the river.
AND he’s a good guy.
I don’t even know how you get ahold of the Griz…..
The Griz guides through Blue Ribbon bait and tackle.
Turk @ Croixsippi.com is another good option.
A guide will be your best investment ever for shortening your learning curve! In no particular order, all have years of experience and a wealth of information. I would encourage you to get in touch soon though as their availibity will be limited.
Jeremiah Luhman
Marty Hahn
Denver Mc Kinnon
The major safety water hazards to be aware of is floating debris, yet to com, the 3 wingdamns on the left side of the main channel by the damn, and the closing channel damn that is marke in the back channel.
A good map chip will show those and just taking it easy the first few times out will be just fine !
Enjoy & have fun !!!!
FYI I used Denver a few years ago. had a lot of fun with him and I asked him every question in the book and he answered all of them. Im sure he was quite annoyed with me after 4 hours of that but you would never know it. Great experience.
You’ll eventually have to get in a boat, just do it. Be observant and take it easy. Fish when comfortable. The river deserves respect but its not a loaded gun.
Loading/unloading is fun to get use and you’ll learn. Don’t back in trailer to far, let the rollers or bunks do their job and guide, they can’t do it if under water a foot.
Guides are awesome but not everyone has couple hundred bucks which a friend of yours would also need for a guide to split.
No better teacher than experience, go get some yourself.
One more thing, if you you are getting familiar with a new boat, go upriver first. If you have problems you can at least drift the current back to the landing with less toll on the electric. Yes I found this out the hard way. My least favorite part is still lines at launches but I take my time and go in and out when I feel I won’t slow others down since I usually go alone. Having a buddy is very helpful but the more you try, the better you will get.
You’ll eventually have to get in a boat, just do it. Be observant and take it easy. Fish when comfortable. The river deserves respect but its not a loaded gun.
Loading/unloading is fun to get use and you’ll learn. Don’t back in trailer to far, let the rollers or bunks do their job and guide, they can’t do it if under water a foot.
Guides are awesome but not everyone has couple hundred bucks which a friend of yours would also need for a guide to split.
No better teacher than experience, go get some yourself.
Great advice. Plus, there’s no substitue for time on the water. Figuring things out is also very rewarding.
I will take you out Aaron. Been on the river my whole life, plus I live in Kasson. You might be local out this way? We can hit up Red Wing here in April one week day maybe.
Nick
To be honest I think people are blowing this a little out of proportion. Sure it has its dangers, like everything else, but as long as you have an idea of what to expect and not an idiot you’d be just fine without a guide.
Wear a life jacket, buzz down the main channel, steer clear of other boats and floating logs. If you want to go above and beyond buy a map where it shows wing dams (hence the drive down the main channel part) and a few community hole fishing locations.
With all that being said, right now isn’t exactly ideal because maneuvering a boat and putting it on and off the trailer can be a challenge with the increasing flow this time of year, like others have mentioned. For practice it wouldn’t hurt to try out Winona for a day to avoid the crowds like you said. Spent my college days down there and there are plenty of fish to be caught.
My advice –
Watch out for syringes and used condoms! 
Find and download the river guide from the state, think it’s DNR. Lots of good navigation info in there you’ll need to know down there I’m assuming.
IDK, since none of us has any idea of his experience or common sense (or other people that are just reading this post) going a little overboard isn’t bad. IMHO
I think we have a very experienced group on IDO and it’s easy to take things for granted. We all know to pay attention to funny looking water, but does a new person?
I’m not trying to make the OP sound like a dummy, but there’s going to be thousands that read this. A certain % won’t have a clue. I know this to be a fact because in 1986 I was one of them and there wasn’t a IDO (or the internet) around to point out hazards or other things to watch out for.
Cost me $45 to become educated on what No Wake means at Prescot. 
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
