Mississippi Walleyes

I have fished this river for 30 years and the decline of walleyes is a shame we need to have a season on the river or all be be lost. People I have Talked to complaine that the fishing is real slow that they can;t find the fish, my answer to them, is you can’t catch what isn’t their anymore.

What part of the Mississippi are you talking about? I’ve never seen or heard of it being better between the Twin Cities down to the Iowa border.

Fishing’s good… walleye populations are solid. What area are you refering to?

I have to disagree with you to some extent. The big walleyes are there, trust me! We have all gotten on our soap boxes from time to time and beat the drum for catch and release. I think it has paid off. More BIG walleyes are being released now more than ever. I also believe the mortality rate to be better here on the river as opposed to deep water lakes where big walleyes brought up from 30 feet quickly, surely die. River depths don’t get anywhere near those depths. I do believe however, that these fish are being chased out of their normal haunts, and scattered to places many fishermen don’t venture. We catch many big walleyes in areas where we have NO other boats around, in areas that you would not guess walleyes would live. They are there, you just have to find them. And, feel free to beat the drum of catch and release! If we all do our parts, those big mama’s will be there for your kids and mine!

Tuck

I have to agree with tuck and james, i highly disagree with your theory on they aren’t there anymore, I have been fishing walleyes for 11 years now, every since i was 7 and walleyes seem like there are starting to be more so i just don’t understand your thinking unless you are in a pool that isn’t as high but i think walleye numbers are pretty good

this cold spring has changed things a bit… once it warms up you should see fish showing up in the usual places… but right now I think a lot of fish are in a holding pattern and are not biting like they normally would…… it may seem they are gone…. thats for sure….

Have been hearing this lament from old timers in this area for years. The story always starts with them telling about getting a stringer of 10 lbers in the morning then going back for another stringer in the evening. they never seem to get the conection.

Any fisheries biologist you ask will tell you that the only reason for a closed season would be a political one.

We have friends who were out with underwater cameras a few weeks ago and said you can’t imagine how many big fish there are in this river. We have had the DNR say the same thing to us after they do their shocking. If people use common sense and put the big ones back unless they want one for the wall there will be big fish in the river. The days of stringers of 10lbers are long gone due to us being more concerned about the fisheries future than our own greed like in the old days.

The walleye population is in very good shape. We get emails from fisheries managers from several pools from time to time and every report they give us is glowing. The fish are their. I will give you a perfect example. On pool 8 their are days I go out and get my rear end handed to me by the fish. I can go out that same night and catch fish hand over fist in the same areas all the while wondering where in the heck these fish were earlier in the day. I realized this more than ever after fishing last fall. And then even at night sometimes they shut down for several hours.

Walleyes in particular are an off or on fish for the most part but even when they are off in one place they are on in some other place. Just go to the tournament weigh-ins and see for yourself. The key is finding that right group of fish that are relating to bait fish. In fact the one common factoid I hear from the dnr people is that the bait concentrations are so healthy that our difficulty is in coaxing these healthy fish to bite. It can be a real high wire act some days.

amen to that bill. I remember seeing large pike speared and every one standing around smilling as if they did somthing real brave now if your starving thats different, but fishing to me is different than when i was a kid, attitudes were catch many ,catch often. now catch and release is the thing. and if my grandchildren cary on what you young fisherman started there will be fishing forever.we made a terrible mistake back then,we did,nt have the knowledge they have now. if every body tossed back 18 inch and kept a few under as eaters we would have plenty fish they are doing that in some canada lakes and what a comeback for lake in woods and lac seul it saved their fishery and don,t hesitate turning in pochers and meat momgers thats what a cell phone can do.

A closed season would be a wrong season to have piscator, what would us kids do if we had a closed season,lol prolly say we are out trying to catch “paddle fish” with jigs and minnows

I caught 2 paddle fish on plastic shads last week….. snagged them right in the bill….. they were hugging the bottom right off the tip of the first wingdam below L&D #3… caught one.. went right back down.. and caught the next…. they were really slamming those shads!.. or should I say those shads were really slamming them??

april fools right????? that would be an amazing feat catching a paddle fish considering they are very very rare

in the thirty plus some years I have fished pool 4 the last 5 have been the best. and i see it only getting better.with CAR and the sportsmen today it will continue to only get better.

Just a quick little word about the importance of CPR on Pool 4 of the Mississippi River…. and on the rest of the river as well.

I had the good fortune of inviting a well-season guide from one of the “not Pool 4” pools to come fish with me two winters ago. The bite was on and everyone was catching fish. Both walleyes and saugers.

We were sticking fish good and having a good time…. and he’s really quiet and doing more watching than fishing. I ask him what’s up and he says to me “of all the boats I’ve seen stick a legal walleye today, every one has been released… and most of the big female saugers. In my neck of the woods, I’d NEVER see that happen!”

And he really meant it.

The point of the post was not to bash on any geographical area…. more to bring to people’s attention that we have a REALLY strong CPR ethic on Pool 4. None of the respectable guides I know would ever consider making meals out of 22″ walleyes and the idea of eating even one smallie is ludicrous.

I think this ethic has quite a bit to do with the exceptional fishing we experience, regardless of what anyone tries to tell me.

So we need to keep gently pushing the concept of catch and release. Get more and moe anglers on the bandwagon. Spread the word…. and follow through yourself when confronted with the descision to release or kill an above average sized walleye or sauger.

preach…preach….preach….I’m done now…LOL

I caught a paddle fish three springs ago,right in front of the pool 5 landing.It was anly about 13″ long,and almost had to be spawned in the river nearby.I guess nothing is impossible.

ok..heres my 2 cents, i agree with the above about c&r but its a shame when i see MANY people on the river keeping the loaded females, THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR KEEPING!

and NOPE… it was NOT an Aprils fools joke… boated 2 of them within a couple of minutes…. they were only about 3# apiece……. and they are not horribly rare to boat… at least Ive seen them numbers of times…..

I talked to another guy that fished pool 4 on Saturday and he said he caught or snagged a 10# paddle fish. Must not be too rare.

you make a very good point james, i think it is more or less the fishing and the fisherman. It seams like the people who can go out and catch more fish tend not to keep as many of the ones they should be releasing. MY buddy and I experience this around our area when the flooding comes. Just last year I had a guy see me catch a 25 incher and i was showing it to my buddy wishing i wouldn’t of forgot the camera again and was going to put it back in the water and the guy almost died when i tried to put it back and he said i was crazy and this and he said i should let him keep it then. he was kind of mad at us for not letting him keep it, but we told him if he catches a 22+ inch walleye and releases it we will trade him 2 15- 21 inch walleyes for it. It is a well worth trade considering we catch our share of walleyes.

Last week a guy snagged a paddlefish, legally during the season, on the james river arm of table rock lake in Missouri. It broke the MO state record and was something like 139 lbs 6 oz or so…….84″ long…..

I mostly fish from Cassville, Wis to Genoa, Wis, first I want to clairfiy that Iam not one of those people you will see much of at the dams , and I don’t keep any fish. Our pools have been pounded to death we use to have good numbers, because people think walleyes are for eating and bass are for releasing . You have 200 boats or more at the dams in the spring sitting on the fish day after day, taking every fish they catch, what do you think has happened. I use to fish Red Wing alot you talk about pressure, how many fish do you think are in river.I fish 100 days a year and you say populations are solid, will you take me fishing.

Thanks

Flatbottom,

I just wanted to share more of my thoughts on this topic with you.

Last fall I was out night fishing and came back to the landing at about 2 am when I met the DNR shocking crew. I talked to them about how they did shocking and they asked me how I did fishing. I remember I had a slow night with little luck at all and they said that they shocked a series of wing dams on pool 8 and had good numbers including one dam that was loaded with walleyes. I fished that wing dam for days after that and never caught a fish. Now. Either I was fishing them wrong, the fish moved, or they didnt want to bite anything. It was probably more to do with me than the fish!

Also, if you take a long look at the mississippi river you can see that these fish are not all spawning in the same places. Just read one of the telemetry studies in the articles section. These fish have so much habitat to hide in. They can get into marshy backwater areas and spawn every year and never see a jig. As long as our dnr and fisheries mgmt teams are allowed to continue improving habitat the miss.river will continue to be a walleye factory. Personally Im excited as heck to see what the results of the drawdown on pool 8 are going to have in the next couple years. So I support these types of projects. And their is no doubt in my mind that more big fish are getting put back now than ever before.

Chris, I see your out of Minn, I would guess you fish Red Wing , I have pre-fished that area for the Tournament guys years ago, I could start at Wabasha and fish to Red Wing and find 5 places that would hold good fish, now I hardly find one! I don’t know what you base the populations of fish on, I base it on the numbers per hour of fishing over the last 30 years. 5 to 10 years ago I could anchor in places down river , not at the dam, and catch so many big fish that if I told you, you would think I was on drugs. I have caught and tagged 30 fish 5 to 10 pounds in one day ,all on film. Those fish are gone I would guess their freezer burnt. If you take 300 boats at theRed Wing dam at the right time you would think their are plenty of fish, take that same 300 boats move them 5 miles down river and spread them out and see what they catch ? 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water this really holds true in the river because of alot of factors. This spring dam fishing has to stop or we are going to really suffer.

Thanks

I guess were basing our population numbers on the fact that we typically catch dozens of nice walleyes each day on the water and on the DNR shocking/netting/telemetry studies we’ve read.

All things point to the fishery being in better shape now than ever.

Last fall Dustin and I watched the DNR shock a couple of areas on the north end of pool 4. The guys running the dipnets could hardly keep up with the number of fish that constantly floated to the surface. Also, according to the DNR’s appraisal of last spring’s spawn, we have a 2001 year class that is one of the largest on record.

The angler’s biggest hurdle to overcome is the incredible amount of food present in the system. Fat and lazy fish tend to be tough to catch.

Perhaps your methods need to change?

Also, about all the fish being at the dam. You couldn’t be more wrong. Read the Pool 4 telemetry study in our Article Library. It will show how FEW fish spend any amount of time below the dam and how many spend nearly their entire season out in Lake Pepin.

Bill, thanks for the reply, as I might be called an old timer and seen the hay days on the river, alot of us (old timers) never kept many fish never anything over 2lbs. I would hate to think how many fish I released at Red Wing only to see other boats slaughter big fish that they need to kill to show their buddies. Their is still only about 10% of us releasing fish 90% are going to die. Its sounds like not to many would be in favor of a closed spring season on the river, I can only hope.

I have always wondered why we can’t have a deer season from March to June , the weather would be great and after I killed my deer the fish should be spawning and I could wet a line……….

Can’t help but respond to this interesting topic. The fact that this conversation is taking place on a public forum is evidence to the strides walleye fisherman have made in protecting their resource. 20 years ago this wasn’t a topic of discussion. Are there game hawgs out there? Yes, of course, but we’ve come a long ways and we’re pointed in the right direction. My father’s generation (he’d be approaching 70 if he were alive) fished to feed the family-everything was kept even if a limit was still in the cooler. We still have some of that but, in general, we’ve learned what overharvest can do and what putting fish back can do to a fishery. You don’t have to look hard to see the positive effects of regulations. The Mississippi, Mille Lacs, Rainy Lake, Kabatogama, Rainy River….The bottom line is we’re getting smarter and forums like this help educate anglers. Halvy

Steve,

years ago when I commerical fished we netted alot of walleyes in the back waters in low water conditions when the high water came in you can only guess where they go. Most good spawing areas are gone because of flooding and silt a walleye is very fussy where they spawn most of the best are gone. You said you are happy about the DNR’s improving habitat, I don’t see anyplace on the river this is taking place, please understand the river is one of the lowest priorities on the list for the DNR for improvements. If you want to see the reason go to a meeting of the Corps of Engineers. All DNR people have to justify their jobs , what do you think they will say to the general public.

I recently read a memo; All things in general are well, all of our staff have plans set in place for for the comming year . We will continue to explore and improve all our resources as they challenge the years to come, I trust that I can count on all to see the brightest future……………..

Do you know who wrote this?

The President of ENRON

good fishing

flatbottom

After having a two hour discussion with a very knowledgeable river fisherman on this subject. (yes James, its who you think it is I’ll give you more details of the conversation over the phone.) He claims the fishing isn’t near what it was 20-25 yrs. ago and his reasoning is their simply isn’t as many walleyes now as back then. I know the dnr counts look promising but did they do these same counts(surveys) 25 years ago comparing apples to apples. I also realize catch and release is alot more prevalent today than it was back then but you also have to remember we probably have three times as many fisherman today as 25 yrs. ago with alot better equipment. Maybe the populations are as good now and the fish are just harder to catch.

Flatbottom… its obvious your an experienced and long time River Rat and that your observations should NOT be discounted….. when it comes to the DNR Ive been on both sides of the fence… and Ive been a river fisherman for 25 years… I remember when I started fishing the genoa/lynxville stretch.. the River Rats who taught me would tell me how many pounds of fillets they put away, not how many fish it was…. they delighted in keeping large fish….. the last time I spoke with them they also spoke of the good old days and that they were not into the large fish like they once were…..

I wish we as a group of anglers had an “creditable” record of fish numbers and size that have been caught over a period of years… then we would have some actual facts to bring to the table.. right now we have MOSTLY a gut feel… Im sure you have film of the fishing you once had… but its possible that others can produce video that may equal it taken more recently (though it would be interesting to see what you have!)….

still bioligist seem to feel that habitat and environmental conditions during the spawn are the most telling factors in spawning success……not the number of spawners…..

of course spawning affects what is known as recruitment (the ability of a population to replace its numbers throughout its age structure)…. Ideally fisheries management strives to achieve balance between mortality (angling included) and recruitment…. this is a difficult task because its affected by many factors… but one thing for sure the perception of anglers is NOT ALWAYS correct when it comes to the numbers of catchable fish available in a body of water.. this is because angling is not always the most effective way to capture fish….

For instance, I now fish pool 2 quite a bit, and I have observed and commented that the fishing has greatly declined from what it was a 3-4 years ago… unfortunatly its tougher to blame angling in this case because for at least 10 years Pool 2 has been catch and release only….. therefore mortality from angling should be limited to stress from capture and release which should be minimal according to many studies…. so what happened there? I dont have any idea!… I just know where once I could catch an average of 30 fish over 15 inches per trip per angler Im lucky now to catch 15 of that same size!!… I sure wish I knew if the fish were there still or if intense angling pressure has educated them…. it would make an interesting study…….

Anyway…. on this site most of us are concerned about the river fishery… I would not be suprised if most of us would support a catch and release fishery at certain times of the year… and yes even closing it if it appears that even catch and release provides no protection from angling mortality….

Recently they had the Spring Valley tourney on the Illinois River… and since we had people on the board that I know involved I was reading about it….. The point being that on THIS river the DNR works with the tourney anglers to remove the spawn from the captured fish, and its their contention that this has enhanced the spawning success and therefore recruitment of the sauger in this population…. I find this interesting… and it makes me wonder if a similar project should be considered on the pools in the Mississippi…. since environmental factors cause such swings in spawning success, might we not benefit from a stocking program which would tend to buffer the whims of nature?? wouldnt it be great to not have the bottom drop out of the population on some years or even series of years??? and I cant see why this would NOT improve the fishery?

anyway, thankyou Flatbottom for your perspective and experience, and for caring about the fishery we all love… I applaud your concern…. and I DO think we as a group need to be aware of whats going on… and we need to take an active part in directing it… Fisheries Managers try their best to do their job.. they really do… they are commited to doing it as well as they can… but the hard truth is that its at least as much a political battle as it is biological and to do their jobs they have to be funded!!….. and if OUR voice is not heard then its thought that we dont care!! Sad but TRUE.. we have to be vocal and active to help our fisheries people help us…. we can help them get the funds they need to do new research and try new programs……. and I think that its worth doing!……..

I would LOVE to see us start something here (or anywhere!), that organizes us and gives us a voice and political clout to see to it that the fishery we love gets the attention it deserves!!!