New to the River

Although I am an avid fisherman, my fishing takes place on the lakes of Missouri, not the big rivers. My buddy and I are coming up mid-week to do a little investigative work, to plan for a spring/summer trip for the smallies. We would like to wet a line for a few walleye while we are up this way. I am not bringing my boat, so would appreciate any clues on being able to access bank spots below a wing dam or dams. I ran across, on one of these sites, something that lead’s me to believe there are possibly comercial fishing barges we could access. I was not able to find these in the search base. We are hitting the river at Prarie Du Chien, and probably going the loop to Prescott and back down the MN. side. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

you can rent a boat at Everts resort pretty reasonably.. Ive done it myself a couple of times when my boat has been in need of repair but I needed to fish anyway…..
shore fishing by the dam can also be good.. but you have to find a place where you can access the river next to the dam and there are not all that many spots where you can do it…. Ive done well at Lynxville, Genoa and Fountain city….. dont know if there are other good shore spots… I know there is a fishing barge at Alma…. and there are others scattered down the river… they are usually pretty easy to find….

Thanks for the inf. River Rat.
Could you tell me a little more about the barges, such as do they stay anchored, heavily used during the week, bait available, etc.?

There is a fishing barge below the lyxnville dam and the genoa dam. I have been to the Genoa one before and I was happy with it.
The barge is tied up along the shore on the down stream side of the dam. You park your car in alot on the Wisconsin side by the lock. You walk down a hill and you raise the flag, that is on a pole. A house boat will come over and pick you up and take you over the the barge. They have food, and some tackle, but no bait as I recall on the barge. If you are going to be in Prairie Du Chien, on you way up to Genoa you could stop at the Falling Rock Bar and pick up some bait. Or you can talk to Len there, and he can give you some information on the fishing barge located below the Lynxville damn, as I have never been to that one.
Here is the website for the Genoa Fishing Barge, http://www.clementsfishing.com
Good luck and catch some fish

There are docks you can fish from in Prescott. There is one right up from the boat launch, another set under the bridges on the WI side and another one directly across the river under the bridge on the Mn side.

Good luck, let us know how you do.

J.