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The Mississippi River backwaters near Wabasha, Minnesota is home to ”Grumpy Old Men” AND to where ALOT of many different kinds of fish live. Mike Smith from Hooked On Fishing and I spent a couple hours fishing there this afternoon. Read on to see how we did AND to maybe get the answer to a question everyone has been asking….

Mike closed up his store in Rochester at 2:00 and we headed to Wabasha to catch some fish in the backwaters in that area. We arrived around 3:00 and found other fishermen enjoying the backwaters too. We traveled light bringing an auger, flasher, ice hole scoops, rods, camera, ice picks and of course ”Reel Weeds.”

Now this was my first time seeing these Reel Weeds up close in person and they looked real, were very green, were very easy to lower into the ice hole and the depth was adjusted by a float. Very easy to use. Sweet. And Briank was right-Mike hogged the weeds to himself, lol. I talked to Brian earlier today on the phone and told him I was the camera man and I had guessed right about watching Mike catch fish today. lol. Now the weeds were closer to Mikes fishing holes than mine which set the course for an evaluation of these Reel Weeds. Mike started popping fish after fish before I could even get started fishing. I couldn’t believe it. I got my behind whipped bad. lol. Seriously by the end of the two hours of fishing he caught like 30 fish to my ten. Was it the weeds? You tell me. 30 fish to ten is a big difference. Heres the way I look at it. The weeds look real. They are nice and green. Fish like weeds. Their food likes weeds. The fish are sitting there and all of a sudden out of nowhere right in the middle of their living room [the fish live in the water so thats their home] there are weeds. Of course they are going to investigate it. Wouldn’t you? And when they check it out they find food [your bait] and that means FISH ON!

Mike is a panfish geru and when we fish together for panfish I expect him to catch a few more than me but certainly not this many. My holes were slow starters and after alittle while I caught some fish as I moved around from hole to hole. But yes I WAS the camera man today. lol.

We caught our…ok mostly Mikes…lol…fish jigging and it seemed to me at least that most of the fish were caught when we held the jig and waxie mostly still. Mike wanted four different spieces of big fish for the report today but in only having two hours of fishing time we didn’t get the big ones. And he had his heart set on ”BIG” crappies but the crappie weren’t big enough so he wouldn’t let me take a pic of crappie caught. The first pic is of a bass, the second one is a bluegill, and even a perch was caught to make the third pic, and with no big crappie pic #4 ended up being another gill. [pics shown on Fishing Reports Forum in the report]

Theres just something about the Mississippi River that gets me excited. Its so peacefull there, its a fantastic fishery, and home to ALOT of many different kinds of fish. The river is loaded with many acres of backwaters that many fish call home. We fished in 6 feet of water sitting/standing on 6 inches of ice where we were. You could see the fish below the ice as you brought them up to the hole. Very neat to see.

Ice fishing is a great fun sport that can be enjoyed by many so be sure and get out on the ice this season and catch yourself some fish. As always be safe and check out the ice conditions on the body of water you plan to fish on. Good luck. And be sure and let us know how you do.

Thanks, Bill

Your report pretty much sums it upill. Good work.

Here is something to consider for those who are wanting a place to take kids. There are easily accessed places down there that provide fishing like this all winter. When taking beginners to the ice, take them to spots such as these because “catching” is way more important than fishing.

Another bonus to the backwaters is the sheer diversity of the area. On Saurday I was eagles float over the treetops mere feet above us. I saw a mink toying along the shoreline, basically un-noticed by others and equally un-assuming. But the treat were chick-a-dees. I sorted thru my puck and took out the black or grey waxies and flipped them out on the ice. The black ones will just go away, but the chick-a-dees would come in and snatch the grey ones. Some of these birds were close enough to touch had I wanted. Sometimes the backwaters offers more than just fishing, while fishing. All of the little treats that come down there go a long way to making the whole trip more of an experience.

Great summary Bill.

Those little chickadees are fun! I suspect they get fed pretty well from all the fishermen. I had one land on my fishing rod a few days ago.

Good Fishing,
Mike

You guys are driving me nuts w/ jealousy!!! I’m right on the verge of being comfortable being on the ice (I’m 6′ 250), but terrified of going through when I’m by myself, and during the week I can’t find anybody to go with me.

Mike and I are both big guys so you aren’t alone. In these spots there are usually other fishermen. And you can spot them from the highway as you drive by so pick a spot where there are others. We were in only 6 ft max of water which I feel safer than if in deeper water. I have my ice picks around my neck and if I were to fall in someone would at least see my hands above my head or more of my body if in less than 6 ft. I’m getting alot braver on ice as I use to have to have 8 inches before I went on it but that was over deeper water too. If not fishing with someone pick a spot where there are others around. Its much safer and I can’t stress saftey enough. Have fun but make it smart safe fun.

Thanks, Bill

I second that one guys I had one land on one of my rod tips in my bucket yesterday and than jump into my bucket as well at pontoon on the dike road…