Pool 12 walleye and sauger

The last week on pool 12 at Dubuque has been nothing short of fantastic for walleye and a few nice sauger. The river came back down to fishable levels right around the 4th and the action has been hot and fast. I was forced to sit out the best walleye month of the year (June) due to the high water. It is nice to be back out on the water especially with a hot bite going on. I have been out 5 or 6 times since the 4th with a few quick limits of eaters in the 16″ to 19″ range. There seems to be an abundance of these eater size fish in the river. I have also released at least a dozen fish in the protected slot of 20″ to 27″. There seems to be a good number of fish in the 22″ range as well as those under 20″. The slot limit begins below Lock & dam 11 here in Dubuque and continues down river to the Missouri state line. I can’t wait until we start seeing the benefits of the slot limit in a year or two. The bite has been a jig bite with a few on crank baits as well. The majority of my fish the last couple times out have been on a 1/2 oz to 3/4 oz jig with a sassy shad. I have also picked up a couple nice fish on a deep diving crankbait.
The bite has been an all day event but to get the fastest action try early morning and again in the evenings after 7:30 until just after dark. The fish are shallower at these times and feeding heavily. We were on some fish the last couple of nights that were making the minnows explode out of the water which is always a good sign. The fish were shallow between 2 feet and 6 feet deep. I will try to remember to take the digital camera out to get a few picks for my next report.

Great Report eyehunter Sounds like a lot of fun on pool 12 right now.Were you casting jigs or vertical jigging? Do you use any scent on that sassy shad,was there any special color of jig head or sassy shad? Tight Lines!!>>>>>>>Rick

Eyehunter,

I fished Pool 12 with my father on July 5th and 6th and we also found the fishing to be very good. We were averaging close to four legal fish per hour fishing the wingdams, which for us is very good. Actually we only caught one small sauger and one sub 15″ walleye. We had two walleyes over 20″. Everything else was in the 15″ – 20″ slot. I’m also glad to see the protected slot from 20″-27″… I hope it does improve the fishery.

We also fished July 8th for a couple hours in the morning but came up empty. If you recall, that was the morning of the record low 48 F and the river really got muddy from all the storms above Dubuque. When I heard there were flash flood warning north of Dubuque, I said to my dad, “There goes our great fishing.” That Turkey river south of Guttenburg dumps in an incredible amount of mud. I’m not a good high water fisherman but I know some people like it. High water really seems to hurt Pool 12 walleye fishing more than it hurts Pools 3 and 4 from my experience.

I know a couple of years ago people were talking about the demise of Pool 12 but it seems strong this year. I also had some good fishing down there last year if the water was below 10 ft. at Dubuque. But I’ll admit I really struggled in 2000 – 2002, even when the water was at a stage that I’d expect to do good (8 – 10 ft. at Dubuque). Pre 2000 I had several good years. I suppose everything cycles.

What type of structure were you fishing? Like I said, we were on wingdams and the bite was good. Hope to do some more fishing down there in a couple of weeks.

Boone

Boone:

Thanks for sharing your experiences on 12. I am new to the area and the walleye thing, so every shred of info is very helpful. I haven’t been on 12 yet, but took about 1/2 dozen trips so far this year to 11; fished mostly below Guttenberg and then some below Cassville. I have yet to catch a walleye or sauger in pool 11. Same dandy smallies and one big nasty gar, but no walter. I know guys with more experience have done well on some days, but I have come home empty-handed.

Pool 9 is quite a ways further upstream (twice as far from my home outside Cedar Rapids ) but up there, I seem to be able to find fish and catch a few, even in new areas. I have heard others who have fished and lived here a long time tell that the areas in pool 11 below the Turkey can be lousy when she’s dumping a lot of muddy water into the pool.

Regards,

Joe Jiacinto

Sorry that I have not gotten back to answer some of your questions before now. I have been mainly fishing wingdams and a couple low-current shallow rock piles close to deeper water. As far as jig colors go I almost always use fluorescent red-orange during the summer months with a pearl-blue or pearl-black sassy shad. I do not use attractants. I use the fluorescent red-orange jig heads because every article I have ever read on the walleyes and color tell me that this is the color walleye seem to respond to the best. I usually fish a 3-way rig with a nightcrawler and a bead on my longline and my jig on the dropline. However, the river has been murky the last couple times out and have not gotten a fish on the longline.
The Turkey river along with the Platte River and several other creeks and streams dump into pool 11 above Dubuque. When there is heavy rain up one of these rivers we get the run-off but some of the sediment has settled by the time it gets to Dubuque. Last week there was heavy rain up the Turkey River valley and the river at Dubuque didn’t get muddy but the visibility was only about 6 inches for a couple days. Jigs and crankbaits always work better in the murky water. I both cast and troll crankbaits. Usually on the tops of the wingdams or out in front of the structure. I haven’t done this yet this year but a spinner rig on the longline with a crawler is killer. Especially in murky water.

I know what you mean about pool 12. There were a couple years when the numbers were down but last year and this year have been fantastic. There were 2 years in a row with a record hatches and we are reaping the benefits now. The Mississippi Walleye Club in cooperation with the Iowa DNR started a stocking program this last year to help the numbers of fish. While these fish won’t be legal size for a couple 2 or 3 more years it should help out the population. That coupled with the slot limit, the closed winter areas and the reduced bag limits should keep walleye fishing interesting for years to come. I only wish that Wisconsin had gone along with the slot limit. Pool 11 will be hit harder than usual because there is no slot limit above Dubuque and Pool 11 has had the lowest numbers of fish over the past couple of years. I fish pools 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 but mainly pool 12 because I live in Dubuque. Pool 9 has good numbers of fish but pools 10 & 11 have been terrible lately. Pools 13 & 14 probably have the best numbers of fish by far. Last year I had my best outings on pool 12 (because that’s where I fish the most) and pool 14 at Clinton. Pool 14 walleye fishing is nothing short of fantastic. It doesn’t get a ton of pressure and the Cordova Nuke plant has been stocking walleye in that pool for many years. I haven’t made the trip down there yet this year because the fishing has been so good here at home but I may get down there this weekend for a change of scenery. I also think the new slot limit has cut down on the number of tournaments from Dubuque south so that should also help the numbers. Last year was one of the best years for walleyes I have ever had. I caught several limits of fish and I thought it would be hard to beat but this year has already surpassed last year and I am loving it. I only keep enough fish to have a meal a couple times a month. The rest of the fish go back in the water. Especially those fish that I catch at night. I hate having to clean fish at 10 or 11 at night. I truely believe catch and release is the number one way to help the walleye population.

Drive safe and watch for Deer.

Eyehunter