Pools 16 and south

Is anyone catching anything from davenport on south? with the weather projected to be in the fifties this weekend a trip to the river for a few sauger/walleye would be nice. i would appreciate any info, i.e. yes or no they are/are not biting, if biting, what on, and of course where. i have a new G3 167V-tiller with a 50hp fourstroke yamaha that i bought from bitler’s marine(IMO-very nice people to work with and a great deal on the boat) in albany that i am just itching to put on the water. thanks in advance for any tips.

I’ll be heading out on Pool 25 below Clarksville Friday. It’s not a great fishery, but this time of year you can get into ’em. I’ll let you know how I do down here, what worked/what didn’t work.

I havent been out myself but have heard they are catching saugers at the rollers in davenport. I made the mistake of putting my boat away. New to the sport of walleye fishing and have learned from this site. Thanks to all!

I heard some pretty good reports for pool 16 if you want to spend some time looking. Dam area has been very crowded of late, lots of smallish saugers with a good one here and there.
Some good fish being caught down stream on jigs, ringworms,and some other big plastics. Word I heard was the end of wing dams, some deeper eddy’s , and area near the mouth of the Rock. I cannot confirm, as I have not been out in a month. Will fix that this weekend also.
Sorry I don’t have any specifics.

Whats the matter John, it sounds like you got an itch that you need to scratch? I’ve been chomping at the bit to.Good Luck where ever you go this weekend,its still just a tad bit early for me. Rick,

It’s killin’ me Rick, may not be able to get out this weekend after all. Sick kids . I’ll find a way if at all possible though, you can bet!

John,

Have you heard if any of the ramps in Clinton are open yet?

gass11,
I just drove by the 25th ave north boat ramp in Clinton and the north half of it is wide open (was iced in Saturday). The ramp in Beaver channel was open Saturday. A big sheet of ice was hung up on the north bridge, restricting travel past it today. Water was a bit murkier than usual winter conditions, but not bad. They are projecting another 1-1.5 foot rise by Wednesday, so that may cloud it up more.
Randy

I made it out for a couple hours on Sunday. We put in at south Clinton due to the ice Randy mentioned. Lots of flow ice after noon. We fished mainly in Beaver Slough, trying a lot of places we had not fished before, and got zeroed. Not so much not finding fish, as not catching the ones that did hit. Hoping we don’t freeze up again, but I’m afraid that is wishful thinking.

John, how far down is the dam closed was it at the end of that long island below the dam on the Iowa side?

yes on the island you mentioned is closed which is just alittle bit north of the 30th ave. wing dam. the 30th ave. wing dam is open and down stream from there.

Rick, 3Way is right on the money.I have avoided fishing any above Jacob’s Slough, just to be sure there are various interpretations of the cut off. Several people have been ticketed for fishing too far north, so I give myself a buffer zone!
Gotta get out there again soon! Fishing was tough for us Sunday, TOO much ice broken up and floating After reading Tony A’s report, I may have to head to 16!

Come on down. The more the merrier. If you don’t see me, just follow the smell of grilling Brats and Deer steaks.

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Come on down. The more the merrier. If you don’t see me, just follow the smell of grilling Brats and Deer steaks.

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Sounds to me like Tony is fishing in style. Such a rough fishing life you have there Bud.
Thanks, Bill

Yeah, It’s a real tough life Bill. It’s a hoot when we are out there doing our thing and boats pulling up next to us not because we’re catching fish,it’s just to see what’s on the grill. In the past we have been offered a pretty handsome price for a sandwich.
POOL 16 BAR & GRILL

Tony This may sound like a crazy question . I have been looking on my map create and can not find pool 16. I can find pool 14 and 17 but nothing in between. It is not marked and I like to know the general area before I get there. Can you give me a land mark for the lock & dam. Is it just up stream from the Dock Restaurant close to Credit Island golf course ? That is the only thing I can find that looks like a lock and dam. How far off am I ? Jim

Hey Jim, The Dock Restaurant is right there at L&D 15. Credit Island golf coarse is just down river about a mile or so.

3WAY Thanks forthe help John do you smell deer steaks oh that isn’t what I was gonna ask you are there any ramps open yet on the main channel?I finally ordered some trailer bunk guides for my boat and they should be here in the next couple weeks, I want to get them on before I take the boat out.But a friend of mine is really getting the itch to go out and I might get out with him sooner than my boats ready to go.Yea I read Tony’s report and posts too,he sounds like he can Gittr-Done great report Tony.Well I think I’m going to get some deer steak out to thaw for tomorrow night. Good Fishing, Rick,

Rick, the south Clinton ramp and the 25th ave North ramp where both open on Sunday, but there was a lot of ice floating. Hopefully it will be better now. I plan to go out Friday, but thinking of hitting pool 16.
Deer steaks! How where they?

IA JAMES, here is a link to a corps of eng. web site with maps. Dam is just upstream from Mile marker 485, crossing near tne north end of Arsenal Island,and the Marquette street ramp is near Mile 484.

http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/NavCharts/Documents/Map056-482-489.pdf

Thanks for the info. I don’t know why that lock & dam was not marked on the map create but it was not. Everything else was . Might make it down there Sat. Jim

John, would you be interested in going with us on Saturday? that is if you think some of pool 14 would be fishable by then.What do you think about the ice coming down? Rick,

John, I just looked at the flow CFS ON POOL 14 it said 52,500 is this to much flow to be fishin the main channel wingdams or is this pretty normal for this time of year? I need to pay more attention to this.

John, interesting that some have been ticketed for going to far north at L&D 13. Sounds like DNR or somebody is doing their job. They need to take it a step further after March 15 and keep the boats away from going up the lock wall to the very near corner on the IL side. The reason being it is illegal, there is a sign on the wall that says not to go BEYOND THIS POINT. But there is a group of meat hunters every year that go past this point and slaughter the big females full of eggs. They don’t anchor but damm near do hovering with their trolling motors. Whoever is responsible for enforcing boats not to go past this point on the wall needs to. It’s not so much about handing out tickets but about giving more of the big walleye and sauger females a chance to lay their eggs before the meat hunters attack. Theirs no sport in fishing in that corner it’s like fishing out of a barrel. What do you think and who is doing the ticketing???

Get hold of the lockmaster. That’s his kingdom up there and he’ll call the county sheriff if he has a problem with it. The DNR water patrol might want to hear about it too.
In reality, good luck getting anywhere with this.

I agree with you entirely BFW. It makes me sick to see guys up in there. I have witnessed people being ticketed for being up there, but not very often.
I believe it was the Iowa DNR who ticketed people for fishing above the limit. Illinois DNR is SO understaffed, and budget cuts keep coming. I don’t think it will get any better until we have some radical change in the state government. Chicago seems to be the only part of Illiois that matters to this administration.
As for the illegal fishing, I will be carrying my cell phone this year, and if I witness any problems, will not hesitate to clue in the appropriate authorities. Never thought of calling the lock master. Good idea Herb!