Well the day at Guttenberg was a very slow bite,caught 6 saugers and one 22 inch. eye,and we never missed a bite. Talked to the creel man and he said it was slow sat. also seen one boat draging live bait catch a few,when they couldn;t hide them from us. Ice is still in the channel below the second damm down from the ramp.DNR man said there was not many fish coming in at all.Maybe they should close that site also during the winteR ????
My partner and myself fished it this morning also. We were on the water at first light and couldn’t get any early biters. SLOW is an understatement. We ended up with three, the nicest being a 19 1/2″ sauger. We left early to get some “honey-do” projects done to stay on their good side so we can fish when the bite is on again.
Were there a lot of other guys out there?
Was hoping to hear some better news from the ‘Gut. 
Sounds like I’m not missing a whole lot, being stuck inside these next few weeks.
The last time I was out in Guttenberg was back in early December. On that day, we managed a limit of saugers, including one dandy. It was slow, but steady action with lots of small fish being caught and returned to the river. We only caught one walleye that day, and he was a little short. If you look back in the history log, the thread is probably somewhere back there.
On that day, my confidence bait was a 5/8 oz. red and white bucktail (thumper jig-head) tipped with a minnow and a stinger hook. We did best in some deeper water a little farther downstream from where the float is usually anchored.
In general, I did best for walleyes and saugers in pool 9 last year; but was happy to have some decent fishing in Guttenberg on a few occasions. I did hear from more than one person (who don’t all eat lunch together) that the action on the Guttenberg float was pretty hot back in October and November, with quite a few guys taking home their limits.
Like so many others have posted in the last year, it seems the action in pool 11 is generally a bit more tepid than what one encounters farther upstream or downstream.
When I do eventually make it out later this spring, I want to try some areas above and below the Ackerman cut and then maybe down on the bottom end of the Cassville slough. Guttenberg is so much closer for me than Lynxville, I wish the fishing there was as good as it is there and at Clinton, farther downstream. I wonder if a closure or slot limit would help?
I got out for a few hours yesterday on the Wapsi and did the same thing, came in early and entertained my wife. 
Nothing like spending an afternoon at quilting shops to replenish the brownie-point bin… 
Regards,
Joe
I sure would like to see guttenberg closed.There are to many fools who want to keep everything they catch and the ones they don’t keep die from being pulled out of the deep water.When I’m out I take boat numbers and call the DNR AND REPORT THOSE I see taking small fish.I tell those I see that i’m reporting them.That’s when I love my cell phone!It’s amazing how fast they can empty a livewell of baby walleyes.Keeping limits of 9″-12″ sauger is common there for all the baby killers! Something needs to be done.
‘Olemiss:
IA DNR was out there on that day back in December, checking every boat.
Not only were they checking for short-fish, but they were also collecting data for a creel study research project. It turned out, as of that time in the afternoon, my boat had the biggest sauger caught that day. 
I don’t mind them ever checking my livewell, I have nothing to hide from them.
Regards,
Joe
Jimmy O,
I was out on Friday and Saturday at Guttenburg. Friday was very slow. The ice was still up above the lower boat ramp until late in the day. I fished shallower than most of the boats trying for a few walleye. I did end up with 3 nice saugers but the only walleye I caught were under 15 inches.
Saturday was a much better day on the water for me. The river had opened up and the lower boat ramp was open. We were able to fish downstream from the dam. The fish were not jumping in the boat but we did end up with several nice fish. All of our fish were caught vertical jigging in 18 to 24 feet of water. Biggest sauger was just over 18″.
I think I know who was in that white Lund pulling 3-way rigs because they were there on Saturday as well. I know they limited out on Saturday and they had a few nice fish.
As far as closing Guttenburg to fishing I agree but the Wisconsin DNR would only go along with closing Dubuque. Guttenburg has been pretty much inaccessible for most of the winter anyway unless you were brave enough to push a boat out over the ice. The Wisconsin DNR does not see a numbers problem for walleye or saugers on the Mississippi. They would only agree to go along with the closed area below the Dubuque dam. I stay away from the deep water for a couple of reasons. One reason is that pulling the fish out of 30+ feet of water can pop their swim bladders out. Another reason is that the majority of fish caught in 30’+ of water are little saugers. The larger fish are almost always going to be caught shallower. You may not catch as many fish in a day fishing shallower but you will catch larger fish on average.
Eyehunter
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
