New to Walleye fishing question

Hi, I have never fished for Walleye or Sauger but A friend of mine and I want to go try this weekend either lock 13 or 14.

Can you guys help me with some info?

What types of baits should I get.

What weights of tackle/line do you use.

And where are some decent spots to try (if you don’t mind sharing)?

I don’t really care about size right now, I would just like to get into some fish and a few keepers.

Any help would be appreciated since I have never really fished the mississippi, pritty much stuck to the Rock and lakes.

Thanks
Chris

Welcome to IDA Chris

I’m from a lot farther North, but I’m pretty sure there are a few guys on here from your neck of the woods that should be speaking up here soon. Welcome to the “good” side of the world (Walleye Fishing) . Good Luck this weekend

A good start for getting into walleye fishing on the river and not going broke is –
Berkly Lightning Medium action rods. These are IM6. They are sensitive enough to get started with. I would arm the rod with the Shimano Sedona spooled with 6# or 10# Power Pro.
For baits, check out the plastics at http://www.bfishntackle.com
A jig and minnow will get you started also. With the flow on pool 8 a 3/8oz jig is reaching bottom without trouble now. This will change with the water level and flow.
I have not fished pool 13 or 14 so I can’t give you any spots to try. I can tell you, drifting the channel edge below the dams is producing fish on all pools this time of year. Concentrate on the tips of wing dams also.

I’m sure the pros from your area will kick in some info also.
Remember, these are just my opinions on equipment and products for getting started. After some trail and error you will find your favorite gear also!

Spend a little time reading the walleye forum and you will have more info than you will know what to do with.

Good luck on the water!
Bret

Chris, Welcome to IDA. If you are talking about pool 13 and 14,and you want to start out putting some fish in the boat,just head up to the dam and watch whats going on for awhile.You will probably see people pulling 3-ways,and alot of vertical jigging and some will be casting or pitching.If your going to be vertical jigging down here in these pools you probably will want to get some jigs in the 3/8 oz. to 3/4 oz. size.You can tip them with minnows or just plastic,or both.I would fish from the dam down to as far as 3 miles or even farther. Good Luck.
Rick

Thanks guys. It sounds like we are going to try doun from Lock 13 Sat afternoon.

I got some H20 Jigs and some supper doos and rings ordered, hopefully I get them by this weekend.

I also checked out the In-fisherman website and found instructions on setting up three ways so I think I will try some of those also.

Thanks for the info I will let you guys know how it goes.

The best bet for decent sized saugers now is on the Iowa side of the river below the dam. In my last couple trips out, the fish have been holding tight to the drop offs, either the first drop from shallow water to the 12-16′ range, or out on secondary drops to the main channel.
The Illinois side below the barge tied up along the lock can also be good. There will probably be a lot of current there, so 3 ways with laarge minnows is a good bet there.
You may want to try a Dubuque rig on either area. This is simply a 3 way using a heavy (5/8 to 1 oz.) jig tipped with a ringworm as your drop weight. Quite often you will find a definate preference for the jig over the live bait, then I would switch up to vertical jigging plastics without live bait.
When vertical jigging plastics, especially superdos and paddletails, you generally want to let the plastic do the work, just drop to bottom, lift 3-12″ from bottom, and hold for 20-30 seconds, then slowly drop to bottom and repeat. Often, the fish will hit as you drop to check for bottom.
Each time on the water, I like to experiment with different baits, colors, and presentations, to see what the fish want on that day. Even if you are catching some fish, it may be good to change up from time to time, as their may well be more fish taking a different look or presentation.
As for colors, the old standbys of Chartruese, orange, green, pink and blue are all good. Chartruese seems to always recieve some attention, even if another color is possibly better.
Be alert for strong back currents which will pull you into some dangerous situations. Look for most of your fish to come in areas of reduced current, or in the backcurrent areas.
Good luck and let us know how you do! I will be out tommorrow, and hopefully will find time to report our findings before the weekend!

Well, the bite below L & D 13 was really tough today for most of the anglers we spoke with, us included. Two fish in 5 hours for us, and many where not as fortunate. The fish where there, just very tough to entice into biting.
We had a late start, and apparently the bite was good early on the Illinois side, but died by 9 am or so. Most of the fish caught after that where taken on 3 ways with fathead minnows on a plain or beaded hook. Hopefully a couple more warm days will get them going for the weekend!

Thanks for all the info. I was in Davenport Gander Mountain Wed. and a guy said he was there Monday and they caught 7 most on stick baits and some on 3 ways. If nothing else it will be good to be out on the water.

This is where I was thinking of going, is that a good place to start?

It sure can be good there, depending on current and water level. Be careful, wing dams are very shallow over top. The ones in the little cuts are not accessible I don’t believe, but the ones coming out to the main channel, and the sand in between, should hold some fish.

Well unfortunately I don’t have much to report. We didn’t make it out to L&D 13 as planned. We spent to much time getting the boat ready(I haven’t had it out this spring yet.) and I didn’t want to go out for just an hour. So we hit Cattail slough and I can tell you there isn’t anything biting there right now.

Thanks for all your help though.