Actually, johnl was showing me up pretty good out there 
. He was using a jig that kind of resembled a swedish pimple that was white in color. That thing was working really well considering the bite was very slow. I might have to check those out. We will have to get Matt out there and get him hooked up with some fish. I agree it is always worth it just to be out fishing.
What kind of water depth is below the dam? I was out this past weekend for the first time with light tackle and had problems with finding the bottom.
Also, any body have any recommendations on portable shelter?
Newbie
Newbie….First off…welcome to the site.. 
The water depth varies depending on where you’re at…..it’s shallower (relatively speaking) towards the short wall, and then it drops of as you move out towards the channel. I’d say it ranges anywhere from 9-30ft? Not 100% as I don’t have a flasher. I’d say we’re normally fishing in the 15teen range.
Weight is crucial when fishing the dam. Take the #7 rapala we’ve been using..Pretty good size jig, even thought it does drift downstream a bit, you’ll know when you’ve hit bottom. If you’re fishing too light….you might not even find bottom, as the current will just wash your lure downstream. 
I’m sure a bunch of us will be out there tomorrow….Say hi if you stop out. 
Slop you going to be able to get out tomorrow for a bit? Hope to see you there… I plan on hitting the dam around 3:30 and before that hopefully fishermans road.
As for shacks… Tie1on this year I purchased my first shack myself. I bought a clam 5600 it is rated as a 3 person and I have actually had that many people in it twice. I like it a lot. But if you plan on doing a lot of fishing by yourself, it might not be the best investment. I am sure some of the regulars will chirp in about the shacks they own.
Got on the ice at 4:30 Friday and was the last one off at 7;30. Got one decent sauger on a white/glow in the dark rattle spoon. Forgot the weight but a hemastat worked pretty good to get the jig to the bottom. I have a Frabil Hideout. I can fish two adults or one adult and two kids pretty confortably in it and it fits perfectly in the back of my Blazer. Very happy with it. I am going to try an early morning bite tomorrow, see if that changes my luck.
Guys, thanks for the insight! I appreciate the unselfish knowledge that I have been reading from you all(1 week) 
I am not familiar with fishing below a dam so this is al new to me. Do you all fish with ice rods or “regular” 6-footers? At least I know now that I need to get some heavier jigs.
I hope to get out there tommorrow.
When will any of be out there??
Thanks again
johnl..
The 5600 was the one I was looking at and it seemed to be a sturdy shelter that you could actually fit three people in.
It weighs 75 lbs so it might be a problem in snow….
I’ll definitly be out there tomorrow for a while…
People use all sorts of poles…..If you’re fishing in a shack…regular size ice fishing poles are probably better simply because of the room alloted to fish in. If you’re hole hopping and out in the open…There are actually ice fishing poles at the 3-5′ foot range. They are stiff, but sensative enough to feel strikes. BlueFleck has several, and maybe he can take a pic and show you what they look like…
What time are you heading up?
Take a look at some of the pictures from the GTG…in several of the pics, you can see the longer poles:
Slop, I am pretty free after 10am…is it decent fishing during the noon hours???? I am used to the mentality of early and late for walleye/sauger??
Wow, those pics portray a fun time had by all!!! But isnt it the way it is anytime?????!!!!!!!
Better than workin!!
I’m heading to Fisherman’s road for a bit in the morning….then plan on heading to Dresbach around 11 or 12….See you guys there!!
I was on the ice at 6:30 this AM and fished until 9:00. From 7:15 to about 7:30 caought five sauger as fast as I could get the pimple down. Too bad none were keepers-all were male and about 12″ long. I thought I caught the same one five straight times. Nothing after. Took my five year old son out this afternoon and lost a nice sauger at the hole. I was using one of my panfish rigs with 4 lb line and just never set the hook solid enough. Good reason to get a second walleye rig. Fished inside the short wall this AM and just above it this afternoon. That was it for action; the rest of my time was spent picking up minnows off the floor or digging out snacks. Oh well, better than him wanting to play video games all day.
You must have walked right past the rest of us. Did your son have the bright colored stocking cap on? We (Slop,johnl, Blue Fleck,myself), also did not do to well. A few saugers were iced, most were small. The only thing I got was a nice sunburn on my face 
. It was actually a nice day until the sun went behind the bluff. It got cold in a hurry, took a long time for the hands to unthaw.
Yes, it was a red hat that looks like a dragon’s tail. He was carrying a stick checking every hole ever drilled in the river. Hard to believe we didn’t catch any fish with that technique he uses.
Yep, that was you guys. I remember the hat and the little guy poking every hole along the way 
. He looked like he was having a good time. Maybe the stick was a magic fish finder . It definitely was a tough bite today.
Belgian…Nice to see you walk by , even though we didn’t know it was you…
Like both you guys said, nothing really to report….I also got 1 heck of a sunburn. I guess that’s what happens when you’re out there for 10 hours
For as many people were out there this afternoon, hardly any one of them was catching fish.
Hopefully this weeks weather change will bring about a better bite. 
Here’s a pic of the dam…we were probably 25 yards away from raging open water!!
Here’s a blurry pic of Watson trying yet another jig
and one more of JohnL jiggin away. I don’t have any of Blue or myself as i was too frozen by the afternoon to take more pictures….These were mid-day when it was nice out. Camera sucks though 
That must have been the four of you standing with your backs to the damn. My son asked as we walked past “why do those four guys have such red faces.” 
I said I thought it might have something to do with how many fish they were catching. 
Hopefully things will pick up by this weekend. Anybody fishing the derby this weekend at Lake Onalaska?
That was us…I’ll probably fish the derby…We should get a post going on the Lake Ona Update thread…I should recognized you again if i see you out…I’ll try to say hi!!
If it’s an ice derby, post it on the ice fishing forum!
true…
Blue and I managed to get out for a bit after work today. Met him on the ice about 3:30p.m….and let me tell you..It was beautiful out on the ice ..Nice “warmer” temps w/little to no wind.
Things started off slow..Managed to catch a few smaller ones….it seemed like we were catching fish in spurts. We’d get a few bites/fish in a row, then they would die off for a bit…then another school would come through and we’d get a couple more. The bigger fish started biting closer to dark, including a nice 1.1lb Sauger caught by Blue. He had another one that was just under a 1lb. These are really good eating size sauger…
I was really getting some good strikes on a 3″ clear w/black speckled flakes, on a 3/8oz black jig head…They would really pound it or sometimes first peck the tail, then hit it hard.
Overall i’d give it a B- bite…and hopefully it will continue on into the week…Below is the grub i was using
I thought for sure you were going to say the ice was gone 
. The grub paid off again, a lot cheaper than raps . I plan on getting out on Wed evening. Thursday is my son’s 4th birthday so we are going to Chucky Cheese 
. And if there is still ice on Friday, would like to hit it at first light. Then it might be history. So who gave who the lesson today ? Sounds like you guys had a good time.
just wondering……..do you guys ever catch anything other than waldos/saugdogs below that there dam???
i got myself into a mess of kittes and sheepies up here last weekend .
Guys are catching kitties on the other side of the river….and i see an occasional sheepie/carp pulled through…I heard of a possible sturgeon snagging as well.
Quote:
I heard of a possible sturgeon snagging as well.
wasn’t a 188pounder was it??? 
Dresbach didn’t really produce much this afternoon. The weather was awesome and we stayed out until about 6:30, but I only caught 2 fish. I was getting plenty of strikes on that same grub, but they were very light …..Blue kept a couple of “shakers”..lol. 
.jk…..and Watson didn’t get skunked either , he caught a couple of mediocre sauger ….Definitly down from yesterday. (C-) for today.
LOSJOS …I didn’t know that was you until after you left. 
..Sorry bud..I’ll catch up w/you more next time..How did you fair?
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
