Pool 8, Wing Dams and Gills!

I always thought I have been working towards retirement, not so sure anymore. For how often I get to fish with my retired buddy Mike, or should we say, for as often as Mike has time to go fishing anymore, a working person might just have more time on there hands to get out and go than the retired folk

We met up at the landing 8am in the morning a little red eyed from a retirement party the night before (man are my friends getting old ) at which time we found the main channel covered with a blanket of fog. It wasn’t to the point of keeping boats from launching but, visibility wasn’t clear enough to take off like a greyhound chasing a rabbit either, so we just moseyed along until reaching our destination.

What a welcomed sight is was to see Pool 8 at a normal stage once again. The shorelines have returned pulling the fish out of the flooded timber and following the dropping water back out to there regular haunt’s. With the water receding and flow returning to normal, wing dams were the areas targeted and Blue Gills were the quarry.

After a short trip up river in the fine mist the boat was anchored in 10fow about 20yards above wing dam number one to be fished. The flow over the top created the perfect ripple effect making it easy to spot the whole length of the rock below and tattle on the proper place to pitch baits. Mike started fishing the outside point while my rig was tossed toward the shoreline. Two guys can pick apart the face of a wing dam in a hurry working together while pin pointing the area holding feeding fish.

Mike was the first to score with a solid 8inch gill and second to score with another rod bender. Finally after making a cast to the middle of the wing dam I was pounded and in the game. The nicer fish were hanging from the tip to the middle on the face which we found to be true with all the wing dams we hit on this day.

Pulling healthy sized gills off the face of a wing dam with ultra light rigs in current has always been one of my favorites. These fish feeding at the face of the rock are full of vitality and energy. Fishing rods doubled over and drags singing while the bulls dig for bottom running up river then turning into huge circle runs boat side. This brings the kid out of me each and every time If you want to get someone hooked on fishing, take them out for some gill action on these manmade barriers

After beating up on the first wing dam and with some dandy gills in the boat it was time to move on and let the rest of this school feed without causing anymore disturbance. Every wing dam we hit produced takers helping compile a couple fish fry’s without beating one area to death. All 4 wing dams fished having 6-10fow at the face with a moderate flow over the top held keeper gills displaying healthy colors and wide backs.

Smaller gills were hanging to the inside while the bigger Lepomis macrochirus fed from the middle to the tip in every case.

You might be asking how do you fish Gills on these wing dams and what am I looking for? A healthy wing dam, in my opinion, is clean rock and not silted over. Some wing dams have buoy’s off the tips marking them. When running the main channel look for a disturbance in the water off to the sides. Normally you will see a ripple effect making a line from the shore towards the channel which is just behind the rock, then whirlpool activity behind the ripple where you will normally find a deep scour hole, also look for current seams off the tips. Watch your wake towards shore when running up river, with the normal river stage on Pool 8 you will see your wake break across the tops of the wing dams giving them away.

The set up is as easy as it gets for river fishing. Ultra Light equipment makes for a good time when fishing pannies and makes for a tackle tester when hooking up with the occasional bass, sheephead and walleye. I like to use 2-4lb mono but lose a number of jigs to the rocks when fishing these light lines. Getting to the rock is a must for this is where the Bulls are cruising looking for food to filter in. Make sure to have a hand full of jigs in the boat!

When pitching and dragging bottom a 1/64oz, 1/32oz and 1/16oz jigs work best for casting to the rocks and dragging back across the bottom of the river floor for panfish. Orange and Green were my go to colors on this trip. Use as light of a jig as possible to keep your bait just on or just above the river floor. The flow on the wing dam you are fishing will determine the size jig you will need. A chunk of crawler, redworm or 1” gulp alive minnow on these jigs have been opening the feeding mouths of the rock dwelling pannies.

The second set up we have been having success with is the same as above but with a slip bobber. Also a small split shot 2-3ft above the jig will keep you from losing your slip bobber when a jig hangs up and is lost.

Adjust the depth so you can float your bait up to the face of the wing dam and only be 4-8inches off the bottom. Once the bobber reaches the face, pull it back towards you a few feet and let it float back to the face. Repeat until hit or casting to a new location, it is that easy

Pool 8 is shaping up nicely for the fall bite. Water clarity is about 2 feet and the grass is not the issue it was just weeks ago. These conditions should only improve now that we are seeing the mighty Miss calmed down. No matter your quarry you will enjoy the river conditions in the La Crosse area as it finally has settled down just in time for the big fall run. Get out there and enjoy it while the catching is getting hot

Glad you found a day to spend on the river buddy Mike

Good luck fishing people