With having the 4th off from work, I couldn’t wait to try out the wing dam bite everyone has been bragging about. With everything from Ultra Light to Trolling gear the truck was loaded and leaving Sparta a little after 4am. The plan was to find a dozen good sized gills to place on ice while rigging some live bait above wing dams, then play around trolling till noon and get off the water before the big guys started cruising the channel. Don’t ya love it when a plan comes together 
Setting up on the first spot there were fish feeding everywhere. The Small Mouths were busting surface at the top of the wing dam big time so why not try to have some fun with them. Tossing a pumpkin colored, crappie size tube was like throwing dynamite at the smallies. Using 2lb mono was a true test for the Pflueger President Micro but it held up to the test. There were several 13-14” fish caught along with a 17 (pictured here) and a 19 inch fish (pictured above) putting the line and reel through the paces 
It made for some fun until it was time to put together a fish fry.
Placing a 1/32oz jig tipped with half a crawler on the face of the wing dam proved to be irresistible to the gills. They were anywhere from the middle of the wing dam to 20 yards off shore. This particular wing dam had a good current flow over the top and is on the outside bend of the main channel. I did have a leach out the whole time with it only producing one bite. With it going on 9:30am and a dozen gills from 8-8 1/2inches it was time to try some trolling.
The tip of the wing dam produced some short eyes falling prey to Shad Raps. There were tons of fish showing up on the locator in the scour hole behind the wind dam so I put on a 3 way with some weight and pulled a Rapala along the back side. There were a few saugers to be found. Nothing big but 3, 13 ½ inch saugers will top off a dozen gill fish fry in my book
It was a beautiful 4th of July morning and there couldn’t have been a better way to get the day started. The boat traffic picked up as expected and I was out of there way as planned! It is true, the wing dam bite is going strong on the river. Get out there and have some fun 
Keep your eyes open on the water, be safe, and have a great 4th 
Bret
Sounds like a good morning on the river Buddy Bret. Sure beats cleaning the garage
like I did. Now it’s 
time. Happy 4th everyone. 
Bret, nice report. Got my nephew out this morning for some fishing. he is visiting from Tx. He caught his first ever top water bass, and i believe he is also hooked. After throwing the top water, started to fish a little deeper and caught sunfish ans some perch. He had a great time as did I and my brother. Fun to be out . good fishing everyone–John
thanks for the report Bret! You smallmouth??? no way.
Great report Bret!! It’s good to see you hauling in some quality fish. Not just those bottom feeder Flatheads…
Sounds like a good time way to go..
Blue HAS to be refering to the gills…
Great report!
I couldn’t resist pitching at the bronze backs with the ultra light. I would have never thought the 2lb mono would have held up the way it did. I’m sure if they would have made it over the wing dam the line would not have lasted very long. They sure had me dancing in the boat
Nice report Bret.
Those smallies busting the surface by the dams sounds like a blast! I bet that 2# test line was put to the test.
The 2lb held up well, the drag on the Pflueger President Micro was as smooth as silk, which I’m sure was a big help keeping the line intact. I purchased the reel for ice fishing and summer pan fishing. I will be buying another after this test results
Nice report Bret!
Looks like a great way to spend the morning on the 4th of July.
Boog
Nice fish and report Bret
I hope to get back on the water sometime soon myself 
Great report Bret!
Nice report on the mixed bag Bret! Looks like fun
Absolutely spectacular report bret! You have them dialed right in! Outstanding