River fishing

[Bob Thompson]

Wondering if anybody ever fishes the Mississippi river between Cass and Winne and can you launch and navigate it from Cass launch at the dam all the way to Winne? It looks like it opens up considerably the closer you get to Winne. Seems like river fishing would be less hectic when the big lake is crowded. Bob T.

[Brian Jones]

Bob,

The river is rather shallow in many places so it could be tough on your boat. Plus I have never seen the big lake too crowded...it is a lot of water. I am guessing you meant because of the tourneys though?

[MuskyMark]

Hey Bob. I used to fish the river quite a bit. We used to stay at the Call of the North resort (when it was around), which was right next to Knutson Dam on the north side. The original owners were from my hometown (Sycamore, IL). Anyhow, we had boat-access on the lake side and on the river side... so we made a couple forays down the Miss. every year. Now the resort is gone and that corner is privately owned. Not sure if you can put in on the Knutson side now or not... and I've never taken the river all the way to Winnie, so I don't know how the trip up would be.

Brian is right though. Unless the river is running really high most boats would encounter some tough spots. We used the shallow-bottom rentals, so other than a couple sheared pins, we made out okay. Had some unbelievable fishing though... and great scenery. Got lots of stories about the river. Personally, if I ever have another chance to fish the river, I jump at the opportunity.

Mark

[Bob Thompson]

Thanks again guys. Brian, right you are about the tournaments but that might only effect the weekends if at all. An awful lot of water to fish and only my second time to Cass/Kitchi. Mark, some episodes of Linders show has me interested in rivers as well as fishing and duck hunting the Illinois Fox river down by Millington just south of Oswego as a young man. Just seems serene on a river as you stated. Later, Bob