Mississippi River Pool 4 Fishing Reports Pool 5, 6, 7 , 8 & 9

[1eyeReD]

Mr Special.... Those are great fish. I may have to drag the boat down there again. Last trip out was 2 wks ago and all we got were colds and a few dinks.

[ice-fishin]

Fish in picture are back in the river! Good luck!

S'pose this means no fish fry for the neighbors?

Congrats to you and Alex.

Art wants to know if Alex can give him a fishing lesson!

[Mr Special]

made it dwn there saturday with a few buds and a balmy 27degrees it stayed under freexing for the 1st few hrs

it was fairly slower then last time but we still managed 11 wallys but only one over 23.

however we did get into sum nice norts. biggest was 35x18 with a hump bak. it wouldve probably been 38 w/o the hump but it wouldnt been as cool then.

also sum buffalo, red horse and sheepies in the mix to keep it interesting

boat traffic wasnt as bad as i thought it would be and the water temps were 37-39

all in all bot a bad way to spend saturday morning with sum buds

[rosspj59]

Nice pike. Boated one of those myself, but only about 28 inches on saturday. Caught a few walleyes, biggest was 24.5. Numbers are still down, but the average size is nice.

[SCONASOTAN]

rosspj,

what were you getting for temps? fish still holding eggs? I am looking to get out at the end of the week.

thanks

[TapsBug]

You can get temperatures online at:

http://www.riverwatch.noaa.gov/forecasts/ARXRVDARX.php

You can check flow at:

http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=arx&gage=wnam5

You can set the info for the section of the river you are interested in. The links above are set to Winona.

[mnvikes32]

Hopefully this warm weather coming in this weekend will help the fishing. It's been a tough spring so far.

[rosspj59]

rosspj,

what were you getting for temps? fish still holding eggs? I am looking to get out at the end of the week.

thanks

Sorry I missed your post. Haven't logged on for a few days. All the females still had eggs last saturday. Water temp was 38 degrees. Should be climbing this weekend along with the bite. Fish will be spawning this week with the full moon and warmer water in my opinion.

[rosspj59]

I heard they pulled up the rollers on the dam. Flows over 40,000 and the water is rising along with it. Fishable spots will shrink with the high flow.

[DENVER06]

With the nwt tourney going on this Saturday morning it's going to be tough to fish through the boats guys... This week I noticed each day it got tougher to get the females so the spawn is just about done. However yesterday we got a mammoth flathead. Here is a pict of her.

Good luck guys and gals !!!!!

[Chartreuse]

What a difference a week makes. Yesterday we were praying for a little cloud cover and a breeze With the tournament and the nice weather it was a zoo. I'm sure some river rats and tournament fisherman found walleyes, but we didn't. Got a half dozen 14-15" sauger. Didn't notice anyone else doing any better.

[WalleyeChaser]

Same thing for my dad and I. Talked with a few boats that were fishing the LPO, and were having the same luck. Didn't see a single fish over 17" pulled in today.!

[mnvikes32]

Was out Friday during the walleye tourney and what a zoo it was. Most of the pros were very respectful except one guy that almost ran us over going 60 mph. Fishing definitely slowed down once the sun came out in the late morning. Managed 6 fish, 1 22".

[Fish Head]

Very quite on here. Anyone been fishing Pepin or up by the dam?

[DENVER06]

Got out both on three and four last couple days its been pretty consistent. Bite has been on cranks lately. Fishing in 4 to 10 feet has been were I've been catching most of the walleyes.

[brian6715]

I got out Sunday, it was pretty slow. Only saw 4 boats all day between Baycity and the back channel access in Wi; by far the fewest I have ever seen even on a weekday. Managed to catch a few walleyes and a nice white bass, but all of the walleyes seemed to be little males. Must be a bit early for the early summer bite yet.

[DENVER06]

Been a bit since I last reported been busy with my girls softball teams. The walleyes have been great at times and difficult at others lately. Today I hit pepin and it was very slow. The river is still out producing the lake by miles.

Been pulling cranks and also dragging jigs to put walleyes in my boat of late. Each day has been different colors that have worked. Ranging from red craw to fire tiger, but never forget the old faithful blue it usually is a never fail crank on a daily basis.

Water depths for trolling have ranged from 4 to 16 feet at times. Pictured below is Bob from my trip on Monday.

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

Thanks for the report!! This forum has been fairly quite and I didn't know if it was high water that was keeping people at home or if the fish were biting and everybody was hush hush.

Mike

[Mike Walerak]

I have seen the same results. I did have a number of good days on the lake this season so far but found the fish to be very scattered. The river has also been slow for me but a little more consistant.

The lake fish just don't seem to be set up in force on the usual spots this year. Normally the lake bite is going strong this time of year. Water levels and temperatures are not on track and we may see a good mid-late summer bite. Time will tell.

[Craigums]

Were do the bass relate in the river pools 5-7? Should I be focusing on sloughs, main channel, under dams? just looking for a starting point, thanks

[rosspj59]

For smallies target wing dams and rock structures. For largies work weeds and wood with current nearby.

[Lunker]

Fished the MN side, lower Pool 7 this morning. Caught lots of smallies, mostly small but a few decent fish and one over 18. Soft plastics along rip/rap and wood. Also got into a few big sheepshead.

[Craigums]

Just got back from pools 5a,6, & 7. I had a hard time finding consistent keeper size bass. Did catch these bottom feeders though

[JIvers]

So, any ice reports below the lock and dams? Fountain City/Winona, Trempeleau, and Dresbach?

I'm hoping to get up there this next weekend, and would like to add some sauger and walleye to the bag at the end of the day, ice permitting in the tailwaters.

[JIvers]

I was told that the ice below the lock and dam at Dresbach is sketchy at best, although some guys are out by the short wall.

Apparently work on the bridge and fluctuating water levels have kept the ice there from getting better even with the very cold temps.

I am itching to get some perch, sauger, and walleye through the ice below the dams, but am not driving 160+ miles only to find that I can't get to the best spots due to sketchy ice. The road trip will have to wait.

[oleWalter]

I'm hoping to check out the Dresbach dam sometime in the near future. I will let you know if I do end up making it down there!

[Mike Walerak]

I have seen a couple crazies fishing below the Winona dam. I can't believe how close they go to the open water. NOT ME!!!!!

[JIvers]

Heading up to SE Minnesota tomorrow--if there is fishable ice below a lock and dam I will be on it.

I will put in some time on the backwaters looking for pike earlier in the day, and some panfish to fill the skillet. Then it's sauger and walleye time.

[oleWalter]

Are you planning on fishing the Dam opposite of the Prairie Island Spillway?

[JIvers]

I finally scratched the itch and caught a few sauger and walleye through the ice at Dresbach yesterday.

Before the fishing report, an ice report: the COE seems to have a lot of water running through the gates right above the lock and dam. Maybe it's just because I've been fishing walleye through ice with little or no current beneath it for the last couple winters, but the current seemed stronger than I remember as typical at Dresbach in the winter. I know that I don't normally have the sort of foam coming up through the holes like I had yesterday. This is what my holes looked like, and I did not put anything in them to create the foam and bubbles you see:

I was on 8" or 9" of ice, but it was not in very good shape. I was not quite in the water depth I wanted, but the ice was getting thinner and sketchier as I moved out from the lock, and I decided not to push my luck any further. Most of the guys there were hugging the lock wall or fishing below the short wall, although some people did walk all the way across the channel to fish the far side. I made that walk myself a couple times back in the '90s, but don't know that I would try it again. There was also one brave/foolhardy guy way up very close to the open water at the gates.

Anyhow, fishing. Like I said, I did not get out quite to the spot I wanted due to the ice I found, but I did manage to catch a few fish. The best sauger was the 14" fish below; I also caught a couple of 12" sauger, along with a 14.5" walleye whose tail could not be pinched enough to keep.

Because of the current I gave up trying to fish jigging Rapalas as it was too difficult to keep contact with the bottom, and fished minnows on deadsticks with enough weight to keep them more or less in place. The saugers all bit before 4:30, with the walleye hitting right at sunset. Nothing after 5:00 PM.

I may have to be up in the area next weekend, and if I have the time I may go try below the dam at Trempeleau--I haven't been there in a few years now, but it may be time to try it again.