Early Spring?

[TrollerX]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me how early the Spring bite starts in Red Wing? Can you fish the Dam almost all winter? When does the bite really pick up? I did not get down there until after the best bite had ended this year. Also, is it pretty much plastics and jigs/minnow? I noticed this Spring the people doing the best were anchored with jigs or just a dead line rig with a minnow. Any other approaches that work well? I appreciate the information.

[CrappieJohn]

In all seriousness, the spring bite has already started. As soon as the water temps dip into the low 50's and upper 40's things really take off. This action will hold together until the spring fling comes with high water. There will be highs and lows in the bite like any other time, but from now until late April the fishing will be hard to better and even harder to not do.

[TrollerX]

Crappie Tom,

Thanks for the information. Are you saying that you fish open water all winter? Where? Where do you launch?

[CrappieJohn]

Indeed! That is how I "winterize" my boat. I love the open water and do more of this fishing than ice fishing as a rule.

The boat can be launched from a place called Everts Resort ($7 fee), on the Ws side of the river. Until things ice up, there are several public landings to go from as well.

[TrollerX]

I am familiar with Everts. Can you get all the way up to the Dam in the winter months or do you fish wingdams? This is very interesting news to me. Do others brave the cold in winter or do you own the river during the cold season?

[southerner]

Howdy, TrollerX. I'm thinking CrappieTom is more experienced w/winter open water fishing than I am on Pool #4, but I can answer a couple of your questions. Like Tom says, from here on out 'til the water temp in the Spring reaches about 45F or so the walleye/sauger bite will be "on". Everts is a great place to launch as the ramps are safe and they're very close to the dam area, as you likely know. That sure saves on the potential frostbite on the ride to and fro!

Only when it's exceptionally cold for an extended period of time does it make it unfishable from a boat, due to ice on the river and potential icy boat ramp issues. I understand Everts has a handle on the latter of the 2 issues though. Find me a relatively warm December, January, or February weekend day and I'll be down there hopefully haulin' 'em in!

There are generally a few other diehards out there, but you may have it all to yourself. Personally, I fish the dam area which also contains a couple wingdams. No reason to go searching for other spots when these are generally top notch.

[CrappieJohn]

Once you have discovered the dam areas to fish, you will most likely find that two primary points of concentration exist...the dam face itself and the point off the "y". Both are excellent for winter fishing. Both have a scour hole....which I am going to urge you not to fish. Either one. They hold hundereds of small 6-10 inch fish with voratious appetites. They will hit on anything. It is not a matter of hauling them out of deep water or using live bait, but more a combination. Too many of these small fish are destroyed by fishing these holes.

Instead, concentrate on the flatter areas with deep water(14-25') and current and periferal areas around the scours for the sauger. Look to shallow shorelines with sand/gravel, small rock/clamshells to pitch jigs for the walleyes.

You'll find plastics reign for the taking of larger fish. Hair jigs will do some damage too. Jigs/minnows will get the run-of-the-mill fish with a few keepers. Want quality? Do plastic: 3" powerbait minnows, 3"powerbait twisters, ringworms. Take several colors, styles and profiles of baits as things can switch very quickly at this time of year and don't be surprised if you find very specific feeding periods.....don't just quit if you are not getting into them. Change depths, color, bait profile.

This is the finest of winter fishing. Try it...you'll like it.

[walleyeman1212]

Don't forget about pitching ring worms and hair jigs. They will out produce about any other thing this time of year.

[TrollerX]

I was all set to sit the boat down for a couple of months until late March. You guys have easily talked me out of that. Any excuse to keep on fishin the open water and I'm in. One last question is when I fished the area last spring I noticed 2 types of approaches. One was that guys would anchor and vertically jig with plastics, jig/minnow. They would move from time to time but they would always drop anchor before fishing the next spot. The other was to pull up as close to the dam as allowed and drift back with the current and jig. I understand the benefits to moving until you find the bite. What do you guys like best? Is there a reason to pitch the trees and cover against the banks? I noticed some fish being hauled out that way as well. Thanks Again for the info. I am fired up about getting out again!

[CrappieJohn]

You have hit on a key issue here. If you are working a drift with other boats, you'll probably get neutered if you drop anchor. The exact opposite is the case if everyone in one general area is anchored up....trolling or drifting thru these boats is down right rude. When in Rome.....is a good rule to follow. try both to decide which suits you and the fish that day. Things change rapidly at this time of year so you may end up doing a bit of both throughout the course of a day.

As mentioned, pitching hair and ringworms will work good on the shallower runs for walleyes and possibly shallow feeding sauger, but true pitching will become difficult in the deeper water...12' or more. Then the vertical jigging is tough to beat.

Another little hint. As the water gets colder, the bite on plastics such as ringworms will go from brighter colors to the more natural colors and heavy into the purples and blues, especially purples with the white or chartreuse tail. Firecracker and oystershell are very good COLD water colors as is the pro blue. Plastics on the order of PowerBait minnows will go from the clear chartruse sparkle colors to the chartreuse shads, glow white, black shad and rainbow shad. Last year I had phenominal success using the PowerBait 3" walleye minnow in glow white on a chartreuse glow head from Scenic Tackle, which can be found by clicking of FM Sponsors. On average days of five hours of fishing I'd go thru a pack and a half of the minnows. As soon as I went to a solid color head that did not glow, I got fewer hits.

One of the best approaches is to go with a very open mind. Try different presentations and different color schemes. Don't just fish the bottom....on many days when it seems that all there is to hit are small fish try deadsticking a plastic two feet up. Seriously! And weight down the rod! It is not at all uncommon to find very large fish very active about that far up. And they hit with a vengence.

[sal]

When fishing the colder weather, are there any precautions that you take with your motor? In particular, the freeze-up of the water line.... Thanks SAL

[TrollerX]

Crappie Tom,

For a guy with a name like Crappie Tom you sure are a Walleye king. You have a wealth of knowledge about the river, clearly. Do you guide that area as well?

I really appreciate the information on color and jig type. I have been struggling with that on the Croix this year. I hear about guys getting 40-50 fish in an outing on plastics. I cannot get them to work. Jig/Minnow has always worked well for me. It sounds like I may need to change my approach up more frequently on the water until I find a winner. I carry almost every combo that you listed so I have the stuff in the boat. I often resort to what has always worked for me - jighead and a minnow. That may explain why the majority of the large fish I catch come in the middle of summer on a Shad Rap. I have not figured out the over 26" bite on either the Croix or the Sippi. I am anxious to try. I wouldn't mind spending a day with a guide in that area also. It might save me a bunch of unproductive outings. Let me know your thoughts.

[CrappieJohn]

Troller....As the name would imply, yes Crappies are my favorite fish, but certainly not my only venue for fishing. I enjoy all of it. Having lived here in Rochester for my entire life, I have had to do some exploring to find where the fishing is fishing and not just spending the day on the water.

Do I guide? Yes, to a degree. Do I know the areas waters? Yes fairly well. Some areas better than others, but well enough to really enjoy myself. The Mississippi River has been a playground for me for about 35 years now, with most of my time spent there fishing from the Whitman Dam north to Red Wing Dam. I have not fished the big river further north, but have fished it south as far as La Crosse. My real knowledge falls in between Whitman and RedWing though.

Lets narrow the discussion down to RW dam.

One of my things is plastic. I love the stuff and find a great degree of confidence in using it. That has come with years of fishing it. Many people try plastics for a couple outtings and do not do well with it and abandon their using it. Those who tough it out though are well rewarded! And the beauty of it is that it is not just a river bait!

One of the necassary subtlties of plastic is knowing when to resort to bait use. While I very much prefer not using bait, I'd be lying if I said I never use the stuff. I do when the fish are telling me that this is what they want and will not hit anything else. But when plastic is on, you will get more fish and larger fish. Consistantly.

Getting started with plastic is the tough part. I'd say go with someone who is confident using it and go when the fish are on it. Your education in how to fish it will be a quick one, as will it be what to fish as far as plastics go. You'll find out about profile and action, colors and lengths....like I said it is an education.

If you'd like to meet some day for a little on-water talk about fishing plastics and how the river fish relate to them, I'd be happy to share the seats in the boat with you. Red Wing, Alma....both are a good study and both have excellent fishing. E-mail me and we can yack about it off site.

[TrollerX]

Crappie Tom,

I have been keeping an eye on the weather the last few days. I am hoping that either Saturday or Sunday will allow an opportunity to do some fishing without freezing to death. I will probably launch at the landing near the marina in Red Wing. Maybe it would be better to put in at the resort on the WI side. It is closer. Anyway, I will be giving the plastics a good workout. If you are going to be on the water this weekend I would love to chat about the river and plastics. I will give you a shout on email.

Thanks for the info and we will see you on the water.