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MISSISSIPPI RIVER Mississippi River Pool 9 River level at Lansing is 8.21 feet and is expected to rise slowly over the next week.Many overwintering fish are still in backwaters, but starting to move out as temperatures warm. Walleye - Good: Walleye are a couple of weeks away from spawning and should be actively feeding. Troll three way rigs with crankbaits. Yellow Perch - Good: Perch bite is getting better; many 10+ inch fish are being reported. Sauger - Good: Sauger bite is picking up as fish are in pre-spawn feeding mode. Northern Pike - Fair: Pike should be spawning soon, but some nice pike have been caught on live bait. Mississippi River Pool 10 River level at Lynxville has risen about a foot at 16.2 feet and is expected to rise slowly and level off over the next week. Many overwintering fish are still in backwaters, but starting to move out as temperatures warm. Tailwaters are concentrating a lot of active fish right now. Walleye- Good: Walleye are a couple of weeks away from spawning and the bite is picking up in the tailwaters. Troll three way rigs with crankbaits. Yellow Perch - Good: Perch bite is getting better along the shorelines in the tailwaters; many 10+ inch fish are being reported. Sauger - Good: Sauger bite is picking up in the tailwaters as fish are in pre-spawn feeding mode. Northern Pike - Fair: Pike should be spawning soon, but some nice pike have been caught on live bait. Mississippi River Pool 11 River level at Guttenberg has risen about a foot at 7.7 feet is expected to rise slowly over the next week. Many overwintering fish are still in backwaters, but starting to move out as temperatures warm. Tailwaters are concentrating a lot of active fish right now. Walleye - Fair: Walleye are a couple of weeks away from spawning and the bite is picking up in the tailwaters. Troll three way rigs with crankbaits. Yellow Perch - Good: Perch bite is getting better along the shorelines in the tailwaters; many 10+ inch fish are being reported. Sauger - Good: Sauger bite is picking up in the tailwaters as fish are in pre-spawn feeding mode. Northern Pike - Fair: Pike should be spawning soon, but some nice pike have been caught on live bait. Upper Mississippi River levels are slowly starting to rise as the spring thaw continues. Most backwater areas are now free of ice with water temperatures slowly climbing into the lower 40's. Spring fishing is starting to get better as water temperatures warm up. Mississippi River Pool 12 Water levels are rising and are 7.3 feet at the Dubuque Lock and the RR bridge is 9.7 feet. The water will continue to rise this upcoming week. The channel water temperature is around 40 degrees. Yellow Perch - Good: Several reports scattered around the pool, but mostly from the tailwater. Northern Pike - Fair: More reports of northern pike being picked up by tailwater anglers. Some of the melted backwaters also may see some pike angling. Walleye - Good: Some scattered reports of walleyes being taken in the tailwaters and more along wing dams. Some nice slot fish are being are being seen every week. Mississippi River Pool 13 Water levels at Bellevue are 7.9 feet and are rising. Both Bellevue City ramp and the DNR ramp are open, but no courtesy dock available yet at the DNR ramp. Paddlefish season is now underway. Please review the Paddlefishing regulations. The channel water temperature is around 40 degrees. Yellow Perch - Good: Yellow perch of all sizes are being caught in the tailwaters. Paddlefish - Slow: Some paddlefish were caught early; now only an occasional fish is reported. Sauger - Good: Hit or miss. Some good reports of nice sauger. Most are being taken on minnow rigs. Walleye – Good: Nice slot fish still being reported. Minnow and jig or pulling crank baits are the most popular strategies. Northern Pike - Fair: Tailwater anglers report catching a few northern pike. They will be preparing to spawn soon. They are a little late in spawning this year and as of yet have not spent their eggs. Mississippi River Pool 14 Water levels are rising and are 7.8 feet at Fulton, 10.8 feet at Camanche and 5.7 feet at LeClaire. This is up a bit from last week. The water temperature is around 42 degrees. Paddlefish season season is underway; please review the Paddlefishing regulations. Ramps are open and ready for use. Paddlefish - Slow: Good fishing seen early in the season; it has slowed greatly. Sauger - Fair: Lots of good reports mixed with some anglers having troubles catching sauger. Most anglers are using minnow rigs. Walleye - Fair: Not many being caught, but reports of some very nice sized fish. Mississippi River Pool 15 Water levels are falling and are 8.8 feet at Rock Island. This is up from last week; conditions should remain favorable for angling this week. River levels are rising slowly throughout the district. Water levels are still very conducive to angling! Some ice is still reported in Pool 12 in a few backwaters. If you have any angling questions, please contact the Bellevue Fisheries Station 563-872-4976. Mississippi River Pool 16 Tailwater stage is 8.05 feet at Lock and Dam 15 in the Quad Cities and is rising. Tailwater fishing is being reported as slow. Sauger - Slow: A few saugers are being caught in Sylvan Slough. Try fishing with jigs and minnows or pulling three-way rigs with stick baits. Black Crappie - Slow: Fishing has been slow in Sunset Marina for crappies. Try fishing with minnows under a bobber. Mississippi River Pool 17 Tailwater stage is 6.87 feet at Lock and Dam 16 in Muscatine and is rising. Tailwater fishing for walleyes and saugers is being reported as slow. Sauger - Slow: Try fishing with jigs and minnows or pulling three-way rigs and stick baits. White Crappie - Slow: A few crappies are being caught in Big Timber. Try fishing with minnows or plastics around brush piles. Mississippi River Pool 18 Tailwater stage is 8.45 feet at Lock and Dam 17 at New Boston and is rising. We have not received any fishing information for this pool this week. Mississippi River Pool 19 Tailwater stage is 5.17 feet at Lock and Dam 19 above Burlington and is rising. We have not received any fishing information for this pool this week. River stages have been on the rise the past few days with the recent rains and snow melt. Main channel water temperature is around 42 degrees. Tailwater fishing has been reported as being slow. If you have questions on fishing Pools 16-19, contact the Fairport Fish Hatchery at 563-263-5062.