River fishing

[TonkaBass]

So has anyone been fishing the mississippi lately, if not when can a guy start fishing it. I am new to river fishing, but want to start trying it. Also, I just got my lower unit fixed last year and dont want to encounter that problem again. Is navagation difficult? Pools 4 and 5

[Ray Esboldt]

Tonka,

Navigation itself is not terribly difficult on pools 4 & 5 if you are within the bounds of the main channel. The channel is well marked with red and green bouys. Once you venture outside the main channel, you best know where you are going if you want to run it. Idling through the backwaters is my best recommendation. In fact, I believe many places are marked no wake, but someone correct me if I am wrong.

As for river bass fishing, a guy could write chapters about that. Two things I can think of as good tips are the following. Strong current over shallow flats can make for some real good smallmouth fishing. Riprap banks on slow days are another favorite target of mine, but fish them top to bottom (shallow to the base). Not every bass is a bank hugger on a river.

[EBass]

Pool 4 and 5 - prolly end of April depending on if we ever get above freezing.

Be carefull when going in the backwater like Ray said. Dead heads are all over and some places get inches deep. But the dead heads can hold fish to. Some back waters hold bass and some hold carp.

I'm excited to get down there to.

[Wayne Ek]

TB. the 2007 lakemasters chip shows all the wingdams and most of the closing dams on pool 4, I do not think pool 5 is on that one with the wingdams showing. Also, I think one of the navionics chips had pool 5 wingdams on it. In the spring you need to be alert in the main channel for floating hazards. In the backwaters just go slow and work your way back in. Once I have a track on the graph from exploring a new area I usually feel comfortable enough to run it back out. But, I've gotten stuck a couple of times and it's ALOT of work getting unstuck. The only damage I've had on pool 4 was in lake Pepin 3 years ago when I hit a submerged 55 gallon metal drum in 10 feet of water, took 3" of my skag off, but that was it, never touched the prop.

[TonkaBass]

Is it best to find eddy currents behind structure or bends, and what kinds of lures do you use for fishing fast moving current??? How about the main channel, one would think that there would be some decent schools of fish there, but i suppose maybe it would be barron quite a bit like a main lake basin.