Mississippi River Fishing Reports Lacrosse & Pool 9

[wplatehunter]

I'm thinking about going down there to see some friends and fish the river for some walleyes on April 6th. Is there good fishing for walleyes in that area, or would we be wasting our time? What pool is that part of the river? Thanks for any info. I'm not looking for anyones spots. Thanks

[MplsFisher]

Will you be fishing from shore or from a boat? I think the area by La Crescent is Pool 7. There is some great fishing in that area and some big walleyes, just like the rest of the river. The easiest spot is the Dresbach lock and dam. There's a boat launch there or you can fish the "fishing float". Take highway 61 north from La Crescent and turn right at the stop sign right before you get on I-90 West. The fishing float costs $12 or $15; you raise the flag and they come pick you up in a boat. If you're in a boat, just go find the other 50 or so boats that will be out there. The bait shop in La Crescent will let you know what people have been catching them on and where they are fishing.

In a boat you can also try looking for wingdams and fishing off of those. They hold walleyes most of the year. You can PM me and I'll give you a few other shore spots too.

[wplatehunter]

Thanks for the info. We will be in a boat.

[wiscony]

They are catching walleyes and sauger below the dam. Only thing that sucks is if its even half way nice out there will be about 100 boats within 10 yards of each other. You can catch fish but you'll have to sort. Still fun to catch even the small ones. Just talked to one of my freinds and 2 of them brought home 6 eyes so you can catch good ones. Good luck

[wplatehunter]

Any updates. Thanks

[Wade Joseph]

River is high and muddy now....if you haven't been down yet, you missed the pre-spawn bonanza.

[Rick]

Mississippi River Pool 9

Flathead Catfish - Good: Flathead can be caught along the channel fishing small bullheads on the bottom. Bluegill - Fair: Some fish are being caught in the backwaters around the New Albin area. Use a night crawler under a bobber. Largemouth Bass - Fair: Fish rocky shorelines and backwater areas. Fish are being caught on tube jigs or on top-water baits in the backwater. Walleye - Fair: Walleye fishing has been fair trolling the faces of wing dams. Freshwater Drum - Excellent: Drum are being caught in many areas using a night crawler on the bottom

[Rick]

Mississippi River Pool 9

Channel Catfish - Excellent: Fish are being caught on stink bait. Bluegill - Good: using night crawler on the bottom in side sloughs Largemouth Bass - Excellent: Crankbaits on rocky shorelines Walleye - Good: Trolling crankbaits in the side sloughs

[Joe]

Mississippi River Pool 9

The boat ramps have become locked in ice. Solid ice for fishing has formed in most areas having 6 inches or more, but the rain events last week had weakened the ice in some areas. Anglers should always use caution in areas where heavy snow may have insulated ice or areas of potential current. Bluegill - Good: Shore Slough near Lansing and Blackhawk park on the Wisconsin side continue to be popular fishing areas with mixed reports and some good catches of Bluegills and crappie.

Crappie - Fair: Mixed reports with a few nice crappies being caught.

Shore Slough near Lansing and Blackhawk park on the Wisconsin side continue to be popular fishing spots.

Yellow Perch - Good: A fair number of nice-sized yellow perch are being reported from the lakes along Minnesota Slough. These include Cord Wood Lake, Bear Paw Lake and Fish Lake. Near Lansing, the yellow perch bite has picked up in Shore Slough.

[Rick]

Mississippi River Pool 9

The boat ramps have become locked in ice. Solid ice for fishing has formed in most areas having 8 inches or more. Anglers should always use caution as warm weather may weaken ice especially in areas near shore and where there may be current. Northern Pike - Fair: A few nice pike have been caught on tip up near Minnesota Slough. Bluegill - Fair: Shore Slough near Lansing and Blackhawk park on the Wisconsin side continue to be popular fishing areas with mixed reports and some good catches of bluegills and crappie. Fair numbers of bluegill are being reported from the lakes along Minnesota Slough. These include Cord Wood Lake, Bear Paw Lake and Fish Lake. At times the bluegill have been stacked up along the weed line in the very upper reaches of Fish Lake. Largemouth Bass - Fair: There have been reports of a few decent largemouth bass caught in the middle of Fish Lake. Some anglers are reporting catching nice sized largemouth bass on teardrops baited with wax worms in the Lansing Village Creek Marina area. Crappie - Fair: Recently a few crappies have been caught in Indian along Wisconsin Slough. Shore Slough near Lansing and Blackhawk park on the Wisconsin side continue to be popular fishing spots. Yellow Perch - Fair: Yellow perch were being caught in the lakes along Minnesota Slough. These include Cord Wood Lake, Bear Paw Lake and Fish Lake. This has been a hit or miss year, and activity can rapidly change in less than a day.

[Rick]

Lacrosse, Crawford County-The Mississippi River has been steady this past week. Currently the river stage is at 7.7 feet.

Ice conditions continue to improve even though warmer temperatures moved in last week. Most of the popular ice fishing spots have upwards of 8 to 12 inches of ice. Ice conditions still vary greatly and are considered unsafe. Ice fishers are urged to use caution when traveling out onto the frozen waters.

The main channel of the Mississippi River is frozen over, but travel on it is not recommended.

Another dangerous spot is on the Ambro Slough just upstream from the USFWS boat landing. There, Mill Coulee Creek enters the Ambro Slough and open water/very thin ice exists.

Ice fishing activity was very good on some days and spotty during other days.

Fishing activity and ice conditions are as follows:

Prairie du Chien Area and Lower bottoms:

Garnet Lake has decent ice but access can be tricky. Fishing activity there has been slow mainly due to access.

Dilman’s pit was producing some very nice white bass (stripers) near the bottom of 40 feet of water. Recently action there has slowed considerably.

Ice conditions are pretty good except for Rotten Slough and Hunter’s Slough which are located near the sewer treatment plant. Caution in these areas is advised.

Prairie du Chien Ambro Slough Complex: The lower end of Gremore Lake was producing good catches of crappie, bluegill and some perch. The past couple days activity slowed.

Tilmont Lake is still producing some very nice crappie and perch primarily in the morning.

Mud Slough, the Lower Doubles and Fish Lake have been very slow.

Little Missouri was hot last week but slowed down somewhat the past couple days. Good catches of perch, crappie and bluegill were reported.

Big Missouri and the Upper Double are starting to produce bluegill and crappie, but action remains spotty.

The Fennimore Cut and Spring Lake have been spotty also, but a few decent crappie and bluegill along with a perch here and there have been reported.

Largemouth bass have been active throughout the Ambro Slough complex. Panfish anglers report catching many undersized bass and few keeper size.

Ice conditions are generally good with the exception of the Mill Coulee Creek and Ambro Slough area.

Sturgeon Slough Area: Sturgeon Slough has been very quiet recently. Some anglers have ventured down to Sturgeon (aka McGregor or Horseshoe) Lake but success there has been slow.

Sturgeon Slough and Sturgeon Lake have good ice, however travel to Sturgeon Lake can be tricky. Stay on established paths.

Cold Spring: Fishing has been slow. Anglers have reported a few bluegill and crappie, but overall very slow. Ice conditions on the southern lobe are good except near the boat landing/stream where open water and very thin ice exists.

Mississippi River: Walleye and sauger anglers have been venturing out onto the ice below the Lynxville dam. Ice conditions there vary greatly and day to day.

Travel in this area is not advisable. Even so, some anglers have been vertical jigging or dead lining through the ice with a few sauger and an occasional walleye being taken. Ice conditions have been reported as ranging from an inch or two to 6 inches.

Small game hunters are finding that the warmer temperatures have provided better hunting conditions. Squirrel hunting has been good. Rabbit hunters are reporting average to poor success. Those who hunt coyotes are finding the breeding season is beginning and there are ample opportunities out there.

Some hunters find that wearing snowshoes really helps getting around. Many home owners are gearing up for winter song bird feeding. Many species of birds are coming into feeders even though moderate temperatures have settled in.

Bald eagles are kind of scarce on the Mississippi River because of the freeze up. Many bald eagles can be seen north of Prairie du Chien along Highway 27 near County Highway N.

Standing corn fields have been ravaged by deer, turkey, squirrels and a variety of song birds.

[Stroz]

That groundhog Phil wasnt wrong. -10 with wind chill this morning will keep me in the house till later today. Fishing in the area has not change much. One day they bite good at noon and then the next its bad. The next day they bite good early am then the next right at dark. But that is the norm for this time of year. Sounds like a warm up comming next week so hopefully I will be able to have a more positive report to follow.. Good luck and be safe!!!

[Cooter]

Stroz - thanks for the report and welcome to HSO! Tough bite over here as well, looking forward to things picking up late ice.

[JIvers]

I fished Lake Onalaska for only the second time yesterday--my old ice spots in Winona seem to be in a down cycle, and I've been doing well for sauger below the Dresbach dam, so I thought I'd check Lake Onalaska out.

I went on the ice at Schafer's, and I would estimate there were several hundred cars and trucks out on the ice, along with a lot of quads, a few motorcycles, and a couple of para-sailers. (No joke about the motorcycles/dirt bikes and parasailers.)

I fished for about three hours around the landing lights, and since this water is new to me and I was just killing a few hours before the evening bite started at the dam I set up on the edge of one of the crowds. I found myself in 6' of water with a lot of weeds--the ice was almost three feet thick.

During the time I was there the only fish I saw was the shiner I put on my tip-up. Judging by the numbers of people pulling their shacks from spot to spot no one else was catching much, either. Ah well, I know it's a good body of water--fishing in the middle of the day with the cold front and high pressure just moving through, plus all the traffic on the ice, and I'm not surprised it was dead. I'll be back in a couple weeks--maybe it'll be better then...