Mississippi river tonight! ITS ABOUT TIME!

[MTCOMMER]

I went out to the river this evening, from 3-5:30.  I was having bites all evening, and ended up keeping these, two smaller ones were around 15" and the big one was 19".  That perch was also a nice one, 13", biggest one ive ever caught!
I also caught a bunch of small walleyes, I caught about 12 fish in the 2.5 hours, it was a pretty good evening.  They were biting on a buckshot jig and a fathead head.  Nothing on the set line!

Im going out there tomorrow and this weekend if the weather holds up, I will post my success (If I have any)

[boogityn]

NICE PERCH!

[Woody]

Nice catch! 

[MTCOMMER]

Ive been trying to get out to the river every day.  I had to take a little break when the weather was warm, but the ice is thick again.  Ive been getting consistant perch, anywhere from 8-12 inches, also, some smaller ones.  Tonight we went out, between the 2 of us in two hours we caught 6 perch, (3 keepers pictured below) and 2 walleyes - both around 13"s.  Couldnt keep them though, since the size limit on the River is 15" :( They would have been good eaters!
 :happy1:We probably could have kept the other perch (all about 8"s) but next year they will be bigger!

[Jdrummer]

That big perch looks half carp! awsome "hog"

[MTCOMMER]

Very slow tonight, only 1 bite from 2-5pm, but it was a 17" walleye, so that was a nice surpirse.  No perch and no small walleyes, it was pretty weird, maybe its the weather.
The ice conditions are still pretty good, there is a good 12"s out there, which is good for the current around the area.
There was a 4 inch Shad swimming around in one of my holes so I decided to throw him on a tip-up, hoping for a huge pike or walleye.  So such luck though!  DIDNT HURT TO TRY THOUGH!

[Mayfly]

What area of the river do you fish? Did I miss that?

Thanks!

[MTCOMMER]

Right out of Winona, its actually on the Wisconsin side of the river, Im fishing the Lock & Dam 5A at the start of Pool 6.
There are 2 wingdams in the area, Im fishing the first one (about 13 ft of water) and the second one is down the river about 300 yards right past the harbor.  Never fished the second one in the winter though.

Last year it was pretty busy out there, but this year it seems like not many people are around and the fishing is much, much better!  There hasnt been anyone else out there the last 3 nights, 1 guy came out for an hour this evening.

[Jdrummer]

I've never ice fished a river so cut me some slack on this question.
 What side of the "wing dam" do you fish? up stream side ?

[MTCOMMER]

I've never ice fished a river so cut me some slack on this question.
 What side of the "wing dam" do you fish? up stream side ?

Well, you usually want to try to fish just downstream of it.  If you think about the wingdam, its an obstruction under the water causing the water to flow over it, NOW, since the water is flowing over it, there is a break in the current just directly upsteram from the wingdam.  Less current in the river is a great place for the fish to hang out, especially the small bait fish.  And the bait fish bring in the big fish :)
--- if you cant visualize that, then think of it as a big hole/dip in the river, the water will flow over it, leaving the water in the bowl with alot less current.
In my case its hard to find the wingdam ice fishing since we dont have a GPS like on a boat, but if you fish around it there will be fish.  Im usually off to the side of it and a little down stream.  But we are catching fish all around it.

[Jdrummer]

Ok ,I know what a wingdam is I just wasnt shure where u would fish it n the winter , thanks.

[DDSBYDAY]

I've never ice fished a river so cut me some slack on this question.
 What side of the "wing dam" do you fish? up stream side ?

Well, you usually want to try to fish just downstream of it.  If you think about the wingdam, its an obstruction under the water causing the water to flow over it, NOW, since the water is flowing over it, there is a break in the current just directly upsteram from the wingdam.  Less current in the river is a great place for the fish to hang out, especially the small bait fish.  And the bait fish bring in the big fish :)
--- if you cant visualize that, then think of it as a big hole/dip in the river, the water will flow over it, leaving the water in the bowl with alot less current.
In my case its hard to find the wingdam ice fishing since we dont have a GPS like on a boat, but if you fish around it there will be fish.  Im usually off to the side of it and a little down stream.  But we are catching fish all around it.

Thanks for the info on the wing dam.  I am not a river fisherman but I do use a garmin 12.  It is a personal gps.  I have a gimble mount for my boat.  Now with the hi tech gps's and the lakemaster chips these small personal gps's can be purchased used for 30-50-bucks.You can back up your info on your computer(did not do-so lost 5 years of info when I dumped it out with the rainwater at a duck lake).  My cell phone does not take pics and my gps only tells me where I am.  I wouldn't leave home without either. 

[MTCOMMER]

Im going to have to look into that, because many of times I have found fish somewhere and wished I could put that info on a GPS!

BTW, Fishing has really slowed down on the river, the Perch bite has slowed to a screaching hault, there isnt the amount of this their were the last few weeks.  The little walleye are still around, but they have also slowed.  The guys out there with cameras say that they will see 25-30" walleyes just swim by their jigs, dont even show intestest.  Its those darn big shad they are feeding on, the fish are still down there, just pesky eaters.
Last night I caught a few small walleyes, there were some on the set line that wouldnt even nudge the bobber, when i went to jig, they would be on there.  Very light biters and the current doesnt help either.
Ill be going out there as long as the ice stays up.  Ill let you guys know how it goes, lets hope it picks up again, I might try a slightly different spot.  WHO KNOWS!