intro and info

Hi, I am new to the forum and fishing the mississippi as well. I live in Pine Island MN and plan on doing a lot of fishing on the river (pool 4). I have a ton of questions about what to do and what not to do.
First thing I would like to know is where can I get a detailed map of the pool 4 area. I just got a new lund and I really don’t want to pile it into a wing damn or something. I also don’t have a clue of safty issues with fishing on the mississippi. Any good reads about things to look out for?

I’ll leave it at that for now.
Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to give and I look forward to talking to all of you.

MDP

For maps of Pool 4, go to Fleetfarm or Cabelas and pick up a Hot Spots map for the pool. It’s a pretty good map and covers most of the hazards AND it does a pretty good job of highlighting good fishing areas, general techniques and seasonal patterns.

Other safety issues would include the barges, give them a wide bearth and when anchored on the main channel, keep your eyes peeled for them “creeping” up on you. Believe it or not, they’re omminously silent when moving around the river unless you’re right near the tug.

Stay in between the bouys. They are placed to provide markers to indicate navigable waters…. when traveling upstream, if you keep the red bouys to your right you will always remain in the main channel. The situation is reversed coming downstream… keep the green cans (bouys) to your right and you will be in the main channel.

I’m sure they will be lots of suggestions for you regarding the fishing but right now, trolling a #5 jointed shad rap in 7′ – 11′ of water in the river and a bit deeper out on lake Pepin is tough to beat. The great thing about trolling a new body of water is you cover lots of ground and get to learn the lay of the land.

Welcome aboard and ENJOY! It’s one heck of a fishery.

MDP,

Let me make a sugestion….Check out this guide service Moving Waters Guide Service , Before you meet up with your guide pick up a map ~H20~ was talking about and bring it with you.These guys will not only put you on fish,teach you any technique you would like to learn or brush up on,teach you the ways of the water on the Mighty Mississippi,create a friendship that will last forever and still long after the guide service is over hand out tips and information till the cows come home…..This will be the best $ ever spent…..for the price of a deductible from your Insurance Co. you can have a full day on the water first hand from a guy who makes pool4 his 2nd home…

you’ll never regret it,,,,NEVER !!

2nd home, I don’t think so, that is his home. It’s a good thing he doesn’t have wireless I access from the C-liner, he’d never leave the river. Except in Sept and Oct of course.

MDP,

I second Ec’s suggestion. I moved to the cities 3+ years ago. I hired James one day for some fishing on the upper end of Pool 4, April timeframe. It was cold miserable day, but what I learned has been awesome. That knowledge continues to grow here and on the river every trip. Plus I have a new friend. I’ve run into James many times since and he is always willing to share info about the bite. I now have started an annual fall outing with James up on Mille Lacs, well worth every penny, and then some.

Good luck in this fishery, it’s one of the best in country in my not so humble opinion. Try and take in the FTR get together in a few weeks. You’ll make lots of new friends who share the same passion. It’s a great time.

Thanks for the info, James! My buddy Jim and I are making trip #2 to Pepin tomorrow, and hoping for better results than last weekend! We ddin’t try any trolling last weekend, so hopefully that is what we were doing wrong. One way or the other, we’ll let you guys know how we did….

I would start by doing some reading on the COE website. They have a lot of good info on river nav with respect to handling yourself around tows, locks, etc. They also have the nav charts that show all the wingdams and some of the other hazards and landmarks along the river. The link I provided is the Rock Island district – St Paul has their own I believe. Most info is the same, and chart data is available here.

Good luck.

If you have any questions on anything try the search engine on this forum. Just about any fishing situation you will find on the the river has been discussed at some time or other here. I have fished the river for over 30 years and the information you find here is just outstanding. Besides the guides there are a lot of other very excellent fishermen who contribute. Welcome and good luck.

Thaks for the welcome and information everyone. My wife and I are going to make are maden voyage tomorrow. We have decided to head south from Wabasha and hit some areas that the pool 4 map points out as well as look around and see what everyone is doing.

My wife and I had our first outing on the river in my new boat on Sunday. We had planned on going south from Wabasha but decided to stay up around lake peppin. Not knowing much about the river at this point we tried the wing damns (with no luck). Then moved up to the lake and started catching some fish. All we caught were sheepshead and one small catfish. I caught a 6.5lb sheepshead and thought I had a decient fish on the other end. A lot of people around us were catching walleyes and pike. not sure what they were using but all we had were crawlers and crank baits. It still was a lot of fun. I did take the advice of many who said we should get a guide to show us around. That won’t happen until sept 7th though.