Big River?

[berniemac]

Hey guys, just joined the forum, hoping I can tap into the wealth of knowledge you all possess! My hometown borders the Mississippi River, and my college town is split in two by the Illinois River. I love fishing, and now that hunting is pretty much done in for the year I'm starting to switch gears and wait for the warmer weather. I was wondering if you could give me any advice for what to fish in these areas? I love the softbaits, my typical go-to is just a mister twister with a jighead(ocasionally a roadrunner just for a lil flash). This does work for me, but its real slow some days. Any suggestions for what to try? Its a little different than you lake folks, water clarity is...well the muddy Mississippi, you can imagine. I also spend most of my time on the channel, so current is movin through pretty strong as well. I catch a lot of walleye and largemouth out of here, the ocasional sauger, carp, cat, and whatever else happened to be swimming by at the time. Thanks for any help you can give!

[VekolBass]

I've never fished the Mississippi, but I do spend a a lot of time fishing a large river which is generally muddy. First, get away from current. Try sloughs, or places where calm water adjoins faster water--like on the back side of a point or some other obstruction.

When the water temperature starts to get around 50 degrees, start throwing a lipless crank bait or perhaps a spinnerbait in an area where the sun has the most opportunity to warm the water (north or northwest banks). Use baits with a lot of vibration and flash that the fish can find in muddy water. I don't know if there will be any vegetation present where you are at--if there is, fish it. If not, concentrate on snags, laydowns, and other kinds of wood cover. If you can find a place with both vegetation and wood--spend some time there.

[Crestliner2008]

First off, what is the water temp on your river now? I suspect, if it isn't ice bound, that it's around 36*. If it is that or less than 40*, you should focus on deep holes. This is the still the winter period here up in the Northeast and smallies bunch up in these holes until ice out and warmer waters start to flow. I would try a tail spinner, spoon or blade bait barely jigged off the bottom, if these holes are 30'+; if shallower, drift a Senko or Ika. I'm assuming you are fishing from a boat here. If you are shore bound, you need to find where you can cast to deeper holes, or your success will be very limited. Fish real slow and stay deep. When the temps rise above 40*, pull out your big spinnerbaits and slow roll them through the upper structures leading to the holes. A good time to fish hard jerks tool  Hope this is of some help.

[Grey Wolf]

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[berniemac]

Hey guys! Thanks for the quick replies! I am unfortuantely not out fishing yet, the river is froze over solid here right now. Once it warms up a bit I will be shore bound. Is there any certain rig I sure learn to run the Senkos and similar softies? A little note here, I like using the sofites around here because they aren't too pricy(compared to a crank or a spinner) and we lose a loooot of tackle. For the most part its all rocks/whatever trees have gotten stuck over the years/whatever else has gotten stuck there. I'm not too familiar with any of the different rig styles, but if you just point me in the right direction, I'm sure there is plenty of info around the forum here on how to rig the different styles.

[Rob G.]

Bernie,  where are you in IL.  I live in the Quad Cities, Milan to be exact and I fish the Mississippi River almost exclusively.  The River is very dynamic as the Corps of Engineers and Mother Nature change her frequently.  You can be on a load of fish in the morning, water clarity or pool stage will change, and they will not be there by noon.  Good news is that they do not move far.  As far as fishing the River and places, there are always some fish near the channel, but do not neglect the numerous backwater lakes and sloughs.  In a typical day of prefishing or just goofing around I will fish heavy rolling current areas, and areas with litte or no current.  Anymore you also basically just have to decide if you want to fish for LMB or SMB.  In some areas both are found, but they really are different animals.  Drop me a PM, maybe we can sneak out together after it warms up a bit if the drive will not be too far.  Take care.  Also be advised, most books you read are geared more towards lakes than the River.  Not saying you cannot pick anything up from them, but lakes and the River are much different.