Clark Bridge in Alton, IL

[Shortarms]

I'm gonna make my maiden voyage to Alton for my first river fishing adventure. Anybody have any holes they care to share? I was looking at going to the park under the bridge on IL side but have no idea if there is a good spot there. If you do have a recommendation please share the bait you recommend also.

[ultima_cat_man]

you gonna be in a boat or on the bank? below the dam is a pretty good spot, and the skips are running. tim

[Shortarms]

I'll be fising from the bank. How do you get below the dam? I can't find a map that shows it.

[mississippi man]

If you want to get to the best spot take the 367 (clark) bridge from alton towards west alton crossing over the river. Then take the first available left. You will then go up a big hill, and at the stop sign stay straight crossing the east bound lanes going towards alton. go straight passing the fisca station, then the army corps building, and if you have to hit the restroom it is dirty and it is on the left but stay on this road. on the left you will see the dam and you will feel like you have traveled miles the blacktop will turn to gravel and turn hard left. Soon you will smell the fragrant rotting carcasses of the coveted asian carp and then you have arrived.

[ultima_cat_man]

lol, dead on troy, didnt smell today wind was blown too much.. tim

[mississippi man]

thought i saw you out there in a blue chevy? i was in a black shirt my wife was out with me she was in the truck

[ultima_cat_man]

ya that was me, i was gonna try for some more skips but seen you and a few others not catching any, man was that wind blowin. did you end up catching any? i may go out tomm. after work again if its not as windy, but the weather man says it will be. tim

[mississippi man]

Caught a bad case of windburn. Did not see anyone with anything today. I tried for an hour this morning, with no luck. Kinda thought conditions would improve with the sun coming out.

[buzz crackstock]

hey Dirt, what we were looking at on the Mo side of the bridge was indeed a parking lot. There is also one on the Mo side of the damn that is within 100 yds of the damn itself (that spot that I said looked like it might be a good spot.) I got a closer look and I guess they paint them green for the pic and then they overlay a cream color for the road. That is why it looked like the road just jutted out into the "water" and stopped. I think either place would work. We will definitely need some more weights and I will bring some crappie stuff and my net to try and get some skippies.

[mississippi man]

buzz, dont know if you know it or not but your illinois liscense is good at the dam on the missouri side

[ultima_cat_man]

actually at the dam both sides belong to illinois. either state license is good there but the actual land is illinois,,,, tim

[mwrmar4]

Haven't seen much action at the dam last couple of weeks...last year saw quite a few guys on shore and in boats with several blues and flats over 20lbs.

[Shortarms]

We were looking at crossing into MO and coming back up under the bridge. Anyone ever have any luck there? Is the IL license good there as well?

[buzz crackstock]

I'm snelling a bunch of hooks up right now, we just need to make sure we have plenty of sinkers. been thinking about using a straight wire to hold the weight on that is bent and will straighten out when it gets stuck. seen it used in bass fishing, dont know if it will work with a 8oz weight.

[Shortarms]

Weather ain't lookin' so good. They're talking mid 50's and rain. What do you think?

[astutzman]

I'm snelling a bunch of hooks up right now, we just need to make sure we have plenty of sinkers. been thinking about using a straight wire to hold the weight on that is bent and will straighten out when it gets stuck. seen it used in bass fishing, dont know if it will work with a 8oz weight.

I think I saw something about this in the library. I guess if you get a light enough copper wire that you can bend it without breaking your line it'll work. let us know how all you guys do, if you go.

[buzz crackstock]

I've got some warm clothes and 4 or 5 sets of raingear! Little cool weather and precipitation never stopped a true catman.

[mississippi man]

We were looking at crossing into MO and coming back up under the bridge. Anyone ever have any luck there? Is the IL license good there as well?
I have seen guys fish there before, never seen them with any fish, but that does'nt mean it is a bad spot. You'll have to park at the parking lot and walk, or that very nice county police officer will ask you to move your vehicle. Under the dam is just hands down better fishing though because of the current.
Your license is good on both sides of the river but be careful if you are around a creek, stream, or river that feeds the mississippi, you are not legal in that body of water.

[buzz crackstock]

hey troy, I have a 5ft throw net, will I be able to get some bait below the damn, will I have to be real careful not to get the net snagged up or is it deep enough along the edge I can let it fall a little. Also, will we be able to catch any bait with crappie jigs on spinning gear. I thought I heard the skipjack were gettin active in that area, any tips on gettin bait on-site would be greatly appreciated.

[mississippi man]

You should be able to get bait there it might take you a while sometimes the shad in that area are hard to get. It is not a guarnteed thing though. I've struck out there before and there are a lot of snags. I would start by trying around the boat ramp first. Then I would try the bank side of the river, there is this spot that protrudes out farther in the water than the rest. Right there, there is a slack section of water where it kinda swirls around. I would try there on the down stream side of it. Before you cross the bridge to MO, you might try the ramps down below the bridge, by the marina. If you want to try for skipjack I used a white or green jig, 1/8 or 1/16 oz. head and an ultralight with 6lb test. Every once in a while I got nervous those skipjacks put up a pretty good fight. Since it has turned cold I have had no luck with skippies. There is a good bait shop on broadway in Alton called Bluff City Tackle. They will have bait, and it is close to the river. You might want to stop there and add some weight to your tackle box I've been throwing 12oz and having trouble not drifting down river. Never imagined throwing that much lead before. Not to discourage you but more than likely you'll lose some weight on the bottom below the dam. There is probably a trick to not losing it I just don't know it. Good Luck!

[mississippi man]

Forgot to tell ya, I would not let my net fall that far down, and I would toss it out a little ways

[Skunk Master]

Went to the dam 2day... skippies were hitting white jigs.. Wouldn't you know it.. I didn't take a bucket along to put any in..So i just caught enough to fish with 2day.. They were catchin channel cat in the boats anchored out there.. But i was there from 11 till 8 2nite and didn't get a hit from the bank... Hopefully these damn cold fronts quit comming in on the weekends so the fish will start hitting or at least it'll be warm enough to take the boat out..:crazy:

[buzz crackstock]

went there this evening for a while. Caught some small shad at the boat ramp, 2-3 inches long. Saw one fella snag a spoonbill and a fella in a boat catch two cats prbly around 5 each. Couldnt tell if they were blues or channels. I, on the other hand, didn't get a bite. Thought I might do better up against the damn but there were some folks down there already. threw white jigs for a short time to see if I could get some skipjack, ended up with a couple little white bass.

[ultima_cat_man]

im gonna go out there later today and get some skips, i will throw out a cat pole if the place isnt packed. tim

[Skunk Master]

Buzz... You were there the same time as me yesterday.. I was the guy fishing on the little point across from the boat dock with the blue windbreaker with the hood up.. Wasn't bad with the hood up kept the wind off.. Hopefully it will get nice enough to take boat out next weekend..

[TeamCatHazzard]

Ahhh shoot a little wind and cold weather wont hurt anybody. Im taking the boat out this afternoon and will prolly fish all night. Havent gotten a chance to fish in a while since Ive been out at school and have to go back to work Tuesday so Im going 2nite!

[Skunk Master]

Yeah, but i'm older and the cold goes straight to the bone.. I have figured out how to build a fire in the boat yet to stay warm without sinking.. So i guess i'll wait for warmer weather..:angry:

[Skunk Master]

gotta read posts over before i hit send.. was supposed to be haven't figured out how to build fire without sinking boat

[TeamCatHazzard]

Yea it was kinda nasty out. We went out and fished for a little while and caught 5 or 6 fish...nothin above 20 lbs so nothin big but at least we got out. We were the only boat out there. Nobody else wanted to brave the weather. Did catch a couple skips too.

[eflow]

hey Rob I thought college students had more sense than that.:confused2: I know I'm only a juco grad but that was about the worst fishing conditions u could of went out in. I seen your trk in the parking lot & stoppeed and talked to matt for awhile.

[buzz crackstock]

hey hicksh, I think I may have saw you, were you catfishing or casting for something else. I went down to that point and caught a couple small white bass. I was hopin the folks right next to the damn would leave so I could cast right up next to it. Is that a good spot. Looked like the water may have been a little calmer there. Talked to one fella there, he said he wouldn't stay after dark if he was by himself and there weren't a bunch of other folks around. I've learned to listen to the locals to a certain extent, and if he didn't feel comfortable I sure as heck didn't. Seemed like most of the folks I would get along with were headin out so I did the same. I was also gettin a little wind burn. Gonna try and make it back down there when I get back from kentucky lake. Maybe one of you fellas would take me out in your boat and show me how to catch some of those big blues or flats! Need to get me a couple shorter poles to boat fish with. All my cat rods are 9ft or longer.

[Skunk Master]

That'll work Buzz.. This is my 1st year fishing the river.. I'm used to fishing by the spillway and the north end of Lou Yager.. Let me know when you wanna go out.. I was supposed to fish with a guy I work with this summer but his wife won't let him and the oldest boy lives in Kentucky.. My wife likes fishing from the bank.. I fish just about every weekend, usually saterday into sunday..

[buzz crackstock]

Lake yeager is my home lake. I am usually there at least once a week. I usually fish off the circle near the main marina, near the beach. They should start bitin good there this week. Been pretty slow so far this week. I might make it out tomorrow night, we have a lot of stuff to get done this week though, getting married saturday then headin down to kentucky lake for the honey moon! Let me know the next time your up this way and we can try for some cats in my "hot spot".