Mississippi river

Hey catman. Not disagreeing with Kutter, he has a TON of experience on the river, however I do have HUGE success on the wing **** tips, in the deep holes. Kutter and I are getting together next week, and I'm hoping he will show me the intracies of fishing the upper side of the *****. I ALWAYS fish the tips and have great success. Just last night, caught six blues 30, 17, 13, and a couple 7-8 pounders. A pretty good trip I thought. As well, I caught the 60# in my profile picture two weeks ago, right off of the tip of the wall way out in the channel. We were using big head carp for bait cut in 1 inch wide stips and 8 inches long or so. What kind of bait were you using? What type of Rigging? Weight? etc etc. I cant wait to see how Kutter fishes the upper side, as for me I do really well on the tips. I pull the boat just inside the tip of the ****, on the down current side, and cast straight off the back of the boat. I prefer to use shad which I get in my cast net. I'll try using live ones on a couple rods, and some cut up on other rods until I figure out what they are hitting, then I give them what they want. We used Big Heads last night as one of them decided to jump into the boat and I quickly had 20 pounds of cut bait ready made. The blues love them, however flat heads prefer the live baits. This forum is slam full of great information, and you just need to figure out what works best for you. What area of the river are you fishing? Best Of Luck to you. Kutter, were still on for next week arnt we? How about in the next couple of days? arnt you off tuesdays? By the way catman, your bites back in the slack water were probably gar. They are bad this time of year. They drive me nuts so I dont fish in the backs of the coves. If you figure out how to get the gar to leave you alone let me know.

John, you have been having much better luck than me, this year. Apparently, your way works better than it has for me. I too fish close to the tips of the dikes, just on the oppisite side, upstream. I look for the first "dip" in the dike under the water, mentally remembering how far from the exposed dike. I then motor above the dike, about 15 ft toward shore and 120 ft or so upstream. After dropping the anchor, I float downstream to about 40 ft from the dike tip and tie the anchor rope off. Then I drop the rear anchor straight down. This leaves 2 productive areas to fish, one on each side of the boat. To the outward side, I cast about 10-15 ft straight upstream from the "dip" I mentioned. On the shore side, I'll cast straight back to the dike, about 10-15 ft from the exposed dike. Both locations have been productive for me. Now if the day ever comes that I find a way to stay warm enough and fish during the winter months, I would fish Jetdriver's downstream hole every time. Those that know me know that day will most likely never happen, I get cold below 70 degree's and freeze below 60.

Sounds like gar to me also. They stay in those backwaters all summer and (if) there are any cats in there, the gar will beat them to the bait every time. Drum will also be below the dikes in the shallower areas, and hit your bait constantly, but rarely get hooked.

Crazy, when your ready to head east and try the Miss out, post a thread and you'll get plenty of advice on where to put in at and where to fish. I used to fish below Alton Dam alot, between Woodriver, IL and the confluence of the Missouri River. No dikes to speak of up in that area, fished mostly upstream of the holes, which change year to year. Lot's of barge traffic up in that area and between that and the lack of safe spots to leave the truck and trailer, I quite fishing up there. Jetdriver and myself have been fishing below Festus this year, although the trip he mentioned above for next week, will be our first time fishing together.

John, I am working my days off this week, but it's still on for the 6th. Weather calls for clear & 85 during the day and 61 for the night. I'll bring my jacket. (I aint kidding)

Iced Down Beer has saved many a fishing trips. LOL. The fishing has been really slow out on the Miss the last four days too. We need a front to move through. I'm a firm believer that the nicer the weather, the worse the bite. Rumor has it that they are biting decent at night. I got a 27 pound Blue four nights ago, but that was it. Skunksville except for him. You may want to try reversing your set up a little bit. Try a Carolina Rig set up when fishing the Mississippi. I've found that if those fish feel any weight at all they will drop it, especially the bigger ones. I use a 1 1/2 ounce weight with a bead, then a barrel swivel (300 pound breaking strength) and about 18 inches of leader to a size 9 Gamagatsu circle hook. With this set up, the only tension the fish will feel is your rod tip, which isnt such a bad thing. Dont be afraid to try different things and find what works for you. I hope the fish start bitin for you as well as for me. I am going with KUTTER tomorrow afternoon, and well let everyone know how we do. Best Of luck to you.