What techniques are best for post spawn walleye? Fishing in the mississippi river near dubuqe Iowa. Are there any areas better than others? I am looking to fish places closer to home with these gas prices. I normally fish pool 5 and 4. I coming this weekend to try for the first time. C P R 3 hours away from home will be better than 6. I know that the weather is not going to be good I just want to fish. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Jim Mcdonald
Post spring walleye fishing on the Mississippi River will be at its best around the slower water currents and by the mud flats located around the wingdams. You will be using a flat tip rod with at least an eight pound test line. You will want to look for the shallow water and use a lightweight jig. The walleye are going to be biting light at this time, so you will need to be careful. If the current is strong, you might have to increase your jig weight, but you do not want something very heavy in weight. You want you jig to drop smoothly to the bottom and not drop hard. You will want to use a shiner from the river, which is what the walleye are used to eating at the time. If you want to use a Fuzz E Grub, which will work just as well in the post spawn on the Mississippi River. When you cast, you want to have a good straight line. The walleye are easy to spook at this time. Do not spend time jerking the bait. Reel it in slowly and evenly. You should have no problems catching walleye on the river post spawn. You will want to take along different jigs so you can get the right weight. If you notice the current is slower, a lighter weight should be used. If the current is strong, which it is in some places on the river, use a little heavier jig to slow down the movement down the river.
Other options for fishing post spawn fish on the Mississippi are to troll or cast crank baits in the same areas mentioned above. 6-8A bombers and Rapala JSR 5′s or 7′s seem to do the trick. The best time to do this is when the water is down and most of the weeds have made their way down river. In addition to normal crank baits, many people around here troll double rapalas on the flats (also by the bull nose) in the spring and fall. The way you do this is with a three way swivel and a 2-12 oz drop weight tied on one side and a F9, F11, or F13 tied to about 2-3 feet of line on the other side. A second straight stick rapala of similar size is tied with about another 2-3 feet of line to the back eye of the first rapala (not the split ring). This set up is then trolled at slow speeds (in between 1 – 2 mph). The only thing is to make sure you tie good knots and use lighter line on your drop weight in case you get a snag. Weights are pretty cheap, but losing the entire setup can get pretty costly.