Fishing the river is a lot of fun. There are lots of places to fish, plus there are lots of different kinds of fish to catch. All these fish can be caught with the same gear and the same baits, with the exception being sturgeon. They just get too darn big and demand heavy rods and lines. Sturgeon fishing though, is a whole different ball of yarn that we will cover in some future piece.
Floating jig heads are the way to go to reduce deeply swallowed baits
For all other fish, a medium action fishing rod loaded with six or eight pound test will do perfectly. While baits can vary widely, I’ve had great luck running the ever reliable dew worm and the equally reliable frozen minnow. I like to lean on frozen minnows for bait if I’m trying to catch walleye. My river rig starts by tying on a bell sinker, leaving a foot to foot and a half of line off the tag end. To that I will tie on a small, and thin steel leader. I use the thinnest steel leader I can find. After that I will attach a floating jig head and use half a worm, or a full frozen minnow as bait. If there’s one other thing that doesn’t get enough praise, it’s the rod holder. They are inexpensive and readily available at the Fishin’ Hole. They will make life much easier on the river bank as they will effectively keep rods and reels from getting all munged up in the river sand and mud.
A rod holder is a wonderful tool
I like to fish pools that have a distinct current edge and I will cast my line so it lands just inside the current. This transition area between faster flowing and calm water seems to be the spot where I catch most of my fish. From there it’s time to kick back in that camp chair, relax, and let the fish do the rest.
