tailwaters in Belleuve Iowa [mississippi river]

[jimmy'o's guide service]

BITE WAS SLOW AND LOTS OF SMALL FISH ALL OVER THE TAILWATERS. CHECKED OUT SOME DOWNSTREAM SPOTS ONLY TO FIND A LOT OF CURRENT AND DIRTY WATER FROM ALL THE BARGES MOVING UP STREAM. KEEPERS WERE SPOTTY QUIT AT NOON .KEEP FISH'IN JIMMY'O

[Matt]

Hello,
I'm from Bellevue and I go on spring break this weekend, I have had no time to get out and check out whats happening with the fish.
With an expected cold front coming for the weekend, what techniques would you suggest to boat a few Walleyes, (I don't necessarily need to bring in a stringer of three pounders, but I would like to get out and catch a few).
Thanks for your help,
Matt

[JIMMY O'S FISH'IN GUIDE SERVICE]

DOWN SIZE THE JIG AND MINNOW ,SLOW DOWN PRESENTATION GO TO COLOR RED OR BLACK IN AREA OF TAILWATERS, DRAG A 3-WAY IS A ANOTHER SLOW PRESENTATION WITH 6 IN. DROP ON WEIGHT OR JIG GOOD LUCK FISH'IN

[Mississippi River Rat]

Jimmy, was going out at Dubuque this weekend. You been there yet? I know it is not the greatest walleye fishery in the world, but you can catch fish and not have to play bumper boats with anyone. Anyway, I haven't been down in a couple of weeks and was just curious if you heard what the bite was since the cold front. I probably will try it regardless. I would love to get a thread going on Bellevue, Dubuque and Guttenburg. Tried a couple of times on Lake-Link.com, but could not get any takers. Hope to here from you and good fishn.

[matt]

Hey,
I haven't fished Dubuque much but I did very well this last week in Bellevue. It took some time but i was able to sort through the smaller fish and I got some respectable fish. I was able to get plenty of fish in the 15-19 inch range to fill my freezer with. I got two Walleye's 24 and 27 inches but released them. i saw several this size caught.

[JIMMYO'S GUIDE SERVICE]

I FISH BELLEUVE ABOUT ONCE A WEEK, AND HAVEN'T SEEN ANY ACTION EXCEPT IN THE BOIL ON ILL. SIDE, WHERE A LOT OF KEEPERS ARE FOULED HOOKED. SOUNDS LIKE SOMEBODY IS DOING WELL THERE. WAITING FOR WARMER WATER TO GET SERIOUS ABIUT FISHING.

[matt]

hey,
another spot that I found to be very productive was on the Iowa side just south of the boat ramp past the two buildings and Wyane and Rita's place along the sandy beach between the two stairways on the shore. I found orange twisters with a white head to be the most productive. I would just drift along with the troliing motor down to slow my drift a little. Give it a shot next time your in Bellevue.
Good luck,
Matt

[JIMMY O]

THANKS MATT I'LL GIVE IT A TRY

[matt]

Jimmy,
I gues this is a question this time. How long into spring can people reasonably expect the Walleye bite to continue in the tail waters of the various dams up and down the Mississippi? I know that many of the Walleye's get on the various wing -dams on the river and spend much of the summer on them but how long will they be at the dam spawning??
I thought of this because some of my friends that work for the DNR were sayign that they were tracking fish that had already spawned out. I was catching fish that still had eggs in them.
Matt