Mississippi River in October

One of only two keeper smallmouth
in two days of fishing

There is no doubt that I have been looking forward to October for quite some time.  This summer was an extremely busy one for me, which increased my eagerness for the fall weather to show up.  October also means that the rivers get a jolt of energy and the bass fishing takes off.  I rarely turn down a time to fish a river system, and this time of year I cannot get enough.
This past weekend I was joined by Don Henry for a weekend trip to Pool 9 of the Upper Mississippi.  Don also enjoys the river and was looking forward to our, what now has become a tradition, to fish the river in October.  I have said for many years, that this is the best month to fish the river for sheer numbers of bass and the amount of keepers an angler can catch in a day.  Don and I eagerly drove north to find a much cleaner river than it was a couple short weeks ago.  With the cleaner water, much cooler water and less current there were plenty of bass to keep us busy.
We hit several areas, main channel, sloughs with current and backwaters without current, all had bass biting, but locating the current with "medium" current was the key on this weekend.  As usual, any rocky structure held bass when current was present.  What amazed me the most this weekend, was the bass were very particular on what baits they were going to bite on.  They wanted something slow.  Craws, small jigs, sticks, and especially tubes from Hot Rod Baits did the most damage.  We caught a few on swim jigs, and crankbaits, but not very many.  Dozens and dozens of bass came aboard each day on slower presentations, and on Saturday we were able to catch some nice largemouth bass nearing that 3# mark.  It was great catching high numbers of bass, and having a few big ones tossed in the mix as well.  With the river being up about 3 feet, current was easy to find, almost difficult to get out of.  We didn't struggle with it at any time over the two days, with the Minn Kota Fortrex 101 on the bow and Minn Kota Talons on the back of the boat, fishing was easy.  A quality trolling motor with lasting power and ability to anchor down in current really allows a angler to enjoy fishing, nature and not have to worry about batteries or moving through fishing areas too quickly.  Two great tools that every boat deserves.
I just got back from the big river, but I can't wait to get there again...yes, I'm addicted!

Chilly mornings on the Mississippi
are rewarded with a HOT bite for bass