Upper Mississippi River (Pools 7-9) Fishing Report

Water's warming into the sweet spot. Eelgrass edges and backwater points will hold fish looking to feed. Frogs and jerk minnows early and late, wacky rigs when the sun climbs.

Water's at 60 degrees and climbing out of the cool zone into comfortable feeding range. This is the window where largemouth shake off the slow summer lethargy and start hunting with purpose again. You're in that sweet pre-spawn staging phase where fish stack on secondary structure with deep water access. The river's clean, 1 to 3 feet in the main current and clearer still in the backwater backs. With the pressure rising after a drop and sun at 27 percent cloud, the bite will be strongest during the low-light windows and ugliest through the middle hours. If clouds build and wind stays light, the shallow bite can hold longer. If the sun locks in clear, the fish will pull off the obvious flats and stage tighter on edges with shade.

The day's game plan

Where to fish

• Eelgrass complexes in Pool 7 backwaters — 2 to 6 feet shallow flats, 8 to 12 feet on deep edges · Healthy eelgrass mats with clear water, edges where grass meets channel drops or open water
  Tournament-proven largemouth staging area. Grass holds forage, and the edges give fish cover and feeding depth. Clear backwater water keeps visibility high and encourages topwater and jerk minnow bites.
• Goose Island area in Pool 8 — 4 to 9 feet · Secondary points with grass edges, creek mouths, transitions from shallow flats to deeper channels
  Major eelgrass and staging zone. Fish use the points as highways between deep and shallow water, and the grass edges concentrate bait. Proven in recent tournaments.
• Pool 8 channel swings and main-river points — 6 to 15 feet · Hard-bottom points near backwater mouths, inside bends of the channel, edges where current meets slack water
  Fish stage here before sliding shallower to feed. The deep water access is critical. Fish these when the sun is high and largemouth pull back from the shallowest flats.

What to throw

• Spro Bronzeye Frog — n/a · Black or brown · n/a (Early morning and dusk, over eelgrass and pads in low light)
  Walk it side to side with steady rod twitches, pause over grass mats, work the edges
• Big Bite Baits Jerk Minnow — 4 to 5 in · Ghost shad or natural · 5/0 hook (Early morning, late evening, around eelgrass edges and creek transitions)
  Work with sharp rod snaps and long pauses, retrieve along weed edges, let it hang
• Gambler Ace Wacky Rig — 4 in · Watermelon, green pumpkin, or natural · Match weight to depth and current, 1/16 to 1/8 oz (Morning through afternoon, transition times, around grass edges and hard-bottom edges)
  Rig through the middle, work with long soaks and micro hops, drag along edges
• Creature Bait on Shaky Head — 3 to 3.5 in · Green pumpkin, junebug, or natural brown · 1/4 oz (Midday and late afternoon, around main-river points and channel edges)
  Drag slowly along hard bottom, work the shaking motion, fish tight to edges and transitions
• Swim Jig with Creature Trailer — Jig 3/8 oz, trailer 3 in · Green pumpkin or junebug · 3/8 oz (Midday, along deeper weed lines and the grass edge in 6 to 9 feet)
  Swim it slow along weed edges, work the cover, pause near transitions

How to work it

• Edge-oriented weed fishing — Early morning and late afternoon through dusk when largemouth stage to hunt. Less effective midday when fish pull away from edges. · Pool 7 and Pool 8 eelgrass complexes, backwater points where grass transitions to deeper water
  Work any transition where eelgrass meets open water or a deeper drop. Cast parallel to the edge, keep the bait in contact with the grass line, pause frequently. Don't fish the middle of the flat, fish the edge.
• Topwater over grass in low light — Early morning before 8 AM and from 6 PM through dark. Wasting time midday in bright sun. · Eelgrass mats, duckweed pads, any shallow grass in the backwater complexes
  Walk a frog steady side to side or work a minnow-style topwater with sharp pops and pauses. Let the fish commit, don't overthink the cadence, and be ready for aggressive strikes.
• Slow drag and pause on hard bottom — Morning through early afternoon, especially around the transition times when fish are staged but not fully aggressive. · Main-river points, channel swing edges, creek transitions into backwater points, anywhere hard bottom meets soft or deeper water
  Pitch a wacky rig, drop shot, or creature bait to a hard-bottom edge. Let it sit with micro-movements, then drag slowly across the transition. The pause between movements is where strikes happen.

Pro tips

• If the pressure is rising and the sun stays clear, don't waste midday on the obvious shallow grass. The fish will back off and tuck to the first available shade or edge. Move to the 6 to 9 foot zone around channel swings and hard-bottom points where there's timber or a drop. Fish tight to structure.
• The clearest water in the backwaters is at the upper ends of the complexes, behind the flows. If the main river and lower backwater mouths are stained from current or recent rain, lock through to Pool 7 or slide to the back of Lake Onalaska where the water filters first. That's where the frog bite and topwater will live.

If conditions change

If a front blows through and pressure rises further with clearing skies, the bite shuts down hard through midday. Pull out of the shallow flats and fish the thickest cover you can find in 8 to 12 feet. Drop the jerk minnow and frog, upsize to a 1/2-ounce creature bait or shaky head, slow everything down, and work the heaviest timber and weed mats foot by foot. If the water muddies from rain or higher flows, shift to vibration and displacement: spinnerbaits with a big Colorado blade in chartreuse, lipless cranks with a rattle, or a creature bait on a shaky head. Stay dark and loud. If clouds build and wind picks up from the south or west, the shallow bite extends longer than you'd expect. Push hard into the midday window on the eelgrass edges, topwater and jerk minnows stay live, and don't bail on the flats early.