# Missouri River Fishing Report



## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I don't think I could've painted a better picture for fishing last night, in regards to weather. Not too hot, next to no wind and no bugs....

We fished pretty casual last night and didn't move too much, we launched south of Bismarck. We were on a couple holes of small walleyes. We caught fish cranking, jigging and live bait rigging. Water temp was down to 65 degrees.


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## JayBird (Dec 1, 2003)

Looking for advice on how to fish the river. Have fished it one time before and just pulled cranks. Caught one eye. Just wondering how you fish the holes. Do you anchor, drift or troll over them? Also is it better fishig south of town or north of town? Any thought or suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, JayBird


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

To be perfectly honest, this was my first year to REALLY fish the river hard on my own. There is a heck of a learning curve to learning to fish a new river.

I do most of my fishing south of Bismarck, simply because it's what I know the best. I also fish up around Washburn to Stanton, and up around the Tailrace.

The best "holes" we've fished are from 6-9 feet. In the spring you can get them even shallower. The surface of the water tells you pretty much everything you need to know, and is easiest to find holes for the first time on calmer days.

The trick is to find "slow water". You don't want to be in the current, and you don't necessarily want to be in the slack water either. But right behind any sort of bar, you'll see a "highway" where the fast water and the slack water meet. Usually there's a hole there and if it's between 6-9 feet than I'm sure there's fish in there pretty much year 'round.

I like to crank against the current up the "highway" and then drift back with spinners/live bait rigs. If that's not producing I'll do a slow troll up the current and jig the breakline. After 15 minutes if there's no action I'll move onto the next hole.

The holes change a lot as the current digs new one's out and fill old one's in so a few weeks absense may mean you need to find a new hole.

My wife and I fished yesterday and caught a half dozen smaller walleyes in 2 hours. Still the same lately, SMALL fish so I'm looking forward to some bigger fish this fall. We caught our fish on jigs/crawlers.

Good luck


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## JayBird (Dec 1, 2003)

Thanks Chris for the advice, I did get out Friday and Saturday the 29th and 30th and did well. I talked with the guy at Dakota Tackle and he gave me some pointers that were identical to yours. I ended up south of fox island and caught some nice fish in that 16" range.


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## Dave Owens (Nov 11, 2002)

The KFYR Tourney was Saturday between Fox Island and the Rifle Range. Boats launched at the Desert. 2/3rds of the teams were skunked. The winner had 11 lbs including the basket that weighed 3.7 lbs.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

Not surprising...still waiting.......


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## seabass (Sep 26, 2002)

I was thinking about going to the tailrace this weekend... worth the drive from Fargo? I'm thinking salmon...


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I haven't heard from from the tailrace but I do know some people who've been doing really well on Sakakawea on salmon at 95 ft.

Good luck.


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## seabass (Sep 26, 2002)

Fast response... cool.

I'll post what happens if I make it out there...


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## deafishunt (Feb 5, 2005)

My cousin and I went fishing at Tailrace for salmon and they are not biting. I tried changed many different crankbaits. I saw few salmon jumped closer rocks but not biting. I have to wait for few weeks coming. I will not let you down!


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## seabass (Sep 26, 2002)

How far back do you guys usually drift when fishing the tailrace? I only seem to catch fish from about the point where that water pipe is on the east side and up... but I see quite a few boats drift farther back.

Wife and I fished the tailrace this weekend... pretty slow. A few salmon and walleye.


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