How I’ll fish the upper Mississippi

This is stop number six of the Bassmaster Elite Series this week on the Upper Mississippi out of LaCrosse, Wisc. I’ve had a fairly solid season so far, and I am hoping to keep the momentum rolling and keep those Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year points up.

This fishery is very diverse, and you have about any option you could think of to go out and catch fish. The two main deals here are fishing current, targeting more smallmouth, or targeting largemouth in the grass. I’ve done some of both. Growing up fishing the Tennessee River I love going to places like this that fish a lot like back home.

I had some good bites in practice doing several different things. It was almost random at times, which is a bit concerning, but I think if I settle down and don’t try to run around too much I’ll have my chance at a good Thursday.

There’s been a lot of talk about the rising water and how it doesn’t affect river fish as much as it does fish in a normal lake environment. I would agree with that for the most part. It will change things up a bit, but the fish will still bite for sure and there are lot of fish that live here.

Honestly, I’ve got 15 rods rigged for whatever Day 1 brings, but one bait that you’ll see do some damage this week is a hollow-bodied frog. I’ve got one rigged and ready on an MHX-FP-885 with 50-pound Vicious No Fade braid. There’s not many ways I can think that are more fun than catching them on a frog so I’m excited to get this one started.

Y’all stay tuned to Bassmaster.com to see how it all goes down.