New Here, Advice on Missouri

[77Talladega]

Hey new here. Was curious if anyone knew how to catch salmon, browns, rainbows in the Missouri from the tailrace down. I do shore fishing with spinning gear and fly. I heard game and fish stocks thousands of browns/ rainbows in the river. Where do they stock them? I’ve had much success with trout in the lakes around here but can’t figure out how to catch them at the tailrace or in the river by Stanton boat launch and by Washburn.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Good luck... Mostly they seem to be bycatch from my limited experience in the tailrace. Maybe a few people target them, but I dont know any.

 

[Wall-eyes]

Catch in boat my accident when fishing for walleyes by tailrace or south a little bit, They get fat when smelt come through turbines.

 

[77Talladega]

Catch in boat my accident when fishing for walleyes by tailrace or south a little bit, They get fat when smelt come through turbines.

How far down from the tailrace? Were you pitching cranks, plastics, bottom bouncing? How deep, and how frequently did you catch them. I know it’s a lot of questions but this is one of my fishing bucket list for ND. Thanks.

 

[77Talladega]

Good luck... Mostly they seem to be bycatch from my limited experience in the tailrace. Maybe a few people target them, but I dont know any.

Hey thanks, I like Walleye as much as the next guy, but it’s fun to mix it up. Did good when I lived up in Devils Lake with the eyes. Nelson Lake is also a good time if you like crappie and large mouth.

 

[Allen]

I think if you are going to specifically target those species you will want to hit the river between the dam and Stanton boat ramp. That's the only reach of the river where I consistently was able to catch salmonids, even though I wasn't targeting them. There are a few people that target salmoids in the tailrace area, especially the rocks in the middle of the river just west of the tailrace boat ramp. Trolling crankbaits is a common method up there for this, but time of day and calendar are very important. I used to run into people targeting salmon from boats with cranks up there and they would be on the river early in the AM and off the river by about 10 AM.

 

[701FishSlayer]

Where the hell is @MSA he prolly tell ya all about it.

 

[77Talladega]

I think if you are going to specifically target those species you will want to hit the river between the dam and Stanton boat ramp. That's the only reach of the river where I consistently was able to catch salmonids, even though I wasn't targeting them. There are a few people that target salmoids in the tailrace area, especially the rocks in the middle of the river just west of the tailrace boat ramp. Trolling crankbaits is a common method up there for this, but time of day and calendar are very important. I used to run into people targeting salmon from boats with cranks up there and they would be on the river early in the AM and off the river by about 10 AM.

Hey thanks for the info, I’m guessing you caught some of them closer to the banks as well? I tried with spinning gear and the fly at Washburn the other day and caught a northern on the fly rod with a popper. Now I know that musta been too far south.

 

[Allen]

Hey thanks for the info, I’m guessing you caught some of them closer to the banks as well? I tried with spinning gear and the fly at Washburn the other day and caught a northern on the fly rod with a popper. Now I know that musta been too far south.

The top of the eddy, where the water is the fastest, was hotter than heck for me one summer just north of the Stanton ramp for trout. Yes, I was pulling cranks and was within spitting distance of the shore a lot of the time. But it seemed they were in a very tight spot of fast water near the deepest part of the eddy.

I ran into them 2-3 times in that spot over one summer, kind of figured it was a pattern.

 

[MSA]

Where the hell is @MSA he prolly tell ya all about it.

Match the hatch, which is small smelt drifting down river in the top few feet of the water column.

 

[svnmag]

^^^Holy hell MSA.

Go in the "Fishing" forum and search "Tailrace". I've described a few times how to employ a Carolina Rig tipped with an inflated nightcrawler. I don't understand the walleye "snobbery" as I fish for many more reasons than food--thank The Lord.

One thing I'll re emphasis now is don't cast out much farther than 20yds or YOU WILL be snagged. Figure out the correct angle to cast upstream so the rig settles in place dead in front of you.

 

[MSA]

First 3 pics are from last week, the 16lb is from May.

 

[77Talladega]

Match the hatch, which is small smelt drifting down river in the top few feet of the water column.

Wow! What’s the furthest you caught them from the tailrace? I’m guessing by Stanton like Allen said? Do they bite all year at the race? I’ll buy you lunch if you take me! Thanks for the info and pics man, seriously impressed.

 

[77Talladega]

First 3 pics are from last week, the 16lb is from May.

Nice! I got this bow at the downstream pond with a mepps black fury back this spring. That wallet is about 7 inches. She made it back just fine.

 

[77Talladega]

^^^Holy hell MSA.

Go in the "Fishing" forum and search "Tailrace". I've described a few times how to employ a Carolina Rig tipped with an inflated nightcrawler. I don't understand the walleye "snobbery" as I fish for many more reasons than food--thank The Lord.

One thing I'll re emphasis now is don't cast out much farther than 20yds or YOU WILL be snagged. Figure out the correct angle to cast upstream so the rig settles in place dead in front of you.

I will check this out, thanks. Before I joined, I always checked out and enjoyed your posts regarding trout/salmon in ND.

 

[MSA]

Wow! What’s the furthest you caught them from the tailrace? I’m guessing by Stanton like Allen said? Do they bite all year at the race? I’ll buy you lunch if you take me! Thanks for the info and pics man, seriously impressed.

I've caught em down to keen's island, which is about 2/3 of the way to Stanton, but I never fish past keens anyway.

 

[svnmag]

I just noticed something: Do they not stock males? The only one I recall is the state record brown. Also, remember all the excitement about the cutthroats? What happened?

 

[77Talladega]

I just noticed something: Do they not stock males? The only one I recall is the state record brown. Also, remember all the excitement about the cutthroats? What happened?

I believe they stock both male & female, could be wrong. As for cutthroat I’ve caught some this spring here in ND, they fight nice, but I didn’t catch any once mid summer hit. Hopefully the water didn’t get too hot. Not the best pic, lively fish. Put it back.

 

[Allen]

I believe they stock both male & female, could be wrong. As for cutthroat I’ve caught some this spring here in ND, they fight nice, but I didn’t catch any once mid summer hit. Hopefully the water didn’t get too hot. Not the best pic, lively fish. Put it back.

Nice fish, stating the obvious here, but in warmer weather I would fish closer to the dam to find cooler water. That's not a YOY fish you are holding there, it had to have over-summered somewhere, and my guess is within 10-15 miles of the tailrace.

 

[77Talladega]

Nice fish, stating the obvious here, but in warmer weather I would fish closer to the dam to find cooler water. That's not a YOY fish you are holding there, it had to have over-summered somewhere, and my guess is within 10-15 miles of the tailrace.

Good guess, but I got it in a big pond that Game & Fish stocks in the Bismarck area. They stocked it this year again but added cutties and browns. They trade some of their extra fish with other states that don’t have as many as our species such as walleye. We get cutthroat & browns etc. They got big ones this year from different states (Wyoming I believe), they put 20 inch browns in one of the other ponds as well. I was very surprised. Game & Fish does a great job here, it’s neat that you can catch walleye, bass, crappie, trout pike all within an hour of Bismarck.