Pool 10 Newbie Needs Help

[monty97]

Hello all,
My father and I are planning a weekend trip up to pool 10 this weekend, we are pretty new to fishing rivers for bass. We spend most of our time fishing smaller lakes so any help on the river would be very appreciated.
A friend of my dad said the Bussey Lake area near Guttenberg is a pretty good area to catch some decent fish, is this true and is there some other areas on this pool to look at? Looking at Google Earth, everything on this pool looks promising but again we are not all that familiar with fishing river pools.
We both primarily fish jigs, chatterbaits or T rigged plastics. I have heard that crankbaits are a good producer on the rivers as well, if that is the case this may give me a chance to work on cranking as I rarely do it.
Thank you in advance for any guidance you can give.

[remaly181]

For someone new, I would fish in and around Hunter's Slough right in PDC. Lots of flippin wood there. You can try for smallmouth right at the mouth of the Wisconsin River. The current will be strong there but it can be well worth the effort.

[monty97]

For someone new, I would fish in and around Hunter's Slough right in PDC. Lots of flippin wood there. You can try for smallmouth right at the mouth of the Wisconsin River. The current will be strong there but it can be well worth the effort.

Thank you for the advice. We will check those areas out.

[Iowa Bass Hunter]

Bussey should be fantastic this weekend! Typically the last week in April to the first week in May is prime for Bussey. There is old canals dredged into it. I have done best fishing the "island" side. Especially towards the back near the culvert. Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, flipping should all produce. If the fish are more out on the flats in the middle, a trap can be really effective sometimes. the water is high(which is good for Bussey) and got really cold. With this warmer weather the fish should be chewing well and starting to really fill up the backwaters.

I'm not sure where you are staying but another good area to fish would be around the Greymore Lake area north of PDC. Should be lots of fish to be had in that area also. Same baits. I don't want to direct you too far from a ramp as I'm not sure of your boat and equipment. Finding the cleanest water you can will be an effective search tool. Clean is relative.

Note- If you use a ramp in PDC you will need a launch permit. Available at Cabela's and maybe a gas station. Use the Marquette ramp on the Iowa side for free. Bussey has a ramp right there on the West side. Good luck and let us know how you do.

[monty97]

Bussey should be fantastic this weekend! Typically the last week in April to the first week in May is prime for Bussey. There is old canals dredged into it. I have done best fishing the "island" side. Especially towards the back near the culvert. Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, flipping should all produce. If the fish are more out on the flats in the middle, a trap can be really effective sometimes. the water is high(which is good for Bussey) and got really cold. With this warmer weather the fish should be chewing well and starting to really fill up the backwaters.

I'm not sure where you are staying but another good area to fish would be around the Greymore Lake area north of PDC. Should be lots of fish to be had in that area also. Same baits. I don't want to direct you too far from a ramp as I'm not sure of your boat and equipment. Finding the cleanest water you can will be an effective search tool. Clean is relative.

Note- If you use a ramp in PDC you will need a launch permit. Available at Cabela's and maybe a gas station. Use the Marquette ramp on the Iowa side for free. Bussey has a ramp right there on the West side. Good luck and let us know how you do.

We will be staying at the Spook Cave Campground near McGregor and most likely launching from the Marquette ramp.
We will be using my boat which is a newer Nitro Z6 so I am sure we will hit as many spots as possible this weekend.
I appreciate your advice!

[remaly181]

Bussey should be fantastic this weekend! Typically the last week in April to the first week in May is prime for Bussey. There is old canals dredged into it. I have done best fishing the "island" side. Especially towards the back near the culvert. Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, flipping should all produce. If the fish are more out on the flats in the middle, a trap can be really effective sometimes. the water is high(which is good for Bussey) and got really cold. With this warmer weather the fish should be chewing well and starting to really fill up the backwaters.

I'm not sure where you are staying but another good area to fish would be around the Greymore Lake area north of PDC. Should be lots of fish to be had in that area also. Same baits. I don't want to direct you too far from a ramp as I'm not sure of your boat and equipment. Finding the cleanest water you can will be an effective search tool. Clean is relative.

Note- If you use a ramp in PDC you will need a launch permit. Available at Cabela's and maybe a gas station. Use the Marquette ramp on the Iowa side for free. Bussey has a ramp right there on the West side. Good luck and let us know how you do.

Ooooh, that marina area in Gremore can be a nice little nugget too! Especially the gravel banks as you enter.

And, make sure you take the ride into the Spook Cave. I was there in 1980 and hadn't been back until I stopped by with my 9 year-old son in 2015 on the way to the Dells. It was just as much fun in 2015 as it was in 1980.

[Iowa Bass Hunter]

Well?

[monty97]

Water was pretty high while there.
We got into some fish on Saturday down south towards Guttenberg but struggled most of Sunday.
That pool seems like it would be fantastic when it is near normal water levels. We will definitely be going back again in the near future.

[Iowa Bass Hunter]

Water was pretty high while there.
We got into some fish on Saturday down south towards Guttenberg but struggled most of Sunday.
That pool seems like it would be fantastic when it is near normal water levels. We will definitely be going back again in the near future.

9-11' is where I like it (Mcgregor gage). For me it can get tough between 13-16'. Then it can get crazy at 17-18' if you know where to go. Normal is about 8' maybe a hair under. Pool 10 has been a lot tougher in recent years than it was say 5-10 years ago. All the high water has really hurt the weeds which in turn has made the fishing tougher. Most people prefer pools 8 and 9.