An Outdoorsman‛s Journal

Mississippi River Perch Challenge

Hello friends: The last two years in the month of March I have headed down to Buffalo City on the Mississippi River about 40 miles north of La Crosse and used my ATV to go three miles where I fish some of the backwaters of the Mississippi for perch and walleye. These backwaters are very close to the dam that controls pool number 5 and I have had excellent success shore fishing for perch and walleye that temporarily migrate to it for the spawning season. In all honesty, I have been very excited for this trip for at least a month.

Sunday, March 21–High, 57, low 30 sustained 40 mph wind I have my ATV in my enclosed trailer and a 4-wheeled feed cart to pull behind it with gear. Because all of my gear for this overnight experience will not fit into the cart, I have an Otter Sled strapped to the top of it. As you are about to find out, bad luck would soon come my way!

I arrived at the public boat landing at Spring Lake, where I planned on unloading and taking the pleasant trip down to the dam with my golden retriever Ruby. As soon as I pulled into the landing, a fisherman told me the trail had recently been closed to ATV travel. In all honesty, I would have rather been punched in the gut than hear that report. My new plan had me pulling my load exactly three miles, and here was the killer. The wind was blowing into my face at a sustained 40-mph and I actually verified that report. I pulled my load and my mind kept going back to the line I created when I hiked 1,244 miles of the Appalachian train back in ‘91. “Eyes that see, ears that hear, feet keep moving, home is near!” So, I make the journey and am super excited to catch some huge perch and walleye and when I hike into the backwater, I have some really bad news. The main channel of the river has created a sandbar that has 100 percent blocked the entrance. In other words, migrating perch and walleye could not get to where I was fishing. On another front, this was a challenge to myself and I had not brought any food whatsoever as I was going to live on fish. I rigged three poles with worms and spread them out over 60 yards of shoreline and after four hours, concluded that I was going to starve.

I knew that I could go to the river, but the sand was blowing so intensely that it looked like it was snowing. Just before dark I moved one pole over to the river and caught a 10-inch perch right off the bat.

In the dark I moved my entire operation over to the river and though I caught several red horse -- which are inedible -- I did not catch any more perch. A couple other side notes: I did not bring a tent and a light rain began, and it was so windy that for the first time that I can remember, I could not light my propane light.

I was super hungry, so I filleted and fried my one perch and it actually made me feel very good. Monday, March 22–High 61, low 44 I was up long before the sun and caught one undersized walleye that I really wanted to eat but let go. At daybreak, it was the let’swatch- people-in-boats show while they watch the crazy guy on shore show. You cannot reach this spot by vehicle or ATV so it was all mine. I started catching perch, very slowly but I was catching them, and one was almost 13 inches, but unfortunately I lost most of my spot to fishermen who anchored over it.

I fished super hard and loved it and it was amazing to watch the people show. There was one guy who every time someone caught a fish he would watch with envy and literally move his boat within 15 feet of them or me if I caught one.

The other crazy part of this day is that by 3 o’clock when I loaded the cart, I had caught 44 red horse. I filleted five of the perch and fried them before the hike back and that gave me big energy for the trek.

Another side story is that since I thought I was using the ATV, I only had hip boots or cowboy boots, and neither are ideal for a long slog, pulling a load.

I love the Mississippi -- my first job out of high school was as a deckhand on a river boat when I was 18. I tried canoeing up it back in 1987 and this trip was just another notch in the belt of positive life experiences. Live till you can’t! Sunset