Wisconsin Fishing Expo

Did you see this announcement? 😲 Thanks to Paul at Coots Lures for sharing it!
Its an adventure of a lifetime for Keith Kavajecz & company... 🎣

Be sure to follow us (Keith Poche and I) down the Mighty Mississippi 👍

The Mississippi River Challenge:
Source to Sea

On August 19, a lifelong dream becomes reality. Alongside professional bass angler Keith Poche, I’ll begin an unforgettable journey to experience the entire Mississippi River—from its humble beginnings at Lake Itasca, Minnesota, to its final destination in Venice, Louisiana, where it meets the Gulf.

The Mississippi has been a part of my life for many years. I started my walleye fishing career on Pool 4 of the Mississippi River, a stretch of water that helped shape me as an angler. Over the years, I’ve fished many of the river’s pools, extending south through Iowa. While I’ve come to know much of the Upper Mississippi, this expedition is an opportunity to connect those familiar waters with the sections I’ve never experienced, creating one continuous journey from source to sea.

Our adventure begins on August 19 at Lake Itasca, where we’ll stand at the headwaters of the Mississippi River. It’s incredible to think that the small stream we can step across eventually becomes one of the world’s great rivers, winding more than 2,300 miles through the heart of America.

On August 20, we’ll spend the day exploring the Upper Mississippi around Brainerd, Minnesota. This stretch of river is unlike what most people picture when they think of the Mississippi. It’s narrow, clear, and surrounded by forests and wildlife, offering a glimpse of the river in its earliest stages before it grows into the mighty waterway known throughout the country.

The expedition officially gets underway on August 21 when we launch above Lock and Dam No. 1 in Minneapolis. From there, Keith and I will travel by boat all the way to Venice, Louisiana. Our ride for this incredible adventure will be Keith’s 18-foot aluminum bass boat powered by a 150-horsepower Mercury engine. It’s a setup built for exploring, and Keith is known throughout the fishing world for taking his boat into places most anglers wouldn’t even consider in pursuit of bass. That same mindset will make this journey even more exciting as we explore the Mississippi, including some of the river’s backwaters and hidden areas that may challenge both us and the boat.
We’ll navigate the locks and dams of the Upper Mississippi, fish legendary waters, and watch the landscape transform as the river grows larger with every mile.

Along the way, we’ll camp on the shores of the Mississippi, experiencing the river from a perspective few people ever get to see. Each night will bring a new campsite, a new stretch of river, and a chance to truly immerse ourselves in the journey as we make our way downstream.

Throughout the expedition, we’ll be sharing daily updates from the river. Each night, we’ll recap the day’s adventure (brought to you by Plano) and share the highlights, challenges, fishing stories, and memorable moments from the journey on our social media channels. We’ll also be posting updates along the way as we travel, giving everyone a chance to follow along as we make our way from the headwaters to the Gulf. The entire journey will be archived on YouTube so the story of this incredible Mississippi River expedition can be experienced for years to come.

This journey combines two very different perspectives. My experience has been built on the Upper Mississippi, beginning on Pool 4 and continuing through many of the pools into Iowa as a professional walleye fisherman. Keith Poche, on the other hand, is a professional bass fisherman who grew up in Louisiana, where the lower Mississippi has been a part of his life since childhood.

His knowledge of chasing bass in diverse environments, combined with my experience on the upper pools, creates a unique opportunity to experience the complete Mississippi River from both ends.
For both of us, this trip is about far more than the destination. It’s about experiencing the Mississippi in its entirety, fishing its waters, camping along its banks, and sharing the beauty and incredible fisheries found throughout its course. It’s also about pushing the limits of what’s possible in a small boat and seeing what adventures the river has waiting around the next bend.

From the quiet waters of Lake Itasca to the sprawling marshes of coastal Louisiana, we’ll follow the Mississippi every mile of the way—discovering its history, exploring its fisheries and experiencing one of America’s greatest waterways as few ever have.

From its source to the sea, this is more than a trip. It’s the story of a river, two anglers, and an unforgettable challenge.




Mercury Marine / Bass Pro Shops / Clam Outdoors / Lowrance / Plano Outdoors

This week's Hump Day update welcomes Ol Blue Tackle and their crappie-gear, one of the new vendors joining us for the first time next February. Look for them in 612/614, and watch it all come together here: wifishingexpo.com...

Get what you need at www.olbluetackle.com

Who doesn't like to start their Tuesday with a little crappie talk from In-Fisherman, featuring Tony Roach...?! 🎣

Famous walleye guide Tony Roach is a closet crappie lover. "I won't guide for them because I don't want to give away my best crappie lakes," he said. "People tend to harvest crappies until the big fish are gone. I protect those slabs when I find them."

Roach pitches slipfloats on suspended crappies in August, using various lures beneath. "It really gets fun in August," he said. "It's like power jigging (see the walleye article in this issue). I hunt suspended crappies with sonar, then sit off the edge of the pod and suspend lures and baits just above their heads. The key is a big cabbage bed near a main-basin drop-off. Crappies love to hunt over and around the weeds during low-light periods. During the day, crappies suspend over deeper water nearby."

In August and September, crappies often suspend throughout the day in natural lakes. "The best spots tend to be adjacent to wintering basins," Roach said. "Crappies suspend above and near the same basin flats where they spend the winter. In late summer, you find them 12 to 25 feet down during the day over depths of 15 to 40 feet. Sometimes it's only 8 to 11 feet. By September, crappies leave the cabbage beds to mass near wintering spots."

Roach uses 2-pound mono on light 6½- to 7-foot spinning rods. He slips a Northland Pro Series Lite Bite Slip Float on the line, ties on a swivel, attaches a couple feet of 2-pound Northland Bionic Fluorocarbon, then adds a lure. He clips an ice-fishing depth bomb to the line so he can mark it with sonar. When it's hanging 2 feet above the crappies, he marks the point where line meets water with a bobber stop.

Lures include #2 Rapala Jigging Raps, 1/16-ounce Northland Forage Minnow Spoons, and 1- to 2-inch panfish tubes on 1/32-ounce Northland Gum-Ball Jigs. Artificials rule in the warmest water of the year, so Roach sometimes suspends a Northland Mimic Minnow Fry.

"I go from pod to pod, targeting the most active fish," he said. "Some are a little deeper or a little shallower. I can make adjustments on the fly with this system. Sometimes I take off the float and jig vertically, still using the bobber stop as a marker so I can stay just over their heads with Jigging Raps or tubes."

Matt Straw, In-Fisherman



Photo: Jeff Simpson

Here's a wise Hump Day update from our friends at Capital City Chapter of Muskies Inc.... let's take it easy for a bit... 🔥☀️🥵

With water temps at and above 80 we encourage everyone to put the musky rods down until the weather cools. Thank you all for preserving the resource!

Jason Mitchell will be with us at the Wisconsin Ice Fishing Expo in December, but you don't have to wait until then to learn from his tricks, its peak spinner time; let's roll! 🪱 🎣😎

Spinner Fishing for Lake Sakakawea Walleyes (Summer Pattern) Bottom bouncer and spinner harnesses remain one of the greatest way...