# Racine dam



## basshateme13 (Mar 7, 2006)

Hey all,

I was wondering if any1 has been down to the Racine dam lately? I am hoping to be able to get out there here shortly and see if the saugers are biting yet?


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## Love_To_Fish (Sep 24, 2009)

The Sauger and Walleye and Stripers are hitting pretty good. Early morning is best time to catch them.


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## willthethrill77 (Mar 21, 2007)

Heading down there this weekend. What method are you using and where are you locating them. Want to get a good mess since it will likely be the only time I make it down for a good while. Thanks


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## saugeye2 (Feb 15, 2009)

jigs work well for the eyes, hope the rain don't bring the river up to high


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## smith.3583 (Apr 17, 2009)

I've been down there three times in the past couple of weeks, and am headed back tomorrow. Catching some stripers on swimbaits. As you might expect, some days are better than others. You need to use about 2 ounces of weight, or sometimes a heavy leadhead. White Zoom super flukes are the bait of choice, but anything similar seems to work. We've caught them on all sorts of things, but if they're deep, you have to get down to them. The trick is to get at the right depth, which is likely to be really deep right now. And that's hard to do as swift as the water is there. You just have to use plenty of lead. We've been having luck with about 1.5 to 2 oz. of weight rigged about two feet ahead of a white Zoom super fluke. But I've seen people catching them on lead head jigs with flukes as well. Time of day doesn't seem to matter that much. When you find a school, you can catch fish. Like everywhere, people seem to use mostly white baits for stripers, but who knows? Racine is fun to fish if you like swift water, and it's one of the few places that there is no advantage to owning a boat. Be careful, and don't do anything stupid on the rocks below the walkway. That water is DANGEROUS, and not something to mess with. Take baits and rigs that you can afford to lose, as you will lose plenty of rigs if you are fishing down where the fish are.


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## basshateme13 (Mar 7, 2006)

Thanks for the info smith! I have never really tried my luck with the stripers there, ive always wanted to but never thought of it before i left the house. All i have really fished for were saugers, do you know if they are biting out there??


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

Heading to Racine tomorrow morning for our yearly fish outing - I hope the rain holds off but either way I am sure we will catch some - We always do!


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## smith.3583 (Apr 17, 2009)

I was there on Wednesday, and talked to a guy who fishes for sauger. He's been catching some on something like a Mr. Twister grub, but I didn't see big numbers. He was using about a 1/4 or to 1/2 lead head jig, and pretty much fishing them in the typical way with a light spinning rod.

Regarding the stripers, I didn't have any luck on Wednesday, but one guy was. He was using about an 11 ft surf rod to get way out there. (Surf rods are common among striper fishermen at Racine.) and using 4 ozs. of slip sinker with a green swimbait about 2 inches long. And maybe he was just the one who found the fish. As I said in an earlier post, if you can find the fish, you can catch them. 

I talked to one guy who was fishing earlier that morning and caught several stripers up closer to the dam--one 7.75 pounds (weighed, not guessed). And then they moved out, and he didn't catch any more than my buddy and I did. I saw one guy catch a 26 inch 7 lb. 6 oz. striper (again, measured and weighed) on Sunday on a 4 inch white swimbait with about a 3/4 oz. lead head. But that was the only fish any of three of us fishing caught. You just never know. They're in there, though. This is the time of year to try Racine for stripers. 

Anywhere along the walkway seems to work, but people who fish there often tell me that the two ends of the walkway are best. I also see a lot of people fishing the rocks below the walkway. I've been told that there is a hotspot just below the walkway past where the rocks come out slightly farther into the river. In fact, a lot of times you will see a guy standing on one flat rock that is farthest out into the river, about 10 yards below the walkway. Again, if you go down on the rocks, respect the water. Fall in, and I doubt you're likely to walk out. It's swift, deep and dangerous, which is why it's a great place for stripers. But I've also seen a lot of people catch nothing. Talk to people who fish there a lot, watch what they do and be persistent.


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

Anyone catching anything at Racine dam lately? I'm thinking about trying it this weekend, rain and all. Any suggestions?


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

I Fish - We caught a lot of sauger during our fish outing last weekend however, most were on the smaller side ranging from 12 to 14 inches. We also caught some nice bass but weren't really targeting them. The water was still a little warm but in the next few weeks the bigger fish should move in. We were catching the sauger on a jig tipped with a minnow but the bite was very light.


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