Dennis anderson

ON THE MISSISSIPPI – This past winter's lack of snow and the early arrival of spring suggested that anglers visiting this big river near Red Wing in recent weeks would have good fishing.

Typically, walleye and sauger action picks up here beginning the first few days of April, give or take. But this spring more than the usual number of anglers launched early, many already a month ago, thinking that in 2016 the springtime fishing fiesta that occurs up- and downstream of Red Wing would begin ahead of schedule.

For most who pulled on insulated bibs and heavy coats before bobbing in the Mississippi's fast currents on cold March days, that hasn't been the case.

Some walleyes and sauger have been caught. But the fast fishing that usually accompanies the annual migration of walleyes and sauger upstream out of Lake Pepin and toward the dam is more typically driven by the calendar than the weather.

Tuesday, I thought, would be a good day to be on the river. So I called Griz, or Dick Grzywinski, to see if he was game.

A St. Paul river rat, fishing guide and friend, Griz was open to the idea, and at midmorning Tuesday we dropped his johnboat into the Mississippi at Ole Miss Marina in Red Wing.

Saugers are abundant in portions of the Mississippi River, including this healthy specimen taken near Red Wing. Saugers and walleyes migrate out of Lake Pepin toward the dam this time of year, driven there more by the calendar than by weather.

Already pickups and their empty boat trailers were parked in the overflow lot across the street.

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Being in a boat on open water evokes sensory overload, especially after a long winter.

This is particularly true in Pool 4 of the Mississippi extending from Lock & Dam 4 near Alma, Wis., upstream, past Red Wing, to Lock & Dam 3 near Hager City, Wis.

In this containment on Tuesday, over the water and along both shorelines, eagles were in the air, their heads and tails brilliant white, also mallards, wigeon, wood ducks and blue-winged teal. Each flew beneath a patchwork of blue sky and tissue-thin white clouds, the big river, its surface slightly chopped by a directionless breeze, flowing ever southward.

Peering upriver and down while leaving the marina, we had a choice.

Nearer to the dam upstream doubtless was a flotilla of boats, a veritable navy, while downstream, south of Red Wing, fewer watercraft were visible. Hereabouts in his johnboat, Griz is an identifiable figure, and sometimes other fishermen watch him at very close range to determine where and how he fishes. The result for him can be claustrophobic, so we headed downriver.

"There's too much current to fish some of my spots,'' Griz said. "The fish won't be there.''

Then: "I'm not sure if the walleyes and sauger are even here yet.''

Boat control is everything, particularly in river fishing, and Griz slipped us downriver with the bow pointed directly upstream. Another decorated Minnesota river man, Dan Gapen, advocated the same technique, using the boat's power to control the speed of the boat's drift.

Telltale of exactly how fast we should go was the direction of our lines into the river: They needed to be exactly, or nearly exactly, vertical to present our jigs correctly.

"If your line isn't straight up and down and your jig isn't on the bottom, you won't catch fish,'' Griz is fond of saying.

The morning unfolded. A train rumbled along the Minnesota side of the river. A push boat hailing from St. Louis angled three loaded barges upstream, signaling its passage with a horn blast. Other barges followed, some empty, others full.

Always, birds were in the air. Warmer and warmer still, the sun rose in the sky.

In Griz's boat you can fish any way you want. But Griz catches so many fish so fast that to strike out on your own seems foolhardy.

Here's his secret:

Springtime walleyes anyone? Dick “Griz’’ Grzywinski of St. Paul with a plump walleye caught in the Mississippi River near Red Wing.

He fishes a short-shanked Rapala Hammer Head jig, usually three-eighths-ounce, tipped with a lip-hooked (top and bottom) fathead or other minnow. Also depending on time of year he might run a trailer hook, the whole rig tied to about 18 inches of monofilament, in turn tied to a bright yellow superline.

"You have to be able to see the line,'' he said.

A couple of hours into our little venture we had more than 20 walleyes in the boat, all released. We hadn't yet caught a sauger, a bit of a surprise.

"They're right on time,'' Griz said. "You can have an early spring, but these fish usually don't start showing up here until about the first of April.''

None of our fish was oversized, the biggest about 4 pounds. But a broad spectrum of year classes was represented, hand-sized to plump and feisty. All were healthy, even fat.

Up and down the river we fished, one drift after another.

Griz and I have known each other a long time. If neither of us has anything to say, we're comfortable with the sound alone of water lapping against the boat.

But often we talk about matters of the day: our families; the season coming and the one just past; the importance of equipment maintenance; the chance he'll ever trade his vintage depth finder for a new one (zero); the folly of politics.

I ask: "So if the presidential election was today, who would you vote for?''

"None of 'em,'' Griz said, setting a hook on a 17-inch sauger. "I mean, that's the best we've got?''

"Apparently.''

"It's not right,'' Griz said.

Leaning back, my feet propped against the gunnel, I thought: whatever.

The springtime sun, the flowing water, a rod in hand and fish on the line.

You couldn't beat it.

Right on time, the fish had arrived upstream in Pool 4.

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com

Editor's note: Guide Dick Grzywinski can be reached through Blue Ribbon Bait and Tackle in Oakdale. Phone 651-777-2421.