Pool 9 · Mississippi River
Coming to fish?
The Genoa Harbor public boat launch is directly across the street. There's room on site for boats and trailers, and a lit cleaning station with power.
- From
- $79/nightor $475 a week
- Minimum
- 2 nights
No booking fee and no charge for the trailer. Dogs are $10 a night.
What's on site
Fish cleaning station
On site, lit, with power.
Boat launch across the street
The Genoa Harbor public launch is directly opposite.
Room for boats and trailers
There is space on site to park them.
Equipment charging outlet
Easy-access outlet for trolling batteries and electronics.
Fishing without a boat
Clements Fishing Barge is moored out on the river at Genoa. You walk on and fish the main channel — no boat, no trailer, nothing to launch.
The other option is shore fishing below the lock and dam, which is free.
December – February
Ice fishing
The backwater lakes and sloughs around Genoa freeze even though the main channel doesn't. Anglers fish them for crappie, bluegill and perch in three to five feet of water over sunken wood and weed.
Winter is the quietest season here and the easiest to get a room in, and the same eagles that draw photographers to the dam are working the open water while you're out.
Before you go out
This is a river, not a lake. Current keeps ice uneven, and the water below Lock and Dam No. 8 stays open all winter. Check conditions locally before you walk out — nobody at the motel can tell you the ice is safe.
Local help
- Captain Hook's Bait & Tackle
- In Genoa, open year round. Live bait, tackle and the current word on where the ice is holding.
- Guided trips
- Guide services on this stretch run ice trips through the winter — worth booking if you don't own an auger and a shelter.
- Where people fish
- The backwaters near Stoddard and De Soto, north and south of us on Highway 35.
Through the year
- Spring · Mar – May
- Walleye and sauger below the dam, then bass as the water warms.
- Summer · Jun – Aug
- Panfish and bass, and the longest days on the water.
- Fall · Sep – Nov
- Cooling water and good fishing, with colour coming into the bluffs.
- Winter · Dec – Feb
- Ice fishing on the backwaters. Eagles work the open water below the dam.