Could someone explain what Wing Dams are, and what the significance of them are to fishing the river? How to find them etc....

There the rock,rubble piles that jut out in the waterflow area from shore,their made to slow water flow redirect flow for erosion reasons,downstream behind them they create a eddy or circular water flow and slow current,perfect place for fish to get out of current and it washes food in the area.Bait fish also like the slow water

usually if fishing wingdams the active fish are out in front of the dam on the up stream side or on top of the dam. behind the dam you will find fish but they are not usually aggressivly feeding like the others. out on the tip of the dam can be good also. as for what they are spacebag has it right. you usually will only find wing dams on navigational water they use them to keep the channel open and at a minimal depth for barg trafic. i see this is in the small rivers and streams forum so i would say if you are not on a big river you will not have wing dams.

alot of times during low water periods you can see them coming out from the bank other times they don't go all the way to the bank so the only way to find them is to read the water they are pretty easy to see. most good maps also have the dams on them because they are a navigational hazzard for boats.

Sometime ago I bought a map that had all the wingdams shown on the map. I will try to dig it up and see who published it.

The DNR has a guide to the Miss. River that I believe they will hand out for free. Its a great little book

Get the DNR info on line at

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/boating/index.html