Missouri River Trail Dike

I guess the main purpose of a trail-dike is to help stabilize the channel and prevent bank erosion. I am only guessing because I can’t find the definitive reason for it using a google search. A trail-dike does differ from a wing-dike because it is parallel with the river bank and a wing-dike (See: Wingdikes: Why I fish them) is perpendicular to the bank. I have been told countless times I over think everything so for the purpose of this blog/article I really only care if it holds fish.

Deep And Shallow

The trail-dike in this picture is 15-17 feet off the front of the tip, but it very quickly drops to 2 feet inside it. That is where I anchor my boat. For me safety is always first and anchoring in 2 feet of water is relatively easy for a novice to do in the river. My fishing partner’s boating skills varies greatly and this a favorite spot of mine when fishing with someone who has never been in a boat on the river. From this spot I can easily cast to the deeper water at the back of the boat and fish the shallow flat for carp, drum, goldeye and even catfish coming into the shallows looking for prey.

Boat and Bait Placement

1X This picture does not show it, but there is some sort of old dike here with timber sticking out of the water. Here I prefer to have live bait (bullhead, bluegill or green sunfish).
2X & 3x: Here the river is about 14-15 feet deep and I normally put cut goldeye or carp in here.
4x: The wingdike continues under water at this spot and I normally have a lighter pole with night-crawler here for carp, drum, or goldeye.
5x-6x: Here the water is very shallow (2-3 feet) and normally I have a carp pole here. We have caught several carp here very quickly.

Video of Trail Dike

Carp Heaven Behind The Trail-Dike

This is one of my favorite spots to catch carp. You can see them feeding behind the trail dike and the entrance of the trail dike is a natural choke point to catch them as they travel in and out of the current. You don’t need anything fancy, just a night crawler and 1 oz of weight. See: Carp Caught Behind Trail-Dike

Trail Dike Under Construction

Trail Dike During High Water Event

https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/1995/08/fishing-missouris-big-rivers

http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/Portals/29/docs/Notch_Report_Final.pdf