HABITAT 
WING DIKES
Wing dikes are rock structures extending from the river bank out into the river channel. Some dikes may be more than a mile long and often occur in groups or dike fields.  The purpose of a dike is to direct flow into the main navigation channel away from banks or side channels. Dikes help reduce sedimentation in the main channel and can protect banks from erosion.

As water is forced around and over a wing dike, it carves deep “scour holes” at the tip and downstream of the dike.  The holes provide important winter and summer habitat for flathead catfish, blue catfish and channel catfish. The rocks of the wing dike also provide spawning and rearing habitat for catfish. Other big river fishes, such as carp, walleye, bluegill and largemouth bass, use the rock as shelter to avoid the constant force of the river’s current.

Many dikes are now being built with one or two notches to permit more water flow through side channels, preserving aquatic habitat. The notches also create deep holes below them attracting flathead, channel and blue catfish, gizzard shad, freshwater drum, walleye, sauger and white bass.
CUT BANKS

A habitat sought out by river-wise anglers is the deep water associated with a cut bank, where the erosive force of the current scours deep areas that attract many fish. Cut banks frequently occur along outside channel bends, on the back side of islands and along banks that have not been lined with rock or concrete mattresses.
SANDBARS

Fishing in the deep, slow moving current downstream of a submerged sandbar can be a productive fishing area. Fish tend to collect here, out of the swifter main channel current. Sandbars are abundant in summer and fall when the river is low.
OFF CHANNEL WATERS

Oxbow lakes, sloughs, side channels and chutes are located off the river’s main channel. In these habitats, the current is slow to nonexistent, providing essential spawning, rearing and feeding areas for a wide range of fish species including bluegill, crappie, yellow bass and alligator gar. Off-channel waters usually have abundant cover such as submerged tree trunks that provide shelter for young fish.

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