This may be a dumb question but are there that many smallies in Pool 8 to target them for a tourney? I know this normally is not the plan most guys follow if largemoughs are available but have heard this is a great pool for smallies and some recent tournies have been won on brown bass. Whats your 2 cents. Thanx…
i fished a tournament on pool 8 last fall and out of 34 teams over half of them came back with limits of smallmouths. in fact 29 lbs. ( 7 fish limit ) won. There seems to be tons of smallies in that pool. I have nly fished there a few times but always been able to boat some smallmouth.
I guide on pool 8 and I can tell you first hand…you wont have any trouble connecting with smallmouth and largemouth bass on pool 8 or in Lake Onalaska. Pool 8 is a very good bass pool with plenty of backwater spots, boat docks, marinas, rockpiles and wingdams to hold both species. Every weekend their are one or several bass tournaments from april til october. Their have been some theories that the reason pool 8 bass pops are so high is because they have alot of bass tournaments that cover multiple pools and that the fish always get released in pool 8. I dont know the answer to that one but I do know that the bass have every reason to stay. Some of the bigger smallies I have caught however have come from pool 7.
Hougie, you do any good on docks in the marinas? I haven’t caught a one at the Pettibone Boat Club docks–the one on the MN side just south of the Cass St. bridge. The bass will go to the rip rap there, but not the docks in my experience.
I have been out with customers and caught largemouth flippin stuff under the docks. I wont get specific about locations but I can think of all kinds of places to flip around docks. When the sun gets high in the sky the largemouth like to hang out in the shade under the docks.
It can be a trick getting your lure under the docks but the first cast is usually the best one.
For smallies I usually always do better around the rock structures.
Pool 8 is a great spot for bass. It seems that if you want smallies, go near rock and rip-rap. If you want largemouth, go in backwaters. And sometimes, you’ll find both in the same spots. Great pool to fish, and I really miss being able to get out on the pool a couple times a week. If you fish docks, I recomend using spinning gear and skipping baits under the low docks. Make sure that you have a good lure to skip, because there is deffinatley an advantage to being able to skip way under a dock. Either that or you can flip the edges and corners of the docks with baitcasting gear. Good luck to everyone, and catch a couple pool 8 smallies for me!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big believer in docks, but they seemed vacant at the boat club. I’ve caught smallies off them in areas with current. I know there are many more boat docks, and boat houses for that matter, that I haven’t touched, so I’m not ruling them out or anything. I have a few places I’m going to check out. Have you ever fished the Pettibone Boat Club docks?
Yes ever since since I was old enough to cast. My dad has had a houseboat down their since the early 60’s. So Ive walked around the docks casting but I never did much for largemouth their. The docks I fish for bass arent those ones.
Went over to 8 Tues. and tried to orient myself and it is quite intimidating at first. I have not spent that much time on any of the pools and tried to contain myself and just cruise around b4 I started to fish but everything looks to darn good. There was baitfish everywhere but bass were not. Through out the entire day boated one bass sm. 3.4lbs. Seen some largemouths and a caught a couple healthy pike. Will fish it again soon. Got turned around in the jungle of Goose island. Any suggestions on how to fish this pool. Any large areas that may be eliminated off the bat? I will be fishing the zone 4 tourney and as a boater and would like to have some clue… I have a feeling it may be smack dab in the middle of the spawn which may make it that much more difficult or easier if you could find them, or see them. Good luck… take care.
I hear ya! There are alot of choices thats for sure. Goose Island is an area you really cant learn in a short amount of time…unless you are looking for boat or motor trouble. I know some of the most experienced anglers who live around here (and me too) who are still trying to figure it out. That place is like the bermuda triangle. Its tempting to fish but probably not worth the hassle. Besides there are all kinds of other options. Keep Lake Onalaska in mind for largemouth and some of the other connected lakes on pool 8. You also should consider some of the rock structures near stoddard on the south end of pool 8 for smallies. Gibbs or Hammond Chute on pool 7 are worth a look too especially if these fish will be on their nests as you say. Hope that gets you started and good luck. Be sure and let us know how you do!
That’s my problem… I really gotta get out to the wing dam by Stoddard there… I always cruise around the sloughs in Goose Island and usually get stuck, or lost, or…
And Ive fished it quite a few times… Have caught a few nice fish too, but went out last Sunday and with the current and the higher water, it makes for even more new shallows…
I’ll really have to head up to Lake Ona’ and try that out…
New to this group, but man its pretty cool to get this kind of advice for around home.. I usually head Warrens and Mccoy way just because I understood it better….
Thanks…
B
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.