I have gotten the ok to go fishing over Thanksgiving.Should I drag the boat to pool 4? Or drive north to fish. Would there be ice? I’ve never been given this opportunity and would appreciate input for a fun weekend. Thanks in advance.
It is a little early to tell but I would bet the bite on Pool 4 will be decent as long as the weather doesn’t do anything totally insane. I am planning on being out there at least a couple days that weekend.
What does ( got the OK ) mean???? 
I was just told yesterday that the low water of P-4 is screwing up the bite which is why there’s no one fishing down there. That and the discharge of the power plant.
Going by that expert recommendation, I would go further up North.
I’ve been fishing pool 4 every Thanksgiving day for the last 3 or 4 years and I don’t plan on breaking the cycle this year 
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I’ve been fishing pool 4 every Thanksgiving day for the last 3 or 4 years and I don’t plan on breaking the cycle this year
I know it cold as he double hockey sticks last year… I only saw one other boat all day. Regardless, I’ll be back again this year.
Where are you dragging from?
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I was just told yesterday that the low water of P-4 is screwing up the bite which is why there’s no one fishing down there. That and the discharge of the power plant.
Going by that expert recommendation, I would go further up North.
Spoken like a true catfish guy 
There are plenty of people fishing there even though the bite is still off—they just aren’t all launching from the same location anymore. It has been a crazy year and the Fall has been no different. It is the end of October and we are just now seeing the water temp flirt with dropping below 50 degrees. Most years this happens in the early part of October. I prefer a low level — low flow for the winter months so the water clears up and the dragging bite takes off and I predict here in the next month or so Pool 4 is going to kick in and put out some serious fish. As far as the power plant—-what have you been smoking?????? Pool 4 has been an amazing walleye factory for years with the power plant sitting there doing its thing so what has changed now. Come January when I am sitting there in my boat fishing I will have nothing but happy thoughts about that power plant–thank you very much. In the last year we have seen flooding and heat waves and very cool periods in the early Summer and a bunch of other variables. The bite may not be where it should be right now but it is headed in the right direction and the power plant and the low water will not hamper that at all. Go back to the stink bait mister and let us walleye guys worry about the walleye—they are doing just fine!!!!
Ice fishing or river fishing are both good options that time of year. If it gets brutal cold out like last year I would go ice fishing. Its hard to beat 1st ice. That is unless its decent out and the ice is not forming. Then you cant beat river fishing that week of Thanks giving. When conditions are right that is typically a very good week to fish on the river.
You almost sound like an expert Redneck. How long have you fished P4?
Nothing speaks better then on the water experience.
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I was just told yesterday that the low water of P-4 is screwing up the bite which is why there’s no one fishing down there. That and the discharge of the power plant.
Going by that expert recommendation, I would go further up North.
Some things to consider…
1) Pool 2 is a lot colder than Pool 4 because of the warm water discharge above P-4… I have fished both several Thanksgivings and in a “normal” year… You will catch larger fish (overall) on P-2 and more fish on P-4…
2) One cannot keep fish on P-2… so if you want some to take home, it has to be P-4.
3) This year it seems they are reducing the water level on P-4 (probably due to construction) and limiting the flow. Those factors have delayed the annual P-4 Shad migration and kept most of the mature fish down in Pepin. If things don’t change, the migration wont come for about 2-3 weeks…they follow the FOOD.
Soooo, if P-2 is not froze up like it was last Thanksgiving, say Hi to Mike W and I on P-2 on Black Friday! 
or maybe hit em hard on P-4…only GOD really knows… 
If the weather is like it was last year that week of thanks giving we could of used one of those Norwegian ice breakers up there.
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You almost sound like an expert Redneck. How long have you fished P4?
Nothing speaks better then on the water experience.
I am far from an expert but I have been stumbling around on Pool 4 for a while now. Steve Vick was scooping minnows and handing out great advice and James was guiding 40 days straight in the Spring when I first started getting serious about Pool 4. I have seen high water and low water and high flows and low flows and through it all the bite has always had periods when it is slower than other times. The thing about Pool 4 is that even on the worst day you are one cast away from the fish of a lifetime. I have no idea how the power plant came into any conversation about the bite being like it is now—the power plant is part of what makes Pool 4 what it is and that is a phenomenal fishery. The bite is a little off right now—big deal—it will change here shortly and when it does I am going to remind you of this post Brian—-and then you can post about how we ever got by without the low water and the power plant. By the way—you need to get out more because there were plenty of people up by the dam the last few times I have been up there. A couple of weeks ago I barely found a parking spot at Bay Point when I launched so someone must be out there fishing.
Coming from east of Des Moines and North of 80. I appreciate all of the input. May try both pools over the 4 days. Look for a lund 1900 single console with 2 guys dressed for bowhunting ( warmest clothes I’ve got).
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Look for a lund 1900 single console with 2 guys dressed for bowhunting ( warmest clothes I’ve got).
And wear your PFD at all times
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