I was lucky enough to make a solo trip up north to fish Monday and Tuesday, 4/9 and 4/10. Do to varying circumstances an “epic” rainy experience has eluded me the last four seasons.
I passed on heading up last week, only to find out things got real good just when we planned on being up there, needless to say I was seriously bummed, luckily enough I was able to make the trip a week later.
Mondays weather was absolutely BRUTAL, to say the least. Strong winds, snow and cold. Despite the coldfront the fish were very coopoerative. At one point it was near white out, the wind and snow was blasting me in the face but the fish were biting like mad! All I could do is chuck a 1/2 jig dowstream, close my eyes, and hold on ready for a big bite! .
I wasn’t able to run and gun working the milk run I would have liked to, there were actually decent sized waves rolling up river, one run down river from Birchdale to frontier left me looking like a Snosuit “posicle”.
I spent One very full day and half working just one spot. The fishing was amazing, It started out great monday morning with fish just inhaling PulsR’s, and as the day progressed the bites got lighter and different plastics were needed to entice the fish.
The location I was fishing was chock full of all female walleyes, I only caught four fish under 23″, with lots in the 23-26″ range with largest four 28.5″ category and VERY fat.
Being able to work over the spot I was fishing with about four different anchor points, combined with working different points on the seem I was working allowed me to stay on a fairly constant bite within a fifty foot stretch of river.
Anyways it was a ton of fun to be able to dial in the details and enjoy such a rewarding bite. When it was at its best the fish would come in groups of 6-10(almost consecutive casts) When it slowed they’d com 3-4 at a time, you can’t get your jig back in the water fast enough.
Pulse R’s were awesome, regular paddletails worked great as the front settled in, and when the bite was at it’s slowest a hair jig with trigger x minnow hooked “flat” really enticed the fish, and larger fish at that.
3/8 oz jigs were great for casting and working back up stream, lift, drop, hold, slam!
It was quite and inreseting day and a half, would have like to move around a bit more in search of more 28″+ fish, but it wasn’t as productive giving the wind and weather and lack of time I had.
It is truly amazing how many large walleyes there are in the river, right now. It seems to me the “big girls” are fatter than some of the years past, some of the fish I caught resembled bigger pool 4 fish, It was nice to see.
Enjoy the rest of the season, I think with some decent weather and getting down to details a person could get into some seriously ridiculous fishing!
Now it’s time for life after prespawn walleyes, what an awesome winter it’s been on Pool 4 and what great way to end the season.
I was fishing solo, so don’t have any pictures to share.
Char/orange core was tough to beat with sun, purple cracker/char, oyster shell, and white were great low light and overcast.
