P2 4/6 Report

Cold and windy most of the day which I don’t think helped. Water temp was between 44-46 in all the spots I fished. I hit about a half dozen spots including the dam and the confluence. I was able to put nice males in the boat with a handful from 18-21 inches. Only one of them was milting. No females. Spoke to a couple of other boats and the bite was the same for them….consistent but no big fish.

Caught all the fish on plastics and jig/minnow. The key was to stay vertical on the edges of the current seams. Water is pretty low but still moving fast. Depth was all over place…anywhere from 3 to 18 feet. I tried blades, rippin raps, and made a short trolling run. Seemed like the fish wanted a very slow presentation.

I also put a couple really nice white bass and missed a trophy pike at the boat. All in all a good day but was hoping for some more size.

Thanks for the report. I was up by the dam and it was slow. Only got one in 3 hours with a couple more missed bites but the one I got made it worth it. Heavier than the pics make it seem. I bet it was close to 7 lbs.

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_2893-1.jpg
   

2. 

   IMG_2892-1.jpg
   

Nice fish – that does make it worth it! Looks like a huge male.

I was up there from about 10-12 and probably could have stayed all day and caught males.

Not sure if you fish the other side but straight across on the Hidden Falls side is a nice eddy that can produce some good fish. I’ve had luck with plastics over there but most guys will be using minnows. Right before dark seems like the best time.

If you ever see a guy in a white lund with 90HP Johnson and Talon flag me down and we can go hit some spots.

Matt- I will keep my eyes open for you. I’ve been fishing hidden falls basically 3-4 nights a week, spring through fall(sometimes winter) for 8-9 years… I do have a decent rig too but I haven’t gotten it out yet this year. A lot of times I like to just go to HF on foot because i live just across the Mendota bridge and it’s easier than getting the boat rigged and all that goes with using a boat…

Sounds good Matt. Thanks for the offer. I work nights and have been going out 2-3 times during the week after work. I’m the guy in the blue Clam jacket trying not to fall in while walking around that rip rap. Been a pretty good couple weeks for me being my first time targeting river walleye. Gonna have to start trying fatheads also. Been using plastics so far. Not sure how confident I am in them staying alive in the truck for a shift though.

If you can keep them cool you should be OK. I buy them from the Ace Hardware on Nicollet and keep them in the garage at night. I usually buy them the night before since I try to hit the water early if I can. Throw a little ice in the bucket and I’m sure you will be OK if it stays cool at night.

Not sure where you work but you can always put them in the fridge.

Not sure that would go over well. Work at the U of M hospital and I don’t think the nurses would be too thrilled about that. Ha. Ice would probably work though.

Surprised no one shore fishing hidden falls tonight being a beautiful Friday night. At least not while I was there 7-8:30pm. Funny thing is there were tons of people there all week.

I was on the Minnehaha side of the damn from about 10-3 yesterday and got skunked for the first time this year. Lots of boats out and all I saw was one maybe 12 incher brought in buy the boaters. Lots of guys on the Hidden Falls side so maybe they left because the bite was slow.

The bight is extremely slow, as far as I know!