Pool 2 Report (2020)

Well it’s a new year and Pool 2 is still a great place to spend an evening. I jumped into Mike W’s new boat and we headed up river. Almost immediately we found a few Saugers and smaller Walleyes in slack water off the main current. As it got darker we switched from jigs to stick baits and a slow up-river troll. We found quite a few fish this way, including some real pigs. It always amazes me how fat these Walleyes get on Pool 2. Fun to get back out on the river and a great way to start the new year. Thanks Mike!

S.R.

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Oh man that looks fun, nice work.

Did you guys launch at Lions Levee, or have other ramps opened up again?

Great fish, I need to get the boat out!

That’s awesome.

I tried for some fish on shore around Mpls today, no luck. Clarity is about 4-5′ up here. Found a new spot I’m hopeful on.

We launched at the 494 access.

That was some fantastic fishing Steve. Pair of 27s for Steve for big fish. The one had a little tail damage going.

Here is a nice 27 Dustin caught New Years day. We fished all day for this one and one other fish. River was thick with pancake ice to.

And a fat 26 I caught yesterday before Steve joined me.

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Damn, you guys are hard core. But it pays off doesn’t it? Definitely beats ice fishing.

Nice job Mike and Steve…

I was apparently a day early and had to fight the ice chunks and get a goose egg.

I’m sure I will be back soon enough.

Nice fish guys! I was hoping you’d find some success when Mom mentioned you were out fishing with Mike last night. I’m cold just looking at the photos! Burr!

Not a chance your dad is going to get cold wearing that hat.

Certainly not taking anything away from you Steve, but Mike seems to end up with some big walleyes in his boat quite a bit.

But we know he pays his dues too.

Beautiful fish guys…

Hey, I know that spot

Thanks for the post, gives us something to look forward to. Very nice fish again Mike. You are one of the true masters of Pool 2.

Good to see you guys out there catching some fish!! The weather turned up pretty nice this winter. If you would have told me 6 weeks ago that we would be fishing in January I would have said you were full of

Wow! Nice work!!
I may have to get over my hesitancy about fishing the river after dark.

mark z wrote:

Wow! Nice work!!
I may have to get over my hesitancy about fishing the river after dark.

A person should be this time of year. Wear a life jacket and be careful out there. Good thing is there are plenty of fish biting during the day to. Steve and I just happened to find a bite that started at sunset and went for a few hours.

Great job guys! Looks like a lot of fun

Yes, I have healthy respect for the river. I have always had my best luck catching big fish in Feb and March fishing 11:00 AM to 1:00 pm on a sunny day.(Which is contrary to common belief). Having said that, expanding my fishing
“sweet spot” probably would be the smart thing.
Thanks for the advice.

Mike W wrote:

I just happened to find a bite that started at sunset and went for a few hours.

I have wondered this about Pool 2 do you find the fishing better at night or because it gets dark so early you are out more at night this time of year?

It has a lot to do with water clarity. In the late fall there can be a very abrupt transition to a “night bite” once the barge traffic stops and the water clears up. This year all the rain/runoff has kept the river higher and dirtier than normal. The other big factor is cloud cover. A clear night is much darker than a cloudy night, because the clouds reflect city lights.

As you might expect, the best advice is to always go fishing whenever you can.

S.R.

I got to practice my net skills again this morning. Got out early before the wind showed up. River was like glass til 10am and the walleyes approved of the conditions. Didn’t take long to find them pulling crankbaits. They wanted a lot of action to the lures early then later on just a slight pump of the rods. Eric figured that out early so I got to net a number of nice ones for him including this 29.5 beast.

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Wow! Nice fish boys!!

Beautiful, thick fish! Nobody is going to confuse those fish with the skinny “all head” fish coming out of Mille Lacs

Or these ones.

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Man are you guys committed to the river. Very nice fish!

Been out 5 of the last 6 days. Wife is about to have me committed. Just getting on them while we can. Water temps have been right at 32 degrees. Wont take much to freeze the river up again. About a month ago the river looked like this. Wont take much for that to happen again. We might have to bust out the pick axe and chainsaw to get the boat in this coming weekend.

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Guess its that time of year again. Time to sit and wonder how long til the ramps open enough to get the boats in the water. Im hoping by mid February. Those big walleyes are still out there.

Was lucky enough to catch a boat ride at the Hastings ramp last Sunday afternoon. Found some eater sized fish biting.

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With any luck hope to have some fresh pool 2 reports up next weekend. Weather 2nd half of this coming week is looking fantastic. Anyone been by 494 to see how bad its froze in?

Stopped by 494 access yesterday. Snow piled up by the plow on the ramp. Probably 200 ft to open water in a NE direction from the ramp. Strait out from the ramp the open water was way out to the main channel. The snowboarders built a ramp and were shooting footage of riding their boards down the railings. Might be something to do if the bite is slow.