Pool 2 Report (2020)

Abe Fischer wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Matt Moen wrote:</div>
Anyone have a report on the clarity south of 494? Heading out tomorrow and need to make a decision where to head. I would assume it’s cleaned up by now.

Matt, I’ll see you out there today! Launching at 6:30 @ 494…coin flip whether we go north or south. Haven’t been to the river for awhile, raps or jigs?

We’ll be down there about 11 for a few hours. We’ll be in my buddies crest liner. You won’t miss him….he’s 6’8”.

It’ll be mainly raps for us but we’ll try dragging some jigs and crawlers probably.

We didn’t have a great day out there. Water was a bit dirtier than I expected and we fished midday. Picked up a handful in different spots. Cranks and light jigs with crawler or leech.

Second cast of the day did produce this good one….26.5”.

I’ve never seen 494 Ramp so busy.

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Matt Moen wrote:

We didn’t have a great day out there. Water was a bit dirtier than I expected and we fished midday. Picked up a handful in different spots. Cranks and light jigs with crawler or leech.

Second cast of the day did produce this good one….26.5”.

I’ve never seen 494 Ramp so busy.

Matt, we just missed you guys. We had a slow day as well, but at least had a couple of nice Pike to keep us entertained. We fished north of the Confluence. The MN river was chocolate milk. I did talk to a guy who boated 15 ‘eyes with a 5lb’er in the mix.

Out this morning early – just at sunrise. Not another boat in sight. Fished for 3 hours pulling cranks. Every species is on a tear right now. Caught mainly walleye – largest were a 23″ eye and 20″ sauger. Also picked up cats, sheepies, and pike.

Fish were shallow since it was early. Dragging cranks up and downstream in 3-6′ of water was the ticket. Water temp is up to 70 and should be steadily climbing now. This trolling bite should remain really good.

Good night last night south of the 494 ramp. Caught this 27″ in 8′ trolling cranks at 1.4 mph upstream. Also, had a few other mid 20’s, some smaller ones, and had a real giant get off at the net:( The ‘eyes seemed to be relating to the bottom transitions, specifically, the mud to rock bottom transitions. Hope this helps someone else have as much fun as I did last night. Also, don’t be a fool and forget to reset your drag after pulling out a snag…it will cost you a big fish.

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I have to ask, are you guys pulling shap rap type baits or stick baits with a little weight with them? TIA

Abe Fischer wrote:

The ‘eyes seemed to be relating to the bottom transitions, specifically, the mud to rock bottom transitions.

I think you’ll find that it is the current not the transition, what happens when you have rock to mud, is a hard seam. Mud settles in slack, rock stays clean in fast.

Nice fish!!

kidfish wrote:

I have to ask, are you guys pulling shap rap type baits or stick baits with a little weight with them? TIA

I am usually pulling shad style baits – matching the depth the bait runs to water depth I am fishing in. Only time I run stick baits is if I’m really shallow or it’s really cold and I’m moving slow on a 3 way style rig.

I am always banging the bottom with baits. Fish usually strike if you speed up/slow down with a rod pump or if there is a pause as the bait transitions over structure – ie a rock, across a dune, down a drop, etc.

As FBRM mentioned above – I don’t focus as much on the transitions as I do on the current especially when trolling. The current makes alot of the structure. Even when fishing structure – ie wing dams – the key is how and where the current moves over and around them. You could have a nice big rock on a wing dam that looks great but if there is no current on it there won’t be fish (at least when the water is low and slow like it is now).

Abe Fischer wrote:

Good night last night south of the 494 ramp. Caught this 27″ in 8′ trolling cranks at 1.4 mph upstream. Also, had a few other mid 20’s, some smaller ones, and had a real giant get off at the net:( The ‘eyes seemed to be relating to the bottom transitions, specifically, the mud to rock bottom transitions. Hope this helps someone else have as much fun as I did last night. Also, don’t be a fool and forget to reset your drag after pulling out a snag…it will cost you a big fish.

Make sure to check your swivels and line, too. Pulled a swivel straight on a decent fish the other day. Didn’t check it after a big catfish and paid the price.

kidfish wrote:

I have to ask, are you guys pulling shap rap type baits or stick baits with a little weight with them? TIA

Most of the time I troll with shad style lures…I agree with Matt about banging bottom, too. Typically, I will go one sizer deeper and really jack hammer the bottom.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Abe Fischer wrote:</div>
The ‘eyes seemed to be relating to the bottom transitions, specifically, the mud to rock bottom transitions.

I think you’ll find that it is the current not the transition, what happens when you have rock to mud, is a hard seam. Mud settles in slack, rock stays clean in fast.

Nice fish!!

Thanks for the feedback! I knew there must have been more to it than “See rock, fish rock”.

Thanks guys. Gonna try some next weekend on pool 11.

I was able to skip work today and get out. I couldn’t get anything going on wingdams but was able to troll up 6-7 decent fish on shoreline rocks and current seams. Planning to try again tomorrow but much earlier. Wasn’t out till 930 today.

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I’ll be out early….launching between 6 and 7. Cooler weather and clouds should make for a good bite.

The wing dam bite has been tough so far. Not sure why.

I’ll be in a root beer colored Reata with a talon.

For the record, I’m color blind and that’s the color my wife says the boat is.

Same thing going for me today. Caught almost all fish on 9ft current seams pulling flicker shad. Got about 8 fish today – left at 1. I’ll be out again tomorrow with the wife and dog – plan on doing a little swimming. 🙂

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Saw you out here there this morning Jason. You were sitting on a dam as we were heading south.

Morning started well and then the bite slowed. Fished from 6 til 11. Most fish trolling but grabbed a couple off wing dams.

This might be the first day I’ve caught more catfish than walleyes. They were on a tear. I had a couple damn near take the rod out of my hands hitting cranks.

Got out late yesterday. I was able to net this 29″ chunker for my brother-in-law. Trolling Tail Dancers in 7′.

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First time on this site and tomorrow morning I am fishing Pool 2 for the first time. My plan is to use the 494 South St Paul boat ramp and get there just after sun up. I am a total newbie. Looking for walleyes and catfish. I read some of the more up to date reports and it sounds like fish can be caught trolling crankbaits. I will also bring some fatheads and use them with a jig.

My biggest question is what should I be looking for as far as areas to fish? When I head out from the launch, should I go north or south? I just have a small boat with a 9.5HP motor, so I don’t want to go too far away from the boat landing. Any advise between now and early tomorrow morning would be greatly appreciated!

Jonathon Prior wrote:

First time on this site and tomorrow morning I am fishing Pool 2 for the first time. My plan is to use the 494 South St Paul boat ramp and get there just after sun up. I am a total newbie. Looking for walleyes and catfish. I read some of the more up to date reports and it sounds like fish can be caught trolling crankbaits. I will also bring some fatheads and use them with a jig.

My biggest question is what should I be looking for as far as areas to fish? When I head out from the launch, should I go north or south? I just have a small boat with a 9.5HP motor, so I don’t want to go too far away from the boat landing. Any advise between now and early tomorrow morning would be greatly appreciated!

Right now look for more current. If you find current seams the fish will be on them. There is a ton of fishable water from 494 to the airport. Shorelines on both sides are trollable. I’d look for 6 to 10 feet and troll. If you hook up with a couple fish in an area don’t be afraid to use those minnows and drift back over those spots or stop and pitch the crank.

That’s a beast Abe!

Wouldn’t hurt to have crawlers with too.

Matt, were those channels beat up? We caught a bunch on Saturday and it was obvious that the spawn was under way. We were lake fishing though, just curious if that was the case on P2 also.

Cody Meyers wrote:

Matt, were those channels beat up? We caught a bunch on Saturday and it was obvious that the spawn was under way. We were lake fishing though, just curious if that was the case on P2 also.

Some where but I don’t usually even bring them in the boat….usually pop them loose with a pliers before they slime up more than my line.

Based upon the areas I caught them and the aggressiveness I would assume it’s spawn time.

Good morning from 6 til 9am. Spent most of the time trying some new spots and that produced a handful of decent fish. Found most fish on dams casting cranks…heavy current was key given the low water. Also grabbed some fish trolling shorelines.

Water dirtied up a bit with the rain Sunday but that didn’t seem to stop the fish. The kitties were still on a tear but was able to boat more walleyes overall. Decent overall size with a couple fish in the mid-20’s.

Those of us stuck at work salute you

SR

Took a day off from work yesterday to get on the big river. I arrived to the launch and noticed a lot of chocolate colored water and small debris. Fished wing dams and trolled finding 10 walleye and one sauger. Clown seemed to be the hot color for the day and a crawler produced the biggest fish at 26”. I noticed a strong absence of rough fish hitting my crawlers which made me think the bite was off a little due to the dirtier water and increased flow. Only one channel cat boated and no sheepshead.

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Well, I got out the other day and landed a nice Kitty. She completely blind-sided me while trolling and almost yanked the rod out of my hand. Nabbed a few Walleye as well, but the bite was pretty slow.

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Pool 2 kicked my butt this weekemd. Was out 4 times from Thursday to Saturday. Tried a few trolling runs, wing dams and other shoreline structure. Could not find a fish. Anchored up for a bit trying to find cats and caught a small flatty. Guess I’ve been gone from the area for too long.
DT

I have been out a fair amount lately (and getting reports from my buddy when he is solo), and it’s been a pretty good bite for me. I don’t know what happened, but I made it out for a short trip early and it was a Dead Sea in the normal spots that have been producing around 494. Hit up a few different spots, but nothing. I did see a pile of fish on up by the dam on the normal seams and pulled a few out Saturday, but not nearly enough for what you could see on the SI. Hard to say how many were walleyes, but what I caught was. Must be time to change it up on the south end.