Pool 2 Report (2021)

Jigs are one thing but if you are using a 2×4 for your rod it doesn’t matter. So, in addition to the right jig you need to have the right rod where you can feel every tick as you drag the bait back. I use a G Loomis GLX 6’3″ Mag Light XF with braid….you can feel a minnows heart beat with that setup.

I’m with Beads….making a mental map of the spot you are fishing works great. If you have the right equipment you can tell where the holes and snags are. Same on wing dams…you can feel the pockets and work a bait in and out of them.

I agree with Matt, right equipment is needed. But with braid you can use any $50+ rod and have enough to feel what’s going on.

Each person varies …

You guys are getting me excited about pitching jigs on pool 2 again. Love pitching jigs to catch fish. It can be as simple as just pitching a jig out there but to be good at it there is so much more. Some of the details of jig pitching can be tough to even explain. I’ll throw a jig on a spot over and over again changing up a detail each time all in a effort to get the right feel of that jig going through the right spot. Good luck teaching that to someone other than telling them to spend a ton of time pitching jigs.

Here is one thing I’ve learned over the years pitching jigs on pool 2. This time of year there are walleyes on every single wingdam as long as there is some rock. Knowing that you can focus on coaxing those fish to bite rather than wondering if you are on the right dam.

Thanks. Might pick some up.

I’ve got an extra spot in my boat for Saturday’s hog haul if anyone is interested. Send me a PM if you are.

Hay Mike Otis new to in Depth Outdoors, interested in fishing with you in the Hogs haul tournament but not sure how to send you a PM let me know if the spot in your boat is still available

-Thanks Otto

Hey Otto, I’ve got a full boat now. Good luck out there!

Deuces wrote:

Nothing will lose more jigs than an inattentive fisherman. Become one with your lure and draw yourself a mental roadmap of your location you’re fishing.

Mr Beads nailed it. I have fished with guys that can lose jigs in a bathtub. Weight is the next most important thing. 4 out of 5 times it is because the jig is too heavy also. Especially in low flow.

buschman wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Mr.Beads wrote:</div>
Nothing will lose more jigs than an inattentive fisherman. Become one with your lure and draw yourself a mental roadmap of your location you’re fishing.

Mr Beads nailed it. I have fished with guys that can lose jigs in a bathtub. Weight is the next most important thing. 4 out of 5 times it is because the jig is too heavy also. Especially in low flow.

No better feeling than a big walleye smacking a super light jig being held in the current. We’ve been going all the way down to 1/16th this summer a few times.

a beaver wanted to fight me last night after pulling in walleye after walleye after walleye… The eddie on pool 2 has been a bit out of control lately. Be safe fishing out there

buschman wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Mr.Beads wrote:</div>
Nothing will lose more jigs than an inattentive fisherman. Become one with your lure and draw yourself a mental roadmap of your location you’re fishing.

Mr Beads nailed it. I have fished with guys that can lose jigs in a bathtub. Weight is the next most important thing. 4 out of 5 times it is because the jig is too heavy also. Especially in low flow.

I would say the opposite can happen to. To light of jig causes issues especially in current. With to light of jig you don’t know where it’s at until it’s hung up in the dam. Then there are some applications where I like a heavier jig in low flow. I like to know exactly when that jig thunks bottom then pick it up move it a few feet and thunk bottom again.

Evan_peterson12 wrote:

a beaver wanted to fight me last night after pulling in <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye after <em class=”ido-tag-em”>walleye after walleye… The eddie on pool 2 has been a bit out of control lately. Be safe fishing out there

U need to fight that beaver bro

New guys you can offset a heavier jig with a plastic that has more lift in current, say a bfnt paddle compared to a ringworm. It’s a sweet feeling once you find that right combo of jig style, weight, and plastic size/tail. You can feel it glide once that line gets taunt and you know it’s only a matter of time until whack….

Did the hawg haul post get deleted I was looking forward to the results? Walleye fishing been a little slow for me but been managing a few each trip got a nice flathead the other day makes a good fight on a walleye rod.

Regarding braid on a jigging rod I tried it for a few years and found out my hooking percent was less with braid so I switched them all back to mono/ I never had a issue detecting bites with mono and rods in the 100$ price range. But like others say kind of a personal preference.

Omg Omg! I might have hit the delete button when i was un pinning the thread.

Hope I can un do that f-up!

-J.

Yuh-oh!! Is there an “undo” button for that Jon?? That’s a bummer!!

Hey all,

I am thinking of taking my boat out on Spring Lake. Any suggestions on what stretch to fish? I see on a map that this a very large body of water. I am a very inexperienced boater so below lock and dam at Hastings is about the extent of my river traveling.

Spring Lake has a lot of shallow water. Be very careful if you are boating around outside of the channel marker buoys. I would think that there are much more friendly stretches of river to get your feet wet on (pardon the pun). Lots of folks, myself included, start on the upper end of the pool from Ford Dam down to around the airport. There aren’t wing dams here, and right now there is very little current and not much for navigational hazards. If you don’t have much experience, I’d recommend starting there until you get comfortable with the navigation a bit.

Evan_peterson12 wrote:

Hey all,

I am thinking of taking my boat out on Spring Lake. Any suggestions on what stretch to fish? I see on a map that this a very large body of water. I am a very inexperienced boater so below lock and dam at Hastings is about the extent of my river traveling.

I launched a spring lake last week. There is good fishing at the top and bottom of the lake for all species. Like Cody said you’ll want to take your time and use “explorer mode” while motoring. There are a lot of wood and rock hazards, as well as just a lot of really shallow water.

You can also launch at Nininger’s that is a couple miles south of spring lake and I also heard that the park re-opened bud’s landing but you need a park pass to launch there. I haven’t been to bud’s it might be more of a kayak launch.

jp

Cody Meyers wrote:

Spring Lake has a lot of shallow water. Be very careful if you are boating around outside of the channel marker buoys. I would think that there are much more friendly stretches of river to get your feet wet on (pardon the pun). Lots of folks, myself included, start on the upper end of the pool from Ford Dam down to around the airport. There aren’t wing dams here, and right now there is very little current and not much for navigational hazards. If you don’t have much experience, I’d recommend starting there until you get comfortable with the navigation a bit.

I fished upper pool 2 below the dam to the bridge today with nothing more than a bite after 6 hours pitching plastics, minnows, and crawlers. I was even unable to find any good sunfish willing to bite or crappies.

From shore at night I can limit out on walleyes in half the time most nights.

I’ve always been a river guy this is my first year with a boat.

I decided against going through the lock today.

JasonP wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Evan_peterson12 wrote:</div>
Hey all,

I am thinking of taking my boat out on Spring Lake. Any suggestions on what stretch to fish? I see on a map that this a very large body of water. I am a very inexperienced boater so below lock and dam at Hastings is about the extent of my river traveling.

I launched a spring lake last week. There is good fishing at the top and bottom of the lake for all species. Like Cody said you’ll want to take your time and use “explorer mode” while motoring. There are a lot of wood and rock hazards, as well as just a lot of really shallow water.

You can also launch at Nininger’s that is a couple miles south of spring lake and I also heard that the park re-opened bud’s landing but you need a park pass to launch there. I haven’t been to bud’s it might be more of a kayak launch.

jp

There is a launch? I am comfortable with taking it slow through the shallows. I thought possibly Rebecca Lake crossed into the upper portion (above the dam) but wasn’t sure.

Happy to be on the water and certainly appreciate the advice.

I’m confused by your limit statement Evan. Is that 6 fish?

@evanpeterson12

four, with only one over 20″ so I was actually saying three. The spot I fish is very dependent on the river level at least that’s how my summer went. I understand the river changes daily.

Deuces wrote:

I’m confused by your limit statement Evan. Is that 6 fish?

@evanpeterson12

Edit: reminds me what is the sauger limit there? I’ve caught a few only kept one at 18″ I was told was legal. In my ancient history I remember fishing somewhere without a sauger limit but seeing as they are basically walleyes I hardly believe that to be the case?

Giving you the benefit of the doubt that you realize all of pool 2 is catch and release only for walleye/sauger and bass. Your statements are confusing but I’ll assume you’re talking pool 3 when you’re taking a limit from shore?

dirtywater wrote:

Giving you the benefit of the doubt that you realize all of pool 2 is catch and release only for walleye/sauger and bass. Your statements are confusing but I’ll assume you’re talking pool 3 when you’re taking a limit from shore?

yes sorry if these posts are not in the right forum. All fish I have harvested as far as walleye/sauger go have been from pool 3 in hastings below the dam.

Evan_peterson12 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Dirty Water wrote:</div>
Giving you the benefit of the doubt that you realize all of pool 2 is catch and release only for walleye/sauger and bass. Your statements are confusing but I’ll assume you’re talking pool 3 when you’re taking a limit from shore?

yes sorry if these posts are not in the right forum. All fish I have harvested as far as walleye/sauger go have been from pool 3 in hastings below the dam.

All good – and nice work on the p3 fish!

Out a couple nights ago….from about 4 til 7. Scratched out a handful of decent walleyes on dams and current seams. Trolling and crank bite wasn’t there. With 68 degree water temp they still wanted crawlers.

A lot of rod bending action with sheepies, kitties and a few white bass so a fun few hours.

I was out last Wednesday, and didn’t do well at all. Boat full of rookies, trying some newish areas, so don’t judge the bite by my report.

I tried the Rum River on Friday night, out of the Cambridge launch. Wooooofta, good thing I brought my muck boots, because I had to hop out and walk it through some stretches of really skinny water. Heck of an adventure though.

First time on the river for me since last December. Water temp was 67 degrees, level was good and the flow was very slow. I hit a lot of different spots, I threw jigs and crawlers and crank baits. I fished from the airport all the way down to Lion’s Levee. And I didn’t do much. A couple of feisty channel cats and that was it. It’s not news that I struggled to catch Walleyes, but I expected more than this. Everywhere I stopped there were Shad boiling up in big schools. There must be tons of food down there right now.

After a long summer chasing Bass, Trout, and pan fish with a fly rod it felt strange to hold a spinning rod.

SR

Back at it this afternoon. Water temp was 58 degrees. I saw fewer Shad breaking the surface than a week ago, however I did see a lot of smaller minnows along the rocks and things were chasing them around. Managed to find a few walleyes in the 22 inch range, and half a dozen Smallies including this one which was a solid 17 inches, the best I’ve ever caught on Pool 2. Who would have guessed that we would have a 75 degree day with sun and light winds in late October? A fun afternoon.

SR

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Nice fishing, Steve! I’m heading up nort’ to do a little grouse hunting this weekend but I plan on hitting P2 a couple times next week. I’ll report back next week.

Those are some nice size smallies! I’ve only gotten into shorts on P2, but caught a real bruiser on P3 this past spring.

nice work Steve!