Pool 2 Report (2021)

any boats been out in this wind? I casted out a 1/4 oz jig and moxie and it blew back and smacked me in the face!

I was out Monday. It was relatively quiet compared to the last few days. I didn’t do much; three “eater” sized Walleyes. Water temp was 40.8 degrees. But yea, what’s with all the wind? This is getting old.

SR

Steve Root wrote:

I was out Monday. It was relatively quiet compared to the last few days. I didn’t do much; three “eater” sized Walleyes. Water temp was 40.8 degrees. But yea, what’s with all the wind? This is getting old.

SR

I hear ya but at least our trees are hella sturdy and not coming down. Any luck in the shallows close to shore?

DaveB wrote:

any boats been out in this wind? I casted out a 1/4 oz jig and moxie and it blew back and smacked me in the face!

Lol! You know it’s bad when…

Evan_peterson12 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Steve Root wrote:</div>
I was out Monday. It was relatively quiet compared to the last few days. I didn’t do much; three “eater” sized Walleyes. Water temp was 40.8 degrees. But yea, what’s with all the wind? This is getting old.

SR

I hear ya but at least our trees are hella sturdy and not coming down. Any luck in the shallows close to shore?

.

I caught one in about 5 feet of water, an$ the other two where right on the shore.

Hmm steve to try pool 3 from shore or not to… I already know beyond a reasonable doubt that the Hastings police love me after one of them called a 14″ walleye a sauger……..

Edit: Background story, the cops rolled up on me as I caught a walleye and told me I could keep it when asking about the murder of a man named Kyle Hammilton.

https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/dead-body-found-after-early-morning-fire-at-hastings-boat-landing/89-07109e9a-7784-44be-aead-75ffe440006d

Hope they caught the mother effer… still don’t feel as safe as I should after being a block away fishing when this incident occurred.

Now my spots out the bag… whatever it’s sucked lately anyway

Was out last night til about 11pm…it was slow, slow, slow. Should’ve been a perfect night to hammer them but wasn’t meant to be.

Water temp was down to 35. Water was really clear but flow seemed ok on the spots we hit.

They’re probably snapping today because the weather sucks. Oh well, was a gorgeous evening to be out there.

I don’t stand a chance if Matt can’t find them! I’ve been enjoying the P4 bite, lots of saugers and some walleyes with nothing over 20”. A couple
days this week look good for fishing P2.

Jim wrote:

I don’t stand a chance if Matt can’t find them! I’ve been enjoying the P4 bite, lots of saugers and some walleyes with nothing over 20”. A couple
days this week look good for fishing P2.

Hah! It’s a been a grind out there since late June for me. Last fall and this spring were so good…bottom has kinda fallen out. The river can be a humbling place sometimes!

I was out last evening. It was gorgeous. Mid 40’s, light winds. Some good flow in spots and the clarity was a little better than it has been. I hit it hard. Pitching, dragging, jigs, stick baits. Tried all over the place. And I came up with a big old skunk. I saw Shad flopping around on the surface all over the place, especially floating down out of Pig’s Eye. I get the feeling there is a big die-off happening and the predators are all well fed.

Talked to a few guys at the access and nobody was reporting much success so it ain’t just us.

Sure was a nice night to be out.

SR

Steve, it was nice to meet you at the launch yesterday. I went south for a couple hours and had zero luck on wingdams with moxies, paddles, stick baits, etc. Finally moved north about 6pm and put a few in the boat. Jig weight was critical. Found a number of fish in the ‘armpit’ of wingdams. No tanks, but healthy fish. Beautiful night on the river!

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Definitely slow for me on Saturday. I could only fish 9am-2pm, our only luck came between 1-2pm and we were drifting jigs in 20 FOW.

I agree with Steve, seems like the die off is happening right now based on the amount of birds. We had to have seen 25-30 eagles sitting in the trees just south of the water treatment outlet. 6 on that single branch that sticks out of the water between the first and second wing dam. So cool.

Saturday was nice out Tues and Wed was no fun. Got 15 Sat biggest being 24 other days were slower probably due to how hard it was to control the boat. Hopefully the wind stays low that 20+ mph was tough. All our fish sat came between 15 and 20. Good luck.

Any recents? I’d be out there more, by shore or boat, but hunting, personal life and now my mind being fixated on early ice it ain’t happening. And hasn’t since I did well for a few days at that shore spot. Gotta think they are chowing out there right now… and probably about zero pressure from anglers besides the few die-hards…

LabDaddy1 wrote:

Any recents? I’d be out there more, by shore or boat, but hunting, personal life and now my mind being fixated on early ice it ain’t happening. And hasn’t since I did well for a few days at that shore spot. Gotta think they are chowing out there right now… and probably about zero pressure from anglers besides the few die-hards…

I was out running around the pike island area from shore and didn’t have any luck about a week ago. Only out for a couple hours though.

Been at my usual north metro shore haunts here and there. Once the water temp bottoms out it gets slow going. Meat becomes more preferred for most species and eyes definitely go nocturnal. Water gets clearer every year in winter. Just my observations.

Not a better time of year for smallies pics, their colors just absolutely pop in cold clear water.

Slow for us again tonite…handful on jig and minnow. Either this has been a tough fall or I’m just not that good of a fisherman .

Water temp was 37…very clear water but some decent flow in spots.

Great night to be out though. Probably the close to the 2021 open water season for me.

Health getting better matt?

I went out on P3 Saturday morning and picked up a few fish on sand, smaller fish. This was my first time out on the upper stretch of pool three.

I’m not going to get out this week, but I’ll likely be hitting P2 next week.

Two of us fished Pool 2 Tuesday and Friday afternoon until about 6:00. Caught a couple of 16” and some tiny ones. Had something big on Tuesday. Boats seemed to be moving around Friday looking for fish. There might be another window of warm weather so I might not be done yet, but it is time to get ready for ice fishing.

Been on pools 2,3,4 multiple times a week over the past month.In order of how good the fishing has been for me it goes pool 4,pool 3,pool 2.

I had been doing well for numbers on Pool 4 with fish to eat but nothing over 20”. Blade baits, jig/minnow and 3-ways with Berkeley Hit Sticks worked well. Last Wednesday it was dinkfest, only 3 keepers and 4 fish over 13”. A guy at the landing said his group did well using plastics and caught some eaters drifting downstream.

494 ramp is open again and good to go.

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Nice work Mike. Maybe I shouldn’t put my boat in storage tomorrow…
DT

Hot dam, was just thinking to myself earlier as it started to snow wish I was in a boat right now.

Hope you’re nailing em

Was back at it today. If you use the ramp bring sand or salt. Also please drain your trailer in the water. This means letting it drain for maybe a minute or two.

The bite was off a little again today.

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I like the case of Coors Light to keep you warm.

Safety beer incase we breakdown out there.

Looks like pool 2 might be coming to a close for 2021 this week. Guessing it’s going to lock up for a while after tomorrow. Giving it one more shot in the morning before afternoon fun moves in. Good luck to anyone else getting out.

Good luck Mike.