Pool 2 Report (2021)

Sneaky Brett is hiding out. Smart guy!

I was worried about that barge first thing this morning blowing out Brets spot. Good thing it was empty and going up river. He did catch that fish pretty quick after that.

where he’s at now makes me glad to have a jon boat.

i think he lost a little paint on the yarcraft

JasonP wrote:

where he’s at now

Looks like Black Dog up in the Mn.

-J.

Dang this is entertaining. I’ve noticed everyone is hunkering down on one or two spots and not moving much. Are they concerned about losing a good spot, or do you think they’re trying to avoid the downtime of driving?

Seems like us locals don’t spend too much time on a single spot unless we’re catching fish.

I’m also quite uninformed when it comes to tourney tactics.

Good to see the “Perfect” net has not been invented yet! I’m not the only one still fighting crank hooks in a net!

-J.

if you want to watch a single angler instead of the youtube feed you can go here and select the angler.

Here is a bit of info you might enjoy. During practice to they do live interviews with the anglers as well. Not sure if this link will work but if you go onto the youtube site and find h2h day 3 practice, around the 26 minute mark Dale Helgeson is discussing what he does during the 30 day off limit period for research, you guys have contributed a lot of info in the past as he mentions the in depth outdoors website as one that he utilized a lot.

Thought you might like to hear it.

“Dang this is entertaining. I’ve noticed everyone is hunkering down on one or two spots and not moving much. Are they concerned about losing a good spot, or do you think they’re trying to avoid the downtime of driving?
Seems like us locals don’t spend too much time on a single spot unless we’re catching fish.

I’m also quite uninformed when it comes to tourney tactics”

Interesting as the interview with Brett King just before Dale’s in the same video mentions not hunkering down on this river and moving constantly. I think they are changing strategy and adjusting as the bite is slow, grind it out in one spot and wait for the bite window to happen, basically have enough confidence in one spot to sit there and wait for 1 to 3 bites for the entire day, versus moving around and potentially missing that window in one of their key spots.

I’m guessing after the cut today we might see more run and gun style. As of today (with 32 boats) every move is a gamble because someone is probably fishing the spot you want to go to. Those anglers that know they made the cut don’t need to do anything right now. Seeded matches start tomorrow.

Interesting to see these guys get so excited about a larger size walleye. Must be a product of pool 2 that until they get close to the 28″ mark or larger its just another fish. Then again I. not fishing for 50k.

Mike W wrote:

Interesting to see these guys get so excited about a larger size walleye. Must be a product of pool 2 that until they get close to the 28″ mark or larger its just another fish. Then again I. not fishing for 50k.

I bet they feel the weight of the extra 50k on the line, but I’ll keep you posted on whether or not my excitement for sub 28″ walleyes decreases throughout the next few years. Should be a pretty decent experiment since I started fishing the river less than a year ago.

My first report back will be during the Hog Haul award ceremony as I’m accepting this year’s first place trophy.

I ran the boat down to the river on Sunday from 10am-3pm. I have not been down there for a few weeks because of the water conditions. I did catch a couple mid 20’s but was mostly running live bait. I did not know these guys were limited to no live bait.

Man, of all years this was the worst one I can remember for a mid July bite. If we had some water running this would be a whole different tournament.

I talked to Corey Heiser on Sunday when I was pulling off the water. He seemed like a super nice guy. I was hoping to see him make it into tomorrow but no such luck. Marianne is wasting too much time back there. I am sure she figured that out by now.

Its been a lot of fun watching this. I am sure you all think the same as me. They found some really nice areas but I am surprised to not see them fishing a couple other spots.. Really surprised!! We have rain coming in tomorrow. That should get the fish turned back in the right direction. It will open up the bite windows for sure. I would expect to see some better #’s by Thursday.

Mike Otis wrote:

Dang this is entertaining. I’ve noticed everyone is hunkering down on one or two spots and not moving much. Are they concerned about losing a good spot, or do you think they’re trying to avoid the downtime of driving?

Seems like us locals don’t spend too much time on a single spot unless we’re catching fish.

I’m also quite uninformed when it comes to tourney tactics.

Mike, they are waiting on a window to open. There are fish on those spots but they move up and off them quick. Just one good bite window will toss out 2-3 fish and that is all they are waiting for. Their boats are so damn fast that they do not lose much time driving. I think Jason is 100% right. There will be more run/gun with only 8 on the water.

I’m looking forward to see what Brett does tomorrow. I don’t know if he’s gonna stay up in that skinny water – current or no current. He almost got his 100k boat wedged between cement pilings at the power plant. He’s nutz!

Yes that was entertaining He was sure going thru the blade baits at a fast pace at one spot. I was surprised at the 8 people with 0.0 for 2 days. A 2 lb fish at this time of year would be 19 inches??

And then Jarred jumps into the top 8 with a entire 15 seconds to end of fishing. Another fantastic river rat fishing the next 3 days.

Sure hope this lite rain increases the flow and turns on the fish for them.

Crazy contest. Leader is in first place with 3 fish caught. Think a lot of fisheries 3 fish would be 6 to 7 pounds. Not better than a 5# average. Sure hope these few larger fish make pool 2 interesting enough to keep these guys coming back.

I still have a open seat for Friday morning if someone wants to go watch these guys fish first hand.

McCormick is my pick to take this event. We will have to start a thread next season, it’s must see TV and getting better every year.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>JasonP wrote:</div>
where he’s at now

Looks like Black Dog up in the Mn.

-J.

That is what it looked like, but how is that considered pool 2? I’ve always thought P2 ended at the Mendota/55 bridge?? This has been driving me crazy, looking through maps and apps trying to figure out where in the he77 there is a bridge that looks like that, let alone with a culvert next to it on that pool!!!!

Funny story for you guys. I ran into Brett last Friday. I was headed out on a guide trip and he was packing up and ready to pull out. We chatted for a bit and he told me he hooked into a few decent cats in a spot that was pretty sketchy getting into. I thought heck I’ll give it a shot and see if we can’t find a couple of cats in there. It made sense since there was quite a bit of current at the spot he described. Well… let’s just say it was difficult to stay positioned where I wanted to and really too much work to be comfortable, so basically I just decided to leave without even wetting a line, and I now have a nice little remembrance token on my boat from kissing the pillar pretty hard on the way out. LOL

It makes me feel a little better seeing him struggle up in there too. I tried to maneuver up in there with my main motor and it was difficult to say the least.

and yeah you guys are on the right track to where he is…

LabDaddy1 wrote:

where in the he77 there is a bridge that looks like

That is the Cedar ave bridge.

-J.

Bret up the Mn. Marianne back in Hog lake. Joe on the islands near spring lake. Have seen guys on the train bridge at lilydale and walking bridge Accross from the refinery.

What other areas have you guys been recognizing?

Don’t think I’ve seen anyone from the confluence to the dam. Not sure if I’ve seen anyone on the airport wingdams either.

Looks like Jared is starting the morning on the dams just south of 494.

Finished my 2 day duties as a marshal with these anglers. I love this format and had a great time in the boat. All the anglers are really great people and willing to give you any advise to improve your fishing skills. The way the format is set up, I think this event was more exciting than the Mille Lacs one. Even though both of my anglers was struggling, I kept telling them that with 2 good fish they could be spending 3 more days in town. Yesterday we were fishing in the area that all the action was happening and within shouting distance Fluekiger (pun intended), Heiser, and Candle. During the last hour it looked like musical chairs the way they were dancing from one wing dam to another and back. With the skinny water this was a gamble cause someone else could move into your spot. This should change with only 8 people fishing now. Will be interesting to see how the rest of the week goes with the weather and water changes coming. Regarding the Minnesota, during the rules meeting it was determined that it is open water up to the first dam, were ever that is. All in all, a great experience. If you have any questions give me a shout. Sorry for the long post.

Thanks Wizard. Knowing pool 2 I think it would of been challenging to sit in the boat for 2 days and not want to share some info let alone not pick up a rod and fish.

I think Jarrad spent some time on the wing dams downriver of the railroad bridge and upriver of 494 yesterday too. I left a couple nice ones there on Monday night.

BTW, the gal and I went to Las Islas in So St Paul last week just above there. Nice patio, views of the river and really good, authentic Mexican with a focus on seafood. The mixed cerviche was the bomb!!!

Mike W wrote:

Thanks Wizard. Knowing pool 2 I think it would of been challenging to sit in the boat for 2 days and not want to share some info let alone not pick up a rod and fish.

I’m not as familiar as you are with the pool, but I do agree, I was biting my lip a couple of times. It is very difficult to sit there for 5 hours without a rod in hand. I told my fishing partner that I know how he feels to sit all day in the boat and not catch a fish . The airport dams were filled with anglers at the start yesterday but everyone didn’t sit in one spot for too long.

Jon Jordan wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>LabDaddy1 wrote:</div>
where in the he77 there is a bridge that looks like

That is the Cedar ave bridge.

-J.

Lab, I got a kick out of your question. I dont know if you knew it but you answered your question in your question.. HAHA.. Hwy 77 bridge.

They voted to implement dinkfest. no more 2# min. I thought that would change it up more but the only one trolling is Brett.

Is there any footage of Marianne getting that big boat into hog lake?

I am back there a month or so ago with the Reata. It was sketchy then and it’s close to a foot lower.

Matt Moen wrote:

Is there any footage of Marianne getting that big boat into hog lake?

I’ll assume she ran in there though Pigs Eye. Stay on plane and pucker up!

-J.

Looks like it time to go cat fishing!

-J.