Pool 2 Report (2022)

Has that been increasing over the last 3-4 weeks? That’s the last time I was there and there weren’t loads of shad yet, but they were pretty small as you say.

Cody Meyers wrote:

Has that been increasing over the last 3-4 weeks? That’s the last time I was there and there weren’t loads of shad yet, but they were pretty small as you say.

I’ve found piles every trip since the last week of August. I thought they would get bigger by now, but they sure aren’t. A tad bigger down by Prescott, but for the most part, all getting gilled in the cast net they are so small. It makes for a real PITA removing them. My boat and clothes and gear, covered in scales and finding rogue shad in every crack and crevice days later from having to aggressively shake them out of the net. Always fun finding a week old dead shad in your cup holder.

suzuki wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>3Rivers wrote:</div>
All those Shad are up in the Croix. Most I’ve seen in 15 years out there. It just blows my mind every trip. Literally everywhere. They are also only 2-3″

Are the silvers up there with them in any force?

Not seeing any on my night trips, but I bet they are going nuts during the daytime. The seagulls are loving life too.

I took a dad from my daughter’s soccer team out saturday between 2-6. Tough bite overall, only landed 3 eyes in that time. Thankfully one of them was the biggest one i’ve caught out there this year at 26.75″. had another nice 20″er and another dink. It’s been interesting fishing sideways the last few times i’ve been out. We need more flow.

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Matt Moen wrote:

Lotta small minnows in the system but the big shad seem sparse compared to the last couple years. I wonder if it’s cyclical?

Thats what I would assume. There was a big hatch of shiners this year and that might by cyclical as well. We did have a couple walleyes cough up some big shad over the last couple week (5 inch shad). So they are finding them but I am not seeing the big balls and schools like we have seen the last few years.

buschman wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Matt Moen wrote:</div>
Lotta small minnows in the system but the big shad seem sparse compared to the last couple years. I wonder if it’s cyclical?

Thats what I would assume. There was a big hatch of shiners this year and that might by cyclical as well. We did have a couple walleyes cough up some big shad over the last couple week (5 inch shad). So they are finding them but I am not seeing the big balls and schools like we have seen the last few years.

So do you think that will make shad style baits really effective during a “low bait” period or would they be more interested in different patterns?

Thats what I would assume. There was a big hatch of shiners this year and that might by cyclical as well. We did have a couple walleyes cough up some big shad over the last couple week (5 inch shad). So they are finding them but I am not seeing the big balls and schools like we have seen the last few years.

So do you think that will make shad style baits really effective during a “low bait” period or would they be more interested in different patterns?
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That’s a good question. I’ve only been fishing the fall bite for a few seasons and there have been tons of big shiners in the system. Last fall was a tough bite for most people I think. Didn’t seem to matter what you used…super low flow, really high summer water temps, and lots of bait seemed to impact the bite. The couple falls preceding they were hitting shad style cranks til freeze up.

Shad cranks haven’t been as effective as fatheads for me the last couple trips. That would tell me they might be more keyed on smaller minnows. There are guys on here with a lot more experience than me that may have opinions.

@papenj1 mentioned a big shad die off back in pigs eye this summer with an algae bloom. Maybe that is contributing to the lack of bait. I was also ice fishing pool 2 backwaters this spring and when it thawed there was a lot of winter kill. Thousands of dead shad in a couple spots along with a lot of dead panfish. Not sure how that affects this falls shad run?

I don’t think the lower year class of shad will change how to target fish. There is still a good amount of shad in that water along with everything else they eat.

Shad winter kill is very common. I always believed that conditions like we have right now with a fast cool down in the fall starts the shad kill. 58 degree area is a good indicator. Usually at this time the shallow areas holding bait gets cool at night and the main channel will be 5-8 degrees warmer on a big cold front. The shad usually migrate out of the shallow areas to the main channel when this happens. If not before and will have to stay there in this low water.

Maybe we just have not seen that yet?? That’s why I was curious what you guys have been seeing.

Main channel was 55 yesterday and the backwaters were 45 and started to see more bait yesterday in the main channel.

Walleyes were snapping pretty good yesterday. Trolling, casting cranks and jig and minnow all produced. Still a lot of small fish but got a few over 20”. Should get even better as it cools down.

Matt Moen wrote:

Main channel was 55 yesterday and the backwaters were 45 and started to see more bait yesterday in the main channel.

Walleyes were snapping pretty good yesterday. Trolling, casting cranks and jig and minnow all produced. Still a lot of small fish but got a few over 20”. Should get even better as it cools down.

Brrrrrr……wind man, lotta wind! Has the flow ticked up at all?

Good work getting out in that wind yesterday Matt!! I thought about it but ended up staying home and tucking my tail.

We should dip down below 50 by tomorrow. She is chilly out there!! Time to pull the plastics out and slow things down soon.

Matt, were the walleyes still fairly shallow, < 8’ where there is a little more flow or have they moved deeper in the same areas?
I’m fishing Wednesday.

Jim wrote:

Matt, were the <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleyes still fairly shallow, < 8’ where there is a little more flow or have they moved deeper in the same areas?
I’m fishing Wednesday.

Found them all over to be honest. Caught a few as shallow as 3’ and some as deep as 16’ or so. If you are fishing during the day I’d be looking for the heaviest current areas and not be as worried about the depth.

I don’t think you’ll have any problem finding them. I caught fish from well south of lions up to the airport.

We had good action this afternoon but no walleyes over 18”. Jig/minnow and blade baits worked best.
We caught some big white bass, the biggest 18”!
Water was 49 F.

Ok day for me. When the south wind really picked up it seemed to shut the fish down a bit. Hate a south wind with low current.

Fish don’t quite seem to be putting the feed bag on yet. Water at 49 still so we need more of a cool down.

Biggest for me today was 29.5”…too bad it was this guy:

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Matt Moen wrote:

Ok day for me. When the south wind really picked up it seemed to shut the fish down a bit. Hate a south wind with low current.

Fish don’t quite seem to be putting the feed bag on yet. Water at 49 still so we need more of a cool down.

Biggest for me today was 29.5”…too bad it was this guy:

I didn’t even make it out of the boat ramp and somebody showed me this picture on their cell phone today…. Talk about a drum.

They seemed to be on a tear today. I managed a PB sauger today at 21”.

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Heck of a Sheephead! I like those things, they pull like a truck.

Cody Meyers wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Matt Moen wrote:</div>
Ok day for me. When the south wind really picked up it seemed to shut the fish down a bit. Hate a south wind with low current.

Fish don’t quite seem to be putting the feed bag on yet. Water at 49 still so we need more of a cool down.

Biggest for me today was 29.5”…too bad it was this guy:

I didn’t even make it out of the boat ramp and somebody showed me this picture on their cell phone today…. Talk about a drum.

They seemed to be on a tear today. I managed a PB sauger today at 21”.

Nice fish. You can tell they haven’t really started to eat yet. In a month that sauger will be the same length but have the girth of a football. It’s really fun when you find the aggressive saugers.

Cody Meyers wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Matt Moen wrote:</div>
Ok day for me. When the south wind really picked up it seemed to shut the fish down a bit. Hate a south wind with low current.

Fish don’t quite seem to be putting the feed bag on yet. Water at 49 still so we need more of a cool down.

Biggest for me today was 29.5”…too bad it was this guy:

I didn’t even make it out of the boat ramp and somebody showed me this picture on their cell phone today…. Talk about a drum.

They seemed to be on a tear today. I managed a PB sauger today at 21”.

Guilty, that was me showing off Matt’s sheepie at the ramp. Nice to meet you!!!

Walleye, sauger, smallies and white bass all going good.

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Nice to meet you Dave. I gotta start asking if people are on here when I meet them.

I was out there on Friday and the fish seem to be changing their attitude. We had a few coughing up shad in the boat. We caught fish on everything.. Swim baits, ripping raps and #6-7 shad raps. I had live bait with but they did not want to eat live bait like they have been but were inhaling the swimbaits and hard baits.. I was happy to see that!!

Biggest was 28 inches with a pile of 20-22’s Water was 49.5 when we were there and put on some miles. We found them in 4-18 fow so no specific depth.

buschman wrote:

I was out there on Friday and the fish seem to be changing their attitude. We had a few coughing up shad in the boat. We caught fish on everything.. Swim baits, ripping raps and #6-7 shad raps. I had live bait with but they did not want to eat live bait like they have been but were inhaling the swimbaits and hard baits.. I was happy to see that!!

Biggest was 28 inches with a pile of 20-22’s Water was 49.5 when we were there and put on some miles. We found them in 4-18 fow so no specific depth.

Saturday day time bite was almost exclusively live bait. Funny how it can change or in a specific area they are keyed on a certain presentation.

I’ve been using the livescope recently. First time I’ve really been using it on open water. It tells you the fishes disposition pretty quickly. You throw a crank and you’ll see chasers immediately and know they are aggressive. Move to another spot and you can watch them sniff at live bait and never commit. It’s a bit tough to tell the different species but I’m finding the walleyes are “peakers”. You can see them til they come off the bottom or out of the rocks on a dam. If the fish are more than a foot off the bottom it’s likely trash fish.

I was out Saturday as well. We caught them on drop shot w live bait and hair jigs, but primarily crankbaits. The bite was slow in the morning and got a little better as a day went on.

We were checking things out on livescope as well. It was interesting to see fish come up and stare at your presentation and swim off. I felt like reaction bites were our best action.

We saw fish schooling up in deeper pockets but did not have any success catching any.

Scott S. wrote:

I was out Saturday as well. We caught them on drop shot w live bait and hair jigs, but primarily crankbaits. The bite was slow in the morning and got a little better as a day went on.

We were checking things out on livescope as well. It was interesting to see fish come up and stare at your presentation and swim off. I felt like reaction bites were our best action.

We saw fish schooling up in deeper pockets but did not have any success catching any.

I think the fish in the deeper pockets were sheepshead. I fished a couple deep wing dam edges that had produced well the last few weekends. Marked lots of fish on them but only pulled in sheepies.

Most of my fish were in less than 10’ this weekend.

We caught sheep everywhere we went on Saturday. I didn’t have livescope intel, but we would mark fish and then catCh drum.

On the river before sunrise today. Water temp was 52-53, brisk southerly wind. I’m really getting sick of fighting the wind. There’s no flow to anchor against, and the wind blows the wrong direction. How do you anchor up on a wingdam with these conditions? Very frustrating.

Found half a dozen Walleyes (nothing big) with plastics. Also caught a 30 inch Northern in the dark when I first got out there. I think that’s only the 3rd or 4th Northern I’ve ever caught on Pool 2. Also caught a personal best White Bass. 19 inches and as thick as a phone book.

SR

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Steve Root wrote:

On the river before sunrise today. Water temp was 52-53, brisk southerly wind. I’m really getting sick of fighting the wind. There’s no flow to anchor against, and the wind blows the wrong direction. How do you anchor up on a wingdam with these conditions? Very frustrating.

Found half a dozen Walleyes (nothing big) with plastics. Also caught a 30 inch Northern in the dark when I first got out there. I think that’s only the 3rd or 4th Northern I’ve ever caught on Pool 2. Also caught a personal best White Bass. 19 inches and as thick as a phone book.

SR

The wind has been brutal…I guess I’ll take a south wind this late in the year but it makes fishing tough. Especially pitching light jigs.

Matt Moen wrote:

Biggest for me today was 29.5”…too bad it was this guy:

Matt you should really be blurring out the background when you catch those trophy caliber fish!

Fished Thursday afternoon and this AM. Good walleye action on jig/minnow and a couple on blade baits and trolling cranks. Thursday at sunset had a 20” and 21” otherwise they were 18” and under, so no Pool 2 piggies. They thumped the jig.

Anyone fishing the Ford Dam?