Yup, upstream of the sunken barge was locked up at noon today. There was a fair amount of skim ice by the landing. One boat was slowly working its way upstream. Another, slowly downstream. Fair amount of open water in downtown St. Paul.
Sunny, 4@ F and a SW wind Saturday is good!
If you see me say hi. We are in route
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We will be down there today too. Swing over and say hi if you see us. It’ll be 3 dudes in a white Alumacraft tiller.
We will be down there today too. Swing over and say hi if you see us. It’ll be 3 dudes in a white Alumacraft tiller.
Pretty sure I seen you if you were up toward pigs eye. The woman boated a handful of decent walleye but I pulled the skunk. I’ll be back tomorrow at 7ish. No lady friend tomorrow. And nice to meet a member here, Chris. I had to tie off to shore to swap trolling motor remote batteries. He came and asked if I needed help. It’s great to meet nice guys like that. Hope tomorrow will produce a few more fish. I re did all my set ups when I got home
Wow. Full parking lot yesterday. River was nice but the bite was very slow for us. River is still froze over up river. Open down river to atleast River lake. Didn’t find much for fish down there. Guessing they have done there natural migration up river getting closer to spawning areas.
Hidden Falls ramp on 2/13/23
Approximately a 30 yard ice shelf
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The river was open at the Hidden Falls ramp this AM but the ramp itself is iced up.
The river downstream of the swing bridge by the airport was open. The rain must have cleared it, it was still locked up Monday afternoon.
Fishing has been somewhat slow for my boat.
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Thanks for the ramp updates Jim. Looks like Hidden falls need a good shovel crew to hit it.
Hidden Falls 02/16/23
Ramp is driveable as is. About 5 inch drop from ice to concrete. Could be improved with a little spud bar work.
If you have a heavy rig, I would agree with Jim. Thanks for the clarification.I have a light 14 foot aluminum and AWD, so it works for me.
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The snow was frozen solid. I wouldn’t attempt backing down the ramp. I think it would take a lot of work to clear the ramp. Needs a couple of warm, sunny days.
4-5 bags of water softner salt pellets will speed that up!
-J.
Pic axe and sledge hammer make short work of the shore ice.
I again will be out all weekend but this time with my son. I’m all game to help clear a launch. I have all chain saws, spud bars hammers and the hole 9. Throw a wave if you see us out
How was the bite on Saturday? I’m planning to fish this afternoon.
Yesterday was better then this morning. We just left. A couple bigger sauger. A couple mid 20s walleye and a handful of big Buffalo
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We went down to the dog park to pay our respects at Billy’s Bench, and do a little walking before winter returns. From there we could see up to the airport and all the way down to the rip rap. The whole river looks open right now, some shore ice and a few floaters but it’s open as far as I could see. Boats all over the place, Imhope somebody caught something.
3 of us had a good afternoon/evening. Biggest was 26.5”. Bite died for us about 6:00 and we stopped fishing about 6:30. Temp dropped fast, had some ice on the boat floor.
3 of us had a good afternoon/evening. Biggest was 26.5”. Bite died for us about 6:00 and we stopped fishing about 6:30. Temp dropped fast, had some ice on the boat floor.
Awesome, I’m a newbie to this part of the river. I’m hoping to get out and get the kid on a few bigger walleye, I think I was dragging a little bit fast. I need to learn to slow it down a bit in thos colder water
We were going 0.3-0.5 mph upstream and a little faster than the current downstream, so about 0.9 mph. I constantly watch my speed. We caught fish going both ways yesterday. 1/4 oz jig, gets it a little further from the boat, with a 3.25” fire ice white (white with silver flake) Pulse-R was the ticket yesterday. 10 lb braid.
One of the guys brought fatheads and he did get some on those.
Good to see you out there yesterday Jim.
My fishing has been slow the last few weeks. Average day has been 6 fish. Just enough to keep me going back looking for them. Every trip the fish have come on a different spot or presentation. Been fun searching out new bites but it’s not always a fast process.
Did finely jump on a old spot end of the day yesterday and was quickly reminded why these spots are good. Nice healthy 29″ that made it to the boat.
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Nice fish Mike! 
That fish will keep me coming back. Beautiful fish Mike.
Awesome fish Mike!
We were going 0.3-0.5 mph upstream and a little faster than the current downstream, so about 0.9 mph. I constantly watch my speed. We caught fish going both ways yesterday. 1/4 oz jig, gets it a little further from the boat, with a 3.25” fire ice white (white with silver flake) Pulse-R was the ticket yesterday. 10 lb braid.
One of the guys brought fatheads and he did get some on those.
.
Not sure if you were but I’d suggest leaders this time of year. Water is clear and they can be line shy. When moving that slow or using live bait I always run a leader and there have been specific times it matters.
Nice fish Mike!
X2, a dandy
Water is clear and they can be line shy. When moving that slow or using live bait I always run a leader and there have been specific times it matters.
must not have been yesterday that mattered, using as high of a vis line as possible direct tied to a jig in 4’+ clarity.
This afternoon/evening fishing report. It’s very windy out.
Hey Mike, I’m still fairly new to pool 2. I’m thinking about heading down there Sunday but I’m assuming the launch will be locked up after the temperatures Friday and Saturday correct? I know it’s hard to know but I’m trying to avoid driving down there if there’s only a small chance I could get the boat in. What are your thoughts?
Got a feeling it will be froze but don’t know for sure. If 2 is froze 4 will be open.
Is anyone going out fishing today in this gorgeous weather? HAHA. Long time reader, first time writer! Just wanted to give a little shoutout to you all..I learn a lot from reading these post! Awesome information! Thank you all! Wish I lived closer so I could fish it more!
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