Pool 2 Report (2025)

Spawn is weird, alot of factors. I’ve caught some fatties that never spawned some years late april.

Hoping to get out this weekend

My son caught a 10.1 pounder April 19th and an 8 pounder April 23rd last year. Both were pre-spawn and both were well south of where most fish this time of year. Was very eye opening!

Pool 2 is almost like clockwork. As said, there are factors but the average spawn date for the walleyes lands 4/14-4/17. Give or take a week but this is generally the dates.

Once spawned the big females move FAST! They get out and head back to post spawn locations in 1-2 days.

Generally the only reason they will not spawn by 4/17 is in low water. They need the water up a little to access spawning areas that they use here. If the water is still at low level inside the banks they will hold tight and wait. This happened about 10 years ago and then again in 2021.

buschman wrote:

Pool 2 is almost like clockwork. As said, there are factors but the average spawn date for the walleyes lands 4/14-4/17. Give or take a week but this is generally the dates.

Once spawned the big females move FAST! They get out and head back to post spawn locations in 1-2 days.

Generally the only reason they will not spawn by 4/17 is in low water. They need the water up a little to access spawning areas that they use here. If the water is still at low level inside the banks they will hold tight and wait. This happened about 10 years ago and then again in 2021.

I’ve read the tracking study, though wonder if there isn’t more spawning going on south of the confluence than the study suggests. Any thoughts or insight on that?

BrianF wrote:

I’ve read the tracking study, though wonder if there isn’t more spawning going on south of the confluence than the study suggests. Any thoughts or insight on that?

People will challenge me on this but my answer is NO! I believe the majority spawn in the Minnesota river section. There are good #s of fish spawning up by the dam but if I had to guess I would say 85% or better go up the MN river.

The studies we have are very vague and old. I know fish spawn at the ford dam and maybe some areas downstream but vast majority go up the MN river in my opinion.

Walleyes are broadcast spawners. Meaning you need a large # of fish in that area to make the spawn work. Add to it that walleyes do not live long in the Mississippi and conditions change rapidly year to year. This opens up the converstaion to “false spawning”. By that I mean an old 9-11 year old female may have used multiple sites to spawn and will have false drops in areas due to age or change in river conditions. Its hard to base a study on egg catch samples in P2 is my point there and I dont give that study much credit.

BrianF wrote:

I’ve read the tracking study, though wonder if there isn’t more spawning going on south of the confluence than the study suggests. Any thoughts or insight on that?

People will challenge me on this but my answer is NO! I believe the majority spawn in the Minnesota river section. There are good #s of fish spawning up by the dam but if I had to guess I would say 85% or better go up the MN river.

The studies we have are very vague and old. I know fish spawn at the ford dam and maybe some areas downstream but vast majority go up the MN river in my opinion.

Walleyes are broadcast spawners. Meaning you need a large # of fish in that area to make the spawn work. Add to it that walleyes do not live long in the Mississippi and conditions change rapidly year to year. This opens up the conversation to “false spawning”. By that I mean an old 9-11 year old female may have used multiple sites to spawn and will have false drops in areas due to age or change in river conditions. Its hard to base a study on egg catch samples in P2 is my point there and I don’t give that specific study much credit.

I thought all the walleyes come back down from 2 to spawn at the pool 4 dam and to rip blades baits as hard as possible all day on spot lock . Also if you see someone dragging jigs and catching fish make sure to spot lock in front of them for best odds .

All jokes aside great info .

isu22andy wrote:

I thought all the walleyes come back down from 2 to spawn at the pool 4 dam and to rip blades baits as hard as possible all day on spot lock . Also if you see someone dragging jigs and catching fish make sure to spot lock in front of them for best odds .

All jokes aside great info .

Some are still old school anglers and just toss the anchor under your boat when they dont have the spot lock

Should have some dirty water coming your way. The MN went up about 8 feet or so the last 3 days by me and still rising.

Only got a handful this evening into night. Water 42, fish not leaking.

Was out Friday and saw 40° at the confluence. Boated 1 right away then didn’t see any other fish in any other boats caught that day.

What I don’t understand is people always say on this site is that if the water isn’t high the walleye will have a poor spawn. My question is why??? In any water level there are plenty of shallow gravel areas where the eggs can settle into and hatch.

Still a slow bite today. Managed a half dozen with most 20-22″

Hair and meat in 6 to 8′

Probably won’t get back till after spawn. One of these years I’ll get a 10# sunning in the sand

crawdaddy wrote:

What I don’t understand is people always say on this site is that if the water isn’t high the walleye will have a poor spawn. My question is why??? In any water level there are plenty of shallow gravel areas where the eggs can settle into and hatch.

True. I guess high water opens up more area and more oxygenated areas but yeah I hear you.

crawdaddy wrote:

What I don’t understand is people always say on this site is that if the water isn’t high the walleye will have a poor spawn. My question is why??? In any water level there are plenty of shallow gravel areas where the eggs can settle into and hatch.

I am sure a few factors play. Access to spawning area is maybe the biggest factor. Protection from moving river levels might be another. That is my assumption. I do not know much beside what we have seen fishing the river. Walleyes would not have much sucess spawning if they use a main channel gravel bar during rising water. The main channel flow can change in a day or two on these areas and sweeep everything away. Protected areas prevent this from happening and give the newly hatched a safe area to start gowing in. The main channel in spring is no place to be a baby walleye.

Saugers generally spawn in the main channel but walleyes do not. They prefer flooded grass transitions with low to moderate flow and gravel/rocky inlets or feeder creeks. Some of these areas have both.

I know one area in the vermillion river on P3 that loads up with spawning females but we need the water up 4-5 ft for them to use the area. It is a hard rock and sand shoreline with a uneven tall grass edge. When the water is up it becomes a flooded slackwater seam. Not an eddie current. Just a slow slackwater seam and they defiantly use it.

Based off my experience fishing pool 2 I have started to think a large number of walleye spawn in the Minnesota River. Definetly still a good amount of walleye spawn by the dam and Minehaha creek and probably a couple other locations near the confluence.

Here is a study from the late 90s, worth a read if you are into this kind of stuff. They located a good amount of walleye and sauger through radio transmitters in the Minnesota river during spawning time too.

https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/publications/fisheries/investigational_reports/482.pdf

River conditions are definitely different now then during this study but I bet there are still a lot of walleye that go up the Minnesota river.

let me know your thoughts

pbrown001 – I am always looking for documents published by the DNR and when I talk to the DNR about searching for documents I am told that the system is very archaic, and many documents are not converted over to pdf format.

At the link you provided, I tried to access to the database and find other documents but always receive and error. Are you a DNR employee or how did you get access and the link?

This study is what we are talking about above. I used to have a copy but can’t find it anymore.

The study is still true imho. The walleyes, by and large, go up the Minnesota to spawn.

Matt Moen wrote:

This study is what we are talking about above. I used to have a copy but can’t find it anymore.

The study is still true imho. The walleyes, by and large, go up the Minnesota to spawn.

As someone on here said years ago, they “go left up the muddy ditch”. Still like that one lol.

Should be able to access the pub page here.

Click investigational reports.

Thank you very much. I’ll have some good reads.

I gave it a thorough read. Here are some of the key takeaways for those not interested in reading the whole thing:

1. Large numbers of walleye migrated up the Minnesota during the spawn. Some were tracked migrating over 70km.
2. Some walleye spawned in the tailwaters of LND#1, but not nearly as many.
3. Some walleye eggs were found in the lower half of the pool during the spawn, but very few, and they may have drifted down from upstream locations.
4. Walleye prefer to spawn over gravel, rubble, and cobble, but may use alternate substrates up in the MN like tributaries, clam beds, etc.
5. Male walleye linger at spawning grounds longer than females. Females migrate, spawn, ,and return relatively quickly.
6. The researchers suspected that walleye tend to use the middle of the pool for pre-spawn staging in winter (i.e. airport to 494).
7. Walleye tended to use the habitats in the lower to middle sections in summer.
8. One walleye went to pool 3 in summer. He apparently didn’t like all the regulations of pool 2 and preferred to live dangerously.

JasonP wrote:

8. One walleye went to pool 3 in summer. He apparently didn’t like all the regulations of pool 2 and preferred to live dangerously.

Hahaha too funny Jason.

It never ceases to surprise me how few walleyes spawn below the ford dam(LD#1), comparatively. It’s got great substrate and plenty of well-oxygenated water. Definitely helps having higher water, but that’s the same everywhere. I wonder why so many prefer to go up the muddy ditch…

My sense is that the MN water is just slightly warmer in April than the Mississippi, but what the heck do i know

DaveB wrote:

My sense is that the MN water is just slightly warmer in April than the Mississippi, but what the heck do i know

I studied walleye spawning for a few years for the DNR in Voyageurs. That tracks pretty solid. Temperature is a very important factor during incubation. Steadily rising temps are optimal for incubating eggs.

The other reason might be water levels as Joe mentioned above. Rapidly rising (or falling obviously) water levels are trouble during incubation. Eggs get stranded too deep and deprived of O2 or become dislodged from the substrate. There is basically nowhere for increasing flow to go below LND1 but up; but the MN floodplain is pretty expansive and more tolerant to increasing flowrate.

DaveB wrote:

My sense is that the MN water is just slightly warmer in April than the Mississippi, but what the heck do i know

That’s does make sense. Kind of a “duh” moment for me I guess. Not only where it’s coming from, but the darker water absorbs more heat from light. Good call.