Pool 2 update

Bite at confluence and dam is pretty slim right now.Water temp 37 degrees. Water level is up and dirty, with debris and ice coming down.
Use caution when running. Some of the ice is barely visible.

Same report down river. Was shore to shore ice Wednesday. Water temps dropped. Lots of leaves and crap in the water. Only found a couple small walleyes.

River levelRiver forecast at one time had pool 2 going into action stage this week. Guessing since that last snow storm went south the forecast has dropped some.

I’ve been at the confluence in my boat, under the dam, fished from the shore on pike island (miss side), and to a couple of different shore spots between hidden falls and the dam over the last couple of weeks and don’t have a fish to show for it.

i’m loving being outside fishing this time of the year, but yeah, it’s still slow.

Out yesterday and today for a few hours. Dam to confluence and spots in between. No fish, nor did we see any fish caught. Water temp 33 yesterday 35 today. no ice, except in the line guides.

mark z wrote:

Out yesterday and today for a few hours. Dam to confluence and spots in between. No fish, nor did we see any fish caught. Water temp 33 yesterday 35 today. no ice, except in the line guides.

it was 33 last time i was out, a few fridays ago when it was in the 50s. that “cold snap” (normal feb weather) has kept things hovering there i guess. excited to see if it turns on at all tomorrow.

maybe the walleye haven’t come this far upstream in big numbers yet? either that or they’re just lazy/cold/stuffed and not very active. just checked out the FYB results and seems like it was on the slower side on 4 as well.

Out yesterday, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm. Water temp 36.3 degrees. Fished from dam to confluence. A few fish were caught at the dam. Nothing anywhere else.

mark z wrote:

Out yesterday, 9:30 am – 1:30 pm. Water temp 36.3 degrees. Fished from dam to confluence. A few fish were caught at the dam. Nothing anywhere else.

I’m heading out tomorrow. Hoping we can find something, but the reports sure don’t seem great.

Quite a few boats out there today. Was at the gate when they opened this AM from shore. Once again, nada. Not even a legit bite. Threw everything artificial at em.

What gets me is not even another species either. I’d scratch out a smallie or even a pike anywhere else in the north metro.

Moving on to cats closer to me. Guaranteed fish and much funner than what has been.

Fished for about seven hours today everywhere from confluence to the dam. Caught 10 fish all from one hole. Nothing at the dam, nothing at the seam of the confluence. Very very slow overall, and the biggest fish was only 16 inches, if that. Felt amazing to be in the boat, just would have liked a better bite.

matthewkolden wrote:

just would have liked a better bite.

Que…you can’t always get what you want!

@matthewkolden What was your best presentation?

Evan Pheneger wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>matthewkolden wrote:</div>
just would have liked a better bite.

Que…you can’t always get what you want!

@matthewkolden What was your best presentation?

Ain’t that the truth!

The best for me was a red and white jig with a crappie minnow. The key was staying vertical. As soon as we weren’t vertical, we never got a bite. Sloooow slow slow. No fast twitch jigging. Just a real slow raise and lower no more than about six inches off bottom.

Out yesterday for a few hours in the afternoon. Just a handful of boats by the confluence. I think the wind and cold kept some people away.

Bite was pretty good but mainly small males that seem to be staging up. Caught a couple in the upper teens but no females yet. Water temp was about 38 so still pretty cold. Vertical jigging with live bait and plastics seemed to be best presentation. Very slow and as close to vertical as possible. Slack water seemed to be the key for me.

Both the sheriff and DNR were on the water yesterday. DNR guy was checking licenses, registration, and safety stuff. Make sure to have your fire extinguisher and throwables. I had my life jacket on and he made a comment about how many people are not wearing them given the water temp and debris. I did see a couple big logs rolling down and a few chunks of ice. I think the ice came from Watergate but be careful out there.

A few warm days and I think the fishing will really pickup.

Matt Moen wrote:

Out yesterday for a few hours in the afternoon. Just a handful of boats by the confluence. I think the wind and cold kept some people away.

Bite was pretty good but mainly small males that seem to be staging up. Caught a couple in the upper teens but no females yet. Water temp was about 38 so still pretty cold. Vertical jigging with live bait and plastics seemed to be best presentation. Very slow and as close to vertical as possible. Slack water seemed to be the key for me.

Both the sheriff and DNR were on the water yesterday. DNR guy was checking licenses, registration, and safety stuff. Make sure to have your fire extinguisher and throwables. I had my life jacket on and he made a comment about how many people are not wearing them given the water temp and debris. I did see a couple big logs rolling down and a few chunks of ice. I think the ice came from Watergate but be careful out there.

A few warm days and I think the fishing will really pickup.

Thanks for the update! Hope my trailer’s fixed this week so I can get back out. Was down at minnehaha with the kids yesterday and observed the Sherrif checking boats by the dam.

Just curious how the bite was over the weekend. I’m guessing there will be a big push this week and you will see a lot more fish caught and big ones.

It was very slow for me on Sunday. Two short walleyes around the confluence. Only saw one other fish caught.

Joe

We were out Friday afternoon into the evening, we ended up catching 54 walleye/sauger. Nothing over 20″. Just like the posts before me, slack water and staying vertical were the key. Although we didn’t catch any size, we had a blast.

I would expect this weekend will be busy down there and the big girls will be showing up soon.

Good luck if you make it out.