Pool 4 Walleye Lake Pepin

I have fished all over and have been unsuccessful so far this year. Why haven’t the walleyes showed up in Maiden Rock like previous years, are they deeper because of low water levels? If so how deep? Have the fished moved past Maiden Rock already and are holing at the foot of the lake due to warmer water temps this early? Any info would be much appreciated not trying to get secret spots or anything just trying to understand the lake more and get into some action.

Try trolling crankbaits in 15-20 feet. Flicker shads have been better than raps. Might be the rattle. Best luck with lighter colored baits for some reason.More natural shad colors or the blue tiger, my go to firetiger has not been doing it. Switch up the speed of your troll. sometimes it just takes a bit of experimenting to develope that pattern that works for you. It does seem the fish went deeper earlier that usual. Good luck.

This year has been pretty spotty for me, too. Had very little luck in Maiden Rock area, so have been trying further south toward foot. Have found a few here and there, and I think you/critter are correct – all of the decent ones I’ve found have been around 15 feet or deeper lately. So I do think they’ve gone deeper earlier. At least for me. Brighter colors better for me.

I’ve been mostly live bait, so can’t speak to success on cranks.

There have been times trolling Pepin during the warm water period running as fast as 4-4.5 mph has done the trick. Not all cranks will run at this speed so tuning is critical to success.

What’s the water temps? Are you finding any schools of bait fish? What color? How deep? How fast? What depth? What line? etc….

There’s a hundred variables. So far I feel like the bite has been fair down there this year. Keep “pluggin” away you’ll get on em

I am new to fishing Pepin… but have been out there 4-5 times this summer so far. I think puzzling or inconsistent are the best words that I would use to describe my experience.

I’ve mostly been focusing on the shoreline breaks between the south-end and Stockton on the Wisconsin side. I’ve been pulling cranks and crawler harnesses. I feel confident I could go out and catch a few smalls and a handful of other species in the shallows (6-10ft). I’ve caught a few nice pike. I feel confident I could go out and mark a ton of fish right on the edge of the break (12-22ft)…. but I can’t seem to put the whole thing together. I’ve only caught one walleye over 18″. I have not run into a hot bite where I’ve caught more than say one fish every 15 minutes.

I went out alone last Friday and thought I finally hooked a big one. It pulled the entire board under. Here we goooo! It was a soggy towel full of mussels/clams. Talk about a let down!

I’ll switch from cranks to worms and catch a fish as soon as I let it down and think I’m onto something and then never catch another fish.

Speaking only for myself, yes, it’s been ‘fair’ at best this year on Pool 4 for eyes. But…on Sunday for the first time in a long time, I never caught a sheepshead! I will have to relinquish my shepherd staff to The Scratcher or someone else worthy.

I’d give cranks a try at higher speeds as was noted above. I personally don’t really like crank fishing, but if guys are having success….can’t hurt to try.

Compared to previous years, the crawler bite for me has been slow as I noted. But where I have found success they’ve been deeper. I’ve been around 1.5 mph.

Dad and I found some nice action off the break around Deer Island. 2 and 3 color leadcore with #5 jointed shadraps was what worked for us. Mix of walleye and sauger. Biggest was a 20″ eye along with some fatty saugers.

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I actually motored up to maiden rock for the first time this year and pulled worms with no action but only for 45 minutes or so. I normally stick to the MN side for eyes so not much help there. been to Pepin 4 times this year so far and everytime I find them in totally different areas and depths. few weeks ago did real good in 17 foot at the foot of the lake. last friday we found them by accident in 8-10 foot only on rocky bottom. I don’t think I have yet to catch a walleye deeper than 18 foot FWIW. today was the slowest for me with only 6 eyes/sauger and only 2 legals. I’ll be pulling worms until they tell me they don’t want them I guess.
As far as drum, only a few which is a pleasant surprise. doing well on walleyes and sauger so I consider myself lucky. getting some 14-19 mostly with only a few shorts mixed in so can’t complain. there will be days that stink and then you will find a pattern that will work but you got to keep at it and you will be rewarded. historically I rarely find them in the same places in between trips.
overall I have had a good year on the lake but still learning every day.

I seem to be doing fairly well in that 18-22 FOW range pulling leadcore at about 2.5 mph. Blue seems to be the preferred color right now and doing better on Flicker Shads than Raps. However those Flicker Shads always require some tuning, and I have had to just throw a few away!
I am catching way more sauger than walleyes but the saugers all seem to be nice! Dink walleyes, fat saugers. Last time out with catching 6 fish over three hours the smallest sauger was 17″! I usually don’t troll this much and went back to worms last week but could not match the trolling bite. So it looks like trolling will be the name of the game until the fall.

Wow. Great job! I may have to reluctantly try some lead core etc. I heard you on sauger. I caught a really nice 19″ sauger (crawler) last week.

The fish were totally shut off today… trolled for almost 5 hours and picked up just 2 pike. Tried 8 ft up to 22. Probably 15 different colors and types of cranks. Heard the same from multiple other guys I chatted with. I saw a couple mayflies on the water… so maybe that had something to do with it.

I bet a lot of it had to do with boat traffic. That coupled with flat calm conditions and little wind will make it difficult no doubt.
I’ll try and get out early in the week if I can dodge the storms?

There is a suspended Walleye fishery on Pepin find the schools of shad, now getting them to bite takes some ingenuity.

2 18” eyes in crawlers yesterday. 15 feet.

A ton of shorts. And I retain my title as shepherd – gigantic sheep abundant.

Decent action was early. Once it got hot/busy, pretty much shut off.

Tom P. wrote:

There is a suspended Walleye fishery on Pepin find the schools of shad, now getting them to bite takes some ingenuity.

rrr

I’ll be taking my brother, his girlfriend, and her father out on Sunday, is planning to pull cranks in 15-20+’ as good a plan as any other? Shad style usually preferred it seems? Thanks.

I would try to get out early. If you are there before the sun gets high start in 8-10 ft. As it warms and the sun gets higher push to deeper water. I like to pattern an area if I have a good trolling run. 8-10 ft, then 10-12, 12-14, etc. Use side imaging to look for fish. With the warm water they will be looking for any type of current. I’d focus on that before depth. Cranks and crawlers or leeches.

Shad style baits are always best for me.

Did well last Sunday trolling in 12-15 fow. Using SR9’s in lighter colors like bluegill, etc. Fish were very spread out.

Gave it a go reluctantly yesterday and the mayfly hatch is still in full force. Never got bit trolling or pulling worms. Did get to see some gar on pool 4 for the first time. They sure were enjoying the mayfly carcasses! Ended up down river and jigged up a couple nice flatheads to my surprise. One was around 10# and the other one closer to #25. Pretty sure I’m done until after labor day.

Sure was a lot of folk fishing at the foot of the lake on Saturday/Sunday. Just a few at the head of the lake.

Most were trolling.

And yes, the reminance of a mayfly hatch was awesome!
Pepin Marina had a small hatch and Wabasha we didn’t see any. Seems like they were more towards the middle of the lake(?)

Recently purchased a seasonal spot in the Wabasha area. Appreciate all the reports. I mostly fished pool 3 and St. Croix River area, sounds like the pleasure boats are about the same. Wake up early and get off early.

Sounds like most people are using cranks, crawlers, or leeches. How about minnows (fatheads)? Fatties are usually my go-to when fishing the river to the north.

I use minnows once the water temps start to cool in September and sometimes in the spring. they are awesome in winter but I’m on ice those days.

I had no luck Sunday. Was down near Lacapoulis and mayflies were indeed thick. Tried cranks and crawlers. As usual, my sheep skill is unsurpassed.

My son caught 2 big gar last year about this time on Pepin. Those are some freaky looking fish, but it was sure fun to catch and take a couple of photos.

outdoorsmn wrote:

Recently purchased a seasonal spot in the Wabasha area. Appreciate all the reports. I mostly fished pool 3 and St. Croix River area, sounds like the pleasure boats are about the same. Wake up early and get off early.

Sounds like most people are using cranks, crawlers, or leeches. How about minnows (fatheads)? Fatties are usually my go-to when fishing the river to the north.

I use fatheads year round…I think they are the best all around live bait. When I try crawlers I can’t get the junk fish away from them. Much more effective to use cranks in the summer imho.

I would agree they are a better cool water option and my go to when the water is under 50 degrees but walleyes eat minnows year round.

Was down on pepin Sat and Sun and did good pulling cranks. One thing to add about walleyes eating minnows year round, when I was cleaning my livewell there was probably a dozen half digested minnows in there.

Lol, be some dang skinny fish in Pepin if they all eat leeches and crawlers.

Did ok pulling cranks on Pepin this morning,couple decent walleye and lots of sheep. Fish were all less than 13 feet. Suprised me. Never had a fish deeper than that.

Anybody ever try Salmo hornets on pepin? Or do you guys just normally use shad raps and flicker shad? How about flicker minnow and if so what sizes are you using?

mattmearz wrote:

Anybody ever try Salmo hornets on pepin? Or do you guys just normally use shad raps and flicker shad? How about flicker minnow and if so what sizes are you using?

Salmo hornets and the bullheads will work. I usually use 4.5 rattlin hornets.