Pool 4 Report

Old man winter has finally sprung upon us and along with him he has brought some fantastic walleye and sauger fishing. With the water temps falling in to the upper 30’s my last few trips have proven to be absolutely fascinating. As most of you that have been on pool 4 in the last week or two already know the sauger bite has been insane with 50 to 70 fish days common. The bite is smokin and the walleye and sauger are snappin hard right now if you get my drift! Now is the time, go fishin! I on the other hand have been shying away from the sauger bite and concentrating all of my efforts on the walleye and have been rewarded nicely with 30 plus legal walleyes on my last trip to the ol mighty Miss. Several of these fish have been in the 21″ to 26″ range. For sheer numbers smaller plastics like ringworms and 3″ and 4″ twister tails have been very good Moose Head Lake hair jigs in white/pink and white/black have rewarded us with several good fish in the 1/16oz to 1/8oz sizes. If you want to catch big fish think big baits, 5″ twister tails have been the hot ticket for the bigger fish. I have been concentrating my efforts in 9’ to 12 ’ of water during mid day and on in shallower in the low light periods of the day. Casting or pitching your offering off to the side of the boat and letting the current slowly take it down river has been more effective than vertical jigging. This works well while fishing large sand flats and rip rap shorelines just for the fact you can cover more water and different depths more efficiently with each cast verses going vertical. Small jig heads are the key to this presentation as you want the current to slowly sweep your bait down stream. Jig heads in the 1/8oz and 1/16oz range and sizes in between if you have them have been the most productive. I know you have heard this on FTR before but lighter is better right now. Sauger are being taken by anglers on a barrage of presentations. Ringworms, twister tails, hair jigs, 3-way rigs and minnows, jigs and minnows, 3-ways and plastics, Dubuque rigs, anchoring or drifting, it doesn’t seem to matter all of these presentations have put fish in the boat in the past few weeks. Experimentation will determine the best presentation for the given day you hit the water. 15’ to 25’ of water has been real productive. I have still been running in to an occasional northern pike and largemouth bass while fishing shallow. I have yet to land a good size pike with the light tackle 6lbs is about the biggest on the last few outings. I have boated a good number of 14″ to 15″ largemouth on ringworms and large twister tails right up on the river bank. Crappies are still in with the mix and most of them are running in the 10″ to 12″ range hanging on the base of main river riprap and wing dams. Small hair jigs and smaller plastics have done the trick. Just a side note for those of us that fish in the dead of winter remember to drain your trailer while loading and unloading your rigs. No ones vehicle likes to swim this time of year anymore than the individual driving it!

Good fishin and I will see ya on the river!

Dustin Stewart

EFN Pro-Staff