Need pool 4 information

I am planning to come and fish pool 4 Friday – Sunday and have a couple questions. Which ramps will be accessible by Friday? Where are some good places to start fishing? I have fished the river several times before, but was wondering where a guy would start this time of year? I was also told the Vermillion was putting alot of junk in the river. Is there any truth to this and is this still happening? Are there any fish showing up down river below the high bridge or by the 4th cut hole? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I will post my results when we get back Monday. Again, thanks!

Old Coot,
Right now, I know that Evert’s and Hwy. 63 ramps are open. By the weekend, Bay Point Park and Colvill Park may be open. As far as catching fish, I would start the day vertical jigging either up by the dam (gate side) or where the river forks to go either to the lock or gate side. These areas should produce good numbers of eater size saugers or walleyes depending on what depth you fish. Deeper water for saugers (20+ ft) and shallower for walleyes (less than 20 ft). I would suggest a hair jig/minnow or jig/plastic (ringworm, k-grub, etc.) combo as a starting point. The water is getting more stained each day. Therefore, using a brighter color presentation is a good option (yellow, green, chartreuse, etc.) If vertical jigging is not putting fish in the boat, don’t be afraid to try pulling three ways upstream. I am not aware of a lot of debris coming from the Vermillion yet. As far as the downstream bite goes, there are some fish being caught but the better bite has been happening near the dam. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

BJP

I’d have to agreee with BJP,
I’d recommend going in at Evert’s, ask Steve what is going on and he WILL TELL YOU. he also has handout maps that he can mark for you to get you started. he also has a very good selection of plastics as well as minnows, and cold drinks. docks are in and ramps are great. the vermillon river is not dumping much debris in the river, and it is not really that dirty as of today. heard there may be some rain coming, so that could change pretty quickly.
Jack.

Olod Coot

The bite down south of Everts resort has been so incredibly inconsistent this year it’s down right frustrating. During the tourney this past weekend nearly everyone headed straight north to the dam area, even those anglers that most often head south towards the lake during most tourneys. Dustin and I keep checking on better bites away from the crowds but we’re just not finding anything (yet) that is consistent.

Thanks to all who replied, I really appreciate the information and will be sure to report Monday when I am back in town. Looks like I will start at the damn and try to put a few in the box, then start looking for a bite away from the crowds. I should also report that I fished Guttenburg last Friday and put 8 in the box, an even mix of sauger and walleye. The hot bait was a 4 inch lizard in chartreuse/pepper. What colors do you all recommend? I read the other post from James. It sounds like I may need to bring Bass plastics. Maybe I should give a jig and pig a try. Just kidding.

Thanks again for the information!

Chartreuse Pepper, Purple White, Purple Chart. and Tequila Sunrise have been the best colors in plastics right now. I have also done well on numbers with a un-tipped kelly green bucktail lately.

James, how’s the water clarity?

Pretty good actually. Might be 18″ – 24″ depending on where you are at on the river. More immediately below the dam, less below the Vermillion, Trimbell and Hay Creek inlets but pretty good yet overall.

LOL – Uh, yeah. A little truth to that I guess!

For those wondering, I had a customer (to remain nameless to protect the innocent ) set the hook hard on a solid fish and had the rod fly “butt over rod tip” right into the water. High winds had lead to cold hands / weak grip and we never were able to find the rod.

Oh well. Stuff happens!