Hammered Em!

Hey guys, got out a couple nights last week and this weekend out of Everts and started experimenting with the night bite out there. Gathered as much info and tips as possible as this is the first year I’ll really be fishing pool 4 at night and came up with a gameplan. Have to thank the guys on IDO here who pm’ed me with some tips and info, it really helped get an idea of where to fish! My buddy Henry jumped at the invite last thursday and we launched out of Everts around 7pm. We had extremely thick fog that night, and being a rookie to the area made it a little nerve racking getting around blind, but we found fish in 2-5fow and had a great time with some nice saugers, eyes, and some catfish that put up one hell of a fight! We didn’t really get into the Eyes like I wanted to that night, but couldn’t complain for a first trip!
Saturday I decided to get out a little earlier with my buddy Josh and see if we could get any kind of day bite going. Got there around noon and caught nothing but one 10″ sauger before dark I don’t know what it is- but I cannot catch a decent fish during the day time out there, it REALLY pisses me off Once it got dark though- Josh, for some reason was pitching plastics with my crappie rod that has only 3lb test on it and hooked in to something nice!
Long….very long story made short- Took teamwork and 25minutes to bring Josh’s PB 27+” 7+ lb eye to the boat on the 3lb trilene It was definitely exciting though! If you heard a loud “WHOOOHOOOHOOO!” Saturday night around 9-930, that was me getting her in the net She went back in the drink, along with a few that went a little shorter than our big fish on the night. What was really fun was finding a large 2′ deep gravel flat that was absolutely LOADED with eyes and saugers!!! It was fish after fish anchored in the same spot for the next 2 hours(at least for one of us) You may have got the big fish of the night Josh, but we don’t want to talk numbers I, I mean we filled the box in 3 hrs time, having to do some sorting with a lot of smaller fish coming to the boat that didn’t reach that 15″ line. Limit of eyes we kept went 16-18″, and the saugers and saugeyes 13-18″- ALL fish were caught in 3fow or less- and I’d say 90% percent fell victim to BfishN tackle’s 3/32oz chartruese precision jig and purple/chartruese tail moxie- WHAT A BLAST! Found a new favorite place!!! Thanks Guys!
Have to add- The bite got better the later it got, we finally dragged ourselves off around 430a.m. sunday morning

HEY! Where’s your PFD’s?

Looks like you dialed them in.

It seemed the Saturday daytime bite was better for big fish and numbers then the Saturday evening bite…from the reports I’ve heard.

Not for this guy, you won’t see me out there with the sun up for the next week or two Saturday during the day was the definition of striking out

Nice work CrappieKilla! We heard a boat yelling around 9 pm and wondered if they caught a big one. Looks like you did. Sounds like a fun night.

Sounds like your started on a love affair with Pool 4 that will last a life time.

Good job Jamie!

It sounds like you have them dialed in.

Now…If anyone wants to show me how it’s done during the day time

Nice Catch !!!!

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Now…If anyone wants to show me how it’s done during the day time

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Saturday I went out of everts and pulled handline and picked walleyes/saugers all over the place, released 17 of them that were over 18+”, on sunday morning went out handlining again with similar results, bite is great during daylight hours also!

Great report.

Dan- I don’t know anything about this handlining…… Care to shed some light? I’ll be back out Saturday

Good luck with that night bite as the water clarity decreases. You better learn the day bite too. Been a crazy year

Yeah, I’ve been talking with a few guys on here and I’ve got a few ideas…I tried drifting/dragging plastics and hair-NOTHING all day long, even though I was seeing fish caught all around me. I think boat control is a major issue I have- Need to get out with someone who knows what they’re doing sometime to show me a thing or two. The only way I’ve ever fished the river is anchoring, and that’s not very efficient when you’re needing to cover some water

as Dan was saying. handlining and 3-ways with stick baits will surely put fish in the boat. During the day we did much better with blades in the shallower depths than plastics last week.

You should do just fine with three way rigs, I know there is a time and a place for handlining, but for the the avid non competitive angler a three way set up works great!

It’s effective, precise and can be a lot of fun.

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You should do just fine with three way rigs, I know there is a time and a place for handlining, but for the the avid non competitive angler a three way set up works great!

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Although I wouldn’t talk anyone out of doing it, a slow three way rig is pretty darn close and won’t set a person back $200.00.

I know that the 1 time I was trolling three ways for walleyes, I forgot the river imparts action to the stick bait. If I could hold the boat still, that stick would be working back there.

I’ve watch 3 way expert Marty Hahn guiding. His boat goes left or right more than it goes forward it seems.

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You should do just fine with three way rigs, I know there is a time and a place for handlining, but for the the avid non competitive angler a three way set up works great!

It’s effective, precise and can be a lot of fun.

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I use to run three ways and I still do when there’s several persons in my boat or I’m pulling spinners but coming from a guy who spends 200 plus days on the river it is no way as effective as handlining is period, I’ve been pulling cable for about 8 years now and it is the most efficient way to put fish in the box, its only one step away from clubing them

Whether slow trolling three ways or hand lining…6 is still the limit.

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Whether slow trolling three ways or hand lining…6 is still the limit.

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its just how fast you want to get it done

I’m still curious on how you do this handlining, anyone have a good video? I’ll be heading out tonight again, but think I’m going to stick to pitching for now.

Mr. Killer, if you do develop an interest in hand lining, I would suggest placing a free “wanted to buy” classified on IDO. There’s plenty of folks that have them and don’t use them anymore.

Marty Hahn is a P-4 guide. He’ll let you make your own video.