Trolling Flicker Shads working on Pool 2 saugers

Typical Pool 2 patterns are still holding true early this fall. Long-line trolling Flicker Shads down the main channel on Sunday (9/9) put a number of nice saugers in the boat. Most were in the 15- to 20-inch range. Casting crankbaits at the tips of wingdams took a number of fish too.

It was way too nice of a day to sit home, so I spent most of it on Pool 2. It was fantastic to start the morning with having to wear a light jacket. I still managed to burn the heck out of my forehead by the end of the day though!

The bite is still pretty decent for this time of year. I didn’t get into any numbers on any one spot, just one here and one there. Enough to keep the day interesting though.

DT10s and 7A Bombers worked well for for hitting the deep wingdam tips.

H20 jigs and crawlers took a few fish on the face of the wingdams too.

I tried leaches and went through a lot, but don’t think I hooked up a single fish on them. I worked the heavier jigs right down the face of the dams until I couldnt feel them hit rock anymore.

I didn’t catch anything real big today – plenty of 18- to 20-inchers and a couple over that. Still, those are a fun size to catch, and it beats the heck out of doing chores around the house!

I was out on the river Saturday in that wind. The wind made things quite difficult but we managed to pick up about a dozen eyes. Most were in that 18″-20″ range, but I did get a 25″ and a 23″. With the wind we stuck to trolling and the 25″ fell victim to a flicker shad.

I talked to a guy putting in when I was loading that told me he had learned almost everything he knows about the river from you. I think he said his IDO handle was crappie killer something.

It was a decent day on the water, even with the wind. I did have one frustrating thing. A guy came out of a back channel and cut right across the back of my boat and caught the shallow running line. He will have fun pulling 100′ of power pro off his prop-shaft.
I’ll probably be out there again next week-end. Here is a picture of the 25″.

I think I saw you today Mike boat past me below 494…Anyway, I managed a few fish here and a few fish there on WD’s but no big numbers anywhere. My best bite was casting the face of WD’s with a jig/half a crawler combo.

I tried casting 6A bombers at the face of WD’s but couldn’t put anything together. Maybe I should have used 7A’s (little deeper) at the tips. Most of my fish were 18″ to 20″ walleyes.

Been using the 7A Bombers the last couple of years for searching around on the tips of those dams. Started throwing a few DT10 into the mix this last year to. Great baits that cast a mile even with a south wind.

I like to start by throwing them off the tip of the dam a little where they make no bottom contact. Then each cast move a few feet closer to the tip. Once the tip is found that area can be worked over well. Doing it this way saves a few baits because these things dive deep. Starting out to shallow on the dams you are asking for trouble. Once and a while you can also pick up a fish right off the tip where that bait does not make contact.

These baits also work well for working the deeper fronts of the dams with a parallel cast or for working those really deep dams and rock piles.

They do make deeper diving Bombers and DTs but some of these get to big for my spinning rods. Think Im pushing the limits of these rods now. One of these days Ill have to get into some casting gear.

Sorry I didnt recognize you out there or I would of stopped to say hi. If I ever drive by staring at you thats because Im thinking the boat looks familiar, I should know who that is.

Crappy killer is doing a good job of figuring out that river. I could talk all day about what to do and where to go but the most important part of it is getting out there and fishing. Sounds like he has been doing that a lot lately.

Very nice fish Tad. Was thinking I had a nice one on towards evening on Sunday and it ended up being about a 8 pound flat. Fun fight but just not what I was hoping for.

Crossin Eyes and I went to Pepin in hopes of getting a little meat. It was tough. 5 hours on the water and all we had to show for it was two saugers. Caught a couple big sheeps and one nice channel but we trolled a lot of realestate. They were simply off.

Nice post. I’ve been fishing Pool 2 a bit lately but I have yet to try trolling. Is there a reason that Saugers were caught more on the troll than Walleye? If I want to giving trolling a go, what’s the most basic setup? I was going to just tie on a Bomber 6A and start heading upstream down the main channel, but I have no idea how much line I should be letting out, speed, direction etc.

The area I was trolling the saugers stack to pile in there this time of year. Sometimes we get more walleyes off to the sides of them. Other days the walleyes are right in there with them.

For long line trolling I just use the same rod as used for casting crank baits. 15 or 20# power pro with a cross lock on the end for easy changing of lures. Its easy to just cast this out behind the boat and start trolling. If you are not hitting bottom every now and again let out more line. Hitting to much bottom real some in.

For speed its about 2mph up river and closer to 3 head down. I kick the motor out of gear every now and again to try to keep the speed down while heading down river.

For locations and depth I mostly stick to the 8 to 12′ range. Find a area with a little better flow right now like where the river bends, shallow areas of the main channel or tips of wing dams. Rocky shorelines can be good to.

Just throw those lures out and go.

Quote:

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If you are not hitting bottom every now and again let out more line. Hitting to much bottom real some in.

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Love this keep it simple approach! Also one more tip when trolling current. You will get a little more dive to most cranks when trolling downstream. So, less line out is needed. Good luck!

-J.

Thanks for the tips guys! I’ll give trolling a go and hopefully I’ll catch something other than a marker buoy and bridge piling. And if you see a guy trolling around in a Sylvan looking clueless, feel free to stop by and say hi.