First trip to pool 4

I am back from my first taste of pool 4, and it will not be the last . Pool 4 is sooo much different then our local pools (7,8,9), it was unbeleivable. The flow right out of the dam was like a trickle, which I loved. We didn’t have to fight the current non-stop all day like we do here. Anyway, we stayed at Evert’s, which is the ideal location. Right out of the camper we rented was the river, no hassle with the public launch areas. I also had the priveledge of meeting Mr. Holst , while I was there, that was really cool . Steve Vick also was very helpful anytime we needed something or needed advice on fishing areas, heck he even gave us some potatoes to cook up with our eyes .
The fishing was pretty slow for us this weekend. We trolled and pitched 3-ways, with 3-ways producing the best. We pretty much fished the sand flats near the dam and a few other areas that Steve pointed out. I found out the Skeeter with a 70 hp motor just doesn’t go slow enough to troll effectively . Friday night we caught around 10-12 smaller eyes and saugers, along with a few very small cats in the few hours we fished, oh yeah, and a zillion sheepheads . All saug and eyes were caught using the 3-ways and leeches. Cats and sheephead hit the crawlers. Saturday we tried the same technique in the same area right away in the morning with no luck. We then went and tried the trolling in a different area also with no luck. The afternoon turned out better, but it rained like heck most of the afternoon. We actually had better luck in the heavy rain so we kept fishing until we looked like prunes .
The only bad thing about the whole weekend was the ^&&**,*&^%$#@,*&@#$%^%$#@! pleasure boats. I can’t even put into words how many and how big of wakes they put out. We had one wave go competely over the back of the boat and soak everything. It took 10 minutes to bilge all the water out . The traffic on the river was unreal and almost scary to be in the boat at times.
Also, the black cloud I have had following me, reared it’s ugly head, again. On the way home today, 5 miles out of RedWing, I blew a tire on the trailer. These things were dang near new. It bent my fender on the trailer pretty good, that really chapped my hide. Then we couldn’t get the spare tire off the rack, so my buddy left me with the boat so he could go to Lake City and get some more tools from some friends. While I am there with just the boat, a lady sheriff comes up and asks if there is somebody that is helping me. I felt like saying, ” No, I have been pulling the trailer by hand all day. I was going so fast I blew a tire.” Duh . The whole time we were messing with it, not one single person stopped to offer their help, kind of sad what people have come to .
I would recommend staying at Evert’s to anyone. The cabins are nice, everyone there was super friendly, and you don’t have to deal with the crowds. We rented a camper trailer that I didn’t even know he had. The rates were better than a motel and it had everything in it ( stove, tv,microwave, fridge, freezer, coffee pot, you get the picture ) We didn’t get any pics due to the rain and I forgot it in the truck on Friday .

Thanks for the report, Am. You hit a very busy weekend on the river with the paddle wheelers going through, and Red Wing having a huge 4th celebration. It’ll be better when you come back.

And, might I suggest you hire James Holst to show you some of his neat tricks. My fishing partner, Pete Dumas, and I did that on Wednesday, and James made it a great fishing day during a mild bite. It’ll save you a lot of time in searching, and he will answer any question you might have.

As you found out, it’s a leech bite right now, unless you like catching sheepies. I hope to get back out tomorrow. Dumas has a problem in getting out of bed, so maybe we will come in the afternoon. That should get rid of some of the pleasure boaters. It does get rough, doesn’t it?

And, James, I got a new weedless jig to try. Remember, the Lindys cost me a good fish on Friday. They are gone from my tackle box. Will let you know how this one works out.

Good Fishing, Swede

Glad you had a good time AmWatson! It was nice to meet you guys. Wish the fishing was a little better for you. I must say…..I loved your comment you wished you had made to the police officer!! That would have been a good one. Although you probably would have gotten harassed for something if you lipped off! Nonetheless, that was funny! Hope to see you again.

Steve-Slow fishing or not, we had a good time . I can’t wait to get back up there again, hopefully very soon. I will more than likely bring the wife and kids up the next time. I still can’t get over how nice it was to just fish without a care in the world. Your place definitely gets the from us.