Pool 2 Report & Question

Thanks everyone for the help on trolling cranks on upper Pool 2. I tried this for the first time last night. 2 guys caught 7 walleyes, 2 sauger, 3 baby smallmouth, and a pike. 4 of the walleyes were on the small side, < 15″.
Most came on a #5 firetiger Shad Rap. Not bad for 3 hours of fishing in August.

We also had line wrapped in the motor, a broken rod, and a hook buried in a finger. Thank goodness we caught some fish!

We caught 2 walleyes and had another get off in the first 20 minutes. We got one more walleye then the spot went dead. We moved on and didn’t find any fish until we were near Minnehaha creek. We caught 3 small walleyes and a pike. We went back to where we started and got a nice walleye and a decent sauger and called it a night.

Here’s my question. Should we have stayed on that first spot? Should we have moved deeper or jigged it with plastics? There were in 6-8′ before it went dead.

Since it was the first spot we tried and we caught fish, I thought we would find a lot of fish so when it went dead we moved on. We trolled for almost an hour with only a baby bass before we caught another walleye/sauger.

I was out on Sunday w/ my little girl. A TON of boat traffic. We were out for 2 1/2 hours and got 15 eyes, one white bass, 1 channel, 1 drum and 1 sauger. I found the fish to be pretty spread out, rocks or sand, but always in the current. All but 2 eyes were over 15″, but nothing over 18″-common w/ boat traffic.

I guess that I would have made one or two passes over some active fish, but I never marry myself to a spot on the upper part of Pool 2 unless I am really getting fast action. Most of the time, fish will be all over.

BTW-whenever I get a really hot eye bite (40-50 in 4 hours) I am catching at least 10 eyes to any other fish. When I am getting a few fish here and a few there, then it is much more of a mixed bag. Has anyone else noticed this????

I have never fished pool 2. But I can tell you that no matter where you fish, that question: (Should we move or stay here on this spot?) is going to come up alot.
If you suspect there are still fish in the original spot, which is this case is does sound like there were, then try to tweak your program a little. There are lots of things you can try and with some experience and practice, you’ll be able to pick the one that is most likely to pay off.
Try some of these change-ups when the action slows down:
Speed up or slow down trolling speed.
Change to different colored shad raps.
Put on a different style crankbait.
Move deeper. Cast or troll shallower.
Pull 3-ways or stick sinkers with crawler harnesses or floating jigs or even just a plain hook.
Drift over the area and cast into the same water with a split shot and crawler rig.
The options are as varied as there are fisherman.
Good luck,
JWB

Very good tips JWB. It usually does not make much sence to troll the same lure over the same spot again and again trying to coax a fish into bitting with out changing something about the presentation. JWB had some good ideas on doing just that. Speed, lure, or depth would be my first factors to change on pool 2 right now. I still have not found a need to switch to bait.
I would think you would also want to watch constantly running over the same fish in a short period of time. Give them a break and come back later and check the spot again. Get the old milk run of spots going and you might just stay on fish all day.
Since you sound like you are fairly new to pool 2 make sure and do alot of exploring. The spots you found fish on today will change in a hurry with a little current change or some other factor. If I hit a old reliable spot and find no fish in a pass or 2 the changes in presentation or area start in a hurry.
Good to hear you found some fish on your first trip out. Im hoping to try the trolling bite this afternoon myself with the family. My young kids get such a kick out of relling in those eyes.

Has anyone been fishing the middle or lower part of Pool 2? I have some time on Thursday and thought it would be fun to try some other areas besides the confluence.

Thanks

Not since a week ago for me. We did find fish a few fish on the rip rap. Also on a large sand flat. Never did get to check the wingdams. I would think if the MN has not muddyed things up again from the rain you should find fish.

Thanks- any one know if the Minnesota is still spilling silt?

I have an 8 year old boy who would love to reel in some river eyes but I don’t know if he can handle it.

How do you prevent snagging yet still tick bottom? Fish with one line? I needed to frequently take in some line to prevent snagging when I got too shallow then would let out some more line when I got back to my desired depth. With the steep drop its hard to hold a depth. I still snagged up several times.

Any advice on making a good trolling run with an eight year old?

It can be done. My kids are 1 at 7 years, and 2 at 3 years. Equipment and know how it works. We run trolling rods with at least 20# P-line on them. This line will really let you feel when you are hitting bottom.
Letting out just anough line to hit bottom and not more. If you let out to much your lures is just snag hunting. Line counter reels are the way to go with and make it very easy to get back to the right depth or make adjustments.

Learn your crank baits and what they will do. A large lipped crank bait will get you down faster and have more abillity to bounce over the snaggs. Bombers are one of my favorites.
If you do snag up try quickly dropping your rod tip back so you get some slack line. This will sometimes let the lure float up out of the snag. A good haevy line will bring a few out of the snag also.
Electronics will help with depth control. The more time you spend trolling a spot the more you will get to know the depth changes. If you run over a shallow spot reeling in the line a little will work. Also maybe just raising the rod tips into the air.
You might as well plan on looseing some crank baits also. As you get more used to trolling and learning the areas you fish you will loose less. Last weekend in redwing we spent a good 8 hours trolling rock shorelines that I had never trolled before and lost 1 lure. 2 years ago I would of most likely cleared out a couple trays in the tackle box dueing this.
Rod holders and kids go hand in hand. Make sure if he does not want to hold the rod it goes in the holder. This might save you a rod or 2. With my 3 year olds the rod gets locked in and they just run the handle. When the fish is along side the boat I bring it in. This works well with a laid back kids fishing trip. Not recommended to due during a tourney.
Hope this helps a little.

Good advice Mike.

When I have my 4 year old with, her rod goes in the rod holder. Keeping your drag set correctly is key too for snaggy areas. I run 14lb (6lb dia) green Fireline. The color helps me too see it better when backing up or drifting back for snags. If I retie when the line gets frayed, it is virtually unbreakable.

I also run different cranks on each side of the boat. I just use shad raps, #5s, #7, floaters, suspending, shallow runners all run at different depths. I usually have my daughers rod only ticking the bottom while I keep mine pounding the bottom.

Pretty common to get snagged; we all do. It isn’t like fishing Pepin with long flats. That shoreline can be wickedly erratic. The people that run small tiller boats have a big advantage, IMHO.

How do you prevent snagging yet still tick bottom? Fish with one line? I needed to frequently take in some line to prevent snagging when I got too shallow then would let out some more line when I got back to my desired depth. With the steep drop its hard to hold a depth. I still snagged up several times.

The other thing I’ll add in regards to snagging is to troll into the current as much as possible. Your lures wont run as deep and if you do get hung up you can create some slack and sometimes the current alone will pull your lure off the snag.

Gotta agree with the tiller for trolling… the boat control is nice.

Hey, anybody been down around 494 bridge recently? Wondering how the water looks and if anyone has had any luck. Was looking to get back to some wingdam fishing (and get away from the crowds). Thanks.

If I were a man that made money or had a pole barn, I’d get a 16′ G3 Camo jon boat w/ a 25hp 4stroke, and the other boat would never see Pool 2!

Gots some good channel cats in that area Saturday.

Hit Pool 2 last night. 6 cookie-cutter eyes and 1 sauger. Area from confluence to Hidden Falls. Bridge held the most concentration. Switched from crayfish; parrot; firetiger; clown. Nice night to be on the water, minus the knuckleheaded kneeboarder.