Fished Pool 2 on Sat. Problem getting on at 7am because Hidden Falls and Watergate were both closed. Really ticked us off as we were driving around trying to find somewhere else to get on as our fatheads were dying. It says that Hidden Falls opens at sunrise, but at 7:20 or so, they were still closed. We launched at Lillydale, but after making the run up the river, we saw people launching at Hidden Falls (7:45 or so). Anyone know when they typically open the gates?
Anyway-fishing was good, and lots of fun. Within the first hour jigging at the Ford Dam we have 7 species (walleye, sauger, saugeye, carp, striped bass, drum, crappie-real nice ones). The biggest eye was 22″. Fishing slowed and with info from an FTR post( thanks) we started cranking the shores in about 8-11′ of water. Picked up an eye every 15 minutes or so. Not explosive action, but constant. For the 4 hours that we fished, we probably caught 20 eyes and sauger with 3 over 20″. Another 20-30 or so other “stuff”. River was great, down about 6-8′ from my last outing.
Strong mudline at the MN river confluence. I have heard that this can be real good. What techniques are effective when fishing this mudline?
I will be back on Wed pm and will try to post addtional results/techniques.