11/18/2002 – Mississippi River Pool 4 by Dustin Stewart

Click Here to Read Dustin Stewart’s Latest Report!

Here’s the pic from Dustin’s latest report. What an awesome photo guys!

James Holst & Dustin Stewart with 4 CPR’d Walleyes from Pool 4!!

Hey Dustin,Great Report!! Why did James get to hold the two biggest ones????

For the very best reason.. ‘cuz I caught ’em!! The real question is, which other fish would I have held if I had three hands.. right Dusty?!…lol

Every dog has his day. This one the luck swung in my favor! Some days Dusty gets me.. some times luck shines on me. That’s fishing…

I’m incredibly lucky to have a fishing partner like Dustin who will go the extra mile to make that perfect cast or find the perfect boat position to make catches like this happen on occassion. Few guys have the drive it takes to get up early and shiver and fight with conditions… and I’m damn glad I have a good buddy like Dustin to share my boat when I get a day off to just go fishing for fun.

Hey flick, it doesn’t look like it by the picture since the fish on my left has its tail curled up but those first 3 fish were only 1/2″ different in length. We couldn’t get his tail to stay straight so we just went ahead and shot the picture and got the fish back in to the water. That fish just did not want to be on camera to reveal his massive figure .

Nice fish boys!!
Gotta love they way they smack those plastics!!
No better feeling.

Dustin, who took the picture?

Mr. Steve Vick at Everts resort.

Sounds like a day to remember. Way to whack’em.

Thanks to you guys and Dee Zee for the reports.

hi Dustin and James, way to wack’em, but this is nothing new, we have been seeing wonderful pictures of you two for a long time, thanks for the great reports, and keep those pictures coming. Jack.

The fish in James’s right hand, seems to have had his dorsal fin chewed off. Or is it just the pic ?

It was nearly completely missing and the wound was an old one from the appearance. Boat prop? Tangle with a much larger critter when it was just an eater? Who knows…! These old gals go through alot to get to be piggies…. CPR all the way.

You can tell these fish are very perky by their dorsal fins . I’m sure they are going to be ready to hammer my presentation this weekend

Hey um, Mr. handliner type guy….

We’re seeing one of the best 3-way crank bites I’ve seen in a long time… like right NOW! Awesome numbers of piggie saugers and 3 – 6 Lb walleyes mixed in to keep it all interesting. I’ve caught more sauger over 20″ in the last 3 days on the water than I caught all of last winter. It’s been a hoot to say the least. I’ll be interested to see how you fare with the handlining gear when you’re up here!

Im coming down to red wing tommorrow, launching from everts round 7 am or so and…….
well… guess Im gonna be riggin for 3 ways and cranks!… I know when to switch over!….. last week I was doing the doo…. but this week… guess Im pulling my … ummm…. yeah…. ok….. Im not going there….

Nice fish guys! Looks like I’m going to have to head north for some of that fine fishing.

Thanks for the info everyone , I am heading north tomarrow also and it sounds like the fishin will be good. I was able to jump in with a bunch coming up at the last minute and can’t wait to get on the water. Hope to see some of you there. We should be there for the evening bite and staying till Sat.

Dustin , Nice fish and nice picture . Good report too . Was that your camera ?

fireline

The pic was taken by Steve Vick, with my camera. A Sony P71. Super nice digital that is small enough to live full-time in the thigh pocket on my guide wear so its always handy.

A good digi camera is truely a wondeful toy to have on the water!

Goll’dang I think the eye is out of that one too
I don’t think she was one the male walleyes were wantin to bring home to mother , she is a tough o’l girl .

Thanks James , I think I just found my next camera .

James and Dustin,

Very very impressive hog eyes! You boys know how to make a guy jealous! ha!

One question what percentage of the time when you’ve caught a hog shallow has it been during the lowlight period and what percentage has it been dark?

Also I’m of the belief that it’s better to fish deeper in the day, and say drift or troll, except when the water is on the rise and much dirtier as in the spring. Or will you opt to cast but to deeper on the structure in say 8- 15 feet.

Thanks ahead of time, it’s a good topic and I’m curious to here your views and how they may differ, and I believe this should interest others on FTR!

Keep catchin’
Turk

I usually tell people make hay from sun up to 9am and then again from 3:30 AM – dark. Those are the key periods but big fish can and do get caught real shallow throughout the day. Particularly if the day is over cast. Then the following does not apply as fish will feed real shallow all day long. Dustin’s big fish during the video shoot came at 1 PM in 3′ of water and in the afternoon we had our last two biggies around 4 PM with tons of boats around to supply oohs and aaahs for the audio in the background. Pretty cool.

Now all this having been said, some of the biggest fish I’ve caught and ever heard caught by others, came really shallow right in the middle of the day with a high sky overhead.

So much for rules to live by….

James pretty much summed it up as far as peak feeding times have been and should remain for the most part this time of year. I will always start out in the early morning casting the shallows. This is key in finding the fish deeper in the mid day around the same piece of structure or shoreline a bit deeper, after all if you find um shallow in the morning hrs they will be around a bit deeper during the day and getting them to bite can sometimes be tricky.

When I find a good spot in the early am I will periodically check it thruout the day and might be able to pull one or two fish from it every other time you check back in on it. Once you know the fish are in the area it will help boost your confidence level to try other baits and get them to take a stab at what you have to offer.

I will pitch shallow all day at times and hope for just one fish “the one big bite” if I am fishing alone or with a good friend who is after the same thing as I am. This time of year some days you will get fish all day long in the shallower depths, especially when it is overcast. I have caught good fish at high noon on sunny days this time of year but as a rule overcast is much better. You can never be to sure unless you try. There are never guaranties in fishing.

I almost always opt to cast no matter what time of the day it is. I will slip the current and cast my bait off to the side of the boat vs. vertical jigging a sand flat. I can cover more water and different depths on one cast than a guy can going vertical. Does it always work better this way? No, but most days it will work much better for me than going vertical.

Hey James, saw you in action out there again today, can you share the kinds of cranks you like to use at this time of year in that deep water up at the dam? I know they are not the same as your favorite fare in the summer and spring down on the lake. Thanks

#9 and #11 floating raps have been whoppin the fish. Lost of saugers over 20″. Largest a tad over 21′ this AM and a surprising numbr of decent sized walleyes. We were havin’ fun today!

Today’s hot color was gold/black. Recently brighter colors like firetiger and chart. have been hot. Its a great bite up there and the numbers of fish a guy can put in the boat after the casting bite slows makes for an action packed day.

How’d you do? I have to admit, I didn’t recognize you in that blue lund. Had it been in your boat, no problem. But your winter ride threw me for a loop. Good to see you on the water…

ecnook

What I’m about to post here is really gonna make you go “hmmmmm?” Dustin just brought this fish into the resort earlier this evening. Look at the dorsal fin. The fin is cut away further down the back… so don’t anyone going assuming this is the same fish. Clearly not. This one weighed 9 Lbs 10 Ounces…. and was released after the shot. What the heck are these fish doing that’s getting their dorsal fins lopped off?!

Caught on a purple ringworm.

I’ll take a guess! Fish in an aquarium get something called Fin and Tail rot. I’ve seen it. Who’s to say it doesn’t happen to our friend Mr. Walleye in the rivers…Who knows. Maybe a vet or someone from the DNR could tell us.

I’ve seen both fish up close and the wounds look like the dorsal has been cut, along time ago, with a knife or something. Very clean cuts and quite uniform in look. Dustin originally though he caught the same fish I had caught a week back and we actually compared it to the existing pictures. It’s just not the same fish. Plus that other fish was caught and subsequently released about 8 or so miles downstream from where this one was caught.

Dustin was a little excited about the possibility of having caught the same fish I had caught earlier, in such a short time, in two seperate locations seperated by so much distance.

Either way its a weird deal.

Check out this one that Dave H caught . It isnt as bad but it too has the same thing going on…