Catching pressured ‘eyes

Normally at this time of year we start to see a huge increase in fishing pressure on the River due to the inland seasons closing… so between the close of the “ice season” and the open of the inland season the river is the only show going…..

what seems to happen is that this great pressure really shuts down the fish until the water starts to rise and you get the big push of “fresh” fish coming up……

I REALLY see this big time on pool 4…… on pool 2 its the opposite if your fishing the deep holes by the airport and the 494 bridge… (by opposite I mean the fishing is great UNTIL the water rises and the fish move up river)……. on 4 its tough UNTIL the water rises and the new fish run up from Pepin….

so what Im looking for here is discussion on what triggers the fish with lock jaw…… whats your go to method?
my experience tells me to use something different… and by and large the majority of the people are vertical jiggin….. so I slow my drift, go lighter on jig heads, zig zag in the current, pay close attention to small fish holding spots, change colors often, use a jigging pattern that others are not using……

but maybe even better yet… dont vertical jig? try dubuque rigs, with bait or cranks… maybe even slip sinker live bait….
what do you guys say? what to do? Ive been down there on days when I was almost shut out it was so tough.. and I KNOW the fish were down there… I set up an FL8 with a bar that I could use to change the angle of the shot so I could point down river and find my jig……

then I watched it just like I was ice fishing… you would not believe how many fish LOOKED….. and how few even bumped it… sometimes I would have 2-3 fish at a time looking… and not a bite….. talk about frustrating……

Perhaps you were not holding your mouth right…. try holding it like this next time….



Fun…

I figure all fish that come and just look… to be carp… that way I do not feel bad that they would not hit my lures!

Confusius say… fish that not eat,

not be eaten. Aaaaaaah so .

Hoggie

For those of us that don’t fish 4 all the time somethings stick out when fishing up there especially with 20 -50 boats covering the same ground. I’m not sure they are significant , but here goes. The rocks on the East side seem to be very under fished . We have pulled a good number of 3-7 lb walleye,(including the Big Fish for an October tourney up there two years ago), off of that rock wall underhanding 1/4 oz TAYLOR TACKLE WALLEYE KILLER(hairjigs) right where the rocks meet the water and letting it slide down the wall with only a little movement towards the boat. Some of those sections are incredibly sharp breaks to deeper water and are very similar to fishing bass on verticle rock walls.

Prefishing the week of the tourney mentioned above and in March up there I have seen a lot of big fish come off those rocks and the rocks across from Hay creek into other people boats. In most cases there were so many boats behind me I had no choice but to cast that way. Many of you know from other posts that I have no respect for snaggy situations and lose a ton of tackle, and this is definitely one of the places I loose it.

Don’t know if this translates to Pool 4 , but down here and on Petenwell Flowage, the more pressure the shallower the fish. Sound ridiculous I know,( I would have expected them to go deeper),but the same pattern jumped at us day after day . No pressure fish were in 9-15 feet of water, pressure and the fish moved to 3-7 within and hour.

It should be noted in almost all of these situations the Boats came into the area under motor in the 8-15 foot depth.

Best example was third place in Nekoosa month long walleye festival 10+ fish caught by guide customers dad in barely three feet of water .

Slowly trolling upstream just out of the current with riggin/jiggin rig,(Dubuque rig with light 1/4 ounce hairjig), with both jig and bare hook tipped with minnow was definitely the most productive pattern.

vertical jigging and trolling, i am just starting to get into the three way with live bait. When i was younger all i use to do was vertical jig because that is all my fishing partner wanted to do and he got me into it so that was all i did, but now i am open and am trying new things.

LOL Hawger! Or maybe he should try holding his mouth like this? ->

Doing something different then everyone else.Presentation and depth changes are very good options as mentioned in earlier posts. One thing I like doing when things get crowded, is pick a fishy looking spot away from the crowds.
See ya on the river, Don

thanks for all the replies… particularly Mountain Man with his informative post….. what your saying resonates with some of the things Ive seen… like for instance even on Saturday when the fishing was pretty good… it was not “easy”… most of our fish came by fishing away from the spots that were being hit hardest…. there were quite a few boats in the DEEP sauger hole.. and I often saw fish on in every boat there… but mostly small (like usual)… I fished the shallow edge of that hole never deeper than 27’…. ALL our decent fish were caught 24′ and shallower… and all the 18+” fish were NO deeper than 18’… even into 14’…. the fishing wasnt easy for everyone… I spoke with one boat that asked me what we were “dooing”…. and I said super doos…. they had only one keeper fish for the whole day and that was in late afternoon….
we fisherman have a definite tendency for “monkey see, monkey do”…. Ive been there and done that often…. but when you have lots of pressure you have to avoid that….. fish off to the side, try to fish shallower like Mountain Man said… and for sure if there is a snaggy spot.. fish it… snags are something fisherman avoid like the plague… so guess what.. the fish are there… and unpressured… count on loosing tackle…… so what? if I DONT lose tackle my boat is eventually going to sink!! just too dang much lead…..
On saturday I found that hovering the bait was the way to go.. well thats the way we fish SUPERDOOS… but it also worked for bucktails… and probably other things too….. and those who used dubuque rigs… their upper hook is “hovering” off the bottom….. every day the fish will tell you what they want.. you have to listen….. color, presentation, location….. they will eventually reveal it all… you have to notice…..

Well,i’m no expert like some here but here is what I find works for me.First thing,do something that your comfortable with.Something that has been productive that your confident with tends to get your mind back on concentrating,and less on wondering if your doing something thats new,correct.I’m also a very alert person and can almost sense when someone has one on.I try to decipher what it is that allowed them to hook their fish,then I try to mimic and refine their approach.Sometimes that works,sometimes not.What I found in pool 4 last year was kinda interesting to me.While fishing early mornings the action would go from hot to cold real fast.When that would happen I would adjust my boat speed accordingly.You know when there are 30 boats all making the same drift,and out of nowhere someone comes up and anchors right in your path?On more than one occasion I turned into that person,I moved so slow.Many times people would pass me twice while I was in a single drift.Man would that produce some awesome fish!I know it irritated people,me being in the middle,but I was catching and they were not.Back to my main point,get something on your line that your confident in fishing,it works wonders for me.My standby lure?Walleye Killer jig,1/2 ounce,black with a white stripe.

hey riverratt!… Im no expert either…. unless you stretch the definition more than I would want to…. much of what I know Ive learned from this site…. funny… Ive been fishing rivers for well over 20 years… Ive learned more in the last 3 then in the previous 20+….
but slowing down is one way to get their attention… and ironically sometimes speeding up is another… at least sometimes a fast jigging approach gets their attention…. yeah I was using superdoos most of the time… but for a little while I was kind of rip jigging….. and caught my largest walleye that way…. unfortunatly I also snagged two fish that way…. so I quit…… but sometimes a sonar is a good thing to sneak in for a drift… it seems when the fishing is at its toughest there are usually a couple who will nail a sonar…. but its funny.. usually I can make one pass with the sonar… pull a couple of quick fish…. and then I just as well put it away or try a different location for a drift….
Im also getting the hint that another way to fish pressured fish is to fish them at a TIME when they are not being pressured… pick days not many boats will be out… pick times of the day, like before anglers get out, or after most have left….. these are all small things… but can make a big difference…

good stuff here,i dont do it all the time, but its a odds game . find new water ,look down river more,you may not be on a ton of fish, but fewer boats and less stress with may be a 1/2 a ton of fish can make for a fine trip also .i found a spot doing just that one time that has been very good to me. but its grate fun foolin eyes in a crowd or finding them in a new spot.

RiverEyes,our expertise sounds about equal then,but i’ll give you the upper hand,LOL.I started fishing the river about 10 years ago,but only the last 4 1/2 by boat.I too have learned a ton in the last 2-3 years.It is forever a classroom I never get bored going to!Back to topic,for me the best thing to do is slow down and get comfortable.Sometimes I think fishing is a state of mind.Gosh,if thats true I was fishing most of the day at work today too!

River Eyes,
I subscribe to your “Time” theory. I quite often don’t get out until afternoon. I often talk to frustrated fishermen who have just left the pack, with little success. Some of my best days last fall were from 3-5 p.m., and on pool 14 that time of day you can sometimes have the majority of tail water area to yourself, or just a few other boats. For some reason most eye fishermen here think you have to fish from dawn till 10 or noon at the latest. The speed issue is something a friend just taught me. He likes to speed up from time to time if slow is not working, and he varies speed often to find what the fish want that day. Seems to really work well for him. He consistently outfishes me!!!
Rooster

yeah.. Rooster… I have most often been in the “crowd” of guys out there pounding it till late afternoon then heading for the landing…. what Ive found and others have told me is that late afternoon the channel vertical jig bite usually drops dramatically… the time seems to depend on light conditions… but normally around 3 pm or a bit later… Im starting to get the idea that a switch to darker colors and a move shallower will at least sometimes put you back on fish… do you (or anyone else!) have any good tips for what you do when you fish out there at that time?