POOL 5A – 5/3-5/4

A few years ago I was complaining about the heavy focus on Pools 2-4, especially Pool 4. One of the guides basically told me to quit complaining and reminded me I could provide info on any Pool I wanted. So after a ten day layoff he goes with another report.

Last Wednesday I fished mostly areas around the Whitman Dam, and the bait was Jig/Minnow or bottom fishing. I caught plenty of fish, mostly Walleye, but only one legal and the was a Sandpike (old term for Sauger).

On Thursday, despite several boats at the dam, I headed for the Wingdams and sloughs and the results were quite different.

I only managed 9 Walleye, but six were legal, ranging in inches from 16 to 23 1/2. Only one was taken off a wingdam; the rest in the sloughs. and I never caught more then one keeper per location.

I caught one nice one on a Willow Cat. The rest came via trolling and color seemed to make little difference as Fire Tiger Shad Raps and Perch Colored ones worked equally well.

Good luck and for you Wisconsin Folks your best bet on opening day is the Mississippi River.

I for one greatly appreciate and enjoy your reports. I got to dig around the pool 7 backwaters with Blue Fleck a few days back on a willowcat hunt and I was reminded how beautiful the pools in that area are this time of year.

I too have noted and commented that there isn’t much said on here about my old home waters on Pools 5a and 6, so I am always glad to see someone talk about them. I will be up there next week to hit my double-secret late-spring high water walleye spots. The forecast says the river is supposed to come up a lot this week, so we can all probably forget about most of the wing dams for the time being, and concentrate on sloughs.

Hope you got your share of Willow Cats. It is tougher and tougher around the Winona area. Ethel, at the former Winona Bait Shop used to send her hubby up north around Duluth to get them, but since the place was sold I have no idea where they get them.

I will keep the reports up this year. You are the one that convinced me to provide info on the Pools lower then #4.

Thanks

Jeff at West End Boat in Winona gets his willow cats around Alexandria. They come out of a place I know very well up there.

Oddly enough, I have never found anyone in the Alex. area who has ever considered using them for walleye bait. I was never sure if it was legal to use them as bait on in-land waters (and in fact they weren’t legal, strictly speaking, for Minnesota anglers on the Mississippi), so I never tried them up North. With the new regulations in place defining willow cats as minnows, I may give them a try when I go up North this year.

As long as we’re talkin Winona area walleyes

A buddy and I went out today for just a couple hours…..weather was cool and windy with sprinkles off and on….not really my favorite fishing conditions !!!

We found our walleye and sauger on inside corners of the wingdams with less current rolling over them…..fish came on cranks (firetiger DT10) and jigs/plastics (bright colored munchies)…..although we didn’t have a measuring stick, all the walleyes we caught were legal fish (6 of em)….the couple saugers were under.

here’s the big fish of the day….estimated 20-21″? smacked a 1/4oz jig and firetiger munchie

Also caught a first today…..what I believe to be a SwordFish???

It’s a Gar