Pool 2…anyone…Bueller????

Thinking about hitting Pool 2 for the 1st time in 3-4 weeks. Anyone been out lately? Any luck? I see that the water is still high, is there a ton of debris in the water?

Thanks for any info

Haven’t hit Pool 2 for a couple weeks myself. I did make it down to the Minnesota last week, and found TONS of debris. My guess is that anywhere below the confluence you will have really dirty water, and lots of junk. If you do make it out…. be carefull!

I was out on pool 2 yesterday and had decent fishing in the slack water and the bays. Hooked into a 28 with several smaller fish to go along with it. I was trolling husky jerks in 4-6 feet of water. Good luck!!
Sealegs

Dave,

I just took a drive over to the 494 ramp. There are signs up that say “Ramp Closed”, however, I drove down there and had no problem getting to the ramp. The parking lot was open too with people sitting in their cars watching the construction going on. There is a ton of mud on the road from trucks coming and going…it’s a mess.

The water is up to the top of the ramp where the cement meets the pavement. The dock is in now and there is a lot of crap floating down the river.

Note that if you are coming from the Newport side of the river, you cannot exit at Hardman.

Jon J.

Thanks for the info guys, if I do make it out I will definately be above the confluence. Sounds like the MN is churning out a ton of junk right now.

We were out last night from 6pm-9pm last night and got 11 walleyes trolling cranks. Again look to the slack water and the bays to be holding fish.
Sealegs

Made it out tonight…. ripped cranks on wingdams. 6 eye’ and 1 nice sauger… all between 18-20″.

Casting or trolling? Also-is the 494 ramp accessible?

Casting. Yes, the 494 ramp is open.

Dave was nice enough to share his boat last night. I believe we boated 8-10 eyes, 2 smallies, 1-19″ Sauger, and I lost a monster fish which we never saw. Probably the biggest cat I have had on. Never broke the surface, so we aren’t sure what it was. All I know is that my rod was almost bent in half, and finally the lure pulled free.

No real patterns. 1 up by the dam; a couple south of the Hwy 5 bridge; a few in the ‘no wake zone’; and a few down by the confluence.

It is always nice sharing a boat w/ another FTRer. The numbers were down from my last outing a week ago. But the size was better. A couple of real nice 23″ fish which I was pleased to see since we caught so many 18-20″ fish last year. I was hoping some nicer fish would show up this year in the area above the confluence.

The fish were very scattered and the water was down 4-6′ from 9 days ago. Very little debris and the current wasnt too strong. I think that moving fast and covering ground was more important than the spot.

Thank you Jon J for trading some cranks on the water when I donated my last #5 Firetiger to the river. And thanks for the company Nubbinbuck!

Dave, you are welcome!

The river left me feeling like SchlepRock….Unlucky as I had no walleyes come to my boat. Not to mention that small thunderstorm that soaked me and the dog down and apparently did not rain anywhere else.

Still good to be out, and on pool 2 the cats and sheepies will keep me interested.

Jon J.

Hi Dave i was out last satutrday with my son pool 2 was quiet from the normal i know could have been the high pressure that moved in friday night the eyes were slow and small 12″ being the average in 5-6′ on shad raps fished the upper part of 2 good luck

brad

Ok, before someone gets mad I am referring to my boat. Took it out for the 1st time on Sunday, launching under 494. God, I love that HPDI engine. Starts just like a car.

Fishing luck wasn’t so good. Got a 15″ White Bass on a wingdam, and a smaller one across from the airport. No eyes, but I really need to learn how to fish a wingdam better. I get snagged WAY too often. Not to mention, I need to pay more attention to WHERE they are. Not all are marked, and I am glad I was paying close attention to my graph.

Book a day with one of our Pro-Staffers that frequent wing dams……………it’ll be SOOOO worth your time to do so! All of them are very good at it but I’ve only had the pleasure of wing dammin’ with ~H20~. That day’s lesson in wingies has crossed over to many other things and has reduced my underwater snag ratios. Now docks and shorelines………….I still got a little polishing to do there……………right Tuck?

Good idea, but I hear Dave B can be bought with a handful of #5 Shad Raps, and a few Mich Golden Drafts ! !

I havent fished the wing dams w/ any success (except for watching Jon take a 27″er). Besides, casting requires 2 hands and too much effort. Not my style-but I will probably cave at some point this summer.