Pool 2

Another update from Pool 2.
Finally things are looking to be on the upward swing for the coming days.
Yesterday was the first time out since last Saturday….(BTW Last Saturday was terrible fishing for my boat.)

BUT with the warming temps in recents days we are seeing good runoff, slowly water levels are rising, and water clarity is diminishing….all these characteristics are what we need for those hefty Pool 2 walleyes to start snapping. Although yesterday the fishing was not going like gangbusters, but I sure liked what I saw. I saw lots of fish activity in areas where last week that was nearly nothing at all. I ended the day yesterday with 10 walleyes/saugers. Nothing real big, but a step in the right direction. For the next 10 days, it should unfold some great fishing on Pool 2.

My best presentations was vertical jigging BFishNTackle’s Precision chartruese 3/16th oz jigs with a variety of different colored BFT’s super-doos. Chartruese and Cotton Candy seems to be my best. BEst depths were 13-16 ft.
After awhile I decided to take it to the shallows and pitch for some bigger fish. Here I opted for BFT’s 1/8th and 3/16th oz Precision jigs and BFT’s ringworms. Purple and Firecracker seemed to be the two best producers for me yesterday….

I will have more tomorrow…

Good to hear Steve. Things are shaping up for P4 as well. I think fish are beginning to move to more predictable places with the presence of increased current but are not stacked up quite yet. The bite day bite is improving with the water clarity so that’s good. Looking forward to those two factors aligning where you have aggresive fish in predictable current determined positions…sounds so easy doesn’t it. “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of that which is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope”
Maybe I’ll see you out there.

Hey Steve!
I got my report out one minute before yours. In your face!
I covered what not to do and you covered what to do. We would make a great team! Two things I didn’t do: 1) fish vertical and 2) fish superdoos and

dd

I was out last night, too. The big fish are apparently around, but not excited by my presentations … I snagged and landed one that was a little over 8# on my digital.

John,

How was the water clarity where you were at?

Thanks for the update Steve! I was down on tuesday for a couple hours and headed south. Lions levee launch is ready for business but the olny thing I layed a hook into was some old fishing line and a nice piece of lumber Visibility in the water down that way seemed to be about cut in half from sunday. I hope to be up in the lillydale area next week and hope to see you guys around!

Its good to hear the bite is looking up on pool 2. Keep the reports coming guys. With any luck I may have a boat going again this weekend and be able to join you guys out there.

I launched out of 494 yesterday around 1:30, and by 2:00 the wind and white caps were blowing my boat upstream at a steady 1 mph.. not exactly good boat control weather. I put the boat back on the trailer and went shore fishingand caught a few cats

I managed 1 bite on a ringworm in about 25 minutes, I didnt have desire to try anything else while getting pounded by the waves.

I’ll be back out when the wind dies down a bit

I was down on pool 2 today with a buddy around lilydale and the water is getting muddy. The minnesota is dumping some dirty water down with some sticks and ice chunks when we left at dark. The water is in good shape north of watergate marina to the dam, but south is chocolate. We did get some good fish today, but overall the bite was slow. Ringworms and mr twisters did the damage, with nothing on minnows.

I was able to get out friday afternoon and saturday morning. There wasnt any bite going for us at all. Tryed vertical jigging at the confluence and pitching some shoreline breaks. Managed one small walleye pitching. I owuld think that fishing should get better as temps warm up here in the near future.

How did the rest of you do over the weekend?

Pool 3 was looking like chocolate today..

Pool 2 is chocolate milk from above the marina to that little MN river side channel on down. Above that up to the dam you got better visibilty of around 8″ But the fishing appears to be still on the sucky side (for me at least).

dd

Thanks for the report Joel.

Here is my report from yesterday……
LOTS of ice was flowing out of the Mn river. Getting back in and out of the ramp was very sketchy yesterday. Proceed with caution in the next couple days. Lots of floating debris.
As for the fishing…..As Joel mentioned the Mn river is dumping pure chocolate milk right now and the fishing is slow…..We ran up above the Pike Island cut (from the Mn river) and managed to catch just shy of 10 walleyes. No big fish as of yesterday. We got one that was around the 22″ range. My big fish bite has slowed to a crawl for now…As soon as the river settles a bit and clarity comes back to 3-4″ below the Mn river, I think the bite will pick back up a little.

Quote:

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…the fishing is slow…We managed to catch just shy of 10 walleyes.

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Joel, we need to get back out with Steve so we can have a slow day too

Hey Marty!
Mike W and I had a slow morning on 2. A real slow morning.
Mike got a 19″ pitching and I got a 17″ (walleyes) dragging. No pattern to discern. The water clarity continues to be decent on the upper end of 2 and appears to be getting a tad better below. This weekend should be good with warmer temps and hopefully some stability.

Am heading down to P2 tomorrow afternoon by 494 landing. And then again Friday morning. Any advice besides watch for floaters and keep my gas tanks full?

I haven’t been down that way for a couple of weeks. So I don’t know what shape it is in. I would guess that you want to look for current breaks and use bright colors. Wingdams close to shore might be worth a look. Good luck!

dd

Ken,

Like DD, I have not been down by the 494 area for weeks now as I have been trying to avoid the muddy water for the time being and let it settle down a few more days before I will be heading down there. THe confluence and north has been my area of target the last several weeks. Hopefully the Mn river will settle down from a muddy standpoint….

The big fish bite I had going up around the confluence area has dried up for the time being with the real dirty water. The confluence on up to the dam is all pretty clean water and we have been seeing a mix of saugers and walleyes on most of the shoreline current breaks as well as up by the dam around the lock side area. Nothing big up that way thus far for my boat from the last couple days.

Steve,
I decided to hit the marina just south of hidden falls and there was still some ice in it which means it will be another few days before that area gets good. I was up by the lock also with no success. At least the boat ran good! And I had plenty of gas so I didn’t have to give you a call! LOL!! Tomorrow morning I’m heading to 494 just to quench my curiosity. If I don’t like it I’ll trailer and head up by the dam again. Maybe better luck this time? Water temps for me were in the 37 to 38 degree range. Still a little cool yet. The water levels are about normal for this time of year. Water clarity was better above the MN river area to the dam.

Ken. was that you out there around hidden falls and the dam tonight? I was up there with my jon boat. Didnt find much but it was still a great evening on the water.

Hey Mike, I think I saw you buzzing around. Jon boat with a 25hp Honda, right? I was the guy in the white lund fishing the around the MN River. Anyhow, just thought I’d say hi. Not much to report… didn’t do much fishing. The wife and I were out for a boat ride. I’ll be back out there Saturday morning. Hope to see some of you guys out there!

Yes it was!! Decided to go down to 494 today and wow!! What a mine field!! Debris every where. And still no fish. Waters temps still cold and water clarity really bad. Was nice just to be out, though. Saw close to 40 eagles flying around. Beautiful site. Won’t be out now for few weeks and then it will be bass fishing on backwaters. Or if the walleye bite is real good I might try for a big. Mike W are you going out soon?

Wont be back down there until sunday morning. Something has to start happening soon.

Yep big. that was me in the jon boat. My trolling motor wasnt working so I was limited to what I could do with the main motor.

I tried the confluence, the dam, and points in between early this afternoon, no fish. All temperature readings were 37.0-37.3. Nice day though.

we fished the morning from lillydale to the Forddam. No fish but a nice sunburn. Got to meet Steve D. at the landing. Thanks for the advice Steve. I now have boat envy that riverpro is a nice boat. I know what I will buy if I win the lottery.
Dan