Fishing On Pool 2 or 3

I have visited fishtheriver all year and am very impressed with the site. A couple years ago I converted from a lake guy to almost exclusive river fishing. My favorite- St. Croix. Thanks to all the staff for posted information and reports.

I am heading out his afternoon. Just haven’t decided if the ST. Croix and Pool 3 is the ticket or should I try pool 2 for the first time. Anyone doing good by preston or on the lower St. Croix. Any action near the dam on pool 2? I ‘d appreciate any thoughts.

Check Pool 2 other heading w/ 12 follow ups. Dam slow, downriver of dam has been ok for 15-18″ eyes, 494 area seems to be producing 18-24″ eyes. I have never fished the 494 area so cant help you there. Below Hidden Falls, look for faster water.

Good luck-post results if you make it out!

now when you say “dam” slow.. do you mean “awful” slow??

LOL

well…. guess I can put in my 2.5 cents worth……

The St Croix…. awful slow

Pool 3… about the same

Pool 2…. more of the same probably…..

BUT… we are getting real close to when it changes from SLOW… to much improved or even fast!!! could happen soon….. Ive read all the pool 2 banter and Ive had no comment soooo far…. but Ive spent a great deal of time fishing pool 2… just NOT this year…. but enough time that I can predict some things….. and one thing I can predict is soon great numbers of smaller walleyes (around 15 inch with a FEW larger ones) will accumulate up close to the dam… Ive done very well using light 3 ways with minnows pulling along the current break behind the island and along the barge channel….. you can also use jig and minnow with lots of success.. but use light heads… and even try casting and draging across the bottom… if the fish are very slow you can also use slip sinker rigs and I like to hook the fathead right in the back.. this makes them swim up off the bottom and the eyes just CANT seem to resist…… the numbers of fish caught can be large… and Ive taken my boys up here at this time of year on nice days…. its a cant miss prospect… but I guess Ive spoiled them.. they now pretty much EXPECT to catch lots of fish…. ! and if they dont they get bored!…..

also… fishing in the 494 area…. yeah wing dams are great… BUT (and this is a BIG but!! lol)… you almost gotta hit the good dams FIRST! (before someone else does)…. the fish get burnt right off of them….. action is usually hot and BRIEF (well thats been my experience, but then Ive not got much patience! I get the easy ones then move on)…

then you start working jig and minnow off the current breaks on the end of the wing dams and along the channel breaks… soon you will start to catch some very nice fish (particularly sauger!)… along the channel breaks… and into the channel.. this pattern WILL continue ALL winter long… anytime you can launch the boat…… it just seems to get better and better on into January and February…. the fish winter in the deep holes they do seem to move around from hole to hole a bit…. the two old traditional holes are the one that starts at the 494 bridge and runs up river until the bend at the mouth of pigs eye lake….. then there is the one that starts just up from the railroad bridge and runs up to the bend just in front of the airport…..

another less frequently fished hole is the first one down river from the 494 bridge and it sits in that first bend down there… the wing dams associated with these holes can all be productive.. but for some reason the FIRST wing dam associated with these holes is the best….. by that I mean most consistant….. if all you do is fish these areas Ive just listed you should catch quite a few fish and some big ones too…. but there are a number of other spots that are smaller, harder to find, that of course can be very productive…….

well…. is that 2.5 cents worth yet? guess so…….

my info is NOT current…. Ive been house building instead of fishing *sigh*…… but I hope to start getting out in late november.. and then regularly after that….. if your smart you will make sure you put your boat somewhere you can USE it during the winter….. fishing the river is usually MUCH better than ice fishing!! (ive found that one out the hard way!)

ohhhhh and of course my tactics are NOT the only ones that will work, on pool 2 there is a wide variety of habitat and the fish are using it all… so a wide variety of techniques will pay off….. my favorite is vertical jiggin, then 3 ways w/cranks/ then 3 ways w/bait….. casting cranks to wingdams is fun, but Ive not spent a lot of time with it….. but thats where you can get some truly BIG eyes…… for the big sauger vertical jigging seems to work best…..

Hey Rivereyes:

If that’s 2.5 cents worth you work to cheap.

I’d hate to see a dollars worth!!!! Just kidding. I love fishing this pool and will put your info to good use in the next few months.

Rivereyes,

I completely agree with your comments on Pool 2, right now I am a wingdam hopper until December. There are alot of wingdams on Pool 2 and obviousy not all hold fish. I have spent many, many trips “weeding” through the bad ones. Once you find wingies that hold fish, they most likely hold fish in a repetitive manner. Once you put your time in and sort out the good from the bad, you then can set up a “milk route” and spent minimal time and pick up the active ones and move on. By the end of your stay, you have had hopefully put the “odds in your favor”.

Thats why it pays to have a good number of wingies to fish, just in case someone is camped on your spot.

I firmly believe that these wingies hold above average fish this time of year.

There is alot of water south of 494 bridge to fish. You have probably heard me talk about being south of 494 about 10 miles or so. There are many wingies down there that recieve a little less pressure than the ones close to the access.

Just my 2 cents as well, “a little cheaper than Rivereyes”. JK

Good luck

yep… one thing for sure is the farther south below 494 you go the less fisherman your going to see……. though it seems even on the days there is quite a crowd out there you can find “micro” spots that are not being focused on…. for some reason most people just drift in the “general” area… and they never really tumble to the “exact” spot where the fish are sitting…….. even when they are sitting in the channel, they are associated with some sort of structure…. also… I tend to find they are NOT sitting in the deepest water available… I guess I did NOT make that clear….. Normally Im going to find fish somewhere in the 20-25 foot depths…. (for sauger)… and walleyes CAN be at those depths but are more often found shallower….. still they are all usually camped out in areas that have wing dams along the channel edges…..

but I will admit I dont think Ive been 10 miles down river…. but Ive been perhaps 5-7…….

sounds like I will have to raise my “rates”!!.. lol… what with the “complaints” ive been getting about my long-windedness!!