My buddy Jesse and I made our annual March trip to Pool 4, arriving late Saturday afternoon, just in time to sneak in an hour or two on the water. Hoping to catch 2 or 3 eaters for our evening meal, we managed two dozen or so fish, but all 13 inches or under, and most of them eyes. Haven’t had that happen too many times out here….but we didn’t starve….heated up the chilli, and warmed up with it in the Honeymoon Suite, as we discussed the plan of attack for the next morning.
Dressing warm was the first order of business. It was probably the coldest day I’ve spent on the water in quite a while, but the fish did cooperate. We boated a couple dozen or so fish, mostly eyes, in the 17 to 22 inch range, but not until we cried uncle to plastics, and used a very slowwwwww presentation with fatheads, as Dean suggested for the day bite. Not the fast and furious bite we enjoy sometimes on Pool 4, but certainly enough action and nice fish to keep our minds off the cold, except for the freezing line guides.
Days 2 and 3 were pretty much the same on fishing results. Being the stubborn plastic addict that I am, I kept starting the day pitching, dragging,and vertical jigging them, while my buddy used the live bait, drifting slowly downriver away from he crowds. But other than one or two fish on plastic, they definietly preffered the live bait, so I went with the flow. Again, nothing fast and furious, but we managed to bring 2 to 3 dozen fish to the boat each day, and most were eyes in the 17 to 22 inch range. I think we only boated two or three decent sauger. The mid-day bite was very slow, so we adjusted our schedules to the bite, and went in for a couple hours each afternoon to warm up and have our main meal. Our fish came in the 14 to 18 foot depth range, with some at 10 to 12 feet in late afternoon/early evening.
I think it was Tuesday morning, that saw a skim coat of ice over the entire river, from Everts up to the Y. Forgot the camera in the boat, but will try to download some pics of the river and fish tomorrow.
And one last thing…doesn’t anyone work anymore on Mondays and Tuesdays?? Didn’t think we’d see that many boats out there during the week….you’d think everyone had cabin fever or something! But that’s the great thing about Everts and this stretch of Pool 4. The traffic is handled very well with the several open launches, and there’s plenty of river to get away from the crowds if community fishing is not your preference.
And after it was all said and done, we trekked back home on Wednesday morning after 3 hours on the water, already looking forward to our fall trip.
