Pool 2 Memorial Weekend.

Walleye fishing on pool 2 the last couple of day has been pretty fair. Water levels are a little low for this time of year but there is still decent current on the river. Weather conditions have been out standing. Couldn’t ask for better fishing weather.

Most of my time has been spent checking out a few wingdams in the mornings and then switching over to some trolling by mid morning or noon. The walleyes are hitting deep diving crank baits on the wingdams pretty good. We are still getting a few pitching plastics and hair jigs. Havent spent much time pitching live bait yet but may have to try that soon. Varying the retrieve of the crank baits seem to work well to trigger these fish to bite. A quick pause in the retrieve or change in speed will work. For jig pitching I like to work the jigs more towards the front base of the dams. Here again a nice hop or twitch of the jig will sometimes coax these walleyes into biting.

For trolling areas we have been looking to rock piles in the 5′ to 8′ range with some current on them. Trolling speeds have been about 2mph with a pause or change in speed as the lures reach key areas. There has also been a few channel cats showing up with this approach.

We have also been targeting some back water channels for trolling with good success for numbers of mid sized walleyes. These channels still have good flow going threw them with some key current breaks and good bottom structure for the walleyes to hid behind. Most of these runs have been in the 8 to 12′ range.

For trolling lures #7 Flicker shads have been working great. Red, Blue, and Purple Tiger have all been working well. Orange Shad took some fish yesterday to. For plastics purple/chartreuse tail ring worm or paddle tail has worked well. Chartreuse/white core has been taking a few fish also. Hair jigs, black, purple, patriot, or chartreuse has been working well. For jig size 1/4 ounce has been working well.

For you guys looking for plastics and hair jigs in the twin cities areas Moores Bait and Tackle has by far the best selection of BfishN tackle going including dragging jigs. Moores Bait link Vados in the North metro and Joes in St Paul have also started carrying BfishN tackle this year. You can always purchase online also.

I apologize that I still don’t have any photos to share. There are many on my camera but we are still looking for the cord to down load them onto the computer. There are plenty of nice walleyes hitting rite now. Plenty in the 24′ to 26″ range. The larger ones have been a little less numerous this year but you never know when that true trophy will hit.

How has every ones else doing down there this weekend? Think I may be back at it with my girls this afternoon. We will most likely be on the lower end of the pool looking at some trolling runs. See you out there.

We’ll Ill be on P2 today, kind of anyways I ceratinly gotta get out and start exploring the lower areas of p2, I should have some time this week.

Good report Mike, thanks! My wife and I were down there yesterday afternoon for about 4 hours. Just us, the river, and 10,000 other people . We trolled some rip rap and pitched a few wing dams. As usual for me I couldn’t find any fish on a wing dam but managed a bunch of Sheepies and White Bass along the rip rap. No Walleyes for us yesterday.

Some of those pleasure boaters must really like burning up gas. You’d see the same boats going back and forth at full throttle all afternoon, I can’t imagine how much fuel those big tubs use per mile.

It was pretty busy at the 494 access. When we got down there we saw that there was one parking spot left….so I launched the boat and drove back to the parkling lot, only to see some county park guy had parked a van in the trailer parking spot! I asked him what the heck he was thinking, and his reply was “it’s pretty busy down there today”, Gee, ya think? We live in a world that has “No Trailer Parking” signs plastered around every public access in sight, and here we finally have a nice access with DESIGNATED TRAILER PARKING SPOTS and this guy parks a van in the last one! As it was , there were places for single vehicles to park that were open so I pointed out were he should park and then asked him to get out of the trailer parking spot. Idiot…..And as long as I’m on a rant, what’s the with people who drive over the dike and down to the ramp just to look around? If you want to “just have a look around” get off you lazy butts and walk over the dike. There’s a nice set of steps, people. But no, here they are parked in everybody’s way wondering why the guys with the empty trailer behind their trucks are yelling at them to get out of the way.

OK, I’m better now.

Rootski

I had never seen the 494 ramp so busy. We left a little after 1. There where trailers backer up over the curbs in the grass at that time. Looked to be very few fishermen out at that time either. That is why we are heading down river today to fish the back waters. No huge wakes back there.

Nice report Mike! Over the last week or so I’ve experienced very similar conditions and tactics, I’ll put a full report up later this evening.

While trolling, have you been getting larger fish? I’ve been doing some trolling and picking up high teens low 20’s fish, but no larger.

Pete

Mike, similar results for me as well this spring. I was down again this morning, and had good action – mainly casting wingdams and trolling shoreline rip rap. Still, very few 27″ plus fish for me this spring. I also have picked up more saugers this May in my “walleye spots.”

I’d add that this weekend was probably the best so far for wingdam fish. Prior, I had way better luck elsewhere. Flows are down now where fish will really start using wingdams, but it’s still a bit surprising how long it’s taken for the wingdam bite to take off.

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I’d add that this weekend was probably the best so far for wingdam fish. Prior, I had way better luck elsewhere. Flows are down now where fish will really start using wingdams, but it’s still a bit surprising how long it’s taken for the wingdam bite to take off.

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I’m still amazed by this. I’ve caught Walleyes on wingdams…once in a great while, one here and one there. I find far fewer fish on wingdams than along rip rap or shoreline slack water areas. I’ve never “gotten on them” on a wingdam, and I’ve never been in anyone else’s boat when we found a concentration of them either. I’ve heard about it but I’ve never seen it or experienced it. I find my self running rip rap shorelines or jigging current seams because I catch more fish there and it’s a lot less screwing around than trying to anchor up above a wingdam. I wish I understood what I’m missing.

Rootski

Made it out over the weekend as well. Found the same as mentioned above. trolling cranks over rip rap and around wing dams put a good number of eyes in the boat. Still have not benn able to break that 27 mark either. No pitching plastic for me lately. Here is a pic of my fiance with a 25″er and me with a nice one from the evening before.

My girls and I got out for a few hours this afternoon. Nice breeze going on today. We started out trolling a back water cut and got on a few fish. Picked up a couple of 24″ers doing this. Each of the girls got one of them. Emily caught hers reeling in the extra line as I was fighting a fish on the other side of the boat. After a little swim time on the shore line we swung over to consistent wingdam as of late and a few cast in with a Purple/Chartreuse ring worm this nice 27″er smacked my line. My girls where getting pretty proud of there netting skills by this point and where up for tackling this big walleye. The 1st swing at the fish the edge of the net bounced off the nose and sent the fish straight back to the bottom. Good thing I had loosed the drag right before this happened. 2nd swipe and they sent her dancing around the rim of the net a bit and then it finely fell in. We had caught it. This was a great fish to catch with my girls and a prefect way to end a great long weekend of fishing on pool 2.

Steve I would say more times than not its a fish or 2 here and there on a given wingdam. Every now and again you can get on numbers on the dams. Our best so far this year has been 6 off one dam. Joe did that sunday morning while I played net boy. Im sure there is still going to be better to come.

I was out this morning and got a total of 6 eyes 17 to 24″ off of 2 different wingdams. Firecracker Kalin tail took all but 1 fish, that one took a ringworm firecracker/chart. tail. Black hair jigs drew a blank for me today.

Rootski,

I too was lacking something when it comes to numbers of fish on the wing dams. but I did figure something out last year that has helped, and it has proven to be true again this year in the couple of times I’ve been out. I’ve discovered that I tend to spook fish when casting cranks, not sure why. I have found that I’m much better off to either not crank at all, or to stop casting after the first fish, and set up the anchored position, and cast hair jigs or plastic. I’ve gone from 1 or 2 fish at most to occasionally 3, or 4, sometimes 5 fish per wingdam. Another thing is to don’t be afraid to go back to a productive dam after an hour or so.

Nice fish Mike, sounds like a great night on the water. If that wind would only die off

Rootski,

PM me and I’ll give ya the lowdown on 4 super wingies that are HOT right now! My buddy from work and I ‘d them yesterday!

Oh, and your observations at the ramp were about the same as mine yesterday. I like the guys who park the boat at the dock and then stroll up to get the truck, meanwhile everyone else just gets to WAIT to launch or load. I pulled out my last remaining hair waiting for one guy. I almost threw him in the river when he returned….10 minutes later!!!

Nice report Mike and crew!!!

Will need to get out sometime this week.

I’ve been struggling just to get on the water at all. Been playing political “Survivor” at work the last several months…outwit, outplay, outlast. Heckuva way to earn a living and it does nothing for the organization.

Are you guys tipping your hair jigs or fishing them plain?

Nice Job Mike! Hopefully see ya out there soon

I made it out Saturday afternoon and Sunday, first off were are you guys fishing wingdams? I fished them all weekend long and didn’t see a single other fisherman fishing dams, not that I am complaining I got 9 on saturday and 8 on Sunday, 4 off of one dam and 6 off of another, all in a very small stretch of dam, there is definetly a spook factor, work them for awhile then come back later. The fish were smaller then they have been, the biggest was 25 but I lost two nice fish half way back to the boat, they just came unhooked Rootski, I usually find fish on Sat. and fish them on Sun. I thought I was going to clean house on Sunday, I had fish on 4 different dams but the morning bite has been horrible for me. I’m still fishing crawlers but I think that may change this weekend. It was a zoo out there last weekend, I have never seen it so busy. See you next weekend.

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Are you guys tipping your hair jigs or fishing them plain?

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The only thing we add to the hair jigs are walleyes.

Plastics and hair jigs did well this afternoon. Chartreuse/white core has been a good color. For hair jigs it was purple or parrot colors. We managed close to 20 fish this afternoon. TBO picked up a nice 28.5″er on a Flicker shad while I was putting numbers in the boat on a hair jig. Did not see another boat today until late this afternoon. Its good to see things back to normal on pool 2.

John. We have been spending a fair amount of time south.

Suzuki,
I had a hard time getting confidence in hair jigs. I had read all these hair jig posts, and I know they are true, but had a very hard time accepting how deadly they are until I actually caught a fish or two. Plain hair jigs just don’t seem right! It truly amazes me the size of the eyes that will snap at these things. Fish them just like plastics.

Rootski, check your PM’s.

Sippi, like you I didn’t see many others on wingies either, but I think it’s because I was staying parked on good wingies and not moving around much. Unlike you, I had my best fishing in the mornings, go figure??? Either way, I’ll take em anytime of day. Can’t complain, I think this is the most consistent bite of nice fish I have been on down on P2 in a VERY LONG TIME.

you must’ve been off the water by the time i put in at Lions at 6pm Mike? didnt see you out there. was nice to get some relief from that south wind.

We loaded up around 6 at 494 Jason.

It still amazes me how those walleyes can find a little hair jig in that muddy water. Hair makes no noise for them to key in on. Maybe the poofing of the hair as it moves threw the water gives off enough vibration for them to key in on. Maybe its that we are getting them close enough to tickle there noses and they cant help but bite. All I do know is it sure is exciting when those walleyes crack a hair jig or even jig and plastic. They where really smacking the jigs hard yesterday. Guess that means next trip down it will be crank baits again.

Thanks for all the good reports Mike! I’m going to try to get down there this afternoon

yeah…last night i pitched cranks and couldnt get a hit…but anything with lead worked.

Rootski….you and i have the opposite problem…i cant catch fish trolling and catch all my fish pitching dams. we should get out some time and round out our techniques

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we should get out some time and round out our techniques

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Jason, as much as I’d enjoy fishing with you, I can’t help but wonder if our COMBINED effort would work out really good…..or really bad! Yup let’s do that soon, I seem to learn something new every time I go down there.

fishing has definitely taught me a lot about being adaptable. i dont know how many times ive gone out and fished all day using a technique i know only to get skunked. then i come into the landing and talk to somebody who slayed em using a technique i have very little confidence in. doh! why didnt i change it up? human nature i guess….

ill stop philosophizing now.

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fishing has definitely taught me a lot about being adaptable. i dont know how many times ive gone out and fished all day using a technique i know only to get skunked. then i come into the landing and talk to somebody who slayed em using a technique i have very little confidence in. doh! why didnt i change it up? human nature i guess….

ill stop philosophizing now.

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Why didnt I change up. May of been you where fishing them the way you like to fish them. I find myself doing this more and more, fishing them the way I like to. Good thing there are a lot of different ways to catch a walleye.

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Good thing there are a lot of different ways to catch a walleye.

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Isn’t that the truth

Here is the 28.5″ that TBO caught yesterday. This one crushed a Flicker shad as I was putting on a show pulling in small fish on hair jigs.