Pool 2 – 494 Ramp.

Your pool 2 – 494 ramp reporter here…!!!

Checked out the ramp last night and there was a shelf of ice out about 10 feet. Two guys and 20 minutes of chipping would open it up. I plan on getting it open on Thursday evening. (If someone else does not get to it first!!)

So if you are planning an outing to pool 2 this weekend, the ramp should be open. 40 degree temps for Fri/Sat/Sun, can’t wait.

J.

I just stopped by there @10:00 and the shelf was very small.2-5′ maybe

Hey Jon

Will I have any problems launching my 16.5 lund renegade there?? I’ve never used this landing so it’s uncharted waters. I’ll shoot you a private, maybe we can hook up to at least say Hey!!

John

I stopped at the ramp today also, the ice should be gone by friday, with the warm weather predicted, if not it wont take much work to clear it out. I would have done it but I dislocated my right shoulder last night getting out onto the ice on Lake Phalen. Dont ask how, lets just say i’m not as graceful as a couple years ago. Have fun this weekend I’m probally going to have to lay low. Hard to set the hook when cant move your arm more than a couple of inches.

Waterfowler,

Should not be a problem putting your boat in. If you are used to putting in at hidden falls, 494 will be a breeze. The dock has been pulled so it helps to have someone along to hold the boat while parking.

J.

I just got back from the ramp. About 15 minutes of exercise and I chopped it back to a 3″ or so lip. There is a bit of ice and snow on the incline so I would recommend 4wd. Sand and salt would be a good idea also. I plan on fishing Friday afternoon and have an open seat. If anyone is interested send me a message. I won’t get back online until later tonight. Leave a number for me to reach you around 9am tomorrow.

Dino

Stillakid2 has accepted the challange to fish Pool 2 for the first time. Now the pressure in on me to show him some fish. Looks like a run to the airport would be the best place to start.

Hey Dinosaur, I heard Stillakid2 has a lot of experiance at trying to outfish others in the boat by alway’s having his line in the trolling motor. That way it keeps the motor handler busy unwrapping line while he fishes with another pole. I’m not sure where I read that but have fun.

HEY NOW! Don’t be giving away my secrets! LOL! Dinosaur shouldn’t have to worry about that though…………. I ony do that in areas I can use my “3 lines, WI license” advantage! :O) Pool 2 is considered an inland water so I’ll have to use a different trick to occupy his attention………….let’s see here…………..dig in the bag of tricks…………….maybe the old “briefcase full of money” spilling bills all over? That might distract him! Or maybe a little hypnosis? “Watch the Ringworm……………you are getting sleeeeeeeepy”……………….LOL! Good humor! Should be a great day, even if we don’t catch anything! And leinieman, I hope I get to fish with you sometime so I can test my “runaway keg” trick! :O) J/K! Good luck to you this weekend, wherever you go!

Have Fun this weekend down there guys. The fish are waiting for you!!!!

Anybody checked out Hidden falls lately?? It’s much closer to the landing for me, but the boat ride would be a little longer downstream. What do you pool 2 guys think??? Drive to ramp along 494 or boat ride down stream???

How far downstream are you thinking?? The run from Hidden Falls to the Airport is one heck of a long run.

J.

Jon’s right,

Even with the weather being above normal. That still is a hike.

Depending on how far you want to go downstream, I would say its worth the drive to the 494 ramp.

I was at the Hidden Fall ramp about a week and half ago. It was in good shape then. The current there keeps it from building up. Besides the 494 ramp has been cleaned off to just a little lip. Ready to go……..Wish I was going……

Good luck and let us all know how your beautiful weekend in the boat is!!!

geeeee and I was looking forward to teaching the PUP some tricks on pool 2!… I had him on 3 and 4… so 2 should have been part of the progression!!… and Im wise to his line trick… in fact so wise to it that I caught MY line in the motor on the day of the get together… just so he wouldnt be able to…. but somehow it didnt seem to help much…. hmmmm wonder why? and Im getting mighty close to done with the house.. and Im dying to get fishing… my new job responsibilities has me working from home from 4 pm to midnight.. that leaves any and everyday free to go fishing… *sigh*… see how I suffer? but soon… soon… I WILL be fishin…… cant wait to get back on the water……

as for driving down to the airport from hidden falls… I would not recomend that… it often seems the ice jams up on the river bends… and you might not be able to make it all the way… but from the 494 bridge is should be good to go…… still the airport is good.. but its not my favorite…… it gets way more pressure than many other spots….

but of course… today that wont have been true… dino and kid will probably be the first in there.. and that should be VERY good……

let us know!!

Hey John, give me a call. I’m free on Sunday!! I’d love to go and know some good spots.

You can still teach me some tricks, just not the ones I learned today! Dinosaur, it was a great afternoon and excellent company! The bonus sauger were nice but you shared a lot of useful info and just made it an overall REALLY great day! Thanks for keeping my line out of the motor………….! :O) Leinieman, I went with the hypnosis by means of telekinesis trick and made him forget the bait. I’ll let Dinosaur tell the rest………………I didn’t outfish him though!

For anyone wondering, beware of the ice floats on 2 right now…………they’re coming down in good numbers and sneak up on ya quick. The ramp at 494 is in great shape thanks to Dinosaur, Jon J, (and anyone else?) and worth while using for days like we’ll have this weekend. Thanks again Dinosaur for the open seat, I had a great time!

Thanks for the kind words. You were great company. I do not think you even came close to having any line problems.

It is true , I did forget the minnows at home. Just as were pulling into the airport area I realized they were missing. After a couple seconds of me cussing my ignorance , the Pup asked what what I planned to do. Without missing a beat I moved over to the closest fisherman and explained how dumb I felt. He offered to share some of his minnows with us. The Pup’s tail was happily wagging again. Thanks to a generous understanding fellow angler we were ready. Plan “B” could have been ring worms or hair but I have better luck on “2” with minnows. We did find some hungry saugers in the main channel and purple seemed to be the best color. It was a nice warm day to be on the water and in between a couple of work related calls I did manage to boat a few nice fish. Stillakid caught a nice 19″er that was worthy of a pic.

As were pulling into the ramp at dark we were met by Jon J and Mongo who were looking for a fishing report. Jon had used his flame thrower and cleared the ramp of all snow and ice. Its in great shape for this time of the year.

Now for Saturday’s report. Another nice day to be on the water. The Xerox Guy and I got to the airport about 8:45 and found Jon J and a couple of other boats already fishing. We caught fish right away and worked the channel for a few hours. I had a nice 22 1/2″ sauger for the fish of the day. Most of our fish were between 15″ and 19″. We did work some areas downstream for a couple of hours with no luck.

It was such a nice day even the CO’s were out. We had a pleasant chat for a few minutes while they did the usual checks. First time I have seen them during the cold weather bite on “2”. With a dozen boats working the area they had a chance to visit us all.

Sunday , same place , just a little earlier start planned. Going out with Jon J.in his C’liner. On Saturday he had a decent bite going on 3-ways and cranks. It is forcast to be another great day.

I was up by the airport on Saturday too. Me and my brother were in a 16′ red lund. He had a Dallas Cowboys jacket on, maybe you saw us. I probably saw you guys too but I didn’t know who you were. We also got checked by the CO’s. We caught about 17 fish, all but 1 were 8-10″. The 1 was a 16″. Seemed like everybody was catching a lot of small fish. Didn’t see any real nice fish caught but it was still fun to be out. Why is the airport area a good spot-just that it’s a little deeper or what. I don’t fish rivers that much. Thanks

Flick , I do remember seeing your boat. I was in a 14′ Alumacraft jon boat with a Yamaha. We were working the main channel mostly in 18′ to 24′. A jig and minnow worked no more than 6″ off the bottom worked for us.

Sunday was not as nice a day as the previous two , both for lack of the sun and slower action. Jon J. and I did manage to catch 2 sauger using 3-ways with a crank. A few more came on jigs. We tried some shallower water and only donated some lead to the rocks. We ended the trip at noon without seeing a decent bite ever start.

Looks like conditions are changing to colder again. The river will probably freeze over again. Can’t wait for the next thaw.

Crossin,

I was busy all weekend with stuff…. Car was in the shop, wife wanted some attention, helped a friend insulate his garage….. Not enough hours in the weekend. Oh well, I’ll just have to satisfy my itch on the ice this week at night.

I’ll call you the next time I’m heading out.

Dinosaur: Your Sauger was only one inch short of the Wisconsin record! Way to go. Good fish.

Mark

That is surprising. I looked at the Minnesota DNR site and saw that the Mn. sauger record is 6lbs – 3ozs. As healthy as this fish was I figured it was 3 1/2 lbs. If the pic turns out I will send it in later this week.

Look at the WI DNR site. I think the record is 5lbs 3 oz. You could beat that on pool 4!