I fish pool 14, i love seeing all your pictures of the monster walleyes you pool 4 fisherman catch. I was wondering if you could share a little insight on how you are getting them. Depth, bait… ect. I would like to kind of try to match a spot to the pool i fish and maybe find some eyes. I am getting very bored of ice fishing haha. So if its flats wingdams structure it would be appreciated if you could help me out. Thanks
In the spring almost any cureent seam will hold big fish, they also like sandy areas with current seams. Depths go from 2FOW -18FOW. Pitching blade baits, ringworms, paddle tails and hair jigs are the most common presentations used.
Most of the larger fish are caught in a few week period before spawn. shallow water areas outside spawning areas are the key. picking the fish of before the y make it to the spawning grounds. It may last a few days or weeks. plastics blades live bait all will work location is the key. locate spawning areas and pitch in to shallow water many time 1 foot or less. patience you might sit all day for 1 bite. Remember there are a few guys that catch big fish. average day has 500 plus boats and maybe a few larger fish caught each day by a few guys. hope that helps a little. time of year water temp time in spawn cycle is all important. in every system there are a few spots that have big fish potential. not ewvery part of the water hold big fish. 
I’m more of a pool 2 guy than pool 4; but on 2 I would say that wingdams and drifting plastics are my goto way to fish the majority of the time and wingdams are where I spend the majority of my time. That being said, certain times of the year (summer)I’m trolling shorelines and (early spring)dragging areas where there are no wingdams.
dd
YOUR LOOKING FOR FISH RIGHT NOW AND YOUR LOOKING TO JUST GET SOME EATERS TO START RIGHT
This time of year find areas with deeper water and some decent current! fish the 20 to 30 foot range for saugers! I know some dont condone with fishing deeper than 30 but you would be surprised how many fish (mostly small saugers) you will catch in depths up to 60 foot below a dam
generally nicer fish will be taken in the shallower waters! fish for the eyes on sand, gravel, above or between wing dams! Eyes seem to like to roam in shallower depths(1-20feet) with less or no current! but near current! (current seams) a very good bait on the river in all pools I have fished just to get some confidence in a spot or what your doing Start with a 1/4oz darker but bright green lead head tipped with a minnow! no body or tail! maybe a stinger to start just to make sure you get them!(I feel confidence is the #1 thing that will constantly put fish in your boat)
IF YOU DONT HAVE CONFIDENCE IN WHAT YOUR DOING IT IS HARD TO KEEP DOING IT)
this should give you a idea of where and what now the how?
depending on water temps! 40 degrees or under just drop to the bottom and lift a few inches and dead stick it! let the current take you down stream keeping you line perfectly vertical holding the bait as still as possible! from time to time slowly drop to check for the bottom since as you drift depths will change!
above 40 start to do some jigging! (this is just a rule to start with! If nothing do something different until the fish let you know what they want)
well I hope this helps
good luck!
Thanks for the help guys! I have 1 more question… What is this “Blade” bait you are refering to. I mostly fish with 3 way rigs (no i am not one of those guys that lets the fish diegest the hook before i set it.)
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Thanks for the help guys! I have 1 more question… What is this “Blade” bait you are refering to. I mostly fish with 3 way rigs (no i am not one of those guys that lets the fish diegest the hook before i set it.)
And if you buy bladebaits get mostly smaller than 1/2 ounce. 1/4 ounce is a good size to have a selection of blades. 1/2 ounce is what Suzuki uses to snag flatheads in 30+ fow…. Just kidding Suzuki! 
dd
Hey guys, new to the site and looking for help. I’m trying to find someone to fish with for walleyes on the river ASAP. I have a new boat on order but it won’t be ready till April. I live in Farmington and will gladly pay my share. My name is Jason and my cell is 507-460-0393. Hope to hear from someone soon.
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Hey guys, new to the site and looking for help. I’m trying to find someone to fish with for walleyes on the river ASAP. I have a new boat on order but it won’t be ready till April. I live in Farmington and will gladly pay my share. My name is Jason and my cell is 507-460-0393. Hope to hear from someone soon.
Post this in the Trip Swap forum.
http://www.idofishing.com/forum/postlist.php/Board/swap/trip-swap-forum
There’s dozens upon dozens of posts in that forum from other anglers looking to fish with someone on the river. You’ll have a ride in no time.
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Thanks for the help guys! I have 1 more question… What is this “Blade” bait you are refering to. I mostly fish with 3 way rigs (no i am not one of those guys that lets the fish diegest the hook before i set it.)
Mr. Eye, I just started fishing blades this fall. Ok I was only out twice and never had a fish in the boat…but I did have two on!
I’m not a big walleye fishing fan, but pitching a piece of painted steel to the shore line or sand points is very intriguing to me.
The fella that was trying to teach me, out fished me somewhere around 25:1…but who’s counting.
BTW this is not to be confused with vertical jigging blades. Although there are many that jig blades religiously, that’s not for me.
Give them a try sometime.
I have a bucket full of blades and very time I try to fish them I give em up to the river (snag) 
Just call me lucky I guess. There are guys up there that know how to use them and have great luck at it. I just haven’t figured this art out. 
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I have a bucket full of blades and very time I try to fish them I give em up to the river (snag)
Nothing that some practice wont cure.Make sure you are using no bigger than 8 # test hardline,correct snap for the blade size,#1 or #2 ,and a mlxf action rod are the basics to blade pitchin 101.Practice on shallow sand,and you will have it dialed in no time!
The biggest mistake people make with blade baits is working them too hard or letting them sit on the bottom too long. If you’re pitching them, you want to lift the rod tip just enough that you feel 3 or 4 little thumps of the blade, and follow the line back down, then repeat as soon as it hits bottom.
If you’re vertical jigging them, same thing, you don’t want to rip them 4′ off the bottom. Just a snap of the wrist for a 6-18″ lift, follow back to the bottom and lift again as soon as it hits. Very simple in theory, but there is an art to it.
The other thing is to always be alert. You can easily be hypnotized by the monotony of blade baits, but you never know, the next lift of the rod tip could be a 13 pounder. If you’re not paying attention you’ll double clutch the fish and loose them 95% of the time. Good blade bait anglers will spend more time and effort feeling out the bottoms of areas they’re fishing than almost any other technique. I love pitching blades as a search technique since I don’t have as much confidence in plastics, so I always have one tied on in the spring/fall, and even like to cast them at wing dams in the summer.
Do you guys use a braided line and whats with all of the holes to attach for?
Yes, like Dean said 6 or 8lb braid. I like fireline crystal. Most applications, you use the middle hole. You can experiment with attaching to the front or back to see what kind of action the bait gets. When you run braid and an mlxf rod, you will feel absolutely everything that happens. I’ll switch to the front hole sometimes for pitching to help avoid snapgs, but 98% of the time, I use the middle.
The biggest key I have learned from these guys and some otheirs that fish pool 5 and 5a is confadince plastics great blades great but until you get them figured out it can be very slow going so keep using these baits they are all are talking about but use them in diffrent approches you will figure it out and you will love using them in the spring for eyes the group i fish with very seldom buys live bait.
Here’s a very good article from a long time Pool 4 regular.
He helps answer many questions and one of these days I’ll get in on that shore lunch!!
Couple things you can do to shorten your learning curve:
1) go thru old reports from the cold water period here on IDO-ton of good information in regard to technique, location and success in regard to that time of year.
2) One benefit of the cold water period on the river is it remains relatively stable in regard to flow and stage-two factors that greatly influence baitfish location.
3) Assuming you are a shad based forage source, learn all you can about baitfish location for the current stage/flow for the time of year.
4) In a brief nutshell, clear water equals low light bite windows(wintertime), dirty water(summertime) equals daytime bite—water clarity will determine light intensity, which has a strong influence on feeding activity for fish.
5) Figure out if you are going for eaters(numbers) v/s trophies(couple bites per day). Typically, fishing for large fish is much like muskie fishing–long days with few bites, but the right ones when they come. People do, and sometimes more often than you would think, stumble on big fish while vertical jigging up eaters on pool 4-but not a tactic to tip your odds on a 10lber.
Good luck!!!
BTW, pitching blades is addicting.
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