Pool 2 Report

I’m heading out to pool 2 in a couple hours. Has anyone been there recently? How was the fishin’? I going to try some wingies by the airport, hit the confluence and near the dam. Mostly scouting for a day bite. I’ll post results this evening.

bshrimp,

IF you have a selction of hair jigs, be sure to give them a try. THe last couple outings, I have had better success on hair during the day than the plastics. greens and whites been good for my boat. 1/8-1/4 oz has been standard sizes I have had the best luck on.

Consider pitching the current swept rip rap a bit with lighter plastics and hair as well. May not be good on the numbers, but the size has been good.

Good luck, I will be out later today.

DeeZee: Any suggestions of where on Pool 2? Are fish congregating up river (Ford Dam/MN river confluence) or still spread out near typical wintering areas (airport/494/etc). Thanks.

Big E,

I have started to notice quite a few fish staging up in the confluence area. I still have not actually fished the area yet this spring, but the time is here where it should be a real smart spot to check out. There is a period of about 10 days that the big females stage and are easy to catch before they make there way to preferred spawning grounds.
The last several years has shown us that its been from the middle of March to near the end of the month overall for the best times.

I will be up that way this evening.

Hey Steve-
You plan on posting another report anytime soon??

Thanks for the timely information. I’m planning on fishing my way down stream from Hidden Falls Sunday morning and will post how I did in the evening.

I think this websight offers a tremendous opportunity for rabid anglers to share timely information. Cant say enough about how much I appreciate all the comments, ideas and suggestions. Though I dont think I rank as the caliber of many of the anglers who share their ideas on this sight, whatever ideas or information I can provide is certainly share ware~!

Have a great week-end on the water.

I’m curious to know how some of you guys did fishing from the confluence up to the dam. I dumping the boat in on Sunday and trying to decide between 494 and Hidden Falls. Any suggestions?

Beno,

I would consider the confluence area strongly. Everything south of the Mn is muddy.
Hopefully you get a chance to read this before you go i nthe morning. Good luck to you and let us all know how you do!

I must have been nuts to be on the river today! The wind was blowing pretty good. The bite was slow, but it was better than watching college basketball all afternoon. The water was fairly muddy at the confluence. I tried to fish both sides of the snady point between the rivers with out much luck. Any advice on a presentation to try in that situation?
It’s nice to be on the water again!

Beno,

I hear ya….you were nuts!! JK
I can be classified as one of those crazy anglers as well then.
In those muddy conditions, several presentations can be used to help the fish zero in on your offering. We got fish the other day by pulling lighter 3-ways with floaters and minnows pulling up current and being able to slow my kicker motor down enough into the current gave me the ability to hang the bait real slow in the areas that I thought there may have been fish holding.

Another option is to beef up on the size of the plastic or minnow you are using. Stay with darker colors in these condtions as their profile stands out much better to the fish. Pitching light jigs and plastics to the current breaks is another good choice here. Again stay with bigger profiles for best results.

Both sides of the Miss river here at the confluence area should be fished. If there is alot of pressure in these areas, slip down river a bit and find the first current break or seam and fish this. Alot of times, the bigger fish get spooked and retreat from there areas until the pressure cools off.

Good luck

Hello to all, I have been following the site for a while now and have decided to become a member. I am from southern MN and I am interested in information on Pool 2. I have been to Red Wing and LaCrosse numerous times, but I thought coming a little north would be interesting. I have no knowledge at all of Pool 2. I keep reading about Hidden Falls, Lillydale and the Confluence Area. How do I get to those landings and areas. I will be coming up 35 usually take 35 E to St. Paul. Also does anyone know of a good map of Pool 2. I found a decent one of Lake Pepin and Pool 4 but nothing on Pool 2. Planning to go up there on Saturday and I like to have some type of plan in order when I start instead of being blind. Also where does the MN River dump into the Mississippi, from the other posts it looks like the river downstream is pretty dirty. Any information would be appreciated.

Heading up 35e to st paul will bring you right there. If you look up river from the bridge you will see the confluence of the 2 rivers. Sounds like the lilydale landing might be you best bet for launching. Take the highway 13 exit right before you cross the river. Take a right onto 13 (east). Take the first right. This is maybe a 100′ from the freeway ramp. This road will bring you down under HWY 13 and right to the river. Head east on this road (Lilydale RD) about a mile and you will find the lilydale landing. Maybe a mile up river from there by water is the confluence. Take a right there and a couple of miles farther you will find the Ford dam.
Hope this helps.

Mike- that is exactly what I was looking for. I knew this was the place to find it. It is great to have access to so many fisherman who have a vast knowledge of the various fishing opportunites available in MN. I apprectiate your assistance.

Midnight,

MikeW hit here right on the head. THe Lilydale ramp is probably your best bet. As Mike mentioned it puts you just south of where the Mn river dumps in the Miss river. I have been on the water the last 15 consecutive days straight and can honestly say that the bite was great up until last week Saturday. The Mn river’s ice went out and and dirtied up the water clarity from the Mn/Miss confluence on down the river. As you can expect, the bite south of here went good to down right tough! I would highly recommend fishing the confluene area on Saturday and work your way up to the dam. The fish are starting to stage well in the confluence area before they make their run up river to spawn. The bite is not fast and furious right now, but if you are patient you will put some fish in the boat. Once you reach the confluence area, you will notice the distinct mudline from the Mn river coming in. Stay north of this area and vertical jig jig/plastic or jig/minnow here from depths of 14-20 foot for best results. As the sun is starting to get low in the sky, consider pitching light jigs into the current break areas that lie from the confluence all the way up to the dam. The bigger the current break, the better the spot!

Good luck to you and welcome to Pool 2~

So Steve, whats happening on pool 2?? I was hoping I could pull Mike W. out of the toilet(he is a plumber)and get him to go along for a day on pool 2. Probably on Friday. Need to get some more time on the new boat..

Steve;

I was told of a technique over the winter that I want to try for wingdam fishing. I wonder if you ever have tried this before.

It is where you take a three way with a crank and slowly feed it to the wingdam.

I was told to run an electric trolling motor so you can manuever about the dam.

Then you take your 3-way, drop it down, and slowly let the current pull the 3-way to the dam. Once you get there, you more or less probe around, via your trolling motor, to work the area, letting the crank swim in the current in front of the dam, placing the bait on the fishes nose.

I was told that you have good control over your presentation with this and that you can literally hang the bait in the “sweet spot” at the base of the dam, where the fish stage for feeding.

Have you tried this and does it work? Seems very logical, yet I’m a rookie who hasn’t tried it before, but I plan on expirementing with it.

I was told that the benefit is the weight of the 3-way sinker keeps the bait down on the bottom, instead of the current rolling it over the dam, as what would happen with a jig. Then with the 3-way dropper, you can maintain your depth level, however the current hitting the dam, gives the stick bait all the action you need.

Interesting concept about the 3-way with a crank vertical jigging method. I was lucky enough to get paired with Larry Snow (He’s on the cover of this month’s walleye insider) in the PWT event out of Bay City last year. We had a pretty tough bite the day we fished together, so we made a run down to Wabasha. We “vertically jigged” #5 shad raps on a 3-way rig (4oz weights) in the heavy current in the main channel, right where the steepest depth changes occurred. We boated 3 walleyes over 24″ in about 20 minutes. He used the kicker motor to just hang in the right areas. I thought it was a pretty ingenious method.

Funny you guys mention this…
I spent 3 hours doing this yesterday on dams that produced big time a couple days ago. Probed the entire length of the dams with 3-ways and stickbaits shallow and deep.
I even tried feeding a floater and minnow rig right into the dam and hold it there in the “sweet spot” dead sticked to no avail.
I have been producing about 5-7 fish a night since the dirty water, but they have come from other areas such as the confluence.

Thanks for the thoughts guys…..talk like this always triggers new tecniques and ideas!

beware DeeZee…. the “BFI” takes to the water Friday…
see ya out there buddy

TBO. With a ofer like that how can I turn it down. Friday it is.
Anouther method I have been kicking around for a while for fishing the fronts of the wing dams is bobber fishing them. While anchored in front of the dam letting a bobber drift back to the face of the dam. I could see finding a set spot on the dam and letting your bait hang there for the tough bitters. Or if you knew the dams well anough pitching it and working it across the face. There would most likely be a little fine tuning on presentation, tackle and bait types to get this to work right. Then one would also have to see how the fish will react to a bait dangling above there feeding grounds .
My final thought on this is how nice would it be to set in front of a wing dam on a nice night and watch lighted bobbers. Doesnt get much more laid back than that.

With a six pack Mike!!!

Now thats sounds like a evening in the making. I honestly have not spent much time with the slip bobbers on the faces of the dams. Let me know how it goes if you guys try it out!

Last night was a little better action for my client and I. We ended the evening with about 12 fish but down on the size. The wingdams produced about 60 percent of our fish on this evening. Light jigs and big plastics got the nod! The current speed is up a bit.

Take a look at the elevation and the discharge levels for an idea on the flow.

I will be back out again tonight and tomorrow night and should have a report up by the end of the week.
Good luck

I’m gonna hit 2 on Saturday afternoon. Does anyone ever do well in the snaggy, nasty trees on the St Paul/Miss side of the confluence. I’ve fished it a few times, but never much to talk about, besides losing lots of jigs. I gotta get down stream some more this year.

Fowler,

I have not necessarily had much luck in the trees you are referring to, but current breaks not too far from there have yeild some dandy fish a few years back. In the next week or so, I foresee a dramatic change in the river and where the fish will be relating. With increased flows and rising water levels, look to the current break areas and pitch jig and plastics or jig/minnow combos in these areas. IF a guy spent a day doing this over the next week to 10 days, you will score some hefty walleyes. As current levels pick up, the current breaks will be more pronounced and hence push the fish right where you want them and shallow!
Water temps were at 39.1 degrees as of yesterday and should see a increase over the next 5-7 days to help kick this bite into high gear! Can’t wait!

For now, conitnue to probe traditional pre-spawn staging areas throughout the river, deeper holes, marinas, and wingdams. All of these should start showing more and more fish in the next several days!

Good luck to you!

Crossin Eyes and I caught some nice crappies and 1 nice eye in there two summers ago.
Wish I was going with you guys. Good luck.

Getting back to the 3-way conversation. I have done really well on the wingies south of the 494 bridge with a crawler harness and nightcrawler. Depending on light and water conditions, I vary the size and color of the blades I use. I use the trolling motor in lighter current and anchor above in heavier current.
Be ready to mix in some nice sheepies too. They seem to really love those crawlers!

Hit 2 on Saturday afternoon in the less than desirable conditions. Boat control was at a premium with the heavy winds. My boat got skunked, crossin’s boat got one nice 19″ fish. I was surprised how many other boats were out in these conditions. As we were loading up, there were two knuckleheads loading their jet-skis. I thought we had a problem…..

Waterfowler,
I was taking out when those guys were loading up the jet skis. What were they thinking? Their faces looked like they fell asleep under a sun lamp. I thought I was crazy to be fishing in the heavy wind.
We managed to boat only one 23″ eye. Tough conditions.

I got out for a couple about an hour yesterday, before the sun went down. I caught nothing, I only got a report of one fish being caught out of the three different boats I talked to. Fished by the dam a bit, tried down by the confluence, overall It was the first time out this year, and by the time I had finally got everything ready, I was lucky to even get out on the water… I had to drain old gas out of two tanks, Why I didn’t do it last year is way beyond me , Then I had to load the boat with all the gear I needed, liek the fire extinguisher, batteries, ropes, anchors… Ack… I went and got bait, and gas, then relized my boat tabs were expired , got them no problem. I was going to put in at the launch under 35W, but opted for the hidden falls one instead, because I only had my 3 gallon tank, and I wasn’t so sure how great the boat would start/run after sitting all winter. The boat started right away, after 2 minutes of rougher running (probably the stable) it smoothed out and ran great . I ‘ll have to get out a bit more now Let the fun begin!

I was right behind the jet ski’s Beno. I thought my face was cold, not after looking at those two fools.