Thanks for the report Jicky. Was out last night and trolled some shorelines in about 8 feet of water. Fished about 4 hours and pulled in 3 eyes between 21 and 24 inches. Talk about low water huh? The river is really down for this time of year. Heading out again tomorrow.

Have a good weekend and tight lines to all.

I agree Jon. I was out Wed. night for a few hours and it was tough fishing. Between trying to avoid the logs and battling the wild current, we came up empty also. The wife’s heading to Vegas next week so the fellas are dropping in for a little visit. Should be 4 days of good times assuming the weather cooperates.

Is there any way to find out if the ford dam is all the way open without actually driving to look?

My fishin partner and I were out on Friday night. Caught around 10 eyes between the two of us. Biggest was 18 inches. Just jigging the areas north of the confluence. The rule in my boat is if you catch a few nice fish in one spot, I’ll name it your honor. Being that we caught quite a few fish there and he was the first to land one, the spot is now named in honor of my fishing partner – Full Tank’s Rip Rap. We’ll be heading out to give it another run tonight. Supposed to be a nice night.

Went to a river fishing seminar at Joe’s Sporting Goods last night. Lots of great information. This site was mentioned as one of the premier sites to look for river fishing info. Couldn’t agree more.

Hopefully the new skills will help put some sows in the boat.

Anyone else been out this week?

Went out Sat. from 6:30 to 2. No bites. There must have been 25 other boats out there and the only action I saw was one guy getting bit off by a little snake. I think this warm weather will increase the action. I marked a lot of fish. You may want to talk to Steve “The Man” Dezurik. He seems to know pool 2 like the back of his hand.

I went to the 494 landing 3/23 and it was closed. Can you get me directions to Lion’s Levee Park?

Thanks!

Not much to tell you about our adventure last night other than my motor did not want to cooperate. By the time we got it running we only had about a 1/2 hour to fish. Went near the dam and didn’t have any action. I’m going to trek down into St. Paul tonight to try to find that lillydale ramp you mentioned. Planning to get out on Sat. and give it another run.

Thanks again for you help and good luck to all!

Any idea when the 494 ramp will open?

Thanks again for the info Jon. We’ll only have a couple hours before dark, so I think I’ll stick to what I know. I’ll roll around later in the week to find those other landings.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Jon,

Wow, thanks for the heads up. The 494 ramps is only a couple miles from my house, so that is the one I usually venture to when I only have a few hours to fish. I’ve been to the hidden falls ramp before, but how are the other two? By St. Paul park do you mean Harriet Island Park? Not sure where the Lillydale ramp is located?

I’ll figure a way to get my boat wet, you can bet on that.

We started using both, but they seemed to prefer the minnows. I had a small tear drop yellow and orange jig on one line and a small trout hook on the other and they seemed to like them both. They didn’t seem too finicky, they were hitting pretty hard.

Well, here’s the reportfor Spring 2/17:

Fished from about 4:30 to 8:30 with most of the success coming between 4:30 and 6. Marked a bunch of crappies suspened at 8 feet in 17 feet of water. Parked on them and they were biting. Watched them steadily move deeper with the camera. By 4:45 they were in 10 feet by 5:00 they were in 12 feet and by 6 they were hugging the bottom. Not sure if that is what crappies generally do as night approaches in the winter months, but I found it interesting. Left with 10 total keepers between the two of us and 3 fish stood at 11.5 inches and the rest we kept were respectable. Sorry no pics, still working on getting the digital camera. I’d probably drop the damn thing in the hole anyway.

Planning to head out again Sat. morning to check the morning bite. Good luck and thanks for the recommendations.

Sorry so late to get back to you. We started about 4 o’clock, I dropped the camera and saw fish everywhere. I was extremely excited until we started to land them. They were all small, crappies, sunnies and perch. Between the 4 of us, we must have caught 40 fish, but no keepers.

Good luck all.

That’s funny, that’s right where we were headed. Thanks for the info. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Wow guys, that sounds like a blast. I’m fairly new to the area, but I read your posts on a daily basis. I’m making my first open water trip up to Mille Lacs on Friday. Was planning to throw for some Muskie and try to work a little bass and walleye fishing in as well. I’d love to meet you guys and talk some smack, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to spare the time off the water. I can only fish Friday night and Sat. until about noon. Can’t wait to get out though. I’ll try to swing by for a beer if my little lund can handle the waves.

Good luck and thanks again for all the great information!

Thanks Mo! It’s been a strange year with the temperatures being so cold. I’m wondering if the bluegills have even spawned out yet? I pounded them on Prior Lake in MN a couple of weeks ago. As for walleye, I would assume they’re in the deeper water. Northern active? Who knows? If anyone’s been out on the lake recently, I’d appreciate any info.

Thanks for all the advise fellas. I’m going to do my best to get out a couple nights within the next couple of weeks. I’ll report how things go.

And good one Jon J, you hit the nail on the head there. However, the High Life man knows that as long as you come home with your hand smelling like fish and your vision slightly blurred, the night has been a success.

Catch and Release is the way to go.

I would appreciate a little advice on the crank fishing. I’ve fished walleyes my whole life, but we’ve generally always used jigs. I’ve gone to pool 2 a couple times by the 494 bridge and trolled Bomber 6A cranks for hours and haven’t had much luck. What type of water depth are you fishing in? How much line do you recommend letting out? What speeds are you trolling? Sorry for all the questions, but it’s frustrating as hell to think you’ve got the set up and come home empty handed. Also, do you guys use the landing by the ford dam with no dock? I’ve had some pretty good success fishing there earlier in the year, but that boat landing is a little tricky. I know, I’ll take off my skirt and throw some drawers on. I just wondered if there is a better landing in the area. Thanks!

Nice fish Travis! Hey, a couple quick questions for you. I live about 5 miles from the 494 landing and would love to find some fish nearby. I’ve caught quite a few walleyes by the Ford dam, but have had no luck at all near the bridge. Are you further south? Also, I’ve always had the best luck jigging for walleye. Is this method not successful in that area? If not, I guess I’ll have to learn to fish some of those crank bait that have found a home in the bottom of my box.

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks!

First of all, Pool 4 wasn’t intimidating it was disappointing. I’ve been on many fishing excursions in the northwoods as well as in Canada and Pool 4 leaves much to be desired. I have no problem with numerous boats fishing in one area, what I do expect is that other fisherman respect the rights of the boats around them. I’ve been taught and have always believed in the unwritten rule that you don’t come within casting distance of another person’s boat. When I’m holding a spot with my trolling motor and another boater comes within 5 feet of the front of my boat, I’m going to “urine and moan.” If you’d prefer I can bank a spoon off the back of the old [Ooops, did I just say that out loud?!]’s head next time around.

I understand that a lot of people have been fishing this water for many years and I’m sure that is part of the problem. These particular old timers seemed to think they owned the water. Believe me, I follow all the rules of the water to try to help preserve the fishing population for future generations as well as behave in a manner that allows my fellow fisherman to enjoy their privacy.

The only purpose of my previous post was to inform others of the horrible boat traffic and poor fishing (on this occasion) in the “legendary” pool 4. While I don’t doubt some nice walleyes are caught there, I would much rather make the drive north and enjoy a peaceful day of fishing than go back to that zoo.

As for the picture of the fish I posted, that was obtained off of the web. I hadn’t developed the pics of the sturgeon my partner had caught yet, but this one looked very similar. Had never seen a fish that looked quite like it.

Oh yeah, second of all, pool 4 still sucks.

It sounds like a lot of people eat fish out of the river huh? I wasn’t sure if the water was clean enough, but I’d love to bring home a walleye for a sandwich every now and then.

How’s the bite been lately with the water rising? I was thinking of heading out tomorrow morning, but I’m not sure weather to fish Pool 2 or head to Pool 4. Any suggestions?

We fished that whole area on the back side of the island. The far north end was full of crappies and south end was where we caught most of our walleyes. Like I said though, they were very small. We caught a few, that would have been eaters if we were keeping them, that were over 15 inches. When I said small, I wasn’t kidding. We talked to a few other fisherman in the area and they were having the same luck. Only one had caught a fish over 20 inches and he had been there all day. If you catch them at the right time is this a good spot to fish, or are you better off to make the trip to pool 4?