Late Season River Walleyes. Mississippi River

By Mike W 0

The end of the open water boating season is coming to a quick end here in MN. Many guys have had there boats put away for a while now and are watching those weather reports daily hoping that 1st trip out on hard ice will be coming soon. For a few of us hardy souls (or maybe just a little crazy) with our boats still going these last few days before the ice sets in can be golden. Walleye gold that is. Its prime big fish time on the river.

Wednesday this week gave us a little reprieve from some colder weather that’s been slowly trying to creep in on us here in the upper midwest. There is no stopping winter but letting a mid 40 degree day at the end of November slip by unused is just not right. Knowing this James met me at the landing late afternoon and it didnt take long before we where heading across the water to our 1st wing dam to fish. The sun was about hitting the tree tops and I was explaining to James how with some daylight still out parking out off the tip of this dam and fishing a little deeper sometimes produces a nice fish. Well the talk was good for about the 1st half hour. We even got to watch another boat pull up on the dam right down river from us and haul in 3 or 4 fish right away. That kid was a show off. It was getting close to time to pull anchor on this spot when James set the hook on our 1st fish of the evening. A very nice 27’er that fell for a Pro Blue Moxi and exactly the size of fish that drew us to the river that day. A few cast later James was repeating this again with another 7# plus fat river walleye. A very nice start to a late fall fishing trip.

The next few hours we spent jumping from wing dam to rock pile to gravel shoreline and back again on pool 2 picking up a few fish here and a few fish there. What was very nice was that about every 3 or 4th fish was a quality fish in that 24 to 26" range. We didn’t spend a real long time on any one spot. A half hour here. 45 minutes there or maybe just a quick 15 minutes if we landed on a spot and did not connect with fish right away. Most spots it didnt take long to figure out if fish where there or not. A few casts out with the jig and Moxis and whack. Fish on.

With the cooling water temps this last week a slower presentation of the jigs and plastics to these fish has been crucial in getting them to react. 1/8th ounce black Draggin jigs and Moxis have still been the bait of choice but slowing the presentation way down meant the difference in no fish, a bunch of missed fish or walleyes that would engulf these large baits. At times we where working these baits very slowly right back to the boat. This slow presentation is where the design of the Moxi shines and I have to give a big thumbs up to James on the design of this bait and BfishN tackle for putting another quality product on the market. [url=http://www.bfishntackle.com/

As we jumped around from spot to spot catching fish here and there at one point we had a tell tail sign that fall fishing on the river may be coming to a end. That sign was some thin sheet ice that must of blew out of the back water and drifted threw our fishing spot. It amazing how a jig thunking on the bottom of sheet ice in the dark can feel just like a bite. It wasnt much ice but with temps forecast-ed for daytime highs not even reaching 30 degrees next week there is more to come.

Think we ended the evening with 20 to 25 walleyes for the 2 of us. Many of them running in the 24 to 26" range with that big fall belly on them. Talked with a few others that where getting into some very nice fish to. It was good to see you guys out there and way to go on some very nice fish. For me it looks like maybe another trip or two this weekend and that might be it for a while. The bite on pool 2 was nothing short of fantastic this fall. It should make for some very good memories and stories to tell while standing out on the ice this winter.

Thanks for the company James. Another great night of fishing.

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Mike W

45, self employed at HomeTown Plumbing Inc., 1 wife, 3 kids. Enjoy fishing rivers in MN. N St Croix, N Miss, Pool 2, Pool 4, and always looking for a new river to try. Spend most of my time chasing Full Bio ›

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  3. It was a great night out there and it was good to see a lot of familiar faces. Every year I am amazed at the quality of the Pool 2 fishery. And every year I get the chance to fish with a great bunch of guys!

    dd

  4. Great report Mike. Those are some big bellies on those girls. I’m happy to see the cold weather staying away so long this year. Thanks for the reports on what is working including jig size and plastics.

  5. Thanks for the great report Mike. Nice to see you and James got into them big time. It was a very good fall out there and I am sad to see the season end. It’s such a nice bunch of guy’s that fish down there. I will be looking forward to next spring and renewing those acquaintances. If anyone out there is new to the river and wants to learn from one of the best, please call Mike. A great guy to go out with.

  6. Forgot to mention getting to haul the boat home in a snow storm. That was icing on the cake last night. It was just starting to rain when loading up the boat. By the time I hit 694 it was all white and got to follow the plow truck for way to long of distance. Often wondered what the other drives on the road are wondering when you pull up next to them this time with a boat on back. Have had a few strange looks over the years.

  7. “We even got to watch another boat pull up on the dam right down river from us and haul in 3 or 4 fish right away. That kid was a show off.”

    I”ll take that as a compliment.
    Nice report!

  10. Thanks for sharing the night with me, Mike. Hopefully it won’t be my last open water outing of 2011… but if it is what a way to go out!

  13. Awesome! I can’t wait to go tonight Mike!!! I was the only boat out there last night from 8p.m.-11p.m. and I didn’t even get a nibble! LOL! But you couldn’t ask for a more beautiful night on the water this time of year. I can not wait to see how it’s done out there, and finally catch a fish out of that river

  14. Quote:

    “We even got to watch another boat pull up on the dam right down river from us and haul in 3 or 4 fish right away. That kid was a show off.”

    I”ll take that as a compliment.
    Nice report!

    When I read this part of the fish report… I wondered……

    If that was Jake
    You rank right up there with the best of them Jake !!

  17. Great Fish Mike & James, I’ll bet after driving through that snow the boat had to look rather “PIGISH” ?

  18. Wenesday nights snow was nothing. Not sure what Im going to do with the boat after last night. The snow was getting so deep in the boat it was getting hard to locate the fishing poles laying on the deck.

  22. And Saturday night. Anyone in the north metro have a heated garage I can borrow for a couple of days? Going to give the car wash a try on Tuesday to see if that will get the snow out of the boat.

  24. Great stuff guys – talked to Jon at the show and he said you guys would be headed out. I see you were all rewarded for your efforts. Promise, I had a way better time talking about fishing instead of fishing.

    Joel

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