On Wednesday I had the opportunity to switch gears and look at some different scenery for a change while spending my time fishing wing dams on pool 3. This is a pool I have wanted to learn more about in the last couple of years but finding the time to do so isn’t easy when most of my time is spent guiding on pool 4. The Last time I fished pool 3 was right around this time frame last year with just about the exact water levels. I have fished this pool about 4 times now in the last 3 years, every time I make it up that way the walleye seem to cooperate nicely. Granted I haven’t put 30 fish in the boat on one single outing but the quality of the catch more than makes up for it!
I started my day searching out wing dams with lots of deep water close by, 20’plus with reasonable flow. The first dam I concentrated on was a wingie that Rob Stevens and I found last year in this time frame when we ventured up from pool 4 for the day. This dam has something special about it cause I pretty much picked up right where I left off last time I fished it.
My first walleye came on an orange 1/4oz jig/crawler swept across the face of the dam. That first 18”fish was the only fish I could get to go on crawlers this day, lot‘s of hits and misses but no solid hook up‘s. Soon I started casting a 3-way rig and leech combo to the base of the dam and it wasn’t long and I hooked in to the second fish pictured here hitting the tape and 27 ¼”. I saw a couple more eaters on this rig and the bite slowed so back to the jig I went. Those fish that were holding at the base of the dam quit biting because they moved up toward the top portion of this particular structure. The next walleye to come to the boat is the first walleye pictured above that hit the tape at 28”and a smidge falling victim to my 1/4oz jig/leech combo. I took a couple more eaters off this dam on jigs as well before the bite went sour.
The fish were not very aggressive on this day, I never really felt a solid bite all day. Keeping a tight line an feeling for extra weight was the key to get a solid hook up. The one bite that just crushed my jig ended up being about a 4lb channel cat with lots of spunk! When my bite slowed I fished many other wing dams looking for another “pot of walleye gold” with no success. I did cast cranks to all dams that were fished without results. I had one good hook up on cranks but the fish never made it to the boat.
About mid afternoon I made my way in to a backwater area known as Buffalo. I was in this area years ago but have never fished it before. After driving the boat around searching out the area I decided to drag some jigs and bait around. I made 3 passes in the area I thought would be most productive with out a fish other than a sheepshead. I did have some solid bites that I would have sworn were eyes but never got um hooked up. I was really intrigued with this backwater area, it has a lot to offer from the looks of it during high, and low water periods. I hope to find the time in the near future to spend a day picking this area apart. 
Only problem is I don’t know how I’m going to keep myself of those darn wing dams!
See ya on the river!
Dustin Stewart
In-Depth Angling Pro-Staff
IN-Depth Angling Video Productions
My Photo Album
[email protected]
Moving Waters Guide Coalition
Ph.507-421-2346
Your pics are a great example of CPR at work….! Look at the tail of that first piggie. Notice it is missing “a little off the top” from its tail fin. This type of injury is commonly caused by being netted tail down and lifted quickly from the water. The bag of the net slices off a bit o’ the tail but the fish is usually no worse for wear. I was there for the photo shoot and she looked to be healing nicely. (a quick tip for those interested in avoiding this is to dip the fish in the net and wait for the fish to lay sideways before lifting… it will cause less damage.) I would assume someone else caught this fish, released it, giving Dustin his shot at tangling with this big girl.
Nice job Dusty!~
Nice fish…
Casting three ways? Can you explain a bit more about this concept?
Casting 3-way rigs is a great way to target fish that are holding on deep current breaks that are virtually invisible to the naked eye.
For example. The front face of a wing dam in 20′ of water in a normal flow situation is going to take a pretty big jig to get down on. Casting a 3-way rig with a short dropper and a short 2′ to 3′ snell coupled with weights going up to 2oz if needed is very productive.
This method can get you a lot of snags as well but it’s the best way to get those big girls from down deep when they are not up shallower on the prowl. A lot of guys will 3-way rig with their kicker or trolling motor on the face of a wing dam but I prefer to anchor up and cast to the dam from several angles.
So do you then work the 3 way back to he boat or let it sit?
Are you using a plain hook and leech off the 3-way or a light jig??
Ok, so its the same three way rig that would be trolled. Never thought about casting it, does it hang up at all when its casted out? I presume the current helps to straighten it out once it hits the water?
Mike, I cast the rig to the base of the dam and slowly work it down in to the trough, then I’ll bring it back towards the boat. I will let it sit in the trough(sweet spot) for a short period of time before I bring it in and recast.
A plain hook or a few beads added for color will do the trick. At times when encountering a real snaggy area I will use a float to keep the bait from getting caught in the rocks. I have never used a smal jig in this manner on the 3-way. I would venture to guess it would give you lots of un-needed headaches with snags.
Derek,
Very seldom will I have problems with tangles/messes. The shorter dropper and snell lengths of the rig help prevent this from happening.
Dustin, Those are some dandy walleyes.
Congratulations!
Good info on the 3-ways also.
Thanks for sharing.
JWB
Derek, he isn’t using a 6-10 ft snell on that 3 way like you are used to
I would like to see you cast a Mille Lacs 3 way
Nice fish Dustin
Using a jig on the dropper of a three-way rig can also be effective. I guess most people would call that a Dubuque rig. The jig might have a tendency to snag up more than a bell sinker but giving the fish two options is sometimes worth it.
It seems like the Pool 3 fish are pretty chunky this year. All the 25″+ fish that have come to my boat in the past couple of months seem to a real nice grith to them.
Strange that you didn’t find any fish casting cranks. I’ve had some success long lining cranks on the wingdams the past month. I’ve been using my spinning rods with 14 lb Stealth to do this and found that I like these rods better than the bait casters that I use to use for this technique. I’m not very good at casting light cranks using bait casters and by using the spinning rods I can cast the crank out away from the boat, close the bail, and the crank quickly dives and starts tapping the rocks.
Thanks for the report.
Boone
Nice fish Dustin! It seems like you can always pick up a few big girls on those wing dams this time of year. For whatever reason, it seems like once the big mayfly hatches hit in early July, this bite is not as good. I haven’t been down much lately, as I’ve been hitting Mille Lacs, but I’ve heard that the backwater bite has been slower. Great job!
I assumed it was much shorter but still may be prone to hang ups. I will make an attemp to cast the Mille lacs three 3 way this weekend and work the mud.