Pool 4 Mississippi River, Red Wing MN 11-8-04

What do you get when you have good weather and great fishing in November?…..Great times! The bite at the Red Wing dam continues to be fairly steady and strong near the dam for numbers of eater sized fish. A few of the big girls are even showing their pretty faces! This first fish to the right was caught by Danie Conners of the Quad Cities area. It taped out at 28 inches and 9.3 lbs. He is going to have the fish mounted and placed on his wall to relive the catch for years to come. Great fish Danie. This biggun fell victim to a crankbait casted to rip-rap near the dam.

There has not been a huge change in techniques since my last report, however there are a few more baits picking up the pace. Sonars were and still are one of the top producers for numbers of eater sized fish. Vertical jigging hairjigs has really come on strong the past few days as well. Blue, Purple and chartreuse have been the top colors for most. Lindy rigging or 3-waying minnows should not be overlooked either for some good action. The next picture is of Dan McGee and Scott Sand. They are friends of my former high school basketball coach, Gary Nelson. They made their maiden voyage to the river this fall and figured out even central MN lake guys can catch river fish!! J/K!!! After struggling at first, they figured it out and had enough eaters for a fish fry and even took a few home. It was nice to meet you guys. Hope to see you again.

I know a lot of you are wondering what is going on with the plastic bite…..that’s a good question! It has been “starting” for the last three weeks, but can’t seem to get past the “starting” point. I would be willing to bet one of my favorite St. Croix rods that it will take off within the next 10 days with the predicted forecast. The water is struggling to stay in the forties, but that should change very soon. Once we get that cooler water look for some fantastic action on plastics. Till then, we’ll have to settle for fish like this one that taped out at 31 inches with a 19 inch girth and was caught on a one-eyed jigging spoon at the dam. There was no weight on this fish as there was no scale and it was released to be caught another day, but looking at some other pics I have of fish with similar numbers, this fish should be in that 11-12 lb range! Great fish. Sorry, I’m terrible with names and I know you told me, but I forgot so I can’t give due credit to the lucky gal that caught this incredible fish.

The water rose about two feet the past week and a half, but is on the way down again. The clarity is on the dirty side for this time of year, but not terrible. The reports are the same for the “community holes” down from the dam……there aren’t any! At least that I have heard about. The crowds at the dam have been very tolerable for the most part. Saturday (yesterday) was the exception. I swear nobody was deer hunting! Today was much less crowded up there. Get out and enjoy some of the best fall fishing in the Mid-West and enjoy sunsets like this one. Good luck to all!!