I have finally called it a season on Mille Lacs lake and forced myself back to the river with heavy anticipation of a great fall season to take place again on Pool 2. With a little help from anglers that posted their findings down on Pool 2 this past week, it gave me a mental heads up on what I can initially expect to see as current river conditions..Thanks!
Upon my arrival early this week, I found higher water than normal, dirtier water than normal and obviously a flow rate that is higher than normal!
I started my search in the middle of Pool 2 pitching rip rap shorelines and wingdams in search of a pattern for upcoming guide trips. Pitching plastics and hair jigs was my prime focus for the day while out on the water. After a little hide and seek, the wingdams and plastics gave way to 90% of my trip success. With the current water clarity a bit dirty, I opted to go to a bigger profile to help the walleyes hone in on my presentation. The plastic of choice was a YUM 4-1/2” Croaker tail in the cotton candy color pattern rigged on a 1/4oz BFT unpainted H2O jigheads. This plastic got immediate attention from the fish giving way to a 26-3/4” walleye that inhaled this entire profile on my second cast of my first wingdam that I visited.
The rest of the week on Pool 2, I have attacked other areas in search of a better and more consistent bite and have not had favorable results in this search. The wingdams are still my most productive pattern at this point. I have heard of some quality fish this past week that came from some backwater areas, but I have not invested the time in there to give a good report on it other than experience tells me it may be worth that one BIG bite!
Perfect example is Gary Wellman’s (aka..Gary) nice 10# fish that he boated last week from a backwater lake. This is a pattern this time of year that can produce a biggie but at times can be inconsistent for me.
After about 3 half days on Pool 2 under my belt, I have been able to muster up a couple 20 plus fish days including a couple over the 26” class each day. Thursday evening gave way to a couple piggie’s walleyes that both taped at 26”-27” range that were both well over the 7# range. (What a night to forget my camera!) The bite is ready to unleash right now on Pool 2 any day! With the forecast for dry conditions and comfortable weather, this weekend could give up some mighty fine catches. Watch for more and more fish to stack in the rip rap areas, wingdams, as well as any major current break. If conditions are right for walleyes to hang around, the bigger the current break the chance for more and more walleyes to stack up. My best plastics this week has been the YUM Croaker Tail’s, Ribworms, and Wooly Curltails all rigged on BFT’s awesome design of a jighead specifically designed for the avid plastics fisherman!
Good to see the eyes are cooperating nicely for you
. I might just have to try and make it up that way and jump in your boat sometime in the next couple of weeks 
A change of scenery would be nice 
Steve,
I found that the H2O jigs are fairly hard to find as most Gander Mtn stores in my area only carry BFT’s plastics but not their lead. They look similar to a darter head jig. Are they and if so, do you think that would be a good substitute until I could make time to get my hands on some H2O precision jigs?
-Mike
Steve do you fish pool 2 near the airport or North or South of that area?
Thanks-
Great report Steve.
Mike,
Shoot me a list of the H2O’s you’d like to [email protected] and I’ll get them in the mail to you. Once you receive the goodies you can just shoot me a check. This should save you some shopping and looking around time.
This offer is good for all REGISTERED members of IDA. I’ve never met a bad apple through this website yet so I wouldn’t hesitate to send the product before getting the money.
We hope to have a couple large product distributors added in the metro area with the next few weeks to take care of all you guys up north.
Glad you like them Steve!