This nice weather we had this past week was far too nice to pass up with out getting on the water here on Pool 2. Although I did not get out as much as I hoped this week due to other commitments, the weather sure gave me a wink of spring in my blood. Sorry for no pictures this week, my home pc took a dump over the weekend and I am not able to get any pics off my camera as of yet.
My experience on Pool 2 this past week has had some good trips as well as some so-so trips. My main plan of attack has been targeting wingdams looking for some shallow aggressive walleyes. With the water clarity at nearly 2 feet, the midday hours has been best targeting deeper wingdams or heading to the deeper main channel for some hefty sauger action. The vertical jig bite in the deeper holes has been consistent enough to drum up double digits for a days outing with a mix of walleyes and sauger from 14”-21”.
The lowlight periods are hands down the best time to score some nice walleyes on the shallow wingdams right now with as clear as the water is. Light B-Fish-N Tackle Precision jigs in the 3/32oz- 3/16thoz rigged with YUM 4” Ribworms and 3-1/2” YUM Croaker tails have accounted for 100% of my success as of late. Most productive colors for me with the ribworms have been the chartreuse and cotton candy patterns. The croaker tails in the chartreuse silver flake and electric chicken been also productive for me.
This technique has produced fish from 16-29” for me this week. Most of the fish over the weekend were 19”-24” with a nice 29” fish coming Sunday early morning right at sunup. This hefty big fish inhaled a 4” Cotton Candy YUM ribworm presented on a 1/8th oz BFT precision jig head from 5 foot of water on the front edge of a wingdam. There were some very nice walleyes caught by fellow IDA anglers this past week on Pool 2. Congrats to all! The shallow wingdam bite should get better and better as we approach the early days of March. Here we see a active movement of pre-spawn females moving up the river in reaction to the springtime ritual. Although many fish run up river and spawn, many stay near wingdams to spawn as well. This is the best time to produce a walleye in the double digits if you are in the right place at the right time!
Good luck to all.
Steve,
Sounds like you caught some nice fish over the weekend despite the gale-force winds. I tried last night and lost the only fish that I could get to bite. It was cold and WINDY! I should have stayed at home.
I’m hoping for more weather like that we had last week!
John
John,
Sunday morning was my best trip as of late. By 8:00am, I had 11 fish and lost 3. After 8:00am, the bite went horribly south for me. I stayed until noon and with not another bite.
Pray for nice weather again!
Hey Steve, Does not look like I missed out on a lot this past weekend. Hope to get out with you later this month. The weather man is talking about warming weather in the near future.
Steve,
Sounds like Sunday morning was a blast. 11 fish including a 29″! Had I only known!!!
It looks like next weekend will be the next decent weather. Watch out, walleyes, you’ve only got a a few days to rest!!
John
I was out on Saturday and we caught 32 for three of us. The biggest one was a little over six pounds. I saw Steve pulling out just as we arrived around 10:00 am or so. Best presentation for us was vertical jigging w/ a chartruese 1/8th jig tipped w/ a fathead.
Jesse,
I think there are much better days ahead if you are looking for tanlging with some bruisers on a consistent basis! Your day is coming!
Goldpig,
Sounds like you guys did alright. Good job. Were you guys mostly vertical in the deeper water of the main channel?
I only had time for a couple short hours Saturday morning.
Steve,
You hit it spot on. We stayed right in the main channel and vertical jigged. Only two of our fish came shallower than 18 ft.
Steve,
How many wingdams are you fishing in a typical evening or early morning? Or maybe I should ask how long you’ll typically stay on a wingdam if you haven’t gotten any fish? Is it best to run-and-gun this time of year or do you wait them out on the wingdams in which you have confidence? Also, are these wingdams typically the ones which you had good luck on last October and November or do the preferred wingdams change a lot between late fall and early spring? Just one more question, do you ever find saugers mixed in with the walleyes on these wingdams or is it pretty much just walleyes?
Thanks for all your help.
Boone
steve, i never did get a chance to say thanks for the hair jigs that morning on pool 2. if i remember from your report that day it was a tough day for even you, so they haven’t felt the teeth of an eye yet, but i’m hanging on to them for the spring. looking forward to your visit to the Apple Valley club on the 22nd. hope to make it down there for that. how is the landing at 494 by the way? good luck, hope your computer is salvagable.
Steve I am curious what the ramp conditions are like, are you fishing out of your ranger or your small boat?
Steve, We were getting out on Saturday about the time you were leaving. We had to go to Hudson to pick up a boat (14ft Lund) to use. BTW. I was the guy in the black van (waiting for my buddy)at the landing on Sat at about 6:30am. I wish we would have had the boat then to get out. Sounded like that real early bite was better than what we got into. 10 fish but all good size. We got out about 8:30 left about 1. Saw a few boats that were really hammerin the eyes. All minnows this time. We did try down by 494 with no luck. Too windy for our little rig. We might get back out this Saturday. I’d like to try my Ranger out.
Boone,
Lately, I have have been moving around a bit doing the run and gun approach on the wingdams. However, if you are sitting on a confindence spot you could wait them out and probably boat some fish eventually. Fortunately I have been finding more and more spots producing fish as of late. It seems the fish are becoming a little more active willing to cooperate. Depending on the flow from last fall, most all the wingdams that produced for you then are worth checking out now. Also, most all my fish off the shalow wingdams are walleyes….very few saugers come to the boat for me in this approach. Its a big fish pattern and takes a bit of patience this time of year….but definately worth the wait.
mwitham,
Those hair jigs have been working for me off and on all fall/winter for me. Somedays the hair is the answer while plastics may get the nod the other? Good alternative to have in the boat at all times. March is usally a good month for me with hair jigs. The 494 ramp is all cleared out. I will be down there today with my jon boat. I am assuming a very thin skin of ice around the ramp are. Both sides of the 494 ramp was completely open this past weekend for big boats to launch. I will have my Ranger out this weekend…pending 30+ degree weather is still on its way.
sippi,
I am pretty much in my jon boat right now. I will be in my Ranger off and on for the next couple weeks. Any days over the 30 degrees and I will have the Ranger out! Come on down!!
mnfish,
Thanks for the update. Sounds like you guys did alright as well! Good job. Feels good getting out on open water again?
IF I can find time to peel myself away from the wingdams, I may take a few drifts for those nice saugers and walleyes in the main channel!!
Thanks for the update, I’m a little gun shy about putting the big boat in yet but if you see someone fishing a shallow dam from shore you will know who it is.
Hey Steve, I’ve been out on pool 2 about a half dozen times with mixed results. When you guys are talk about vertical jigging in the channel do you wait till you get some good marks on the locator and then drift with the current? Thanks in advance for any tips.
Hammerhead50,
The main channel deeper holes are where alot of the nicer sauger/walleye mix are coming from when anglers talk about going vertical for these fish. One of the more popular areas is the airport area. Its popular for good reason, it has alot good ingredients for making a good staging area for migratory walleyes…ie, shallow feeding shelves, plenty of current breaks, deep water security, forage,etc…
Using your locator is a good way to scan the area before you fish it. Keep a very close eye tight to the bottom as these fish in the mid channel tend to hug the bottom and sometimes can be tough to read on your depthfinder due to nearly no separation. I typically fish the edges (both top/bottom and sides) of the channel first before I drift through the center. I use the airport as an example here, but there are lots of deep water areas to pick up active fish throughout the day. From the 494 area north to the confluence, there are many deeper haunts that hold winter/early spring walleye/sauger.
WAS FISHING POOL 2 LAST SAT. 2-7-05 AND SAW 5 FISH CAUGHT DURING THE TIME I SPENT FISHING THE AIRPORT DRIFT. THREE OF THOSE FISH WERE SNAGGED BY A COUPLE OF GUYS RIPPIN’ SONARS.ANY THOUGHTS ON THOSE DARN SONARS!!!!
Thanks for the info Steve, im going to try some jigging with a minnow and see if we get better results…until now we have been strictly artificial. Ill let you know how we do.