This report on Pool 2 will be a before and after effect report. Before we had the recent rains the bite was shaping up real good with catches of 20-35 fish per outing being the norm….After the recent rains, the Mn River has been pouring our mud once again and bac on the rise and the bite naturally has gotten a bit tougher. The fish are still there and to be caught, but working harder for less is the drill for the immediate future. Give the river this week and things should come around once again by the upcoming weekend.
Hair jigs have been dynamite for my boat the last 3-4 trips with walleyes showing up on a regular basis off current breaks and wingdams. Backwater cuts and sloughs have been the strongest producer thus far, with wingdams a close second. We have been catching fish as shallow as 3 feet and as deep and 12 feet. Bright chartreuse and deer hunters orange colors have prevailed as the top producers in the 3/16th oz sizes. The wingdams that have been producing for me as of late have been dams with some good flow on it. These areas have needed a heavier ¼-3/8th oz sizes to take fish consistently.
Trolling small CD14 Grappler Shads, CD 5 Wally divers and small raps have all produced fish for my boat for locating active walleyes. Best trolling colors have been all over the spectrum this past week with no once color being predominant over the other.
Now, speaking for the present time frame……With all the recent rains we had over the last couple days, the river has since turned into a muddy mess again. The further you travel south, the better the water conditions get. Trolling cranks seems to be a good locater now for finding a few cooperative fish. My numbers have gone from 20-30 fish per outing, down to under 10. Still you can never argue with the quality size of these fish this time of year on Pool 2. There are only a few bodies of water in the state of Minnesota that can provide a better average sized fish than Pool 2 of the Mississippi River. Sometimes I take this for granted and get somewhat discouraged over a 19”-22” fish and a fish over 25 inches almost daily coming to the boat, but reality hits me when I hear of reports this time of year all over the state. Gotta love the river for its potential!
For the immediate future, I would recommend putting the cranks on and troll shallow water adjacent to some good current break areas. 4-9 foot of water being the best target depth for running cranks. Trolling speeds have varied quite a bit depending on how much current you are trolling in, so I cannot comment on that piece all that well. Once you find an area you are consistently getting hits or fish, slow down and pitch either Jimmy D’s weenie style hair jigs or grab the YUM 3-1/2” Croaker Tails coupled with BFT’s precision jigs. There is no other jig tailored for fishing plastics than these jig heads. They are simply the best!
Good luck to all!
Great report as always Steve. I’m looking to heading down to Pool 2 this or next week after work to try a little trolling. I will keep this info in mind
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Rob,
Another good trolling pattern this time of year down here once the river settles down again is trolling current swept riprap shorelines.
Good luck to you. If you see me, swing by and say hi!
Steve,
You’re still looking exhausted in those pics! Get some rest, man! Hope to bump into you on the river soon.
John
John,
If you only knew……
Someday you will!
We’ll see if I get suckered into it some day… You never know.
Is that the famous Jimmy D in the last two pics you posted? I bet he just had to come down and get in on the action with those great jigs he makes.
What is the best way to approach a wingdam, from the bottum and fish up of from the top and fish down? If you fish down do you have to cast over the wingdam so that you fall below it?
I am a newbie looking to score some eyes.
Thanks.
John,
That is Jimmy D himself. We had an agenda of getting some quality pics of fish/hair jigs throughout the day, however after I got on the water the first 5 minutes I knew the bite was going to be tough with all the muddy water. We had a great time as usual though.
farmboy,
The best way to target active fish on a wingdam is fish the upstream side of the wingdam. Position the boat within an easy cast distance away from the top (shallowest) part of the dam and either anchor or use the trolling motor and fan cast the area. IF you are using crankbaits this time of year, I like to overcast the wingdam a bit and reel down until you make contact with the dam and then slow your retrieve speed down to a crawl throug the rocks. When pitching jigs, I like to cast to the front or the tops and fish it back to the boat. Here, invision that you are casting up a flight of stairs and slowly working the jig down each step. Thats how I like to work a wingdam front face.
Hope this helps!
You know what I love about the river? Your “tough day” with Jimmy D still resulted in two nice pics of mid-20″ fish and I’m betting there were a few other fish as well. Two fish like that is a good day is most guys’ books! Nice work, Steve.
John
Thanks you John! Always greta fishing with my dad! Don’t do it often as I would like, but hopefully that will change this year.
Just a little update from yesterday’s trip. The river is rising and the clarity is a mess, however we found a current break that pumped out 8 beautiful fish. The smallest was a 23″ fish and the biggest was 27″. You hit it on the head John, where can a guy go and catch fish quality like that. Everything came on chatrueuse 3/16th oz hair jigs once again.
My guess the river will continue to rise i nthe coming days and the current break I was catching my fish on yesterday will move somewhere else once again. Getting to be hide and seek lately for these fish. Just when you think you got them dialed in, the river changes again….Thats what makes it fun I guess!
Sounds like we should of went south rather than north yesterday. Nice fish Steve. The upper part of the pool put out a couple more average sized fish for me today. 1 17″er and a 20″ fish was all I found for a few hours of fishing. Crank baits on the current breaks is what took these 2.
Heard this morning that the river should be up anouther 2 feet by the weekend. Could see that it must of gained 6″ over night. Hopeing this will improv the fishing on the upper pool in the next week or so.
Steve,
When did Jimmy D start making 3/16 hair jigs? I might have to place another order as I only have 1/8oz and 1/4oz… Then again, I’ve caught enough fish on his jigs now to where I’ll probably have to make another order regardless!!
John
John,
He incorporated 3/16th oz about 2 months ago, so fairly recent. Been looking for that “in-between” size for a couple years now. Its finally here! My side cutters do not have much of an cutting edge on it anymore due to “trimming” the 1/4 oz heads a bit.