The bite on Pool 2 this past week has either been really good or really poor for me. Finding fish has been a little inconsistent from day to day, but when you find them it is all worth the effort in your search. Shallow current breaks have still been my number 1 go to right now for finding walleyes in this high and muddy condition. The bigger the current break the better chances of finding a nice hefty river walleye. Staying persistent in an area that looks fishy is the hardest thing to do without any confidence, but can pay off big time.
The other day I was out searching for more spots to produce in these tough conditions and I stumbled into a nice big current break that had a big shallow shelf of 4-8 foot in the break and 12-14 feet outside in the current with lots of timber mixed in the area. I fished this new spot for the better part of 45 minutes or so throwing Jimmy D’s hair jigs up in to the shelf and slowly swimming the jig back out in to the current and letting the current do the work with out a bite. Just as I was about to leave and move on to the next spot, I got hit hard! A nice 26” fish! The next 15 minutes, I proceeded to boat another 6 fish between 22”-26” from this spot and then it shut down for another 30 minutes or so. As I stuck around and continued to fish it, I got a couple fish here and there. Nothing hot and heavy, but the bites were quality fish. Over the last couple days, we have pulled about 25 fish from this spot alone.
A couple different presentations have put fish in the boat this week for me in these types of areas. Pitching Chartreuse and Orange colored Jimmy D’s weenie hair jigs in the 3/16th-3/8th oz sizes have been my best show in town for me for weeks now, but trolling cranks have shown to produce fish as well in these current break areas the last couple of days. 6-7 foot of water has been best for me for a target depth and trolling speeds have been 1.2mph up into the current.
If Mother Nature cooperates in the coming weeks, water levels should drop and the wingdams should heat up dramatically as should the trolling presentation should too. Kind of a weird spring here on the Mississippi River, so I am looking forward to the currents to calm down. Clarity is coming around nicely on the main channel as of yesterday to about 6 inches, which is a big improvement from the ½ inch that we had a week ago. Until my next report, good luck to all!
Here are a couple more fish pics.
Another..
another.
Nice fish Steve.
I was out last night on the upper part of Pool 2 w/ my daughter. Mike W was out too. It sounds like we both boated a fair number of small fish w/ nothing of much size. They were hitting on cranks, but the water was full of leaves and twigs, which made it an effort to run clean.
BTW-started at the dam because Georgia wanted to fish next to the yellow things. 3 passes on the rocks, 4-6lb sheepie, 3-4lb smallie, 3-4lb northern. If you are looking for action, good mix of fish tight to the rocks.
Also, I know Mike had some different results, but I was running 2 rods and all my fish came on a shallow runner in 4-5′ of water. Not a one on a deeper runner in 7-8′.
Cool Dave!
How far away do you think you are from hitting those good numbers of walleyes on your trolling patterns? I assume once the river settles down a bit? How far south have you caught fish lately?
I didnt fish below the confluence, but I did get fish right above. I think things will be strong as soon as the river cleans up. I was only out for just over 2 hours. Lots of shore fisherman in my big fish spots prevented running as shallow as I would have liked to through there.
Tough to judge though, with my girl, it is a lot of fishing where she wants to and moving a lot without trying different things over areas where I think the fish are.
Hey Steve,
It’s reports like this that make it too darn hard to sit at work. Keep up the good work
dave
Nice report Steve! I’m itching to get down there one night after work. It looks like the weather may not cooperate????
Awesome fish as usual!
Very nice reports guys….
The upper part of the pool has been strong for me the last week with fish up to 22″, as well as a couple big girls. Both trolling and casting cranks has been effective. Shallow and tight to shore has been key, but that may change as the water starts dropping back. It’s been funky to watch how the MN River and Mississippi River interact to affect river stage and current strength in the upper part of the pool.
Steve are you heading south out of Lyons Park? I would like to head out tomorrow night for a couple of hours so won’t be able to run alot water.
Thanks,
Terry
We ended up with a combo of 10 eyes and saugers last night in a little over 2 hours. This is a good improvement over last week as last weeks numbers where less than half that. We made one trolling pass just south of the confluence that produced a small sauger. That was not supriseing as last summer when the MN would muddy up the saugers would come out and some trips that was all you would catch.
Current breaks are the key on the upper river also. It would not suprise me that stopping and pitching some slower offerings to these breaks might produce a few more fish off of them.
I would think the trolling bite should just keep getting better as things warm up. June and July produced alot of fish trolling upper pool 2. Dont let the high water keep you away either. That can produce some real numbers also.
Good luck if you get out there.
Quality fish for you as always! Great fish Bud! Look forward to spending some hull time on Mille Lacs with ya in June!
Tuck
You are the man Steve
I am going to have too hit some of those pools north of me.
Terry,
I was running well south of the Lyons Levee PArk a few weeks ago, now I have been spending my time just north of there. Give you an idea, what my time has been like down here when looking for new spots. I have been targeting the biggest burrent breaks in the area and if it looks fishy, I will anchor and sit and work it hard for a solid 30-45 minutes before I deem it as a non-producer. These fish put the feedbag on periodically in these areas all day long. So, it being there at the right time is key. Not a quick way to cover and eliminate water, but its been paying off when you find a good producing spot.
Good luck!
I have a couple more trips on Pool 2, and then I am solely up on the big pond in the coming weeks.
Tuck, I will see you up there!