Upper Pool 4 – Red Wing Fishing Report – 7/10/05

We’re finally starting to an improvement in water clarity as the water levels fall on the upper end of Pool 4 near Red Wing, MN. For nearly two weeks we were faced with visibilities reduced to a few inches; as of this last weekend were could find some cleaner water that would allow us to see our baits down 6" – 12" and this improvement made all the difference in the world to our catch rates.

I fished with Scott & Tara Dewey from Waverly, IA this past friday. The couple had booked the trip to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary and I was anxious to make sure I showed them a great time to make the day a memorable one.

We’ve been targeting side channels and backwaters with current to find cleaner water and to stay off the main channel to avoid the wrath of the big pleasure boats that are out in force during the warm weather of late. Fishing in constant 3′ rollers is a horrible way to spend a day on the river so finding active fish off the main channel was truely welcomed.

We’re targeting areas with current rolling out of or into backwater lakes or side cuts. The slack water areas are full of carp but no walleyes so leave the shallow lakes to the guys looking to shoot carp with their bows. Most of the areas with current now are 3′ – 6′ deep and are best fished by dragging light jigs on a long line behind the boat or by trolling cranks back upstream into the current. When I have a choice between trolling and fishing little jigs the jigs win every time so most of our fish over the last 3 days have come on jigs n’ bait but there is a solid crank bait bite taking place right now as well.

Leeches have outperformed crawlers by a large margin but we did catch a couple of a better fish each day on a big crawler so I wouldn’t suggest leaving the dock without a supply of both. Best jigs colors were a deep blue if the sun was out and the water fairly clear. If the clouds blocked the sun or we fished water with poor clarity, florescent orange was the way to go. Our top producing crankbait pattern was and will likely remain firetiger… until the water clears up a little more that is.

Numbers have been good with plenty of 16" – 19" fish being landed each day to take home and we’re seeing fair numbers of 21" – 25" fish as well to keep customers on their toes waiting for the next bite. Over the weekend I fished with Steve Dunning and his friend Tom. We had our best action, by FAR, in the early AM’s. Either the fish planned on an early start to get a full belly before the high temps turned them off or we just fished more efficiently and intently early in the day. After 11 AM the high temps in the 90’s and the intense sun left us more concerned with staying cool and well-watered than focused on our next bite on our jigs and crawlers.

After the early flurry of activity on jigs and bait from 7 – 10:30AM we switched to trolling crankbaits. The slight breeze from trolling kept us cool and the fish seemed much more apt to take a swipe at a hard-vibrating crankbait than slurping up another small leech. The water was full of mayfly husks over the weekend so it was very apparent that the fish had all the food they really wanted close at hand. The mayfly hatches continue to come off HARD about every other night this week so the fish will be well-fed. We find that small, black leeches work like a charm during the mayfly hatches so don’t be fooled into thinking the fish can’t be caught at these times…. it’s just not the case.

As the water levels continue to fall and water clarity improves I expect the bite to continue to improve. We should see an excellent bite for upcoming guide trips with numbers improving and more over-20’s coming to the boat as well. The high water has been quite a challenge to those of us that love fishing the upper river on pool 4 but things look to be headed in the right direction just in time for us to enjoy some fast-paced mid summer fishing!

As a reminder…. the Anglers As Rolemodels (ARM) event coming up on the 22nd of July and we should all have a good time catching walleye at the summer Get-Together held the next day on the 23rd. We’re still looking for boaters to get involved with the ARM event and, of course, everyone is invited to attend the Get-Together held at Everts Resort on the 23rd. We have a FREE fishing tournament with the winners taking home NEW St.Croix rods, a nice meal is provided after the weighin at 3 PM and we finish with lots of fun and conversation into the evening once we wrap up all the cooking.

If you’re new to the website and you’ve never been to one of our Get-Together’s, grab the family and come out to Everts Resort on the 23rd. This is a family friendly event so the kids are welcome to attend!