The fall bite here on Pool 2 appears to be starting in a direction in which we have all waited for all summer long….Myself included! It’s been a better part of a week since my last visit to Pool 2, and that one week away has seen some pretty significant changes to the river. For starters the flow has dropped down to a more fishable environment and also the clarity has improved dramatically. We currently have close to 10” of visibility. Pitching wingdams and rip rap shorelines are the name of the game if you are on Pool 2 this time of year and are looking for an above average walleye.
The bite started out a little slow for me yesterday morning as I was trying to hop around quickly to establish a bite. By 10:00am, I slowed my self down a bit and forced myself to fish the spots more precise and with more patience. After I shifted gears, Fish started to show themselves pretty consistently throughout the day. Concentrating on the middle to the end of the wingdams is where I found nearly all my fish yesterday. With water temps still hovering at 50 degrees, the fish are still active enough to be sitting out on the ends of the wingdams feeding. I think once the water temps drops another 5-8 degrees or so, their metabolism will drop accordingly and these fish will look for more favorable feeding areas or make their feeding retreats less frequent.
Pitching plastics and hair was my best presentation going yesterday. I had thrown a handful of Bombers, Fat Free shads a deep suspending Rogue, with only two short strikes. BFT’s Precision Jigs in the 5/16th and 3/8th oz coupled with a YUM 3-1/2” Chartreuse Croaker Tail and Jimmy D’s 3/8th oz weenie jigs in the Chatruese and Kelly green was my best producing colors. Yes, these are big jigs to be fishing, but this was the only size that I could effectively control in the area where these fish were feeding. I tried to fish a ¼ oz several times throughout the day and just did not get the results I was looking for.
By day’s end I tallied close to 25 fish for the day. Taking top honors was a pair of 28” beauties. Each of these fish were hit the scales at over 9#’s. The remaining field was 6 fish in the 23”-24” range and the rest filled out as very nice average Pool 2 fish at 19”-20”. I am so glad its fall and this bite is starting to take shape. I look forward to the next month in a half of SLUG-O-RAMA!
YYYAAAHOOOO!
Nice chunky ones Steve!
Looks like you’re gett’en your new ride broke in right!
Pool 2…FISH ON!
Nice fish Steve,Looking forward to seeing you down this direction!
Great fish! I got a few biz trips to get out of the way, but then you and I need to get out!
Thanks for the update Steve. I’ll be heading down there myself this weekend, and now I’m pretty anxious. Can’t wait to connect with some of those Pool 2 piggies.
Derek W.
Steve, you are having way toooooo much fun this year. But somebodys gotta do it, right?
Thanks for the report and pics. 
Thanks, Bill
Nice fish Steve!……Steve I was wondring when you said you were fishing the middle and ends of wing dams and rip rap shores, I was curious on what type of technique you were using?….were you slow rolling the structure or did you use a rip jig type presentation?…..or was there no particular way these fish wanted it?…I’m just trying to gain maybe a lil headstart on how you go about figuring out where to begin on such a snag infested structure?….thanks, Ojib
THE MAN IS BACK
Beauty Fish Steve
Hey Steve those are some nice piggies ya got there.
I wanna catch some of your pet fish. 
I look forward to getting out on old man river this week. Thanks alot.
Joe
My most productive presentation on the wingdams right now is
to cast your jig up to the wingdam. Let the jig fall slowly on a taught line. Once the jig hits the bottom, I like to pull my rod from the 10 o’clock position to a 12 o’clock position and stop my rod…letting the jig fall back down slowly to the bottom. Repeat these steps half way back to the boat and then re-cast. Its important when your rod reaches that 12 o’clock position to stop and freeze your rod movements, letting the jig fall slowly on its own weight. IF you drop your rod forward before the jig hits the bottom, the jig will fall to the bottom too quickly. Most all of my hits come from within 3 seconds after my rod hits that 12 o’clock position….so be ready.
Matching jig size with the conditions you are faced with is VERY critical this time of year. Being able to let that jig fall ever so slowly is really the key. Sometimes when I am faced with a strong wind, I use the same 10-12 movements but keep my rod close to the water and out to the side to prevent the wind from blowing my line around.
Hope this helps….After you get bit a couple times, your confidence will go way up and you will begin to understand what “fall rate” is best for the day.
Good luck!
Steve, I am curiouse are there many wingdams above what I see on the map pigs eye lake????? And also do the walleyes in pool 2 congregate towards the ford dam like other pools in the fall.
Denver,
There are quite a few wingdams north of Pigs Eye lake. Some are more pronounced than others. Some come out only 20 feet off shore and thats it. These take a little time to hunt out but can pay off for a nice fish or two when the time is right.
As for the fall migration to the Ford….I typically do not see a large population of fish running up there like we see on other pools. It lacks alot of the needed dependencies that walleyes rely on this time of year. To answer your question…yes there is a movement that takes place, but I have not found it to be as productive as other sections. According to the telemetry study done on Pool 2 a few years back, some fish will stage in the middle part of the pool or run up the Minnesota River for more favorable haunts.
Does that answer your question?….this is just my opinion of course.
Steve-
First off, great fish!
I’m new to the forum and fairly new to the cities. I’m up here for college without a boat and have fished Pool 2 around Hidden Falls. Any tips for those of us confined to the banks of this river?
NUChamps5,
Welcome to the site! Dig around the site as much as you wish. There is alot of useful info buried here in the archives.
I am sure others will chime in here on your shore fishing question. There are plenty of opportunities this time of year for fishing. First off Pool 2 of the Mississipppi River (St. Paul to Hastings, Mn) is catch and release 12 months a year for walleyes and bass. Having said that The hidden falls is a popular spot and for good reason, you can catch alot of fish here. Definately can be a mixed bag opportunity in this area. Water Gate marina is a great place to fish off their docks. You may consider asking permission to fish off their docks. This is a great area for walleyes and crappies this time of year. The Lilydale public access park is another area where I have seen fisherman walking the banks and fishing the many wingdams availible in this area.
The 494 public ramp has a fishing pier here that offers up some fishing opportunites….Key note…The biggest walleye I have ever seen caught on Pool 2 came from this pier years ago!
Hope this helps. IF you need some directions on ow to get here and there, feel free to hollar!
Good luck and be sure to post back here how your fishing was!
Great report, Steve. I hit the water for 2-3 hours Sunday evening and found some fish on the tops of the damns at dark, but it wasn’t a fast and furious bite for me … sounds like they must have been eating all day! In any case, the fall bite is DEFINITELY starting up!!
What’s this about a new ride?
John
Thanks Steve, maybe i will see ya out there sometime in the future. moved to the area last winter and do like the other pools, just fished pool 2 twice so far this year and thought so far, it was great to fish. I never made it further north than the 494 bridge.
Very nice Steve,
congrats, and just think, sounds like things are just getting going.
Jack..
NuChamps5,
Steve mentioned the fishing pier at the 494 ramp. In addittion to the pier there is a wing dam about 100 yds down stream.
I was on the river monday morning. My best lure was a shortened up purple/chartreuse tail ring worm. I was getting bit short several times even with this shortened up worm. Was wishn I had some hair jigs.
Didn’t do near as well as Steve, but did find the fish out toward the end of the dam just like he described.
Good fishn to ya!
Great report Steve, you always amaze me with the size of fish you catch. Do you ever catch any small fish?
Thanks guys. This bite so darn fun I can hardly contain myself. Had another good day yesterday boating a 29″ fish that weighed just over the 10# mark and another 28″ fish that was just under the 9# mark. Found something yesterday that I thought was a bit interesting. Was fishing a wingdam and I eye focused on a little ripple line from the current as it hit the wingdam. We were catching fish right on that particular ripple line, we would cast 5-10 feet to the right or left and not get bit. These fish were holding so tight that it was hard to believe, but once you hit the sweep you got bit nearly every cast. I does not get any more enjoyable than that. The bite is definately heating up as we speak. Right now I am seeing by far a beeter day bite than a lowlight bite for myself. As the month rolls on, the lowlight periods will get better and better.
Not yet…..Buying a River Pro in the coming months and I cannot wait!
Thats funny!
Yeah, I do! All I have to do is enter a tournament and I will catch more little fish than I care to.
But when I am out just fishing for fun, I get lucky once in awhile!
That ripple line deal sounds awesome, Steve. Makes me want to quit my job! Maybe I can convince my boss to let me work nights until December…
John
Steve thanks for the hair jigs, I enjoyed picking your brain at the ramp and I am going to try a few different things this weekend, some presentation tweaking is in order.Save a few big ones for me.
Sippi,
It was good to meet you. I will be out all weekend, if you see me out pull up and say hi! The piggies are biting!
Good luck
Steve,
Where are some of the better boat ramps located? Better, in my opinion, = easy to get to, can easily launch and load an 18′ boat, plenty of parking, and fairly close to productive fishing areas. Thanks for the help. Have always wanted to fish 2, just haven’t done it, more familiar with 4.
Dan,
In South St. paul, there is a public boat ramp right directly under the 494 highway bridge on the west side of the river. There is bridge construction going on right now, but the ramp access is still open.
There is also a Lion’s Levee Park ramp about 2 miles down river on the east side. I can get back with the directions shortly.
Both of these ramps will put you in fishy waters, however there are lots of opportunities up and down the river.
Hope this helps….if you need more info, throw me a PM.
Good luck!
I will be down there this weekend, hog hunting instead of deerhunting., hopefully for the whole day.
Steve,
Congrats on the good fishn your experiencing right now on pool 2. I was wondering, if you’d be so kind as to give me an idea of what I should order for an intital inventory of hair jigs-weights and colors. I was thinking of sending you a pm, but am sure everyone would be interested in hearing what you have to say. I know your Dad’s the guy to contact. I have an idea on a few colors, but I’d really be interested in hearing what you’d recommend.
Also, do you fish hair jigs the same way as you do plastics? What is your line preference? Are there situations that you prefer hair over plastics or visa versa?
Thanks for all your reports
keep em coming.
Good fishn to ya!
Jim,
Sure thing….The colors that I have been having my best luck on lately is the yellow/chartruese, Kelly Green and Firetiger. Jimmy D started tying some firetiger colors for me last year and I have been having some real good outings with them. Smoke and Purple are colors that I put in my back pocket for when the river gets real clear. As for sizes, right now I have been sticking to the 3/8th oz sizes but that will change very soon. I see the river has dropped a bit since my last outing, which tells me I might be able to get by with a 1/4 oz in these same areas. 3/16th oz is probably my overall best size that I like to fish. If I was going to place an order right now to fish with the rest of the fall/early winter, I would stock up on 3/16th and 1/4 oz sizes. Maybe throw in a small handful of 3/8th oz sizes to cover yourself for another week or so.
As for fishing them like plastics? You got it. Fish it the same way. A slow methodical 10-12 rod movements letting the jig slowly rest down on a taught line. When opportunity lends itself to a snag free area, I really like fishing these hair jigs on mono, but for some of the sticking wingdams, braid comes in handy for getting those jigs back out with a banjo style snap on the line.
Hope this helps!
!
Good luck this weekend to all. I will be out all weekend, swing by and say hi or throw a
I’ll be down there on P2 tomorrow morning with John23. He somehow thinks he will be fishing wingdams for walleyes. Um yeah right
John, I hope those walleyes like Senkos and hang out in Baldwin and Moore Lake along with the SM and LM
Sounds like half the rest of the IDA members will be down there, too. Hmmmmm… Maybe Baldwin, Moore, etc. won’t be such a bad choice. I’m going down this afternoon to harrass the wingdam walleyes and Mike, we WON’T be bass fishing tomorrow.
John,
I would bring the helmet and shoulder pads for tomorrow. From the sounds of it, Mack is headed on a boat ride where only croc’s and monstrous water snakes go…..Kind of sounds like the making of a James Bond movie set! Maybe get that River Pro airborne……and…….ACTION!
See you folks tomrorow!
Thanks for all the tips, guys. I made it down to the wingdams around Lilydale and the rip rap by the 494 pier on Thursday. Sadly, can’t say that I had any luck despite five hours out on the water, but I did see a couple bald eagles, so I suppose I can’t complain about a day off like that!
As for technique, maybe I’m missing something letting the jig fall slowly. Maybe it’s because I’m casting from the shoreline or whatnot, or I don’t know, but I seem to lose contact with the jig and it falls too fast under its own weight. Any ideas? Bearing in mind, I’ve been a carp fisherman from Nebraska most of my life, so these new fangled sport fish have got me all confused!
But seriously, any help would be great. I appreciate all the tips and I’ll probably be out again for a little while this weekend, hopefully! Maybe I’ll see y’all from the shore!
-Phil