The large numbers of walleye have still been a struggle for me in the last couple of weeks. My best presentation for taking walleyes has been vertical jigging blue/white precision heads tipped with a chartreuse pepper ringworm in 7’ to 13’ of water. Trolling crank baits last Sunday put a 2 man limit of eyes in the boat for me and two other guys as well. I have yet to see a real good day of pitching jigs to the shorelines. The walleyes have been holding out a bit deeper in the above mentioned depths and preferring a more vertical presentation the last couple of weeks for me. On the last couple of outings my boat has not seen a lot of short walleyes. The eyes have been running in the 16” to 22” class pretty consistently. I have yet to see a strong big fish bite for my boat. I know the big gals are out there but on the last couple of trips I have failed to make them bite!
Best crank baits for my trolling pattern have been #5 shad raps in the clown, orange craw and fire tiger patterns. I have taken a couple of fish on jointed shad raps as well. Trolling speeds have been on the slower side,1.7mph to 2.0mph has been best for my boat.
As Dean at Everts Resort has been reporting the sauger bite has been very good over the last couple of weeks. Myself and 3 other guys started our day targeting shallow water eyes with limited success. It wasn’t long and we took advantage of the strong sauger bite that is taking place right now. Catalpa orange and chartreuse pepper paddle tails have been very good to me. Chartreuse and catalpa orange ringworms have been good as well. My boat has also taken some nice sauger on pro blue and firecracker ringworms. Right now the brighter colors seem to be preferred a bit more but look for the more natural color baits to take over soon with the water clarity improving daily. Yesterday myself and 3 other guys had a 3 man limit of nice sauger with a couple of eyes in the mix boat side in about 2 1/2 hrs. Spent the rest of the day looking for a big walleye but all we could find was cooperative eyes in the 16” to 19” range. Vertical jigging blade baits has been very productive as well for some guys.
I would like to report a first for my boat. During the last couple of trips I have taken more Largemouth and Smallmouth bass casting cranks or plastics to the rivers edge than I have walleye. In all my years of fishing the mighty river on the North end of pool 4 I have never experienced this before. It’s nice to see the fishery in such great shape but makes me wonder why I am seeing more bass than walleye this fall.
On a side note……….. I will be on the river this Saturday but had a cancellation for Sundays guide trip. If anyone is interested in a trip on this sunday drop me an email or phone call and we’ll make a day of it!
See ya’ on the river! 
Hopefully the bite will turn on by mid month when I come up to see you buddy
and if not…..
well that will be ok too
Things will really be rolling by then Dave. I am sure someone is seeing some big fish on a regular basis…..there’s lot’s of water out there and someone is alwys catching the big sows somewhere.
A friend and I are coming to pool 4 next week from southwest Michigan for the first time. We have fished pool 9 the last 3 Novembers. We have never been able to successfully figure out the most efficient way to fish wing dams, since the areas we fish at home have none. Wondering if you might be able to give us some pointers.
Welcome to IDA Lund03!!
You have found the right place for info!! First stop I would make when you arrive is at Everts Resort. Look up Dean. He will help shortcut your learning curve. As for fishing wingdams, there aren’t many on the upper section of P4. If the flows are down, I would target the ends of the dams with deep water close by. I’ve caught fish off all 3 wing dams up at the dam. Notice I said all 3. These wingies are located on the roller side of Y, they will be on your left as you head up river(towards the MN side).
You will find lots of rip/rap to fish on the upper end of 4. The sauger bite should be in full swing any day now if it’s not already. You can vertical jig these fish to fill some time during the mid-day lulls. I would try out some of the paddletails from Everts. They are one awesome bait. You don’t even have to buy minnows!!
Good luck and let us know how the bite is!!
Welcome to the site
. Kooty is right 
! There is not alot of wing dams on upper pool 4 where you will be fishing. Best aproach to get good numbers of fish in the time frame you are in the area is going to be drifting with the current vertical jigging plastics. Dean from Everts will point you in the right direction and has the needed tackle available. He will have a great idea on what has been putting fish in the boat for many anglers. Lot’s of anglers coming and going thru Everts this time of year.
If you chose to fish the wing dams the best way to go about it with the low flows is to cast the lightest jig that you can while still maintaining bottom contact while slowly fishing it back towards the boat. Cast righ up on to the wing dam and work your bait back to the boat. You can either anchor or hold the boat with the trolling motor. If we still have decent flow anchoring up above and sweeping a jig in to and over the wing dam is going to be your best bet.
Damn!! I gotta stay home this weekend
I would have gladly bought that spot Sunday. Oh well…keep the good reports coming. 
Thanks for the report Dustin! I cannot wait to get the deer in the freezer, and get back on the water!
Please keep us posted on the bite!
Tuck
Great report as usual Dusty!
Good talking to you also. We did well on Catalpa and Chat/Pepper when pitching. Blades certainly had their moments when the current would pick up. Wish I could get over there Sunday and hunt Piggies with you!