The open water fishing continues to shine for those willing to bare the elements of the above average January temps! Because this guy does not ice fish anymore, I opt for the comforts of my little jon boat and enough layers of clothes to give the Michelin dude a run! Something about being in the boat this time of year will cure any cabin fever blues an angler may have. Over the years of fishing this time of year on Pool 2…..there is something about the month of January that brings the big walleyes out to prowl. For the last 5 years now, some of my heaviest Pool 2 walleyes for the year has come in January.
As James Holst noted in the Pool 2 report from 2 weeks ago, the bigger walleyes have started being more cooperative, well nothing has changed in that department. I am sure these above average temps for January are giving these walleyes the feeling of “Spring Break” on its way! We have had a few nights lately that have dipped into the teens and single digits as of late, this has seemed to slow the bite a little bit but the fish are still there and feeding.
Pitching plastics to the wingdams is still my game plan right now. For me, the lowlight conditions still being the best time to take advantage of these feeding fish. Once you find the wingdam that you want to fish, I have been having my best luck with targeting the transition current seam that runs perpendicular to the wingdam and parallel with the shoreline. This gives the walleyes another strategic ambush point on the dam between faster and slower water. Jig sizes have been consistently BFT’s Precision 1/8th oz to ¼ oz with 3/16th oz being my most commonly used size. The last two outings I have been experimenting with some relatively new plastics from YUM. They are the 3” and 4” MUY grub in the single and twin tail actions and also the 3” YUM Curltail minnows. These plastics have been granting me more confidence each time out and will see more time in future trips. Still my mainstay for plastics right now is the 4” ribworms.
The big fish for the week so far for me have been a 29-1/2”, a 27”,(2) 26”, and plenty of 20”-23” fish that put a grin on my face like no other! Some of the fish I was not able to get photos from due to some camera problems I had late last week. With the nice weather that is forecasted for this week, I suspect by mid week these walleyes will be ramped back up again with the feed bag shifted into gear. Got some unsafe ice conditions? Get that boat out of storage or give me a call as I have some guide trips openings!
NICE FISH !!!!
big g
Here is a different shot of the bigger fish of the week. This fish looked like he ate not only some shad…but some of the wingdam to boot!
Nice!
Sheesh, that fish makes me fel thin again. No smoking makes Matty a thick boy.
Steve,
If that last fish’s gut was any bigger, I’d be looking to see if it had a name tag with Jonah on it. 
nice report
dave
Here is my brother Tony with a nice average morning hour walleye!
Here is one last photo of a 21″ fish that spanked my jig so hard while I was putting my gloves on that I nearly dropped my rods right in the drink. Fiesty little guy! Like always….some days they absolutely cream those jigs and other times you pick your jig up and it feels mushy! I guess it does not matter all that much, bottomline is that they all give me a great smile!
Way to get after them Steve, very impressive fish
How much ice do you have
“Whats that you say?” …..”Mille lacs lake?” “Where the heck is that?”
Very impressive Steve. Beauties
, i’ll ge tmy sorry 
out there sometime 
Keep pounding them
All 3 of you guys couldn’t find water if you fell out of a boat on Friday night….Way too many ice cold ones!!!!
Hey Scott how is that bumper doing????
Hey Matt speed limit on the lake is 10 mph!!!!
Hey Rob I don’t know what to say about you….
Glad you guys had a good time…sorry i missed ya on Sat night though….
NICE fish Steve!!!!!!
“onion fish!”
There you go again….show off! Good to see Tony getting after them as well!
NICE!!!
WOW
Some very nice fish…again 
Is the wingdam fishing a pool 2 thing, or will the same tactics work on other pools like 7-9 as well? That is a great tactic we use in the summertime, but never tried it this early in the year.
Steve, I took the liberties of performing a highly scientific mathematical computatation on the size of that fish for you, and by multiplying out the average width of a guy your age index finger and dividing by the enormisity of your smile, I came to the conclusion that fish is HUGE! I would love to think there’s a couple million eggs in that belly? She’s a beauty, congratulations.
Holy
. Nice fish Steve! I may have to book a trip with you this year.
Andy
Wats, the same stuff works great on pools 8 and 9 in my experience. Find a stretch of riprap or a wingdam and fire away.
Nice going and great report Steve! Way to find the spot on a spot!
Thanks John
We have a few wingies and rip rap here to try out 
Wow!
Steve- Those are some amazing fish! I have a lot of envy! Congrats! 
Nice batch of fish, Steve…
How were the winds out on Pool 2? I was out on Saturday and they were blowing both me and the top layer of water up-river.
Martin,
I did have to contend with that a bit, but it was not as bad as when you were out. The wind switched on Sunday out of the NW and put the wind to my back. As I agree with slipsinker that he mentioned in a previous post about taking a colder Northerly wind over a south wind anyday….Thats my thoughts as well!
If the winds get pretty strong out of the north, I will bulk up on the jig size and move myself a little closer to the dam. I have been having pretty good luck fishing a larger 1/4 to 5/16thoz in heavy wind this way. Even though its a heavier jig, your casts are shorter and you have the ability to slow down and control your jig better than making a long cast with a heavier jig. A couple 4 years ago this little adjustment turned some predicted tough december trips into some very memorable trips!
Wow Steve! Man…what a nice fish. All those hours on Mille and I have never seen a sumo that chubby. I think I need to try this sometime.
Where do u put in for pool 2?
TSCx2,
There are a few spots, but the 494 bridge, has one that many people put in at. Just on the South side of the St. Paul airport. I believe this is one that Steve uses sometimes also
TSCTSC,
Yep the 494 bridge is the best access for the middle portion of Pool 2. The northern access points include Lilydale and Hidden falls park.
The 494 bridge is located on the west side of the river right below the 494 bridge where it cross over the Miss river in South St. Paul. There is some substantial bridge construction going on, but rest assured the road to the access remains open.