It’s been a little while since my last report. I have been off the water for nearly 3 weeks getting my New River Pro Lo Pro jet boat rigged and ready with anticipation of a busy April/May guiding period coming up. So getting out on the water this week was a long time overdue! Getting back in touch with the bite took a couple short trips to dial in an existing bite that was worthy of mentioning. After an early week’s trip dedicating a couple hours mainly on the wingdams, I was quickly surprised that the bite on the dams was nearly non-existent for me. Some quick and drastic adjustment was needed to try to get back in touch with the fish.
With the onslaught of muddy water coming from the Mn River, I quickly found the few fish that I had going down river were like finding a needle in a haystack once again. My next trip found myself several miles upriver concentrating on some cleaner water. With in a couple stops, I found a couple active pods of walleyes willing to cooperate on some shoreline current breaks. Although at first the size of the fish were not exactly what I was looking for, but a step in the right direction. Not settling with those results, I continued to stay on the move looking for a better and more favorable spot that may hold some of these “on the move” pre-spawn walleyes. Finally some persistence paid off for me and I found a couple areas that gave way to some respectable fish. My best spot right now consists of a slack water area that holds 6-8 feet inside with 12-15 feet of deeper water close by.
Having confidence in a technique is something that an angler needs to rely on day in and day out when on the hunt for some cooperative fish and I got to say pitching light jigs and plastics has been my mainstay for many years this time of year and this time was no different. B Fish N Tackle’s Precision jig heads are without a doubt the best jig around for fishing just about any plastic profile you want to fish. Best jig size this week for me has been 3/16th oz, followed up with the 1/8th oz size. Coupling these dynamite jig heads with YUM’s Ribworms as well as the under rated YUM 3-1/2” Croaker Tails did the trick.
Big fish honors this week goes to a nice 28”+ fish making its way to the boat late Friday afternoon, followed up with a fat 27” fish. I suspect when mother Nature decides to bring some typical spring weather along to us, the bite should get a violent shove in the right direction. These bigger females are starting to stage pretty consistently now with anticipation of warmer weather ahead….maybe they know something we don’t! So, as always, pray for warmer weather!
Good luck to all!
As usual, another sweet report from someone who has an unmatched ability to put a boat on fish, and nice fish I might add. Great report Steve!!
Hade a 19″ yesterday with all the sauger and felt lucky. Nice fish.
Steve,as always a great report with nice fish.You are a fishing machine.Hope you enjoy the new boat.I’m looking forward to your reports within next month.I’m sure you’ll have a few pigs to show off.
Ryan Hale
Dee Zee, you never cease to amaze!
Awesome report Mr. Dezurik!
Looks like you are bundled up… I was fishing in 70 degree weather this week..
Atta boy Steve! Are you seeing a change in plastic colors up there from the past month?
Howdy Steve. Great report (but ya still knoe I think ya’re nutz
).
I know you had some cable freezn issues, did ya get somethin’ worked out?
Just wanted to give a plug for Steve as a guide. My brother and I fished with him Saturday evening and had a great time. I caught my biggest Walleyes to date that evening with Steve. He was a great guide, willing to answer all our questions and freely offered more knowledge about the river and fishing than we could have expected. If anyone is thinking about doing a guide trip on the Mississippi, I would recommend Steve…you’ll have a great time.
Hello all! I am a new member here and have been browsing this site for about as long as it has been operating. I have been reading all of these posts on pool 2 for as long as I have been a lurker here and I must say that after spending my first day on pool 2 a couple weeks ago that I am hooked. No, we didn’t catch any fish, but it was still a good time and a learning experience. We didn’t see many boats in the area we fished, but did speak with one guy briefly that said “what a difference a day makes”. That comment made me feel pretty good knowing we weren’t the only ones not putting any fish on the boat deck! Actually, we didn’t see any walleyes caught this day. The day we fished, we launched at the 494 bridge and went upstream to the airport area. We fished between 12-23 feet of water most of the day, but as the sun dropped in the sky we moved up shallow and fished a couple dams. Anyways, enough about that. I am wondering where the Lilydale access is and if it is open yet. From what it sounds like the water has muddied up a bit and I want to fish upstream of the Minnesota. I would be coming off either 94 or 494 from the west. Any help on that would be appreciated! I plan to fish this friday and saturday if time and my wife allow!
Welcome to the registered side of IDA, centralmneyeguy
I don’t have an answer, but I’m sure someone will chime in here soon.
dave
Lillydale landing is on the south side of the river just east of where 35E bridge is. Here are directions from the north.
Take 35e south out of St Paul. Where the bridge crosses the river take the HWY 13 exit on the south side of the river. Turn right heading over 35E. The second right after the bridge is lillydale road. (Watch out because the first right is the on ramp for 35E north.) Lillydale road is on the oppisite side of the road from the river. It will take you down and back under HWY 13 and to the river. Follow this for about a mile and you will come to the ramp.
Hope this helps. It is very easy to get to. Welcome to the site also.
Hey guys, thanks for the welcome and directions. Hopefully we can put together some type of pattern this weekend. I will definitely post some results. Hopefully a little better fishing results this time.
Dan,
Sorry for the late reply, I have been out of town on travel for this week. I am glad you guys had a great time, I know I enjoyed gishing with you and your brother Dean. Look forward to doing it again someday! Take Care and good luck fishing….I am sure I will see you on the water soon.
BTW….I will send you the rest of the pics from our trip this AM.
To all. Thanks for the feedback. I look forward to next 10 days of fishing as I would predict some big fish showing up more consistently with the spring spawn right around the corner!
Hi Steve – did you get a new boat? What did you go with? Will I see you on Erie in a couple weeks?
eyefishing,
I did end up with a new boat for 2006. I switched gears all together and got a 2006 River Pro 196 LoPro jet boat. Definately design and developed for river fishing. SO, I will not be making the trip to Erie for the immediate future unless I hop in with some of my buddies heading out there.
HEre is a link to the post I put up about a month ago.
New Ride
More about River Pro Jet Boats @
River Pro
Good luck at Erie. Looking forward to seeing a bunch of mouth watering sumo walleyes!
That is a very interesting decision. I hope it works out well for you.
Great report and pic’s like always Steve.