What a difference a few days and some warm weather can do to a river system in the spring time here in the upper Midwest. If you like high water and lots of it……here it comes in short order. We have seen a lot of changes here on Pool 2 in the last 5 days. Fortunately a lot of anglers got out in late march to take advantage of the big fish bite that was taking place on the upper end of the pool. Plenty of IDA members got the chance to boat some mighty fine fish! Congrats to all!
Up to about 5 days ago the bite on Pool 2 was fair to good depending on the day you were out and what techniques you were employing. The anglers that went vertical were rewarded with some mighty fine catches of some sumo pre-spawn walleyes, although numbers were a bit off overall. The ones willing to wait them out and make drift after drift through the staging areas near the confluence got bit big. My boat has been on and off the bite it seemed about every other day. Sticking to find a pitching bite showed me that being stubborn and trying to make a bite happen is a lot harder than it needs to be. The pitching bite I had going prior to the river levels rising was very good on certain days.
Now with the water levels rising about 5 feet in the last 5 days (and climbing) we have seen the fish move quite a bit shifting to more favorable areas out of the current. Shoreline current breaks are still the place to be for my boat. Numbers have fell off the pace a bit since the rising water, but still fish to be caught. A few of the nice fish we have caught this week have still a tummy full of eggs in which they should be dropping any day. Some of the big fish that have made there way to the boat last week included two fat 28-3/4”and 27” fish that were quietly taken off at boat side without a picture to prevent advertising our spot!!!
My best presentation right now includes BFT’s 1/8th, 3/16th, and ¼ oz Precision jigs with YUM cotton candy and chartreuse pepper 4” ribworms. I have also witnessed a start to a hair jig bite taking place these past several trips. For me the bite on Jimmy D’s hair jigs typically shines in higher water conditions, so look for that bite to arise soon!
One last note…..keep a close eye out for lots of floating debris down the Mn river now with the higher water. I have seen plenty of motor bumpers out there for you prop guys!
Good luck to all
Nice report, Steve! And speaking of advertising spots, where was that last picture taken?
What John23 said
Great report as usual Steve.
What about some pics of that SAWEEEEEEEEET ride Steve??
Awesome report as usual and sone nice fish. Looking forward to it in a few weeks
!
Nice report Steve!
Along with the new ride pics… include a pic of your new water trails. You know, the trail over the logs, sand, etc. that us prop guys can’t follow…
Steve, nice fish, I need to find time to get out.
thanks for the report steve.
jigginjim,
Got your voicemail,
You have a PM.
Anyone get out over the weekend?
Great fish Steve!!
Just awesome Steve.
I made it out on Saturday morning. I’ve been doing very poorly with this walleye/sauger thing my last few trips so I decided to try some backwater spots for some white bass and to explore some water I’m not real familiar with. I didn’t find any white bass but I did catch a personal record heaviest walleye at 10 lbs 2 oz on the digital. She was incredibly fat with a length of just 26 7/8″. I’ve caught a couple of 29.5″ walleyes that didn’t even make the 9 lb mark.
I caught her on a sonar that I was slowly yo yoing up and down in big hops. That’s the only fish I caught. I never did find the whities or any other walleyes.
Boone
That sounds like a great fish, Boone. Congrats! Do you have a picture?
in some of the pictures it looks like night out. in my expierence there has not been a night bite on the river. is this really the case or is it work sticking it out till late to get into a night bite?
thanks.
also, do the walleyes move into backwaters? how deep will they be and how far back in the back waters will they be. are they only there when the current is up or is it for the spawn time. i grew up on lakes so the river thing is a hole new ball game. thanks
wade
John23,
Here’s the photo.
What a great photo!
Awesome fish Boone!
Thanks Chris. It was just my turn to be lucky.
Boone
Nice Fish Boone! It takes more than luck to land those type of pigs.
Hey Tuck, has the G3 hit the water yet since the Sportshow? I do really like that boat!!
My plan was to get it out today, but when I started putting in rod holders, running wires for the Trollmaster, wiring the front trolling motor and electronics and hooking up the 24 volt system, setting transducers…
I plum ran out of time!
You also want to make sure you avoid all floating debris at this time of year as well. With the rain forecasted this Friday, might want to wait a little longer.
Awesome fish Boone! Congrats.
Wade,
As for a night bite…There tends to be a good lowlight bite (morning and evenings) during the cold water period on the river ever season. Typically start in Nov and ends in MArch.
As for backwaters……Yes, there is a decent bacwater bite that starts to occur right about now! The peak time will shine in just a few weeks from my experience. Post spawn river walleyes normally become very aggresive and due to high water periods of April and May, fish may be found off the main channel in backwater cuts and sloughs to find more favorable waters.
Just like to back up Schtickney’s comments on the floating debris. There is plenty of debris floating down right now out of the Mn river. Saw a floating gas can downtown St. Paul if anyone lost theirs!
Yes with this flow just tell Dean to pick it up as it floats by Everts this morning
Congrats on a beauty Boone
I have been looking for that fish all Spring
thanks steve. 3 springs ago i waqs fishing down here in the backwaters and ended up with 9 5-9 lber’s. only thing is i didnt know the river and everytime i went back there, i never got any. its about timing, so your advice is taken and now i can begin to figure out why they always arnt there. thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
wade
If it was empty it was mine.
