The walleye fishing on Pool 2 is finally shaping up to what we typically like to see here in April. The last two weeks has been abnormally slow for me as well as many other anglers that I had spoken with. Numbers of smaller fish were still cooperative on the upper stretches of Pool 2, but the bigger fish remained somewhat elusive for several outings….Until now!
The river has dropped about 4 feet in the last 4-5 days up here on Pool 2. Actually as my time spent on the water yesterday I saw the river drop about 6 inches in 5 hours. That is very quick.
The overall bite is still somewhat slow, but big fish have been showing themselves with some consistency with a little persistence and patience.
With all the main channel current that we presently have, shoreline current breaks and backwaters cuts have been my main target areas the last several outings. Not all shoreline current breaks are created equal that’s for sure, so finding those spots can be a bit of a hide and seek right now with a somewhat timid bite. Stay on the move and milk run these spots until you get bit. Pitching Jimmy D’s yellow chartreuse ¼ oz weenie jigs have been the best producer for my boat the last 3 outings. I have finally ponied up some $$$ for some St. Croix Legend Elite 6’6” Medium light rods not too long ago. Hard to believe they can make a rod this light and that sensitive. I am truly amazed and it brings a new enthusiasm to my jig pitching as of late. St. Croix has quite a line up of quality rods specifically for every situation.
Monday I had the opportunity to share the boat with Gary Wellman of <a href="www.Wellmanmortgage.com" target="_blank">Wellman Mortgage</a>and Brian Hilgardner. Brian was the recipient of a free donated guide trip offered by Gary for any IDA member to utilize his services. Gary is a great guy and a straight shooter. I know when the time comes; I will be seeing Gary for my home mortgage needs without a doubt. Brian wanted to see and learn Pool 2 and what it had to offer compared to his home waters of Pool 3. We spent a gorgeous afternoon pitching some current breaks with hair jigs. I knew the bite would be a bit slow, but well worth the effort if you are looking for a mule! After several hours of pitching we got just a handful of bites that produced a 22”, 26” and a 29” fish. This bite has gotten a bit better since then already with a couple more nice fish.
The crankbait trolling bite should be taking shape very soon with water temps in the high 50’s. Also if the river continues to drop as it is doing right now, I think we should see a fantastic May wingdam bite with cranks and hair jigs! Either way, the best on Pool 2 is yet to come in my opinion. I have told many before, but May offers some of the best opportunities for numbers of walleyes with plenty of 25”+ fish to boot! IF you have kids or others that do not get a chance to get out that often, the next 2 weeks will be the start of a good bite for everyone to enjoy.
One more last note; Some of you may be aware that I had purchased a new River Pro 196 Lo Pro jet boat about 2 months ago. By now I have had some good time on the boat and have had a chance to run it through its paces. I am super excited at the performance of the boat on the mighty Mississippi River. I have turned in the Ranger 620 for a stealthy shallow water running machine. Putting this boat through water that I could normally walk through with barely getting my shoes wet is unbelievable, I could not be happier. Getting to some of these hard to reach backwaters for spring walleyes has never been easier. At the end of May I plan to take a break from Pool 2 and head for the headwaters of the Upper Miss north of St. Cloud for about 4 months of smallmouth bass fishing in some of the skinniest and untapped waters in central Mn. I cannot wait.
Here is the River Pro in action on the high waters of Pool 2…..this is just the beginning!
Steve,as always a great report.It is so fun to read your reports.I look forward to them.Glad you like the new boat,it sure sounds like a fun ride.
Ryan Hale
Great report as usual Steve. Nice lookin fish. Maybe I need to hire you for a ride on that sweet new boat. Love2Fish.
Nice looking fish Steve. It is good to see things changing for the better on pool 2.
Been playing around a little with trolling my last few trips out. Nothing to show for it yet but that should change real soon. I have been sticking to my same old pattern of 6A bombers and other short deep diving lures. Thinking this might be a little early for those lures but maybe 3 waying stick baits or live bait threw some of these areas might get better action. Looks like I will have to waite until next week to find out.
Did manage to find one of those nicer walleyes yesterday also. It is real good to see things starting to change down there.
Steve;
What a great day and a great time fishing with you and Brian. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!!!!
Maybe some call it slow, but when the rig boats a 29 and a 26 inch walleye, I call that a GOOD DAY!!!!!
See ya soon on the water!
Thanks fellas!
Here is another shot of one of the 28″ spawned out females. You can see how beat up she was around her dorsal and pectoral fins.
I have a cool video of the River Pro in action if anyone is willing to help me upload the mpeg.
Awesome fish and report Steve, I’mhoping we can hook up one of these days. I’m glad things are looking up on Pool 2. I’m way over do to get back on the water
.
Jon J or Brian K are the video gurus around here I believe.
Steve,
Thanks a ton for all the help learning Pool 2! I look forward to giving it a shot this summer some and definitely this fall. I had a blast laughing it up with you and Gary. Anybody wanting to learn Pool 2 should go out with this guy, he is absolutely a class act. I am a little dissapointed that I didn’t get a print out with GPS coordinates though
.
YOU ROOKIE!!!!!
I had a hand-held GPS in my pocket the WHOLE DAY!!!!!!
Brian,
JK
Did you not notice the GPS remote power supply plug in’s for all my customers in the rear of the boat.
Brian,
I had a blast with you guys. You call me when you have an open seat up on the big pond this summer. Gary and I will join you!
Nice report, Steve!
You need to fix that camera to get clearer pics! The fuzzy pics make it harder to see the background and recognize the spots!
John
You can thank me for forgetting my camera and thank Gary for the crummy cell phone pics!
I think from now on I will just put a webcam on the bow of the boat!
Another great report Steve. I hope to catch up with you this summer!
Thanks to Brian K, he has helped me add a video clip of the Rive Pro in action. Click on the link at the end of the report!
Thanks buddy! See you on the Rainy!
Don’t forget to network your GPS to that webcam so we can have real-time longitude/latitude readouts scrolling across the bottom of the video.
Great report and nice fish pics Steve
Love the video of the RP in Action
dave
Sweet Video..!! Gotta get me one of those!
Here is one more video of Steve’s River Pro in action.
River Pro
-J.
thanks Jon,
that video just brings cringing thoughts of crunching sounds to my mere mortal mind
and the RP cruises on
dave