The walleye bite on pool 4 has still been very slow for overall numbers of fish but the big fish cooperated nicely on Saturday for my dad and I. We spent the day casting cranks to shallow rock (rip rap) with some dandy walleye making a showing for the two of us. Dad and I only had 8 walleye make it in to the boat yesterday but the smallest fish we brought in was 22”. I will post pictures of our best 4 fish in this report and will post pics of another nice walleye below. 
The winds were on the light side for most of the day so I spent a fair amount of time fishing hair jigs and plastics. The jig bite was a no go for me, the big eye’s wanted cranks on this day. Best color by days end was firetiger with blue/silver a close second. Shad Rap in #5 and #7 balsa and #5 and #7 RS shad raps all took a turn in to coaxing a big eye in to trying to eat it next meal. All fish were in less then 5’ of water with most of the fish being caught right on the banks.
Once the wind starts to blow, the leaves coming off the trees make it very difficult to keep your crank clean and running true. Not much a guy can do about this problem other than be persistent and hope to get some good cast’s in with out fouling the bait.
As with a typical high forage year, the fish feed less often throughout the course of a day and in shorter time increments. Making hay when they decide to bite is all you can hope to do. Some of these bigger walleyes look as if they have swallowed a football! They are definitely eating well.
Biggest advantage for an angler right now who’s trying to put the hurt on those big eye’s is to have confidence in your spots. “Running and gunning “with a high forage base in the system in not an advantage to an angler. Playing the waiting game with those fish and being there when they feed is going to be the optimal way to get them in the boat.
I will not be back on the river until Oct 18th. I am off to Mille Lacs on the 7th. Unfortunately I will not see any on the water time before I head to the big pond. 
I’ll see ya’ on the water! 
Her is a nice 23″ fish that took a #7 shad rap
Hey Dustin,
Nice fish!!! What time of day did you start catchin’ fish? It looked from the pix it was later in the morn or afternoon. Thanks for all your great reports!
Tuna
Looks like you dont need mille lacs.
Nice fish. 
Nice fish Dustin!
I got your spot warmed up at Mille Lacs!
125 back, and let ’em buck!
Looking forward to seeing you up there!
Tuck
All of our fish came from 8:30am to 2:45pm. Nothing real early in the morning for us on this day.
Tuck, thanks for warming them up for me
. Since you have them trained to hit at 125′ back I’ll have to pull a fast one on them and try something diffrent 
Derek,
I’ll see you next weekend.
Hey Dustin!
When I was out on 3 last week. I couldn’t get a hit on cranks. But that was on the wingdams. I didn’t think of trying the cranks on the riprap…
At what temp do you put the cranks away for the year? I had 57-59 degrees last week and I’m assuming we aren’t gonna see low 50’s for awhile. Thanks sir!
dd
Randy shown with a quality fish from sunday.Bucktails and casting cranks remain effective presentations for nice fish like these.
Nice fish Randy!
Dean, were they caught on the Serial Killer Series??
That particular fish was caught on a shadrap……1/8th and 3/16th oz bucktails put fish in the boat as well.The new serialkiller are heavier weight bucktails and are for the vertical presentation which will be here very soon!
Joel,
You can catch walleyes on cranks all season long but for the shallow fish I will put them to the side as the best shallow water bait on a normal fall and winter day once the water temps hit the upper 40’s. I have great confidence in plastics once the we see those upper 40’s.
8 eyes like those + a day in the boat w/dad – Dustin that ain’t too shabby!
Randy – nice fish
It’s pics like these that keep me alive and well
dave
Dustin, would I go through http://www.idaguides.com or pm you about a guided trip?
I remember last year sitting at home watching all the pigs getting posted…<sigh>
Well, if Deans going up with you…I’m going to paint your trailer at Evert’s…
pink.
With yellow daisies and a plastic tulip boarder?
Nice touch Stuart!
Do you do trim??
I have seen several guys talking about the Fall Plastics bite. What kinds of plastics work best (colors and types). Also on the hair jigs are you guys tipping them with minnows? Would greatly appreciate any input. Good Luck!
Welcome to IDA Esox!
Someone with a better knowledge of the fall bite will be here soon…
First of all welcome to Ida Esox!
Generally speaking bait is not needed in the fall bite.B-Fish ringworms,paddletails and K-grubs are very productive presentations and colors vary but chart-pepper,firecracker,pro-blue,and oystershell will get you started in the right direction in almost any body of water including pool4.Hair-jigs are also a favorite,black,kelly-green and purple will cover most of your needs.Hope this helps ya out!
Dean summed up your questions very good. In the next month adding a minnow to a hair jig will not hurt you but 90% of the time I am fishing just plain hair.
Brian I don’t think PINK is my color but I do like Stuarts idea
. Besides, you could not stay off the website long enough to paint my trailer 
Dustin, awesome report as usual.
Now get out off that river and get your
up North for some Mille Lacs Piggies. 
Everyone needs a change once in awhile. 
You are so right Dustin! I’ve just contracted to have it completed before your back on the 18th.
Do you prefer
Flamingo Pink
Or
Pink Bubble Gum Pepper?
Be safe up there guys.
Hey, just you know……..this is a fishing reports forum for fishing info and tips and such. Not jibberish! You got the rest of the forums for that
.
It is info!
How are people going to know which boat to follow if everyone comes out of the same color trailer??
It would be easy to follow one of those cat guys next to you.
PS…I was talking to Dean about this today…he said a rainbow color would fit nicely.
Not sure what he meant by that.