It feels so good to be back here on Pool 2 of the Mississippi River here in St. Paul. Every year about this time I switch gears and start my fall/winter/spring pursuit of old marble eyes. I was welcomed back in goof fashion with willing hungry walleyes and nice weather. Fall sure is a special time of year here in the upper Midwest. Most anglers are getting their last hurrah out of their boats for the season before they will tuck them away for the year…..wait, don’t do it! The best is yet to come!
The last couple of days I have had the pleasure of sharing my boat with my brother Tony.
My plan was to get down to the river and get a handful of trips under my belt in search of a good bite for some upcoming guide trips that I have scheduled. With low water levels resulting in low flows, we started our attacks on the dams with a little more flow on them thinking that these walleyes are trying to put the biggest bang for the buck before them sensing the cool waters of October and November within the near future.
After a little searching Tony and I put together a hair jig bite that took off for us the last couple of outings with some consistency. 3/16th and ¼ oz Jimmy D’s chartreuse and white colored weenie jigs were the ticket. Bomber 5A’ and 6a’s also boated some walleyes for us when we were in the search mode. Once we found a couple fish, we would drop the cranks and probe the spots more thoroughly with the hair jigs.
With low flows, the walleyes appear to be spread out for the most part until you find the spot where there are a few fish bunched up taking advantage of a high percentage feeding location. Tony and I stumbled across several pots through the day where we pulled 10-15 fish per spot. Most places where we caught a fish or two, we would probe the area for 20 minutes or so in hopes of pulling more active fish. No fish? Keep on trucking to the next spot. By days end we had visited about 20 different spots that produced 24 fish on one day and about 30 fish yesterday. We did see some fish in the 23-26” range coming to boat with some consistency. Look for the big females to be making their predictable seasonal movements in the coming week. This is a short report for now, more later this week!
Read down for an interesting story…..
Now for the interesting story.
Tony and I were just ready to end the evening when I stuck a nice 23-24″ fish. After a quick pic, we put her back in the water.
After this last fish we decide to throw a couple more casts. My brother Tony quickly hooks up on a cookie cutter walleye to my last fish. Here is the pic….any resemblance? I did not notice that this may have been the same fish until later on the evevning at home looking closer at the photos.
The giveaway are the small growths on the side of the fish. Could be extremely coincidental, but I would call it as the same fish! CPR works alright in my book!
Good report, Steve.
You are gonna have every Pool 2 walleye guy on the hunt for that fish, now….kinda like the Golden Rainbow!
I’ll personally enjoy “sorting” thru em to find her.
Hair was definately the ticket for our boat yesterday, as well.
Thanks again for the report and nice talking to ya. Glad to see your brother doing well. 
I love those stupid P2 walleyes, Steve. Thanks for the report and I’ll see you down there!
John
Dave,
Great talking to you and Rootski yesterday. Although I resent the AlvinMack comment!
Rootski, I was nice to meet you in person yesterday. Glad to see you are feeling better, what better day to get therapy than to spend the day on the river!
Professor, It was good to see you out there yesterday as well. Thank for saving us a spot as well!!!
Steve,
New to the river. Hear a lot of Wingdam fishing, is there a way to find where these wingdams are, a map or actual way to see a wingdam there. Also what is the best boat launch these days to get to where the fish are? Are they still down stream or up to the Ford damn already. Thanks so much and nice work with the fish you caught. Reading your post you never have trouble finding the fish!!!
Do you have a website for Jimmy D’s hair jigs or are there local stores that sell the jigs?
This is the only place I know of:
Jimmy D’s
Steve, it was nice to meet you too. Glad to see that your brother was feeling well enough to get out with you and that you were able to find some fish. Actually it sounds like you did great
It looks like we have a Walleye contest in the making here. Who will be the next guy to catch “old three spots”?
Rootski
slipsinker (aka smartypants)pulled up to me yesterday morning and asked if I was Alvinmack? And I replied…”Where’s the love, do I look like a guy that could pound fenceposts in with his bare hands?”
Now that’s funny
Slipsinker should have known better, he knows I’m boatless
Besides that, Steve doesn’t have sausage fingers….
Great report Steve! I gotta get up there for some of that!!
Ah, the world is back on an even keel again
Life is good 
DeeZee is back on the river and holding up eyes, and telling us about it.
Thanks for sharing Steve!
dave
So I am fishing this wingdam and look up river and see this boat with two dogs and two DeZuriks fishing above me! Having ran into Steve earlier in the day I was told that his brother was on the rebound from some health issues and would I please make sure I helped them find the best fishing opportunities.
Of course I would! So I quickly vacat the spot (I hadnt caught jack)and moved down river. It wasnt 5 minutes and I turn around and see this photo of a nice fish taken, 3 minutes later another then another!
I quickly went below a bend in the river so I didnt have to watch anymore! Man, these guys make me look even more clueless then I usually do! As a timely excuse, when I ran into Steve an hour later I told him that I left him the sweet spot! I dont think he bought it though, but at least it make my lack of success more palatable.
For any of you interested in learning the intricacies of Pool Two I’d suggest hiring Steve for a day! Dont even ask me, I just get to watch!
Professor,
That was awfully kind of you! Tony and I thank you. I would be happy to return the favor next time out!
Just goes to show how those walleyes can turn on and off like a flick of a switch….Thanks again Fred. We just got lucky!
You have returned the favor many times over!