After a tough weekend steelhead fishing on the north shore with basically nothing to show for our exhaustive efforts, my brother and I decided to hit Pool 2 for some wing dam walleyes, and we were not to be dissapointed. Pictured here is a nice fat and sassy P2 walleye at 23 inches my brother caught on a black 3/16 Precision Jig and an electric blue/pearl tail paddle tail.
A few thoughts on how and why we were able to locate these fish. First, the current is up! With all the rain we’ve had lately, the river is moving. This means that the first wingdam in a series is getting pounded with current. Typically this moves fish to the second and third dams in a section with multiple dams on the same side of the river. Here is a surprise 21 inch sauger that bit on the same set 3/16/paddletail combo.
Second, these fish were nipping at the baits. We had a lot of strikes that were not converted because the fish didn’t have the whole bait in its mouth. This is when we moved from ringworms to paddletails and even a shortened paddletail at that. When fish are biting short, you can cut off 1/4 of a ringworm or go to a shorter paddletail or grub. I think the more pronounced “wobble” of the paddletail helped us this early in the fall season as well. Third, it is so crucial to able to find that front face of the dam. If you don’t, you won’t catch fish, plain and simple. Every single bite we got tonight was on the face or the top of the dam. Do your scouting and due diligence in the day time when you can really see what your dealing with and mark those spots with GPS or landmarks so you know where to anchor and position your boat so you are a comfortable cast away from the strike zone on that dam. Here is the biggest fish we got, a nice 25 incher that fell prey to the same set up.
Last, I found that all of my fish came when we were anchored on the middle of the dam and I was casting in towards shore letting my jig/plastic “ride” the face of the dam on a tight line. With the amount of current that these dams were seeing, we needed at least an 1/8 and mostly 3/16 to keep the jig in the strike zone. The correct weight of your jig matched to the amount of current hitting a dam is crucial to keeping your presentation in the zone as long as possible. Stock up on hair and plastics because the bite should only get better from here. If you want a shot at a true walleye of a lifetime, you need to go no further than our own twin cities back yard. Good luck out there and be safe.
Nice looking fish. Glad to hear the bite is going good downt here.
Micah,
Excellent report and super fish.
Way to go.
Jack.
Nice fish Micah!
I am looking forward to getting down there!
Nice looking walleyes.
Good job Micah!!
Great report.
Jami
GREAT REPORT MICAH
Excellent report Micah…You really hit the nail on the head.
My son, Jackson, and I did exactly the same thing on Sunday with several nice P2 fish to show for it.
Some good looking walleyes there Micah!
Nice report.
Boog
Nice eyes. Thanks for letting us in on the bite. What a great time of year!
The next rain event? Beginning tonight through early Friday the weather reports says we might get up to 3 inches of rain. How quickly will this effect the clarity and flow of the river. Any thoughts on general length of time it takes for Pool 2 to become more “normal” after these events.
Hey Micah, I think we were playing bumper boats last night
It was perfect night to be pitching jigs!! We did about the same as you guys. Our best fish last night came off a shoreline current break and hit a bomber. I have had more luck on the shoreline current breaks the last week but better size off the rocks! Next time I see you down there I will swing by and say hi now that I know what boat your in 
Professor, I dont know what normal is anymore
Nice report Michah!
And welcome to IDA Dean T!
Buschman, I assume that was you in the green Lund Explorer? We’ll have to stop by and say hello next time we see you out.
Here’s a few more from tonight. My wife and kids get back into town tonight in about an hour so I had to get my licks in while I had the chance down there.
Micah,
Nice fish. That wingdam you are sitting on in the pictures is a good dam…as you know!
Great report Micah! Why am I going to Mille Lacs!?
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Get out when you can between the storms. Time on water = Fish in the boat!
-J.
Steve, that wingdam is phenomenal from the middle to the shore! And the one downstream and upstream from it are equally good. Love that section! Hope to see you down there soon. Holler if you need a boat mate.
micah
Great report Micah. Just what I needed to get myself back down to pool 2. Here are a few photos from wensday down there. We found fish pitching ringworms and crankbaits. Sure was fun shaking the dust off the pitching gear.
Opps. guess that last photo was from night trolling on mille lacs.
Welcome to the site Dean T.
Great report Micah!
I’m thinking the same thing.
I guess if the wind is going to blow for the entire weekend next week I may have to leave early and stop by Pool 2 on the way home. 
Mike,
Great looking Walleye you’ve got there…
Jack.
Getting out to Pool 2 tomorrow afternoon. I’ve been out twice in the last two weeks with very little success. I’m new to wingdam fishing but also have been jigging and crankin on the rocks. Anybody have some magic they want to share?
Nice work. Maybe I should just hit the river instead of trying metro lakes. Do you eat the fish out the the river?
Thanks nice job