Mississippi River Pool 4

Even despite cold front conditions, the big fish bite for walleyes on Pool four continues. With such an amazing spring on the river I should not be surprised. I guess with the flow being "low" for so long into their spawn, the females have chosen main channel spots to stage, and then they are in the main river in such numbers, cold front or none, your chances of getting a good one are excellent.

Despite the rains the river is still in good condition with limited debris and grass, and only moderate color in the water. I did notice today all four dam gates are up, and with the gates up; the first real deadheads (fifteen footers) are coming down the line. Early morning anglers and after dark anglers should be even more on your toes while motoring. I checked the NOAA river website and they forecasted only a foot rise for the next five days, their forecasts are normally very accurate, so walleye locations should remain consistent. Many female walleyes are still prespawn, and the males have not been on the chew for many days in a row.

Like other anglers I have been targeting shallow sand, but today that didn’t produce, I found fish in the 12 to 14 foot range strongly relating to current seams. With the heavy winds reading the water is tough, but my friend Mike Walerak and I got a couple windless moments to identify an important current seam in an area we targeted, that helped to produce fish.

Best lures today was a ¼ ounce black and purple Evert’s brand jig head teamed with a sweet new colored ringworm Dean set me up with, I think he’s named it Gecko? By the way ever wonder how Dean thinks up these names? Casting and sweeping this lure on the deep sand worked well, I have also had success working rock with moderate flow with ¼ ounce blades. I used 6lb sensation glow green line for pitching and Fireline 4lb test for blades, and the Limit Creek 6′ 9" medium light for pitching blades and plastics. The monster saugers haven’t showed up in force yet, and a few white bass have come in, but they aren’t on the chew yet either. Keep Catchin’