It has been more than a couple months since I’ve been able to get out on the Mississippi River so it was a treat to have the opportunity to hit pool 2 a couple times in the last week, once with Micah Witham and this past friday with Steve DeZurik. Although my fishing partners changed from one trip to the next the pattern that has been producing fish has remained rock solid… light jigs and paddletails fished on the rocky faces of main channel wingdams have been producing some nice fish for those making it out.
From the top of the parking lot the big river looks to be in prime shape for some great fishing but once you get in the boat a couple key variables jump out at an angler to let him know things just might be a little early for the best bite.
Water temps as of last friday were still in the low to mid-50s and that is a good 5 – 10 degrees warmer than what I would expect to trigger the start of the annual late fall feeding binge on Pool 2. The cooler weather that rolled in over the weekend should push things in the right direction.
The other factor that struck me was how low the flow was given some of the recent rains. That big river is hardly moving! This lack of current is giving walleye the freedom to spread out and feed just about anywhere shad can be found versus being isolated by the current in large groups in small and predictable locations that tip the odds in the angler’s favor.
But this is NOT to say that fish aren’t being caught or that anglers willing to carefully pick apart key pieces of structure aren’t putting some nice fish in the boat. This is pool 2 afterall! My point is that the best bite is still a week or two away.
Right now the key to putting fish in the boat is to focus your time and efforts on the few key wingdams that have significant flow on them. This will limit your search to wingdams that are in outside bends in the river OR on the very outside tips of wingdams that extend far enough into the main channel to be washed with current.
Once you’ve found a few wingdams with decent flow on them the presentation honestly couldn’t be more simple. A 1/8 – 1/4 jig and a paddletail has been our hot producer of late. So far ringworms and the big thumper 5" k-grubs I love to use for big fall walleyes have been slow to produce… but if you’re thinking about leaving your firecracker k-grubs at home the next time you hit the river I’d call you crazy! Their time is coming and they often produce some of the biggest fish of the fall.
Colors have leaned heavily towards the most natural pattterns in the tackle bag. Pro Blue and Oystershell have produced 90% of our fish and nearly all of our larger fish brought to the boat. As for jig colors a black or medium blue jig has been mighty tough to beat.
As an aside I spent some time field testing the heavier draggin’ jigs for use with plastics. The 1/16th has always been dynamite with livebait and I was excited to see what the 1/8 and 1/4 ounce sizes could produce with paddletails and ringworms.
After this last trip out… I love these things on wingies. Two thumbs up. WAY UP. You can fish them in the nastiest cover on dams and you’ll rarely if ever hang up. And the hook up ratio on fish is excellent. If you like to fish wingies but losing jigs drives you crazy these jigs will definitely cut down on the lost lead.
Here’s more info on this new product for those not familiar >>>
http://www.bfishntackle.com/draggin_jigs.html
I’ll be hitting Pool 2 fairly frequently over the next month I would expect the size and numbers of fish coming to the boat to improve markedly with my next report. Those pool 2 piggies can’t stay hid forever… and I’m overdue for a 10 Lber!
Until the next report… tight lines.
Nice fish!
Good to see your finally out on the river again. Come down a couple of pools and vist as I owe ya one
Nice looking fish and great tips on locations
Nice Report James!
Nice looking fish! Hope that 10 pounder finds your jig
Nice fish guys
Good report James, it’s been awhile! I am going to be giving those bigger draggin’ jigs a try in the coming weeks. I am curious as to how they are going to work for dragging plastics upstream. I think we have a winner on our hands but only time will tell.
I think they’ll be dynamite for the upstream drag given the 30 degree eyelet on the hooks. You’ll be able to pull these jigs through just about anything. Along rip rap, above the wingies where that nasty jig eating stump lives, etc., etc.
I’ve just been thrilled with how well they work in a casting application. There’s some many good dams that have that one “spot” where a tree branch (or whole tree) has washed in and taken up residence right along with the walleyes. Instead of losing jig after jig I can throw right in there w/o any worries… except for how to get the fish out of the cover after I get him hooked up. I don’t think a new jig style is going to offer any assistance with that last part.
I hear ya James and I can think of place after place where these jigs will fit the bill. The way the head is shaped it is going to almost work like a rudder I would think when dragging upstream. Only time will tell but I can guarantee you that I will be out there doing my own testing in the very near future. I’ll report back here— unless they work too good —then mums the word
Well I guess I won’t plan on hearing back from you then.
I’m sure I’ll need to get my fix now that bass season is winding down so P2 will be my next stop. I’ve only caught 2 walleyes this year!!!
Maybe see you down there!! 
ive got a fever …. and the only prescription isn’t more cowbell. its ten pound fatties!
Thanks James. Glad to see the action is heating up!
We have been finding a lot of the same as you have James. For me I have broken the bite down into 2 different bites. There is a good low light bite going on early and late in the day on the wingdams and shallow rock piles that have some current on them. Light hair jigs and H2O jigs tipped with natural color plastics has been a good bet for good numbers of walleyes in short periods of time. These fish are a hoot to catch but the size of the fish just dont seem to be there yet. Smaller 15 to 20″ males seem to be making up most of the bunch.
During the day the shallow bite is real hit and miss if you can find one at all. During this time I have been focusing more on the tips off deeper dams that have some current on them. Like James mentioned longer dams that stick well out to the channel and outside bends of the river are good bets to look at. Sweeping again hair jigs and jigs with plastics deep on the face and across the tips of these dams has been finding some better fish mixed in with the smaller males. One or 2 fish on a spot has been common but every now and then you find a small school that is feeding and can put a few numbers in in short order. Having some confidence on these spots and spending a little time working them has been the key for me to finding day time fish.
For you guys that like to cast crank baits dont put them away yet. We are still getting fish on 6A bombers and even deep diving husky jerks just about every trip out. I would bet this should continue until water temps get into the mid to low 40s.
Here is another tip when casting jigs. When fishing a confidence spots lately and I have that feeling there is just one more walleye down there and changing lures and colors just doesnt seem to be getting him to react. Try changing how you work you jigs. My main presentation is drifting jigs threw areas with just a subtle lift and drop action. Alot of times with this approach there isnt a lot of bottom contact. You just get the feel that the jig is in the right place. To change this up a little hopping or snapping these jigs across the same area may be all it takes to convince a that last walleye to snap up your offering.
Here are a few photos from some of my last few trips.
Hey James!
I was wondering if the reason that the K-grubs and ringworms haven’t been producing is that there isn’t enough flow going to get those tails pumping? I haven’t done diddly this fall on ringies and grubs; but I have done very well on hair and cranks.
Great report as usual!
I’m hoping to make it out some this week or weekend. And I’m gonna be trying some “ringies” that I just got from a nice man in Hager City. These “ringies” don’t seem to have as much low flow problems.
dd
Way to go guys
No, I don’t think that has anything to do with it. If it did, someone will need to explain the current success guys are having with hair jigs given that a hair jig offers almost no movement or vibration when fished at slow speed.
It has more to do with activity level. The fish aren’t all that aggressive, yet. As water temps fall and some of the shad start to get thinned out the fish start to feed more aggressively. Every fall we see the same general progression with the bait choice that tends to be the dominant producer… hair jigs then paddletails then ringworms and k-grubs. Like clock work.
OK James, do sauger and walleye follow the pattern at the same rate or do the saugers progress alittle ahead of the walleye. The reason I ask is that we got into a pretty good ringworm bite Saturday on Pool 4 before sunrise but they were all sauger. I know walleye hold in this area but we didn’t get any. We were pitching shallow sand. Is it just that we are right on the edge right now or do you normally see the saugers switch to plastics before the walleye?
I don’t think saugers and walleyes “progress” any differently but I do feel saugers tend to be a more aggressive species in general.
And there’s other factors. Saugers have better eyesight and a more sensitive lateral line. Give the absence of moon light the past weekend and reduced water clarity (the water just isn’t that clean yet) maybe it has been more productive for the walleyes to feed during the day or in shallower water in comparison to where you were catching those saugers.
There’s a whole heck of a lot of factors that could come into play with your scenario.
lookin good.
Thanks for the update guys. I plan on heading down the end of this week. Tonights low temps should drop that water temp pretty nice.
Great report James and congrats to you and Steve on a successful outing!
The bite should only get better in the days ahead! 
Steve and I will be back at it tomorrow in the afternoon. With a little luck I should have some more info to share.
Nice Report James!!
Nice to discuss fish feeding pattterns vs. water temps. I know on the river you boys follow flow also. How much does FlOW effect the bite vs. optimum water temps?? My assumption as a BIG LAKE guide that increased flow will concentrate the fish much the same as steady consistent winds on the lake (NOT 40MPH!!LOL!!) Have to be carefull what you ask for. Is there a key temperature which the shad die off?? If so I suppose that plays a vital role in the success for you river boys. What size are the shad that they eyes are feeding on??
Nice fish James!! See you this winter!
The fish have to eat regardless of the flow so I wouldn’t say a change in the flow impacts the “bite” directly but increased flow will definitely concentrate the fish in areas that are easier for guys like Steve and me to find and take advantage of. Let’s just say I much prefer higher water.
What you’ll see is shad dying in response to sudden and significant changes in temperature. Those nasty cold snaps in december can really put the hurt on he shad populations. With current water temps in the upper 40’s and lower 50’s we really haven’t thinned the herd much, yet.
Most of the shad looked to be in the 2.5 – 3 inch range.
Yes you will.
Water temps are down. Walleye size is UP!
We’re not into the super-sized mama eyes yet but it won’t be long now! Water temps were down to 47 degrees this afternoon when Steve and I made it out on the water at 3:30 PM for a couple hours of jig pitching on pool 2.
The same basic pattern from last week still holds true… high flow wingdams + 3/16 Oz jig and a Paddletail = Nice Walleyes!
Pro Blue Paddletails were dominant again with oystershell scoring a couple direct hits later in the day. Ringworms are still “off” but should start to produce any time now.
Our larger fish for the day weighed in around 8.5 lbs and didn’t appear to be skipping many meals. One of our walleyes that barely hit 26″ on the tape pulled a digi scale down to 7.5 Lbs. And I would say that fish was more or less “average” in regards to girth for what we were seeing with all of our better fish.
I think we’re right on the front end of the fall big fish binge on the big river. If you haven’t stored the boat away yet you might want to consider hitting the Mississippi for some late fall walleye action before the boat heads for mothballs.
Nice fish guys. Those are some dandies. We where out for a little while yesterday afternoon and had a fair bite going on hair jigs. No big fish. Just 18 t0 20″ males again. Maybe I need to look at switching my bait of choice around.
Your fishing reports over the years have been enjoyable to read. Thank You for your insights and knowledge of the annual patterns. I have been fishing pool 2 for 17 years with the great success you speak of on your internet forum. I have also noticed that this forum has increased the number of anglers on the water. My last fishing outing has left me a bit bitter and I welcome your thoughts on the following situation:
“You are fishing a wingdam and a boat pulls in within casting distance and fishes the same wingdam.”
I have passed most of you fishing a wingdam on this forum and if it is OK I will stop and fish next to you.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Good question. I would say to pull in with in casting distance with a other boat is not so good. To fish the same dam as another boat? That may not be as cut and dried of a question. If the 1st boat there is on the trolling motor there is a good chance they are fishing the entire dam and I would move on. If they where anchored and the dam was long enough to fish a few boats I would stop and ask the anchored boat if it was all right for me to fish another area of the dam. By no means would I park with in casting distance of another boat unless I knew them and we where there to chat.
These ideas may go well for pool 2 as this pool still has a lot of places to fish. Pool 4 during certain times of the year seems to have its own rules and Im still trying to figure them out.
It isn’t my river. If it feel right to you… enjoy. If it doesn’t feel right to me… I’ll move. Mi wingdam, su wingdam.
I would have to agree with Mike on this one. I have been using my trolling motor that last 6-8 times out because of the lack of flow, which allows me to slip the current in front of the dam and fish the whole face of it. I would be pretty bummed out if someone came and anchored up on a dam that I was fishing…there’s plenty of river and I just don’t think it’s that respectful to be honest. If I know that guy/girl, that’s another story. Just my two cents. I grew up playing golf which is always touted as a “gentlemen’s sport” and I would like to think that angling is in the same genre. A sport you can learn a lot about life while participating in including being respectful of other people you share this planet with.
I don’t think that could be said any better!
A little update from yesterday afternoon. The day bite for my last couple of outings has appeared to be getting a little better while the lowlight bite has been somewhat dismal the last two outings for my boat.
Peteyb and I got on the water about 2:30 yesterday afternoon and starting pitching 3/16th oz BFT’s Precision jigs with my (quickly becoming) strong standby of a Pro Blue Paddletail. We hopped around a fair amount and sticking fish on just about every stop. Big fish for yesterday was a healthy 28″.
Thanks Pete for sharing my boat with me! We will do it again soon!
My pleasure, let’s do it again sometime
Pete
Did it seem to you Steve that the water clarity might of dropped a little. Seemed to me like a lot more crude in the water. Those barges did seem to be working pretty hard last week and over the weekend. They may of had something to do with it.
I hear ya Mike. The thing on pool 4 that can mess you up is that lots of people think everybody is vertical jigging.
So whats the big deal if you get a little close? Well, if you like to drag it is a big deal. And if you are putting the smack down on fish dragging the vertical jiggers slide in even closer to figure out why you’re catching and they aren’t.
dd
I find that humorous to watch!
Well there is no point in getting mad. When its a zoo out there you got to expect that sort of thing. That’s when I like to go exploring.
dd
If your drag is long enough, the jiggers will drift back into deeper water. So, by the time you moto back up, the jiggers are out of the way.
Then,
history repeats itself every 15 minutes!
James,
Thanks for the informative post, and looks like the size is overall improving.
Jack
I agree Mike. It was a little dirtier up river. As I got down river further and further it appeared that the silt was settling downand the clarity came back a little. Subsequently I had a much better bite way down river than I did up.
This cold snap that on its way for the weekend should finally give the water temps a kick we have all been waiting for!
These reports definitely increase traffic, no doubt about it. Generally speaking, a report with some nice pictures goes up and there will 2-5 unfamiliar trucks/trailers at the landing that and/or the following day. I’ve seen it dozens of times. Those guys give it a shot, realize that fishing Pool 2 is anything but easy, and usually don’t stick around long.
One of the nice things about Pool 2 is that it isn’t Pool 4. I enjoy the solitude of it, even if the fish aren’t biting. It really does bother me when I can’t fish all my spots, but I certainly don’t own the river and there are lots and lots of other spots to fish. And even with the reports, I think the tougher fishing and C&R requirement on Pool 2 will keep us from getting any really heavy traffic any time soon.
Lastly, if I’m alone and a buddy shows up I think it’s great to fish together on one dam. Otherwise, there’s no reason to fish next to me. It’s a big river with dozens of wingdams.
Seriously John23, you need a new avatar! How about that one with you and Rod Stewart from Vegas this week!
I’m sick of the Blair Witch Catfish, too, Mike. But I need more fishbucks!