The entire month of November goes down as one of the best months to be on Pool 2 for sheer numbers of big walleyes. With average size fish exceeding 20” mark, its hard not to consider Pool 2 as a true walleye fishery for that trophy walleye that everyone dreams of catching. We have a lot of new visitors in the past several weeks and many are new to river fishing. Just as a FYI for all those interested…Pool 2 is a catch and release fishery that offers a year round fishing opportunity with no closed seasons for walleye, sauger, LM and SM bass. This catch and release restriction has only helped this fishery become what it is today. I fish Pool 2 over 100 of my 200 days on the water a year and I can honestly say that Pool 2 is in better shape now than I have ever seen it!! That’s good news for all anglers that are looking for a great shot at boating a true trophy for a picture! Catching a few fish over the 6# mark per outing has actually been the norm for several weeks now and seeing fish in the 10# class has actually been somewhat common as well. I have boated 2 fish of this 10# caliber this past week and lost a couple more that would give these a good running for top honors. Pool 2 is alive and well and now is the time for BIG fish.
The daytime wingdam bite has been either been on or off for me this past week and it really depends on the day you are out, because the very next day can provide ample opportunity to score big on the wingdams for quality fish. In general, the overcast days offer a better day bite on the wingdams with jigs and plastics while the high blue bird skies may be perfect opportunity to go vertical and jig the deeper holes for both sauger and walleye mix. When tackling the wingdams for either day or night prowls, stay mobile and jump from dam to dam to pick off the active fish. By doing this, you are able to pick off fish that are in the feeding mode within the first 15 minutes of your arrival and then keep moving on to the next spot. By the end of the night, you will have yourself a pretty respectable trip results to show for it. Some wingdams will be duds while others may be the little goldmines you have been looking for. Keep track of the wingdams that have been productive for you and stop back a little later to take full advantage of more feeding fish. Once contact is made with a fish or two, you will be able to establish a pattern to help you eliminate areas within the wingdam that the fish are holding within.
Saturday I got on the water about 1:00pm and did a little hide and seek with some of my better producing wingdams only to be disappointed with the results of having only 4 fish to show for my efforts by 4:00pm. Some days this acts as a little reminder to me that the evening bite will offer something that the day has lacked. By 4:00pm the bite picked up dramatically on the wingdams and things got rolling quickly with several fish falling victim to the jig and ribworm combinations. My third fish at this spot produced a very healthy 28-1/2” walleye that hit the scales just a tad under the 10lb mark. At about 5:30pm, I returned to the dock to pick up James Holst and his “friend” Summer who both decided to join me for a little late fall wingdam walleye hunting. Immediately upon our return to one of my many favorite wingdams, we got bit right away with many fish in the 16-21” range including 4-5 fish running the 23”-27” caliber. Chartruese/Pepper and Oyster shell were the top producing colors for us on this evening. The bite tapered on this by about 10:30pm and fizzled away to only a fish here and there from that point on. Thanks to both of you for joining me in the boat on this beautiful evening as I had a great time with your company! Look forward to it again in the future!
The night bite on the wingdams has been by far the best thing going lately for numbers as well as the bigger walleyes this past week. I have not been personally partaking in the vertical jig bite throughout the day to have a good report for you at this point. Although, I have heard the vertical bite has been a little slow as of the last couple of days. Look for this bite to pick up very soon. For now concentrate on the tips or the ends of the wingdams for the best opportunity to produce some quality fish for both day and night time haunts. Look for the deeper front edges to produce during the day and the tops and shallower front edges as nighttime rolls in!
Good luck to all of you who make it out. If you can with stand the weather this time of year, you may be granted some great rewards.
Great report and beautiful fish Steve.
Gator Hunter
Any tips on finding those wingdams in the dark. I find it difficult to find the right spot with out running up on the dam.
Good question Mike!
Getting to know these dams during the daytime hours can be some of the best advice I could give. Get to know the ins and outs and the lay of the land with the area that pertains the most flow over the dam. I seldom like to fish dams that I am not familair with at night.
What I like to do is anchor well in front of the wingdam and just keep letting rope out until you can make contact with the rocks with a moderate cast. Or you can let enough rope out until you start to see the rise of the wingdam on your graph and then pull your boat back in front of the wingdam. I personally like to fish a little closer to the wingdam than some other anglers do. I think both approaches work very well, just different styles to get the same job done. And also by having this much rope out, you can adjust the boat accordingly to fish deeper or shallower by simply letting out more or less rope. Also anchoring off the bow on either the port or starboard side will give you new ground by swinging the boat left or right. The more rope you have out the more range you may be able to tackle by anchoring off different cleat locations off the bow.
Hope this helps a bit Mike.
Another great report Steve. Light jigs still the rule?
Travis,
Yes the lighter the better in most cases, although the flows have increased slightly over the past week which has required a slightly heavier approach to some of the quicker wingdams. 3/16-1/4oz has been the nrom on these locations. Otherwise 1/8th oz has been the staple in most other areas!
Hey Steve Great report!!! My buddies here in the UP call those big girls “thumpers”….when you set the hook they “thump” your arm down with their fierce initial headshakes. I’ve never been on Pool #2 but now I’d sure like to give it a try!
Great report Steve, can’t sleep so here I am. super fish, would have liked to see a picture of James and Summer holding a few fish. sure sounds like a great time. thanks Jack..
You river guys sure have it nice!! Nice report Steve.
Tom,
Thumpers indeed….sometimes they hit those light plastics so hard that there is no second guessing what that Mack truck on the other end is! If anyone does not get a charge out of that, not sure what would!
Jack,
I was hoping to get Summer and James together in a dramatic pose with a walleye but unfortunately we never hooked a picture worthy fish after Summer stepped in the boat….Hmmmmm?
Thanks guys!
Last night was the numbers game and they made us work for them, but by the end of the night we ended a tally of about 18-20 fish. I suspect good things to come in the next few days down here!