I had a sneaky suspicion that the lackluster bite we have been experiencing on pool 2 had to turn around sooner than later and boy was I right. With the warm temps, sunny skies, and dry conditions the water levels are finally stable and falling slowly which puts the odds in the savvy anglers favor.
I launched at 4:45am out of 494 and after hitting one dam south of the launch with no luck, I decided to go upstream to a few of my favorite pieces of structure. The pitching bite was not as hot as I would have liked it to be and after working over my second dam with no fish, I had to put the thinking cap on. This 27 inch bruiser was the result of a small change in presentation.
Everyone talks about dragging on pool 4 but never have I tried it on pool 2. I decided to drag a jig upstream to the next wingdam through some scattered rocks just off the main channel and connected with 3 really nice fish including this 24 incher.
A few quick notes on presentation. Traditionally, most guys like to drag downstream just a hair faster than the current, but in the spot I was at the current was much too fast. So I dragged upstream, bumped up my jig weight to 1/8 and slowly worked the bow mount upstream at about .4mph working side to side over the rocks.
The other fish I took this morning I did take pitching and jigs were BfishN Tackle’s Pyrokeet precision jigs with either pro blue, chart pepper, oyster shell paddletails.
With the great weather we’ve been having, it’s foolish not to get out and enjoy the sunshine if nothing else. If you can remember to change things up and be creative, my guess is you’ll have a few visitors in the boat. This fish was the fattest 27 inch walleye I have seen to date and she gobbled up a paddle tail pitched to the face of a dam.
here’s a few more from today and the last time out.
Nice fish Micah! That 26″ brute. That kinda looks like a saugeye. I was looking at three and four times over. Just has the lack of a white tip on the tail and more importantly the tell tail splotches of a saugeye. I don’t know, either way those are some TANKS!!!! Nice fish and great report!
nice to meet you out there finally Micah. those are some nice fish. I ended the day with only two fish, an 18 and a 22 that both came within the first 30 minutes of fishing. even with the stain in the water it seems like low light is key for the big girls right now.
Jason it was good to finally meet you as well. I’m really looking forward to the next 3-4 weeks. the bite seems to be finally picking up and more fish are stacking up in predictable spots. let me know if you ever want company an I’ll do the same.
Holy fat fish there Micah! The girth on those is ridiculous. Is the visibility still 6″ or so up around the airport? What depths were you doing the upstream dragging?
Nice job
Wish I could have made it this a.m.
I’ll be chasin those big girls Sunday
Jeremy i didn’t pay too close attention to the water but what I did see was still pretty dirty. lot’s of debris still floating around as well.
Looks like you had a great day,thanks for sharing
Great report and pics Micah
Those pool 2 walleyes are beefy
Very nice fish Micah!
Great looking fish, Micah.
I was also thinking that the 26″ is a Saugeye.
Way to go.
Jack
Great fish Micah!! Those are some toads.
Good job & glad to hear your bite is picking up for ya!
thanks Dean, that was a great morning. I’m scheduled to head out again tomorrow morning but with the weather that is predicted I’m second guessing it. Do I just man up and get out there because the days are numbered, or wait for a better day???
Jeremy, I didn’t see your second question on the first read. Sorry about that, I was dragging in and out of 3-10 ft. There’s a great section between two wingdams that has scattered rock piles so I was kind of zig zagging my way upstream going in and out of the rock piles all the way out to the channel edge which breaks at about 9-10 feet.
Nice report sir!
I wish I could have joined you. I need a p2 outing badly. Maybe next time.
Joel
Very nice fish Micah, great to see!
Joel