In case you’re wondering, YES, the fish are biting very well on Pool 4. The fishing was simply explained to me by Dean from Evert’s as “stupid good.” He wasn’t kidding….
Typically this time of the year, I make one if not two trips to Red Wing hoping to capitalize on a good Sauger bite. My luck in past years wasn’t always what I’d hoped for. Either the weather was less that desirable(snow & wind) or the fish didn’t know I’d just drove 1.5 hrs to have some fun with them.
This time around, I’d managed to pick the perfect day to enjoy some quality time with my Dad on Pool 4.
While we had to endure some snow, the temperatures were quite pleasant and the wind was non-existent. Even though I pulled a bonehead move by leaving my winter boots at home, I didn’t need them today.
We arrived at Evert’s Resort around 10am and after a quick review of what we should look for in terms of bait and fish location, we were zipping up the river to the dam anxiously awaiting a day where the fishing was truly “stupid good.”
We were told to look for fish in the 16-25ft range. As advertised, the fish were there and ready to eat. My first baits for the day were plastics rigged on H2O Precision Jigs. The best colors were the brighter variety like Pearl/White, Sour Apple and the Glow Eye colors.
For plastics, we used small flukes hand-picked by Dean himself and 3.25″ Paddletails from B Fish N Tackle. The best colors were Firecracker, Oystershell & Stewart’s Pro Blue.
Dean had mentioned the more successful anglers were vertical jigging on the downstream drift and dragging 5/16oz. jigs rigged with ringworms on their way back upstream. I found a 3/16oz jig for the vertical presentation to be very effective. The bite was good enough for us, that we decided against dragging upstream and just concentrate on the vertical aspect.
In all, we brought home 12 very healthy Saugers and a boat full of snow. I hope to try that again very soon. As always, it’s my pleasure to see and talk to Dean. I thank him for always doing his best to try and put me on the best fish possible.
BTW, thanks to Jesse for selling me that remote control truck. I’ve been having a great time with that already. 
Be sure to click on the pictures for a larger view. 
Here’s a few of the baits we used today. You can stop by Evert’s Resort and check out his extensive lineup of B Fish N tackle products and his own line of Evert’s tackle. Both are superb products.
Gotta love Pool 4 nice work Blue
Quality time on the water with Dad, AWESOME Blue
Nice fish Buddy
Blue? Out of the three in this photo…which one would you say worked….the best? Just wondrun.
Bottom 2.
Your welcome
Glad somebody is getting some use out of it 
Just curious how many fish do you think you and your dad boated total and in how long of a peiod?
<snicker> Redneck! Eat your heart out!
Thanks for the report Blue! Made my day!
Great looking fish Blue
Luv the snowy boat action shot!
Very cool, glad you could get some “pop” time
Must be that secret BK color semi something or another blue
Great report Blue
Sounds like a great day on the water with Dad
Awesome job Blue! I’ve gotta get down there soon
Hey Blue !!!
Good to see you and Dad got out fishing…
SO??? Who caught more ?????
I wish I wasn’t 3 hours from that pool…it would be a fun run !!
thanks buddy !!
A lot, and that’s no stretch of the imagination. I tried to fish 2 rods, and it was darn-near impossible. There were countless times when I’d drop that jig down to the bottom only to pick it up and have a fish hanging on it.
All told, we fished about 2hrs, and I’d honestly say I caught at least 40 fish.
I’ve been up there fishing with Dave Koonce and James Holst and had some fantastic action. This trip ranks right up there with those. There’s a TON of 12-14″ fish to weed through if you’re willing stick with it. Our average size for the fish we took home was 16″, with 2 that were almost 18″. I would have liked to stay longer to get some more pics, but we wanted to get home as the snow wasn’t showing any signs of letting up.
This was a pic I took as we were getting ready to leave. Anyone see what’s missing?
Suckerslayer & I decided to go check out the pitching bite after everyone left early yesterday with pending weather and more fish than they expected.The pitching bite was of no dissapointment! Virtully no wind,1 remaining boat,and 30 plus fish later,I was gratefull for an oppurtunity to end 2009 on open water with a awesome bite.Thanks for the invite Josh!
The standard B-fish “fab 5” were of no dissapointment pitching,but the “fab 5” needs to make room for an addition and re-name itself to “something 6”! Purplecracker will hold it’s own folks! If your bites are soft or light,downsizing the profile really pays off for increased hook-ups.We also had a great reminder of how much better the 6’8″mxf with mono is and just flat out puts more fish in the boat if you are pitching jigs!
Blue,always good to see you & your dad! I think it is safe to say that there is a bit of family rivalry between you and is almost as fun to see that as fishing itself.
I dont think he will ever give up on that foam bucket,but ya had him thinking about it yesterday! 
Happy New Year everyone!
ME !!!
Nice report Blue!!
Now that is an awesome trip, way to put the smack down on some great saugers Donaldson’s
i sure am jealous
No wonder I couldn’t find you to go after some panfish down there!!! Great job!!!
Other than me I would say about 75 other boats?
Bingo.
Sharing that body of water w/ 4 other boats was a treat I’ve never experienced. Especially when the bite was that good.
It’s great is’nt it
Melonfarmer supreme reigns champion again! Nice work!
has any body hit the ice around frontenac or lake city. I would like to be in the boat but it in the barn
i was at methodist camp today fishing was ok walleyes in 20 ft and sager plus a large striper good 10 to 12 inchs ice people all over for a monday,