While making the 4 hour drive to pool 4 Tuesday afternoon, my thoughts kept traveling back a year ago, back when the weather, along with the bite, were bitterly cold. Hopefully this was to be a two day redemption tour………
Launched the rig late afternoon and bee lined it to Everts resort. Wow, quite a bit of debris with the high water but the scariest thing were the sunken channel markers! Be carefull people!
Water clarity was exceptional however and water temps were already up to a surprising 47 degrees……..BRING IT ON !!
Docked up, walked the arch and was greeted by a tall, thin chap who looked like he just put in a 48 hr. shift. Hmmm….wonder if he can tell me anything? 
Seriously, shaking Deans hand is a priviledge in my book, checking out the shop is a kid and candy store thing and leaving is …….well, it’s sad, that’s what it is!
The bite…….. While at Deans I met JJ.K to fish with me that evening. A few released box fish were boated pulling raps but nothing huge. A few hours seemed like a few minutes of course so it was off to River Falls to a friends house to rest up for the next days pitchin.
—————-Day 2… Cracking the code!—————-
My boating partner for the next two days was going to be resident WTC bass champion, Cory Hauk, who has strong family ties back here in my home town. Along with his great fishing skills, Cory also packed along a positive, all day attitude…..something you definetly need when searching for just one or two pre spawn bites a day.
Heading down river away from the masses, the idea was to stalk out the "soft spot" in the endless seams.
No big secrets here, pitching wood and heavy grass…plastic. Sandy breaks, flats and rubble…..blade baits.
Around 10 am. and after just zeroing in on a nice looking break, Cory sets the hook, elbows flying, one leg kicked in the air and a doubled over rod (did I tell you he was a bass guy?) "Big fish…BIG FISH"! Words I’ve been waiting to hear for over 365 days! A great battle ensued ending in Corys new pb walleye at 8.5 lbs.
PBs are awesome of course but little did we know that in a few hours his shiny new record was going to get pummeled!
Venturing even farther south and during the peak heat of the day, Cory,(after a world record blade bait cast) again announces, "fish!……BIG FISH!" Anchored up this time, what we witnessed was a fight for the ages. This beauty was by far the fattest 27in. fish ever in my boat, coming in at 10.5 lbs.
Day three and with time running out is when it finally happened. Flipping the 1\8th oz. BfishN jig with a firecracker chart.tail K grub (DUH!) produced that "Thunk". Swept the hook, solid weight followed by those massive head shakes. Getting the girl cleared of the wood was critical, after that was accomplished it was 5 minutes of heart pounding fun! My heaviest fish to date at 29 1\4, with an 18" girth coming in a shade on the plus side of 11 lbs.
Dean Marshal, I can’t thank you enough. You are ALL about the customer and a terrific promoter of our fishery. Seriously, ever think about running for Senator Dean? Could very well be a landslide.
Thanks to Jesse also for jumping in my boat for a few hours.
Ran into WalleyeBen a couple times also. Always a treat to meet members! Hope you found some big fish Thursday Ben.
With the water temps being so warm the pre spawn will be gone before you know it. Now’s the time to get out after it! This is the time of year also, in my opinion, that bait choice is not a huge factor. Anything slow moving that poses as any type of a nest invader will most surely get chewed on. All three of our largest fish came on three different style baits. Cracker chart.tail K grub,a June bug-chart.paddle tail and a black and orange blade
On another note, when handling these prone females try to take on the musky fisherman mentality, by that I mean, keeping the netted girl in the water until the camera, tape, scale etc. are out and ready. Nothing can stress out a big fish more than when it’s doing jumping jacks on the bottom of the boat.
Remember, find those down points and sand breaks, read it carefully while sneaking in to find the seams soft spot, then do the dance.
I’m sure in the next week we’ll be seeing some huge tank pictures from pool 4. As of right now you guys are sitting on a powder keg of dynamite with a very short time fuse! Good luck and go stick one!
Congrats on the great eyes! And way to make those few bites count.
FDR
I’m sorry Jeff, did I miss reading the exact locations of your fish? Care to hand over the GPS cords.
I really need to fish down that way more
Great fish guys
And Cory how did you handle being in the boat with Jeff for two days
Ron
Nice work Jeff and company! Great to see those bigger fish showing up.
Congrats!
Joel
Thanks for the lesson(s) Jeff and Dean. Absolutely fantastic couple of days on the water. A very good fisherman once told me, it’s good to get in the boat with different fishermen for new perspective. It was AWESOME getting in the boat with a phenomenal multi species guy like Jeff and totally revamping the way I look at fishing rivers in general. Also thanks to Dean at Evert’s for your help over the last few weeks, you haven’t seen the last of me. These two guys have turned a die hard bass guy into a spring walleye fiend. My wife may not appreciate you guys so much, but I sure do!
That’s where you’ve been:) Glad to hear you tied into a PB. Congrats!!! Pool 11 is going alright, nothing great but I’ll be up there this weekend. Hope I tie into an 11 pounder!
Glad you got into ’em this year. If only I would have had more time to fish with ya (just cant cover enough water in 2 hours) but the short lived time we did fish was as always a blast and I look forward to the next time. Great report
Nice work guys
Great Report Jeff
Nice Fish
Well deserved my friend!
Way to go Jeff! Great report!
Like I told you before Cory, the pleasure was mine.
Funny, 3 picture fish in 2 days doesn’t sound like much but it will still be a top walleye memory of mine. We WILL do that again buddy. 
Good luck with the bass Cory, your outstanding drive and attitude will go a long ways in cashing more checks, unless of course you’re switching over to walleyes, then we’ll have some honing to do
Not a bad days work.
Congrats Jeff & Cory!!!
Awesome simply awesome!!!
Good job Jeff and company. Nice fish!
Like mentioned in the report, many different baits could score you a trophy right now. If Dean at Everts doesn’t have it then you can always go to……..don’t worry, he’ll have it!
Ya he’s got what ya need doesn’t he? Hope I don”t get too much this weekend.
Congrats to BOTH of you, I heard from a tall skinny guy at the bait shop that you stuck a big one… and that she was!! Nothing but rough fish and saugers for me maybe next week. Hope to see you around agian Jeff and good luck!
Awesome read Mr. Jensen
Nothing funny about it, 3 toads like that during high water conditions….great job guys
Awesome fish guys!
Nice chatting with you on the water.
Chris
Nice Job guys and great read as always Jeff
Hey Cory I’m Jeff’s nephew and id like to say im a die hard bass guy as well 
let me know if your ever down this way and we can go chase some green fish if you can get away from Jeff and those walleyes 
Jon, I’m absolutely up for some pool 10/11 bassin. haven’t fished there much since i left platteville and would love to get out.
Amen
Nice report and great fish
Congrats on the PB,s and great advice on handling those big Mamas for pictures,
Wow! those are a couple of awesome walleyes guys.
Congratulations on the new personal best Jeff & Cory!
Way to go Jeff. Sounds like a great time on the water—Pool 4 tends to crank those out for a guy. Patience definitely has it’s rewards this time of year. Those are some beautiful fish! Hope to talk to you soon.
Rich
Great read Buddy
Congrats on some tank eyes
fished monday april 5, my fishing partner got a 30″, personal best, I got a 27″.
Hey, I can see my truck from there
Just kidding, dang nice fish and congrats on the pb! 
:Note to self:…….start fishing with a fedora for good luck
Awesome report!!! Well done fellas!!
Super fish
Nice!!!
Gotta love it when the big girls thump your bait!