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Mississippi River Fishing Reports Pools 2 & 3


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Thanks for the updates Old Timer. Anyone that spends any amount of time on the river this time of year knows that the water temps usually plummet once the snow starts melting. Have seen it in years past go from the 40s back down to near freezing due to this. Usually turns the bite off to when this happens.

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Since it sounds like I'm not the only one that's experiencing a poor bite on pool 2 has anyone been to or heard any reports on pool 3, around the Hastings/Prescott area? Is pool 4 the only place for a decent bite right now?

Went down to L&D 2 again yesterday afternoon and again, nothing. Watched probably 4 boats come up river to the dam and each of them spent about 15-20 minutes looking for fish and took off back down river.

Also, I've been checking water temp with an instant read thermo. when I go down and what oldtimer is saying is what I've found as well.

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thanks for the web site. i will be down there sat. and i will let u know what i find. i was going out friday but i think u can understand why i did not make it. hope that i did not affend u with my other comments. if i did i am sorry no intention too.

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thanks for the web site. i will be down there sat. and i will let u know what i find. i was going out friday but i think u can understand why i did not make it. hope that i did not affend u with my other comments. if i did i am sorry no intention too.

Thanks. No offense taken.

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9:30am - 12:00, water temp 33.4 degrees F, Minnesota River opened up,

1 monster flathead catfish caught above Lilydale, nothing else caught. wind blowing hard downstream of confluence, Hidden Falls ramp open and clear. Lilydale open but icy, another fisherman said he caught a few at the confluence the other day? It has to get better.

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9:30am - 12:00, water temp 33.4 degrees F, Minnesota River opened up,

1 monster flathead catfish caught above Lilydale, nothing else caught. wind blowing hard downstream of confluence, Hidden Falls ramp open and clear. Lilydale open but icy, another fisherman said he caught a few at the confluence the other day? It has to get better.

full-28971-31436-dscf0925.jpg

Finally got the photo uploaded. That is a 36 inch tape measure on the seat above the kitty.

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Fished from shore near the confluence today, not a single bite. Watched a few boats fishing at the confluence and it didn't look like there was much action in their boats.

The only sign of life that I saw in the river was thousands of small black bugs (kind of looked like a beetle) swimming under water near shore.

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Was on pool 2 on Friday and the water temp was about 38.5 degrees. Can't imagine it is much warmer after yesterday and today though.

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Could not catch a thing in a short outing Friday or Saturday. Water was 39 friday and 37-38.5 sat.

Marked some fish and tried tons of different spots but ouldnt get anything to go on artificials. Sure was nice to get the boat wet again and see the thousands of birds along the river.

Decent amount of debris and ice still floating so keep your eyes open!

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It was fairly slow on Friday for us too. Caught about a half dozen eyes between 18-22 inches. Didn't try plastics, caught everything on a 1/4 oz jig and a fathead. Water was still very clear for this time of year. I bet it will get a bit dirtier in the next week or so. The water temps should increase as well. Maybe that will help the bite a bit?

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  • 2 weeks later...

sorry about the report had some personal things happen and had to go oout of town. i didnt make it out. but it sounds like i didnt miss anything. i am going to try to get out tommorow.

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i went to pool 2 yest afternoon and we got 6 eye all 20-23 inches. in the slack water by the lock. nothing at the confluence. marked a lot of fish in both places but the bite was pretty slow. just one here and there. the water temp was 36.8 pretty cold. there were about 6 other boats out there and they were catching just a couple here and there also. it seemed like most of the fish were caught with a jig and minnow. but some were taken with plastics. the current is ragging by the dam.

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  • 1 month later...

Had a day off work yesterday and spent the day hitting multiple shore fishing areas. Landed 7 eye all 13-17", missed a bunch as well. All were caught on a 1/8-1/4oz jig and minnow. All were caught casting into the first current seam off of slack water areas and most hook ups happened within 5-10 yards of the shore line.

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Caught one eye tonight in front of the Mississippi flats condos at upper landing. Had something big hit hard and snap my line. Was good to see my son catch his first decent size walleye. See if we can have anymore luck tomorrow morning. I have never river fished before and have no idea what I'm doing so were just happy to have caught something.

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Caught one eye tonight in front of the Mississippi flats condos at upper landing. Had something big hit hard and snap my line. Was good to see my son catch his first decent size walleye. See if we can have anymore luck tomorrow morning. I have never river fished before and have no idea what I'm doing so were just happy to have caught something.

I'm a novice as well, but like I said in my little report. If you find slack water areas and toss small jigs tipped with a minnow you should have some luck. Maintain contact with the bottom and jig the lure slowly back with small pops. I was out again for a few hours yesterday afternoon and caught 2 walleye, 2 sheepshead, 1 white bass, and 1 smallmouth all with a 1/8 oz jig/minnow. Good luck!

Edit: sorry, technically I didn't land the smallie. Had it up to shore and was bending down to grab it when it took the opportunity to give one final shake and got off the hook. Would have been my first smallie too. ARGH!

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  • 2 months later...

hit pool two for the first time saturday, caught a small flat and two small channels nothing big but still nice to break the ice.

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Went for a cruise yesterday from St Paul on the Miss to Afton on the St croix.

Wonderful weather and going through the lock was a new experience.

We only dropped the leadcore lines for about 45 minutes but did manage to catch a small white bass? and a catfish of some sort on the Wisconsin side of the St Croix in 25 fow.

A catfish hitting a Salmo at 2.5 mph?

I cant say I've ever heard of that but then again I can't say I really know anything about Catfish either.

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  • 3 months later...

I am going to be home visiting family the next couple weekends and I'm wondering if I should be bringing home the ice fishing gear? Will there be walkable ice at Dushanes or preferably North lake?

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  • 4 months later...

No 2014 posts yet...?

Skunked twice up by the dam. Its pretty tough from shore right now. Water needs to come up for the shore people to really get into them.

Plenty of boats around the locks. Saw some nets and cameras so somebody's catching something.

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I was one of the guys at the shore at Minnehaha.

Nothing but carp biting.

Did you happen to get the water temp by the dam?

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I didn't even see the carp while I was there.

Didn't get a water temp up by the dam, but the USGS says its's 46 at Pike Island and has been trending upwards about 2 degrees everyday this week.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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