Pool 4 Saturday

[markkstanley]

Decided against another Mille Lacs run in favor of Pool 4. Very good choice. As usual I stopped in at Evert's to get the lowdown from Dean. My original game plan was to pitch blades and ringworms to the rocks in search of big eyes. Dean set me straight and told me to head for the dam area as the bite was tremendous. Was he ever right! Over 30 fish mostly in the 18 to 24" range in about five hours. After seven months away from the river I forgot how much harder those river walleyes and sauger fight versus lake fish. It was a lot of fun on my ML rods.

The big favorite was a 1/4oz hair jig in Evert's sunshine color - strangely it is not yellow/orange but blue/purple with some red - tipped with about 2" of either a Pro Blue or purple with chartreuse tail ringworm. Next favorite was the old standby chartreuse pepper ringie on a 1/4oz lime green jighead. I keyed in on 15ft depths and was sweeping the jigs forward and letting them fall like I would a crankbait. The fish just smacked the jigs on the fall. Straight vertical did not work for me today. I was moving fast enough to have the jigs trailing almost a boat length behind. The first two fish of the day were caught while I accererating to make a quick turn which keyed me in on the presentation.

Only bummer of the day is I lost huge walleye after a long fight. Probably as big if not bigger as my avatar fish which went 13 plus lbs. Got it up for a quick glance and on the next dive to the bottom my drag stuck (note to self BACKREEL BACKREEL BACKREEL ) and that was all she wrote.

One other tip. Leave big engine in gear when you stop to fish so the current doesn't spin the prop and wind up about 30ft of line when you make a quick course adjustment resulting in a chest to ankles soaking as you lean over the transom to clear the line and some boat plows by throwing a four foot wake. That whole little fiasco would have been great on You Tube.

[FWA]

How were the #'s of boats out there???

[markkstanley]

Not as bad as it gets in the spring. Deer hunting probably. Even when it is crowded people are very good about it. I tend to avoid the big pack. Plenty of fish and spots and the crowd is usually not in the prime area. That said presentation is the key to Pool 4. Color, jig size, motion all play a part. I fished with a guy one day and we had the same jig and ringworm colors but I was able to hold my jig about a foot off the bottom with no movement at all and that was the difference to catching a lot of fish. He just couldn't bring himself to the do nothing approach - little twitch or lift resulted in fewer fish. When I first get to an area I always watch to see what boats are catching fish so I know what depth to key on and then I begin to experiment. Learn to jig with both hands so you can work through the puzzle faster. I typically start with the hair jig tipped by a half on ringworm on one rod and a plain jig and ringworm on the other. Colors and jigging motion will also be different. The fish will tell you what they want.

[hanson]

Nice report Mark!

I keep telling myself I have to get down there but there is just too much to do. Had mediocre success trolling Mille Lacs on Saturday night, and then hit the Minnesota River for a little White Bass and Walleye action Sunday afternoon. Papa Grump boated an 11 pounder on the Minnesota so it was fun to witness that fish and his excitement!

[FWA]

Thanks for the knowledge. I haven't been back to P4 since early summer, so I definitely want to go before it gets really cold... Too bad I couldn't go yesterday with those extra warm temps...

[fishingchef]

Great report, sounds like a wonderful day on the river! I've had enough of Mille lacs as well(at least for the time being) and will be heading down to fish the river tues. and wed. I was just wondering if you were dragging upstream and "sweeping" and letting your jig fall or this was while working the drift, thanks if you care to answer.

[markkstanley]

Moving a little faster than just drifting and I was using a heavier jig than I would if I were dragging. Didn't seem to matter if I was headed upstream or down. I maintained my speed to keep a certain angle - about 45 degrees - when the line hit the water. The key though was the little sweeping action. The crankbait and three way bite has been going good so it looks like the fish want a little faster action. That can change real quick so don't be afraid to experiment with different jigging actions during the day. Some days the hard snap jig is the ticket other days you have to just let your jig hang motionless.

[Mike Walerak]

Wow! with the nice weather I forgot what time of the year it was. Its Pool 4 with Mark Stanly time! He must hybernate all summer only to come out shortly after daylight savings time switch. No matter what the case its great that you got into some fish.

I took the day off from helping my dad on the farm and deer hunting, only to find the walleyes and saugers eager to bite on my homemade hair jigs (I call them Mike's Hair Jigs) and plain jigheads tipped with a minnow. We were even able to find some using crankbaits.

Here are a couple pics from the day.

My buddy Jon with a fat sauger

Myself with another

mw

[markkstanley]

I just go where the bite is and now it is Pool 4 time!! Actually I just mark time through the summer waiting for fall on Mille Lacs and late fall thru spring on Pool 4. Some of the best walleye fishing in the country and it's our backyard. Don't ignore Pool 2 either.

[Mike Walerak]

Its kinda scary. What are we gonna wreck this year!

[markkstanley]

How about something of Joel's for a change? I had to replace and/or repair enough stuff of mine.. He did smash a pair of my sunglasses and I currently have his sitting on the dash of my SUV. How's Thursday looking for you?

[Mike Walerak]

Not good, I have been home all week with a sick child. We will have to see what the weekend brings.

mw

[SCONASOTAN]

Mark or anybody reponding who has fished pool 4 recently,

Is the bite stronger in the morning hours or midafternoon? Also what kind of boat traffic is to be expected up by the "y"area this weekend. I have fished many times in the spring but not so much in the fall up there. I would expect less boats with WI gun season starting Sat. and lower temps than last weekend.

thanks for the help.

[markkstanley]

Fewer boats in fall by far. Walleyes are best in early AM shallow, sauger tend to go all day. Depths depend on cloud cover. Generally you will have lulls followed by a lot of action then another lull. Last Saturday bite died about 2:30pm for good.

[SCONASOTAN]

Thanks Mark. I am usually pretty stubborn in the spring with casting to rip rap in that i'll work it over without moveing to many other spots, mainly because I have caught some Piggies sticking it out. Also I do this because with high water and spawning going on there is ony so many spots to get out of the current. My question is should I do the same in the fall or should I move more often with less current I would suspect the walleyes to spread out more than with high water ?? Any thoughts?

[markkstanley]

The big walleyes are spread out. I'd for sure hit your usual hotspots and try some others that might look good. Fish are still coming up river from Pepin and are staging in various areas. What was good yesterday may not be today for walleyes so be mobile BUT work each area throughly and don't get stuck on one bait. Mix it up. The usual game plan is to try to hit four or five spots in different parts of the river. Yesterday we caught fish vertically jigging hair jigs tipped with a ringworm and straight ringworm on jig, pitching blades, jigging blades and trolling crankbaits. Should have tried pitching Kgrubs too as I heard it worked pretty well.

[SCONASOTAN]

thanks, we'll try it all. I think I'll leave the cranks at home to save room in the boat, but I have heard the 3-waying is doing well too. what colors of blades are working? I don't have much and have not tried this very much. I want to give them a fighting chance though.

thanks

[markkstanley]

Red tiger and gold. Use a 1/4oz and use braided line. The braid is needed to increase your feel when pitching blades. You need to hop it back to the boat just barely over bottom. As soon as you feel it tick the bottom jig it back up.

We were pulling cranks using a three way rig. Just bring a couple of floating rapalas size 9 and some #7 or #9 shad raps and you'll have enough. Cloudy day - use orange/yellow/gold colors. Sunny I'd use the chartreuse back with silver body or the blue fire tiger.

Easy way to see what colors are producing is to stop at Evert's. Dean has the colors and baits that are working laying out on the counter. A bunch of river rats always stop in on the way home to give Dean the report for the day, what worked, what didn't and where, so he always has the best info IMO.