pool 4

[ice fishing maniac]

anyone been on the river lately going tomarrow cant wait

[Cooter]

Good question, depending on the weather I'll be there Fri afternoon for the first time. Is the limit 5 of each walleye and sauger over 15"? Any reason to bring anything other than jigs?

[bearplott]

The limit on Pool 4 is 6 total in any combination for walleye and sauger. The is no size limit on the sauger. Walleye must be 15". I would personally launch at Evert's. Dean the manager there, will set you up with anything that is working. He is about the straightest shooter I have ever meet that is working a bait shop and won't sell you a bunch of stuff you don't need.

[HateHumminbird]

Cooter:

I'd second the advice posted here on Dean at Everts. He'll do his best to put you on fish, and get you the colors and types of things that have been working as of late. He's one of the few fishing pros on the river that's crazy enough to cough-up good spots .

The most popular presentations up there usually revolve around a jig-head, but blade-baits are gaining in popularity. What you tip your jig with, the style of the jig, and color of offerings is wide-open. Lots of guys like hair jigs with a bit of meat, esp. for vertical jigging as you drift current seams. Jig/plastic combinations with everything from 3" power minnows to Ringworms are what alot of guys also favor. The ringworm combinations historically work well for pitching shallows, as well as dragging against the current (SLOWLY!).

Jig/minnow isn't necessary most often, but lots of guys like to stick with what's always worked for them.

Fish what you're confident in.

Joel

[markkstanley]

Some of the river rats are dragging 3way rigs with #5 and #7 Rap floaters with good success. I experimented using a 3way rig with ringies on a very light jigheads with good results (Dean hinted to me it might be owrth doing). Gives you better control over your jig location and depth than just outright dragging. Had one jig set to be about 1ft up and the other about 3 ft. Sauger were hitting the higher bait more than the bottom one. A technique worth trying if it gets real tight with boats.

[harvey lee]

We fished up by the dam today and also south from there. All fish caught in 28' fow or deeper. Didnt seem to want hair jigs today at all. Switched to a jig and power minnow and the bite picked up. Mostly sauger and 1 smaller walleye. The suprise of the day was I foul hooked a sturgeon on an ultra light with 4# test. Good thing it was a smaller version as that one took awhile. Numerous other sturgeon were being caught. Seems all the sturgeon that I saw caught were closer to the dam in the faster current.

Many were also using a jig with a minnow. If one didnt keep their jig very vertical, you would not get bit. Bouncing the jig off the bottom very vertical was without a doubt what every one that was catching fish was doing.

Very little ice in the river and the public landing was ok to land at.

Wish I could go back tomorrow as it was beautiful out there.

[Cooter]

Thanks guys, keep the info coming - Fri won't be as nice as today but still will be nice to hit open water.

[mskyfshntchr]

Was there Sunday afternoon until dark.

Nicer fish were caught dragging ringworms upstream. During the day- cotton candy and firecracker worked the best. As it got towards dark, went to the camo ringee that Dean sold us. He was right again!!! Other dark colors worked also.

We went up by the dam for a few minutes to see what was happening...LOTS of smaller saugers with some smaller walleyes mixed in, coming out of 50-60 FOW. Lima bean green seemed to be pulling in fish. We went back to dragging shortly after that.

It wasn't a super hot and heavy bite, but we did better than most. Biggest sauger was 21.5 and looked like a football it was so fat. Biggest walleye was 19" and skinnier.

We were dragging in 20-24 FOW and found fish hanging on bottom depth changes.

[hhguide]

When you guys say your dragging jigs are you doing that right on the bottom or off the bottom?

[Rainman]

Usually right on the bottom is how we do it.

[ice fishing maniac]

Well we gave it a try today my buddy hooked up on a 23 inch walleye other than that not a bite just cant figure that river out guess i just gotta keep trying good luck everyone

[mskyfshntchr]

We try and keep them off of the bottom. Usually, if they are dragging the bottom, you aren't getting bit. As you are going upstream, get your jig set until you don't feel the bottom. Then if you drop your rods backwards, giving some slack, you should be able to feel contact with the bottom. That is where you want to be.

ifm--not a lot of people are getting into many big fish now. Water temps are still in the mid 30's. Warmest we saw Sunday was a little over 35. The best days aren't here for another 15 degrees or so, so it will get better for you.

[markkstanley]

Dragging is a little tricky to do right. The objective is to pull your jig just above the bottom. You do not want to pull it across the bottom. If you are constantly ticking the bottom you need to reel up. Boat speed should be around .5mph going upstream and just slightly faster than the current going downstream. Right now a 1/4 to 5/16oz jig works when headed upstream 3/16 downstream in the 20ft range. Shallower water means even lighter jigs. To start a dragging pass I cast the jig behong the boat and let out line until I fell a constant tick. Do two full reels and you should be OK. CHeck your depth from time to time by dropping your rod tip towards the jig . Your line should go slack. If not let out more line. Generally strikes are very light. A slight tick or just a little more weight on the line is it. I use braid with a 8ft fluoro leader and a medium light rod to improve the feel. The new Limit Creek 8ft rod has worked very well for me this spring.

[ice fishing maniac]

thanks alot for all the advice

[hhguide]

Yea thats alot of good information Thanks Guys! Do many guys use Two Rods or mostly just stick to one unless your in a tournament?

[Loves-Fishing-Guy]

I allways use two rods, but I don't use fireline I use 6lb hi-vis suffix or sensation hi-vis. The best speeds are from .5 to .8 mph upstream & like Mark said just faster than the current going downstream.

[youngie22]

A buddy and I had a pretty good day today. We stayed pretty close to the dam, in the center of the channel. Big fish was a 19" sauger. Had a couple walleye, but most all where sauger. We stayed deeper than 28 fow for the most part over 40' seemed best for action. Very very light bit, would suggest trying a stinger, and set the hook hard and often. Then reel slow... enjoy the fight; and some still need a poke in the air bladder. Good luck to all, see ya down there again soon I hope!

[skunked_again]

Please pull these fish up slowly. They can easily die if their bladder is popped out. I have seen countless fish swept up by eagles. There is no reason to reel these small fish in so fast.

[mskyfshntchr]

I use two rods when dragging. Can take some getting used to, but not really that bad. Have a good seat to sit on and having longer handles on your rods help! Just sit on them when you are messing with the other one!

I use 8# power pro. When it is below freezing this is a little difficult because it freezes up quicker than mono. Use a soft tipped rod or looser drag and you are all set.

Could probably get by with 4-6 power pro. With the dirty water, you aren't scaring any fish with the line.

All of our luck was going upstream at .4 mph on Sunday.

[ice fishing maniac]

well just got back i would have to say i tap out two full days without a bite maybe i cant figure it out i better go to the seminar down in roch in a few weeks cause i can not catch fish

[markkstanley]

I usually use fireline crystal for dragging. If there are just two in the boat I use two rods. FYI rodholders work just fine for dragging with fast or extra fast tips medium light rods. I've caught them with the rod just laying down in the boat too when retieing a jig or something. IceFM all I can say is keep at it. Happens to us all. If all else fails hair jig and a minnow in the scour hole will always get you a fish or two.

[youngie22]

I bet you got bit, but didn't know it, Most bites where just a light nose tap, it was kind of crazy; I would say aww, I think that was a hit, next thing you know my buddy set the hook and he reeled 'em up. and vice versa. It was very fun, but a little windy, which makes the hands cold faster.

[HateHumminbird]

 Originally Posted By: skunked_again

Please pull these fish up slowly. They can easily die if their bladder is popped out. I have seen countless fish swept up by eagles. There is no reason to reel these small fish in so fast.

Great information, and some serious advice.

For those folks talking about fishing the deep water, almost surely they're speaking of the scour hole in front of the dam. For starters, most of the larger fish we've been getting into have not been in the scour hole. Also, even when you play these fish slowly, they can still be pushing out their bladder and not survive the release.

Please exercise caution if you're going to fish in this location, and maybe better yet give some other areas a try.

Joel

[hhguide]

One thing that I Notice that should be a huge concern for fisherman though is pulling the fish out of 38 feet of water or deeper a new STUDY says that anything deeper than 38 feet of water 70% of those fish die and sometimes it not right away but within a week! So fisherman look out of where your pulling those fish out from the big fish aren't always deep. and watch that depthfinder when you get below 38 feet start looking to go back up that bank.

[youngie22]

I believe the same study also said the rate went up dramatically when air bladder is pierced w/ needle or syringe. Anyone know of a U Tube video to demonstrate this. I learned it fishing in the ocean jigging deep water and reminded of it while fishing w/ walleye "pro".

[Rick]

Speed of presentation can be critical to getting bit. Mark Stanley had some very good guidelines earlier in this thread. Keeping as close to the speed the current was going seemed to work best when we were there. A lot of guys were doing well using live bait. It was a 3" Power Minnow and jig that worked well for me.

Again, the speed of presentation seemed to make a huge differance in how often we got bit. For anyone that's having trouble still getting bit with the excellant advice given work on your boat control. Once you get it right it can pay dividends.

[harvey lee]

I could not agree more with the boat control. Seems when we were moving faster or slower than the current, no bites were to be had. As soon as I figured out exactly what speed to go with the current, the fish turned on.

[HateHumminbird]

 Originally Posted By: youngie22

I believe the same study also said the rate went up dramatically when air bladder is pierced w/ needle or syringe. Anyone know of a U Tube video to demonstrate this. I learned it fishing in the ocean jigging deep water and reminded of it while fishing w/ walleye "pro".

Puncturing or piercing of the air bladder is not supported by DNR Fisheries for a number of reasons.

Because regulations state that fish to be released must be put back immediately (with exceptions for pictures), a CO likely would write a ticket.

From a fisheries perspective, puncturing the air bladder of any fish produces varied, and unsubstantiated results via a few papers from Ontario on walleye, and several regarding Largemouth Bass here in the states. The consensus seems to be that "bleeding" a fish's swim bladder should only be performed from the side or outside of the fish (down from gill cover), and then, only performed by professional fisheries experts who understand the anatomy and physiology of that fish in each stage of its life-cycle. Puncturing the swim bladder (either trough the mouth or otherwise) likely makes the fish disappear faster, though may bring on increased delayed mortality.

I spoke with Jon Meerbeek from DNR Area Fisheries in Lake City. Jon and his crew recently completed a winter (cold water period) mortality study at Lock and Dam #3 at Red Wing testing these data near the scour hole. The study will be posted shortly, but highlights are as follows:

• Shallow water mortality - Fish caught in waters less than 30 feet showed less than 3% overall mortality

• Deep water mortality - Fish caught in the 30-40' range (scour hole) showed ~30% mortality

• Deeper Water Mortality - Fish caught in water deeper than 40' exhibited mortalities that were exponentially larger, as much as 70%+ die

I mean not to scold, just to inform. "Bleeding" a fish's swim bladder is likely illegal, and is not supported by DNR Fisheries. Also, focusing your fishing efforts in less than 30' of water is likely a good idea for the resource.

Joel

[Cooter]

Is a simple lindy rig from an anchored position an option?

[markkstanley]

Some boats do fish from an anchored position by the rollerdam. IMO you should only anchor when fish are very concentrated and current makes boat control very difficult.

One more note to improve your fishing. Whether drifting/vertical jigging or using a dragging presentation you need to find current seams and move along those seams. This will be become extremely important in a few weeks when the current really starts ripping. Even in today's slow current it can make a huge difference. Most posts will give you a depth to key on but in reality that depth is where a current seam exists. Seeing those seams in low current is tough but it is a skill worth acquiring. Generally look for a different ripple/wave pattern in the water that extends a long way. A line of floating ice/debris will also mark a seam. That seam is why two boats moving side by side and in the same depth range have very different catch rates. I always have my GPS plotting a track so I can repeat it time after time.