Mississippi River Pool 4 Fishing Reports Pool 5, 6, 7 , 8 & 9

[Tom Sawyer]

The weights over the weekend at the MTT were very impressive.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Saturday was pretty good for my uncle and I as well. Didn't get started until around 9:30 or 10 due to crazy lightning bolts raining down when we pulled in the landing. Boated 32 fish from 10-2.

Two 23"ers were the biggest to go along with a couple 19" saugers that were bloated. Counted 11 that would have been keepers. All C and R. Nothing really huge, but fun day on the water. Good way to start the open water season

[gloomiseye]

My Buddies Slapped Them Friday And Saturday. They Had 5 Between 24-28 Saturday AlongWith A Bunch Of Eaters.

Crazy, we didn't see 3 fish caught all day. Goes to show somebody is always on them.

[gixxer01]

Yesterday was brutal for us! Cold, high pressure, strong north wind, water levels went way up from the weekend, flow was fast, and water temps dropped to 38* in the main channel. Even the shallower flats barely hit 40. We pitched blades and plastics and were only hit once. Called it quits around 1 after battling the current and wind.. Water was over the banks and flooding the timber.

[JeremyCampbell]

We had a slow day out there.Nature boy found a mix of different species but numbers wernt there for us.We used a three way rig towards the end of our outing.Seemed to to better with that setup vs jigs/minnows and lures.

[Mr Special]

NICE=D

how big was taht biggun

[Naturboy]

The one Jeremy is holding is 24 1/4. It was a great day down there, but boy was I tired today.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

Any reports from Wednesday - Friday this week?? I was down on tuesday and fishing was SLOW. We got 10 fish between 3 guys and fished HARD all day. River had come up a good 3 ft since i was there last and there were sticks and twigs and trees everywhere. Seems like the fishing is always bad when that is the case. Headed down tomorrow and wondering if anyone has had any luck since tues.....

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

no one fishing lately?

[Ebiz]

Was out on Monday from 10:30-7:00 but got blanked - water was really flowing and the wind was awful. Don't think I saw a fish caught all day, the few bites I did have were light, nothing but chewed up tails on the minnows.

[FLAG!!]

Novice question- fished pool 4 with the crowds by the dam for the first time a week ago last friday and had a fair amount of success in terms of numbers and size (some decent, some eaters). Jig/minnow and Dubuque Rig.

Do you guys expect a fair amount of numbers of walleyes and saugers camping out in the slack water areas near the dam next weekend (WI opener) or might they disperse by then? I have zero grip on their spawning patterns as you might be able to tell.

Debating pool 4/dam or a couple other lakes in St. Croix county for the upcoming weekend as my wife is due with our second in a couple weeks... need to get out before the baby comes and still stick fairly close to Lakeville.

[YiGGiN4SLoBS]

From what I have read the fish are pretty much still in the middle of the spawn. Some may be spawned out, but that just means they will wanna EAT soon. I think next weekend should still be pretty good as long as the river doesn't come way up with all this rain(which it will). From my experience, whenever the river is on the rise and debris and mud are thick in the water- the bite dies off big time

[FLAG!!]

Thanks, that makes perfect sense. Sounds like the Hayward area lakes are still 3/4 frozen so we may have to grind out the muddy river. Please reply or PM me with any lake recommendations to chase eyes this wknd within a couple hours of the twin cities.

[Swan18]

I'm thinking about heading down to red wing to target some eyes Saturday. What does the water level look like with the recent rain? Also, any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'll report after, thanks

[Mike Walerak]

Walleye and sauger fishing was tough last weekend. Hopefully the cooler weather changes the bite for the better this weekend.

mw

[Capt. H (Ret.)]

How the water level??? I heard it has come up quite a bit.

Thanks.

Mike

[JIvers]

Did the last deep freeze lock up the tailwaters enough to get out on the ice and fish for walleye and sauger?

My experience is that it did not get quite cold enough for long enough to make for safe ice-fishing below the lock and dam at Fountain City, Trempeleau, or Dresbach, but I would be happy to be wrong.

[Big Jeff]

Hit the water this last Sunday. What a sweet feeling to be in the boat again. Fishing was not so sweet. We saw 4 or 5 other fish caught in our 6 hour outing and I had a gorgeous 17" on a moxi. Good luck to the guys in the tourney this weekend. As always the folks at Evert's where beyond great!

Water temps varied from 36.1 to 37.2 and the current wasn't to quick.

[MattL]

I was out both Saturday and Sunday. The daytime bite has been tough with the water so clear yet. I did pick up a few after dark each day though.

[Mr Special]

played hookie yesterday and got dwn to P4

it was a cold windy day but the sun was shinning and we're fishing.

very tough/slow/light bite, boat control was difficult due to wind. we only managed to put 15 fish over the sides and kept 5 for dinner. biggest was 2 18' saugers

most fish were caught V-jig/minnow, orange was best, only 2 fish on plastics, 25-30'fow

go as slow as possible, seemed to be the ticket

my bud got a couple bonus fish as well

lost another one bout same size next to the boat

plz hurry up rain n high water

still beats wrking =D

[Naturboy]

Can anyone report the water temp for this week?

[Mr Special]

41.6 was the warmest I found

[old timer]

Has the bite slowed down on Pool 4? Pool 2 has been good for the last month. Water temp got up to 49 before the cold snap and I think they may have spawned. It was dead Friday and Saturday.

[MattL]

The spawn is going on right now on pool 4. All the males I caught yesterday were milting. One female appeared spawned out, the other still holding eggs. Water was 48 degrees. The walleyes are biting, just gotta sort through the pike and white bass.

Here's the 2 big girls from yesterday...

[MattL]

I had some vacation days to burn up so I took the day off and hit up pool 4 today. The bite wasn't fast and furious but I did scratch out about 15 saugers and a few walleyes. Got them jigging oystershell and pro blue moxies and pulse r's in 20-24'.  I'm already looking forward to the bite in another month or two. 

[Bass Whacker]

By no means fast and furious but great to climb into the boat again for a couple hours.  We must have been a little rusty though. I bet we missed 10 bites between the 2 of us.  Excuse the thumb in the pic.

[MattL]

I was out today as well. The walleyes eluded me, but I did find a school of nice perch and some saugers. The saugers were in the 23' range with all the shad. The perch were in 14-16'. Got the saugers jigging a oystershell paddletail and the perch pitching a 3/16 oz silver blade. 

[Bass Whacker]

I made it back out today for a few hours, but I could not find any decent eyes or sauger.  I did snag this beast of a quillback if that's what it was? I've never actually seen one in person before. At 23 1/8 inches long it had the potential to be a state record.

[jerad_s]

BassWhacker you caught one of the coolest and one of the least common fish in the river.  That is a blue sucker.

[Bass Whacker]

Very cool thanks Jared.  It didn't quite match the pics of a quillback, but I couldn't find anything else that looked close online.