Pool 3 beatdown

I had the day off yesterday and I had a hard time making my mind up where to go and what to fish for (that was probably the start of the problem). I live close to Pool 3 and I like fishing it when it is good. However, I had not been out on Pool 3 yet this year (another problem).

I thought there would be a decent wingdam bite and I was excited to try pitching crawlers, plastics, and various jigs at various wingdams. I also tied on a crank bait and tried busting some rocks. The flow was higher than I expected right when I got to my first wingdam. I cast, and cast, and tried different jig weights, lost a bunch of jigs, a rippin rap, and one crank bait. I hit about 7 wingdams – both on the outside and inside bend of the river. I didn’t move much from the location of the river, though. I caught one smallmouth bass on the inside edge of a dam. Very disappointing.

I tried anywhere from 1/4 once to 3/8 once jigs. The only jig I felt was heavy enough to keep me where I wanted to be was the 3/8 once jig. I felt like I was tossing an elephant. Maybe that was the problem? Can you correctly fish a windam with jigs that heavy? I felt a couple bites on Moxies but none on worms. It was very, very hard to keep my jig in the rocks given the flow. I had spotlock on my trolling motor. I never used an anchor. Maybe I should have. I kept second guessing my boat positioning and the right weight of the jig. Every time I tried to keep on the tip of the dam, my jig would get blown out of the rock too quickly.

Questions, for those who are better at fishing than me: is the flow too high right now? Are there better dams to choose in higher flow? What should I have been looking for? I am not the best wingdam fisherman (obviously) but I think I put enough hours to get a fish. Thoughts?

Hi Flanders,

I found similar results on P2 last week. I have had a pretty good wing dam bite going the past few trips out, then after the water came up I only got one off a dam.

I should have spent more time trolling and pitching shoreline rock that day…. The could be going on those same dams right now!

Tight lines,

Sam

I would say that if you have to resort to a 3/8 oz jig, the flow is probably too fast on that particular wing dam. If you keep moving down a stack of wing dams the flow should reduce until you can use a 1/4 or 3/16. The flow is not really that high right now. Pool 3 has a lot of dams, and fishing them all in a day. Narrowing down the dams in each stack will save you a lot of time.

Pool 3 is a fickle b*tch for me. I can’t remember ever having an ‘ok’ day out there. It has either been boom or bust. When things are booming though, it is my favorite section of the river! Keep at it, and you will eventually hit them right and it will all be worth it!

-Drew

Thanks for the tips. That is helpful. I think I should have thought harder about the flow and hitting wingdams that had a bit lighter flow. Or, I could have just trolled the shorelines where I actually marked fish. I thought 3/8 on the jig might be too big. I agree with Pool 3 being very fickle. Sometimes, failing is a good thing as long as I learn from it.

Pitched 3/8ths jigs myself on Tuesday up here on two. Put them on for a reason. There are times in that higher flow those walleyes will hunker down tight in the rocks on those dams or hang in the little pocket of slack water at the base. Need those heavy jigs to get in there. Thunking those jigs right down the face and back to the boat can be productive. It sure is not the same approach as casting a lighter jig and trying to sweep it across the face but it can work at times.

Didnt get to spend much time on thunking jigs on Tuesday to see if those fish where there or not. Only really tried it in one spot and ended up finding a 13″ crappies hanging in the heavy current. Figure that one out.

Shorelines seem to be more productive right now but then again the flow is dropping and I wouldnt be surprised to see those fish back on the dams soon. Stocking up on 5/16s hair jigs in anticipation of that.