Pool 2 Report (2022)

suzuki wrote:

We did very well last night cranking wing dams. Lots of nice fish and 2 tanks. Luckily my partners each got a tank similar to the one I got last week. Possibly the best night of wd fishing I have seen out there. I snagged a giant channel cat too. That was a fight!
Some shore fisherman were yelling at us for throwing back fish. Leads me to believe a lot more fish are poached than I previously thought.

Shore fish upper P2 enough and your hand will go numb from dialing the TIP line. Personally I am done worrying about it because I’ve never once seen a CO show up and drop the hammer. What can I say, the fishery continues to thrive. The very few times I have been stopped on P2 they just check license and safety stuff and don’t ever ask about fish kept or glance at the livewell.

I have been checked quite a few times on pool 2 and a few of those times they have looked in every compartment.That being said there is definately a lack enforcement of the shore fisherman,they could write a ticket to allmost every shorefisherman I see on pool 2.

Suzuki,
What cranks do you like to use for casting wing dams?

I’ve had some success with #7 Flicker Shads, but thinking there is a bettter one that casts farther and dives faster (and not too expensive).

Jim wrote:

Suzuki,
What cranks do you like to use for casting wing dams?

I’ve had some success with #7 Flicker Shads, but thinking there is a bettter one that casts farther and dives faster (and not too expensive).

If I can speak for Jon J, he likes those short, stubby Bomber As, $3-4 each, they dive quickly, dont get snagged much and float out of rocks fairly easily.

DaveB wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Itsawalleye wrote:</div>
Suzuki,
What cranks do you like to use for casting wing dams?

I’ve had some success with #7 Flicker Shads, but thinking there is a bettter one that casts farther and dives faster (and not too expensive).

If I can speak for Jon J, he likes those short, stubby Bomber As, $3-4 each, they dive quickly, dont get snagged much and float out of rocks fairly easily.

This is what I usually use.

If we’re talking shad style baits, then flicker shad are the best crank for trolling IMO. They are noisy and catch fish like a mofo. For casting, I prefer Rapala JSRs and GSRs. They are tail-weighted and cast a lot better. If you have a north wind it doesn’t matter.

On a separate note I see the east fisheries supervisor tagged 50 walleye on P2 recently. They want you to measure the fish, record the tag ID, note your location, record the sex of the fish, its surname, occupation, and finally its astrological sign before releasing/eating it.

j

Thanks guys!
Forgot about the Bomber A. Used those years ago for trolling.

Agree on Flicker Shads for trolling, although some days they seem to prefer a Shad Dancer, which also has a rattle.

Depends on the day too. Flicker Shad is where we start but last trip out it was lights out with shad raps, no rattle just wobble.

I’m with Jason. JSR’s(almost always a #7) are my go to, but I always size up from the depth I’m trying to get down to which helps get down quicker. As important as the bait is for casting distance the rod is huge factor. I prefer a 7’6″ Med light fast or a 7’6″ medium moderate fast spooled with 20lb braid. With these combos you can throw these baits way out there. This seemed to be the key to getting bit the last couple weekends along with grinding the crank through the rocks. Lastly make sure you keep the baits tuned when abusing them in the rock this way to make sure you’re getting down fast and staying down.

I agree that keeping the bait in contact with the rocks is key. This time of year the walleyes will chase a bait and smash it boat side. Many times it happens on the lift as the bait is rising near the boat so don’t cut casts short.

JSR’s are almost exclusively what I throw. I sure wish rapala still made #6 JSR. I’m almost out and they seem to have the perfect depth and run rate when the water is low like now.

Bite was good yesterday. JSR’s on the dams and live bait.

Busy down there this morning, on a Thursday no less. Maybe people are staying close to home so they spend less money on gas. Found a few Walleyes on a rock point that were happy to hit a jig and ringworm. Trolling produced one big feisty Sheephead. Ended up on a wingdam throwing a crank bait. It was confusing……you’d bounce acrosss the top of the dam and then out into 7 or 8 feet of water. The Walleyes would follow the crank all the way to the boat and then snap at it right under he boat. I hooked way more than I landed as the hooks would pull out after a short time. I don’t know what I could have done differently, and at least I was having action.

Water temp was 79.6, almost no flow and it’s pretty low. Right now it’s more like fishing a lake.

SR

Tuesday we had the same thing with smallies upriver. My plastics fish were caught normally but large majority of the crank fish would follow em right to the boat then hit, almost like the school would follow as well and hit my plastic just hanging over the edge, did that 4x that night, it was wild. One of those evenings the magic hour hits and the screen just lights up w zig zags bc fish are flying everywhere. Good times

I had a good bite this past week, casting cranks on wing dams, trolling cranks, jigging jig/crawler or jig/paddle tail downstream or upstream. With the low flow, seemed like walleyes were on the tips of wing dams Friday AM. Biggest walleye this week was 23”, so no hogs for me (not complaining). Caught 7 species on Thursday.
Amazing how P2 walleyes bite during the dog days of August.

Same program today…cranks in heavy flow areas. Did get one 25.5” fish but overall size is getting smaller with each trip.

Need some water in the system to them charged up again.

You guys catching cats on cranks yet? Seems like when that starts happening with regularity a fella can head down there are really get on them good. It’s a good sign they are all wrapped up with the spawn.

I think I had a cat on today trolling cranks. Came off by the boat. Did get one decent one on a jig/chunk of crawler.
Friend in my boat had a 24” walleye last night and I got a 25.5” today. Healthy fish.

Cody Meyers wrote:

You guys catching cats on cranks yet? Seems like when that starts happening with regularity a fella can head down there are really get on them good. It’s a good sign they are all wrapped up with the spawn.

Yeah, had a few last weekend. Find some flow with some timber nearby and you’ll get them on cranks. There are a couple of dams with timber on them that seem to always have those rotten fish on them.

Matt Moen wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Cody Meyers wrote:</div>
You guys catching cats on cranks yet? Seems like when that starts happening with regularity a fella can head down there are really get on them good. It’s a good sign they are all wrapped up with the spawn.

Yeah, had a few last weekend. Find some flow with some timber nearby and you’ll get them on cranks. There are a couple of dams with timber on them that seem to always have those rotten fish on them.

Party on Garth, I’ll take em.

Crank baits were like an aphrodisiac to the walleyes this morning. Flow is up just a bit and temp was down to 70.

Fish were stacked on the dams. Still sitting in heavy current.

Biggest was 28.5”.

If you add up the lengths of the last two or three Walleyes I’ve caught it might be 28.5 inches. Well done Matt!

SR

Steve Root wrote:

If you add up the lengths of the last two or three Walleyes I’ve caught it might be 28.5 inches. Well done Matt!

SR

The dude’s on fire. He got a 29 the day before yesterday. He even netted it himself.

Cody Meyers wrote:

You guys catching cats on cranks yet? Seems like when that starts happening with regularity a fella can head down there are really get on them good. It’s a good sign they are all wrapped up with the spawn.

Yes, the cat bite has picked up nicely and the shad are starting to work themselves back into the game

Based on some excellent suggestions from you guys, I’m having better success with crankbaits. Basically I went to a slower action spinning rod and stopped the King Kong hooksets.

This morning I was finding fish on the tips of wingdams. It seemed like there was one fish per spot so I did a fair amount of running around. Water temp is 73 degrees. The average size was a lot better today, no monsters but a few in the lower 20’s.

SR

Steve Root wrote:

Based on some excellent suggestions from you guys, I’m having better success with crankbaits. Basically I went to a slower action spinning rod and stopped the King Kong hooksets.

This morning I was finding fish on the tips of wingdams. It seemed like there was one fish per spot so I did a fair amount of running around. Water temp is 73 degrees. The average size was a lot better today, no monsters but a few in the lower 20’s.

SR

Nice. Sure is great to have a good bite this late in the summer.

I’m going to second Steve’s comment about excellent suggestions.

You all have been a world of help for me figuring out this section of the river throughout the past two years. Whether it’s directly or indirectly, I really appreciate everyone’s insights. Thanks a ton.

Wing dam question. For, say, a 3-4 hour outing, how many cranks would you expect to loose casting?
I know there are good and bad days.
I’ve been loosing 0-2. Just want to see if that’s typical.

Jim wrote:

Wing dam question. For, say, a 3-4 hour outing, how many cranks would you expect to loose casting?
I know there are good and bad days.
I’ve been loosing 0-2. Just want to see if that’s typical.

That’s a good day. You gotta be in the rocks to catch fish so you’re gonna lose em.

Jim wrote:

Wing dam question. For, say, a 3-4 hour outing, how many cranks would you expect to loose casting?
I know there are good and bad days.
I’ve been loosing 0-2. Just want to see if that’s typical.

I have a crank casting rod that has heavy braid on it. I hardly ever lose a crankbait. I bet I’ve lost less than 5 all year. I just pull em out along with whatever is down there. I have broken a few snaps and sometimes you need to retune the cranks… but they usually come back.

I’m not sure why one would use a light line for casting cranks on the river. For trolling maybe, but not casting.

How heavy of braid are we talking Jason?

JasonP wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Itsawalleye wrote:</div>
Wing dam question. For, say, a 3-4 hour outing, how many cranks would you expect to loose casting?
I know there are good and bad days.
I’ve been loosing 0-2. Just want to see if that’s typical.

I have a crank casting rod that has heavy braid on it. I hardly ever lose a crankbait. I bet I’ve lost less than 5 all year. I just pull em out along with whatever is down there. I have broken a few snaps and sometimes you need to retune the cranks… but they usually come back.

I’m not sure why one would use a light line for casting cranks on the river. For trolling maybe, but not casting.

You don’t ever lose baits to the river. It’s uncanny how you can get snags loose.