Pool 4 / Lake Pepin tackle box

Need help burning up a gift card – I’m moving to the Rochester Area but I’m new to fishing this body of water . Fished walleyes bass pike ect before , but wondering what I’m overlooking for lures, jig heads cranks ect . Weights would be helpful as well . 1/4 oz and up ? Have a 18 foot crestliner boat . Use a lot of Shad raps and flicker Shad 5s here long lining for trolling and 1/4 ounce jig heads on paddle tails but everything’s different in the current . Open to suggestions .

Thanks for any help .

More shad raps and flicker shads

If you’re only trolling, flicker shads in bright colors. Personally my favorite is pulling a crawler harness with bottom bouncers or just using jigging raps. There isn’t much current in the lake just be prepared when the wind picks up.

The extremely abbreviated version:

Winter – Late April: Plastics like B-Fishn’ Tackle Moxis, Pulsars, Ringworms, a few stick baits to run 3 way rigs, jigs and hair jigs if that’s your thing

The rest of the Year: Shad Raps, Flickershads, stuff for bottom bouncing pulling crawlers, the basics for finesse fishing crawlers and leeches, the components to drown willow cats or other live bait on wing dams if that’s of interest to you

I’d say 9 of every 10 walleyes/saugers I catch on Pools 4 and 5, are NOT caught on live bait. There’s a ton of water out there. Try to find your favorite couple tactics and use them to cover water. I think being efficient and effective with a couple main strategies is way better than having many more that you only use sparingly or lack confidence in.

I mainly jig fish pool 4 and it’s about the same as any other pool on the Mississippi. Have a good selection of 1/8th-1/2 ounce jigs, for vertical and pitching. I love ringworms as far as my plastics. Get some darker and brighter ones of your liking, and some natural colors as well. For trolling, I do like flicker shads, although I mostly jig fish. I would also advise getting some blade baits and buck tails for pitching and vertical fishing as well. That should be enough to get you started and you can fine tune seasonal approaches as needed.

Send me the gift card, I can burn it for you if you’re having trouble!

I’ve only fished pool 4 a couple times in the spring. Pulsr plastics are the ticket. I only buy one color now for fishing down there specifically. I have a bunch of others, but have the best luck with a specific one…

If you like trolling a lot, I’d buy a bunch of flicker shads and flicker minnows. The price is always right, and they have lots of color options.

Thank you for the help. Excited to play on this body of water coming up. Moving to Rochester.

isu22andy wrote:

Thank you for the help. Excited to play on this body of water coming up. Moving to Rochester.

There’s a few of us here that fish it pretty regularly. I probably get out 20-30 times a year between RW and LC. Always available to share info if I have it. Good luck!

eyeguy507 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>isu22andy wrote:</div>
Thank you for the help. Excited to play on this body of water coming up. Moving to Rochester.

There’s a few of us here that fish it pretty regularly. I probably get out 20-30 times a year between RW and LC. Always available to share info if I have it. Good luck!

Right on , are you part of the Rochester Walleye Club ? Ive kicked around joining it . Not sure if Im dedicated enough fisherman to fish tournaments and the like , but having a few beers and talking fishing doesnt sound bad in a city I know no one other than my wife in .

The Rochester walleye club is named Walleye Searchers of Minnesota. Wonderful opportunity for those who want to learn the river and enjoy time with like minded folks. And the monthly tourneys are fun events and chances to learn.

Good suggestions already. I have 3 main staples on the river. Crankbaits are a year round bait for me. Flicker shads for trolling, jointed shad raps for pitching wing dams and other structure, big stick baits for slow rolling when the water gets cold.

Live bait is also a year round for me. Minnows in cold water, crawlers and leeches in warmer water.

Plastics are third…they can be used year round but mainly a cold water bait for me.

There are a million presentations and baits you can use on the river but these are my confidence baits that always produce.