I was down at Redwing with a buddy on Wed. Lots of fish - somewhat hard to get.
Plenty of Sauger up by the dam. Had to sort through the small ones to get keepers.
Then worked the wing dams and sand flats down stream for some very nice walleyes.

Great day on the water.

At one time, I counted about 45 boats in the immediate area. Some folks were having a lot more success than others. With the front that had come through that morning - we found that the best presentation was a 3/4 oz weight on a 1 foot dropper line, with a 3 foot snell and a 1/0 hook with a very small minnow. Tried cranks, zip lures, sonars, jigs, and floaters --- but by far, the most productive bait with a very small minnow moved -- very very slowly - into deep water, and dragged shallow.

For the walleys, casting nearly to shore, and then dragging the bait slowly into deeper water, across the flats.

Light biting indeed.
Great day on the water.

Take care
REW

sure sounds like a good day and its about time someone went fishing and put up a report, i.ll be on the allegheny river tomorrow morn, the last 3 trips we have been finding the eyes mixed in with the sauger but noreal big eyes yet, hoping to change that tomorrow.

Was there last Sat. and managed about 60+ for two of us. Some nice eyes in the 20" range but nothing big. Bonus hook up with a monster cat just at dark but lost it. All in all a lot of fun. Saw quite a few caught on cranks, although we managed only a few on them. Firetiger is definately the hot color on cranks. Was kinda hoping the wind was gonna lay down this weekend, I would have gone tomorrow. Hopefully the ice will firm up quick. I'm getting ancy already!

could someone tell me where red wing is,and maybe directions thanks

Red Wing is in Southeastern Minnesota

I went down to Redwing a couple of weeks ago. I was going through withdrawals and had to get in some time in the boat. We had a great time. A couple dozen fish, including about a 4 pound paddle fish.

I don't fish the river much, but I think I could get into it. It's getting a bit cold for it.

By the way does anyone ever fish pool 2? It's a little closer to where I live, I would like to get to know that stretch of the river better.

I fish both pool 2 and 4 quite a bit. The pool 2 bite is starting to heat up quite well. The main channel at the end of the airport has been producing fish, and the wing dams that are there, are also producing. The evening bite has been outstanding for larger fish. The pool 4 bite is there to stay for the winter. I fish it about twice a week, and have found the sauger bite to be strong, and the walleye bite is definately there if you know where and how to find it. REW had some accurate information for eyes. The riprap next to deep water is the best start, then the sand flats around dark. We sat on a wing dam last Wed. nite until about 8:00 and it was like someone turned on a switch. At first there were a few small fish, then the sun went down, and the movement started. Lots of action, and the fish were getting bigger as the night went on. All on jigs and plastics. Fishing 3 way rigs, with Phelps floaters, Willo-spoons, and just plain hook and minnow works really well during the day. You have to find the active depth and then slow troll the 3 ways, this method can be deadly in the light hours of the day. Vertical jigging with minnow or plastics is the usual method that will produce fish during the day. The bigger sauger are deeper in the center of the channel, but there are lots of small fish to sift through.

Hey Bob,
I was there on Sat. and fished everything from the dam down to the head of the lake, didn't see ya.......You'll have to email me the next time you are going down, and we will hook up.

Pool 2 has been absolutely awesome this year. Great numbers and the size is up dramatically from prior years.

Yes-the airport bite is going good right now and is real easy to fish if you are unfamiliar w/ the area.

If you want any specific info-just ask!

Hey Joe, We were in my buddies older tiller Sylvan (brown/tan) up near the riprap on the Mn. side by the dam. Most seemed to be fishing the main channel and getting a few. We had a good bite going right on the channel edge in 21-24 ft. About mid afternoon we were on fire for close to an hour or so, then it slowed again. I'd love to hook up some time this fall. If it warms up again to the 40's, me and the rig are highway bound.....

Skindog, surf to www.fishtheriver. All kinds of info on Pool 2 on the messageboard and the pool reports feature.

Thanks guys.

I was thinking of cutting out of work at noon this thursday and heading down to pool 2. I'm having second thoughts now that they are talking about cold weather. They are talking highs in the twenties, lows in the teens.

Are you better off launching by the dam and going down river to the airport, or comming up from 494? I would be coming from the northern suburbs. Can I navagate saftly after dark?
Are the navagation bouys up year around?

I enjoyed a great day on the water this past Saturday. I have only fished pool 4 one other time but after Saturday, my only question is 'how soon before I can get back out there'. Luckily I didn't have to rely on my river fishing knowledge - which is pretty limited. I just sat back and enjoyed a fun day.

Lots of sauger and walleye in the 18-22" class. The numbers in my fishing log look a bit padded today. I had been in somewhat of a slump since the end of August so it was nice to break out if it in style.

You might want to spend more time on FTR before you draw those conclusions. I have never purchased anything from FTR (yet!), but I have gotten tons of valuable information and contacts from there. Most of the products that they sell are for techniques that people are using to catch BIG fish-not the numbers that a lot of people are looking for. There is a year round live bait rig and jig bite that people post plenty of info on-but right now for quality fish, nothing is beating plastics.

I dont fish plastics hardly at all, as a result, of the 300-400 walleye that I have caught on the Mississippi this year, my biggest fish is about 5lbs. I prefer to troll or drift, so these techniques dont match what I have had success doing in the past. However, fishing a week ago casting plastics on a wing dam on Pool 2 a guy from FTR boated a 25" 6-7lb eye within the first 30 minutes. I spent a lot of time fishing my way and catching lots of numbers w/out seeing an eye that big this year.

If you havent fished the Miss much or seen paid attention to the success these guys are having at low light using jigs and plastics-then you may want to start listening. I havent heard of any numbers of larger fish being taken this fall on other techniques.

When did the chubby darters become the hot bait on the river? Oh ya, that's right, when they were availble in their on line store. Don't believe it, look at their posts and look at when they started selling them.

The ringworms are expensive but the kalins and superdoos are priced great. It does pay to shop around though. My question is, if you didn't believe a thing that say, why would you buy them in the first place?

On a side note, if you put four fish in your livewell are you legally allowed to then cull them or return them to the water I thought that was illegal in MN?

Pool 4 is absolutely FULL of fish. So for FTR to start carrying chubbie darters and for people -especially staff, to start catching fish on them is not unusual. If numbers of people in Red Wing started using terds, then you would see an number of post about what people are eating to make the best terd bait.

The important thing is if you can add another technique and gain some confidence in it, it may out produce under certain circumstances. The #1 technique of most on FTR is 3 ways. Bell sinkers and a hook. Not exactly "pushing" their own tackle.

I searched the fishing reports and can't find a single mentioning of chubby darters anywhere. Not one. I did a forum search and found a single post/instance of "chubby darter" being mentioned.

Is that what you'd call a hard sell?

You should do a little more research

http://www.fishtheriver.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=walleye&Number=23568&page=6&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=all

There's no doubt that the techniques talked about at that other site catch fish, but it's not like it's breaking news.
The ringworm technique that they talk up all of the time was pioneered by Larry Erickson of Stoddard WI and was written about in In-Fisherman.
They had a guy on staff that wrote a piece about that technique and it took off from there and hasn't stopped. That guy also did some other writings including one about Super-Dos that they are all pushing now. Funny thing is that the guy that did all of the writing for them and his articles are over on walleyesfirst now.
They can post all of the reports that they want, but all they are doing is giving fishing reports. No new info. Just showing that they're having success with something that they learned from someone else. Then trying to take you to their store to buy their products. I believe that both ringworms and Super-Dos are very effective because I've caught lots of fish using both. But I'll buy my stuff from a local retailer instead of being lead around like I'm at a used car lot........and they have more than enough salemen on that lot.

Wow. Is that a site for everybody or just a place for their staff to talk to eachother.

I sure hate to see you guys badmouthing FTR. There's loads of information there for non-resident anglers like me. Techniques only put so many fish in the livewell, you still have to know the locations to fish them. Wingdams, riprap, current breaks, depth, etc., and this is the important info for me as a non-resident angler.

So they sell and hawk products, so what? Show me a website that doesn't advertise. You got to have revenue coming in to run it. Just ask Scott.

I agree, Leo. I'm guessing the bad mouthing isn't from 'guys' but rather just one guy with some sour grapes. The registered names always seem to disappear when someone wants to attack based on their personal gripes. Pretty childish, if you ask me.

I replied to some of the bad mouthing yesterday and my post got dusted. Maybe I'd have better luck keeping my posts on the board if I logged on as a guest user and started ripping.

I agree Leo, the FTR site has a wealth of information regarding the river systems in the area. The link to that site was the only thing that went against the rules on this board, and it was removed because of it. That in no way should be taken as a slam on the site or the guys that work it. Steve DeZurik is a great guy, as are all the other EFN staff, and the info they give on their site is valuable for that realm of fishing. I know several of the guys well, and they have taught me the river as well as how to fish it. Do they promote their site and the stuff they sell on it, of course they do. Do they give valid reports, you bet they do. So if you/anyone thinks that that site needs to get slammed, FORGET IT!!! I read and post on their site because I love the river, and fishing it. I just don't put the WC link with my signature. What we need on this site is a little less slamming, and a little more understanding of the real working world, so all of us can learn and enjoy the fishing world.

Thank you Joe for the kind words. That was my mistake yesterday by
putting the website address on my signature. Thats the rules and I
did that by accident. Sorry Scott. So my post got dusted as well. I deserved it. I was not trying to promote FTR one bit, I was simply passing on some info on the bite here on Pool 2. It has been a great fall season here on the river. And I am one to say that my ringworm bite that has been going is no secret by any means. This presentation has been around for awhile. Honestly, I have not had a better pattern on anything else yet this fall. So, naturally I will pass this info on to all the readers, just my findings.

Cannot wait ti hit the river tonight!

Steve DeZurik
EFN Pro-Staff