Mississippi river pool 2

[Pogues2300]

Looking to try for smallies as soon as boat travel is safe. Lure/ technique suggestions for that time of year? Thanks

[Ogandrews]

I don’t have experience on pool 2 much but I do on pool 4. I have caught smallies right around the time that the ice has gone off of pepin but it was not easy. Early on the fish are still going to be in or near their winter spots which are pretty much the deepest slowest parts of that pool. Targeting them on pepin I always look for rip rap that drops quickly into deep water. I know pool 2 is a different animal than 4 so I’m not sure how useful my info is. If you can find some wing dams with deeper water on the downstream side I could see that holding fish. Usually the colder the water the deeper the fish are, so as spring progresses finding them gets easier. My best presentations in early spring have been hair jigs when the water is clear, deep diving jerkbaits, 2.8-3.8 keitechs in a Shad color. As the water starts to warm some more I have so much success on squarebills and swimjigs, especially if we have a high water spring and we get flooded timber. Tubes are of course good any time of the spring. In depth outdoors has a great episode about early spring smallmouth on pepin, could help you out

[Pogues2300]

Great info thank you. As far as keitechs I've used them as trailers but not so much on their own. Any suggestions for specific size/ brand swim bait hooks? Maybe even underpin. thanks again. 

[Ogandrews]

For swimbait hooks I like dirty jigs products. For the small ones the guppy head is great, for 3.8-4.3 I like the Matt Allen finesse head and for 4.3 on up I like the Matt Allen swimbait head. Color wise if the water is clear I like Shad/shiner colors like silver flash minnow, Shad, or any other baitfish variation they have. If I think the fish are feeding on perch than sun gill is a killer, also a great color in stained water. Another great color in either stained or clear water is chartreuse blue. Size wise for the swimbait heads it just depends on what depth I am fishing, I’ll carry 1/8th to 3/8ths usually but will go heavier if it’s really deep or fast current. A good under spin option is getting the screw in blades, can’t remember the brand but you can find them on TW. Another good option is the megabass screwhead, almost half way in between a regular head and an under spin I have had amazing success with it.

[Pogues2300]

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I suppose my main goal is just testing my new pedal kayak and rods and reels but catching a fish would also be cool lol.