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Mississippi River Fishing Reports Pools 2 & 3


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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Can you help us out and share your success stories here.

Feel free to chime in with your fishing reports good, bad or ugly.

For the most current reports click the highest page number onthe upper or lower right of this thread.

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Going to need a good warm snap to fish P2, it's locked up pretty good right now! Hopefully going to bust the boat out again in a couple weeks... might have to be P4 though.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Friend of mine caught a 27 1/2" walleye on the first cast this week, fished another 3 1/2 hours and nothing, great start to open water on pool2

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is it open water at the ford dam? like up by shore also?

Above the Ford dam its still frozen solid across.

Directly below the Dam and to the St. Paul side of the Island is ice free and totally open. On the MPLS side of the island its still frozen all the way from the Lock doors down to about the first bend and then it appears open down past the Hidden Falls ramp.It probably ice's up again near the Confluence would be my guess.

The Hidden Falls ramp is un-passable at this point but with a little more warm weather and some effort the ramp COULD be usable in the Near futre.

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Came down from the Cedar ramp on the Minnesota River yesterday and the Mississippi was still solid ice at the confluence. It looked pretty solid.

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Hi:

I fished pool 2 last spring and we launched at Lilydale. I dont generally fish the river past the spring but I was wondering if that area (Lilydale and north) will be fishable by the 1st week in April. Is the Lilydale launch open then? What are your thoughts? Thank you.

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It all depends on the year. First week of april you could be dealing with really high water and dangerous currents, or it could be like last year were I was fishing early april with no problems. The best thing to do is go to rivergages website and you can monitor water levels and current before you decide to go.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Can you launch at Hidden Falls right now? and can you fish where the Ford dam is? Thanks

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I heard a few days ago the Hidden Falls launch was unusable yet. I haven't actually been down there to see it though.

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I stopped down there this morning and yes you can launch and get to the ford dam. Maybe ice on the Minneapolis side. The ramp is ok and after today it should be in fantastic shape.

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To start, the 494 landing was in perfect shape with both ramps open and no ice along the beach either! Navigation was good as well. There were icebergs here and there, but nothing to complain about. Water temps ranged from 36 to just over 37 degrees. And fishing wasn't half bad.

The bite was one here one there but enough to be satisfied. Seemed that was similar for the others around me too. I ended up catching five walleyes from 17 to 22", all males. While I was putting things away to leave a boat just down from me did land a large female. My technique for the day consisted of vertical "holding" (not jigging, they liked it motionless) with the current and then dragging back up to where I wanted to start over again. The current was right wgere it left off last fall...slllooooowww. I used a 1/8th oz. jig with a 3" Gulp! Alive Minnow in either Smelt or Watermelon Pearl vertical going down current, Dragging back up I still able to use the 1/8th oz. size and I chose to use a mini paddle tail that Dean at Everts gave me to try when I was down on Pool 4. The paddle tail's tail would wiggle dragging against the current while the minnow had nothing that wiggled. One fish seemed to like it anyways. But going down stream the same speed as the current there was no action out of it at all and that is why I stuck with the minnow since neither baits had moving parts then, but the Gulp! had the scent thing going. The three bigger eyes came from a bit shallower of water right on a break from 12' to 16' and the smaller two came out from the basin of that break in 16' to 18'. The break consited of rock and the basin area I would say was pretty snag free with light scattered rock.

Presentations...

030609_3.jpg

Asprin shaped jig cuts water better...

030609_4.jpg

I would have tried an orange jig head since the water color probably was right for that, but I had poured a bunch of new jigs with the intention of painting them and never got around to it in time for today.

Nice 20"er...

030609_2.jpg

Hope this helps. Pool 2 is open, go get 'em! grin

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When is the best time to fish below the ford dam around the island?

Just remember its illegal to boat with-in 500 feet of the Dam. The Island and the wall on the St. Paul side have marker signs alerting you of this. If want to fish near the Dam park your boat on the Island and walk up and Fish near the Dam that way...

The CO's have really been watching these areas closely so be smart and save yourself a $200 Ticket and a Court appearance.

Good Luck!

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Figured with the weather coming the fish this afternoon would be biting so I put in at the 494 ramp and made my way up the river to one of my areas, marked bait and fish in 13' and threw several different plastic combos at them and managed to pull two small eyes, worked the area for for almost a hour head out searching and found fish, stripers to be exact and boated 5 nice ones and one heck of a gizzard shad, fished about 2 1/2 hours, lot of fun close to home!

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If fishing within 500' below the dam is prohibited, then I have been guilty. Are you certain of this? The signs are clearly marked above the dam that you have to maintain 500'...but I have not seen any signs below the dam. Not saying your wrong...just want to be sure so I don't get a ticket.

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I caught a fair amount of channels while fishing walleyes on wingdams last summer and got a monster of a flathead one morning too. I know alot of people do target them with good success and size at night.

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What is the biggest channel that you have caught on accident. Are there some deep holes throughout there? Where do you suggest i launch from up by liydale or down by harriet island. Thanks

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What is the biggest channel that you have caught on accident. Are there some deep holes throughout there? Where do you suggest i launch from up by liydale or down by harriet island. Thanks

Last year I caught my one and only flat head that was between 45 - 50 lbs on 6lb test while walleye fishing. There are some deep holes by the Lilydale launch just upstream. I don't know any thing about targeting them so can not give you any help in finding them.

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If fishing within 500' below the dam is prohibited, then I have been guilty. Are you certain of this? The signs are clearly marked above the dam that you have to maintain 500'...but I have not seen any signs below the dam. Not saying your wrong...just want to be sure so I don't get a ticket.

I have the Metro Area River Guide book from the DNR and in the book it says (The area 600 feet upstream and 150 feet downstream from the dam are restricted areas.)

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Quote:
Originally Posted By: FatBassmanIf fishing within 500' below the dam is prohibited, then I have been guilty. Are you certain of this? The signs are clearly marked above the dam that you have to maintain 500'...but I have not seen any signs below the dam. Not saying your wrong...just want to be sure so I don't get a ticket.

Quote:
I have the Metro Area River Guide book from the DNR and in the book it says (The area 600 feet upstream and 150 feet downstream from the dam are restricted areas.)

100 percent certain for the area Below the Ford Dam.... And its BOATING not Fishing in a restricted area.

I was a passenger in a Boat that was ticketed for boating in this particular restricted area and have seen numerous other boats being detained by the Sheriff and DNR enforcement patrols over the years.

The State statue is 150' downstream stream of Dams but this is a Federal deal and the distance was increased after 911. My friend even brought the state Statue with him to court. But he decided not to use it in Court because we were way inside the 150' mark anyway.

You'll know when you see the Signs on the Island and directly across on the St Paul side that the Restricted area is NOT a 150' from the Dam and much closer to 500'.....on the Lock side "mpls" I believe the restricted area starts at the Lock Doors.

Be safe and be smart!

Let's get this thread back on track with some Good fishing Reports!

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Thanks for the info i dont have any maps on the river but that gives me little bit of an idea. I guess i will just search the water till i find them. I fish down in the redwing area alot for cats. Just wanted to find some new spots.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      is 3 weeks away............who's going and where???? i skip the first week and i'll head up to the cabin the 2nd week.  ussually fish smaller lakes. 
    • jparrucci
      Very low, probably 2 feet lower than last year at ice out.
    • mbeyer
      what do they look like this spring?
    • SkunkedAgain
      I might have missed a guess, but here are the ones that I noted:   JerkinLips – March 27th, then April 7th Brianf. – March 28th Bobberwatcher – April…. MikeG3Boat – April 10th SkunkedAgain – early April, then April 21st   Definitely a tough year for guesses, as it seemed to be a no-brainer early ice out. Then it got cold and snowed again.
    • mbeyer
      MN DNR posted April 13 as Ice out date for Vermilion
    • Brianf.
      ^^^45 in the morning and 47 in the evening
    • CigarGuy
      👍. What was the water temp in Black Bay? Thanks....
    • Brianf.
      No, that wasn't me.  I drive a 621 Ranger. 
    • CigarGuy
      So, that was you in the camo lund? I'm bummed, I have to head back to the cities tomorrow for a few days, then back up for at least a few weeks. Got the dock in and fired up to get out chasing some crappies till opener!
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Lots of ice on the main basin, but it is definitely deteriorating.  Some anglers have been fishing the open water at the mouth of the Rainy River in front of the Lighthouse Gap.  The rest of the basin is still iced over. Pike enthusiasts caught some big pike earlier last week tip up fishing in pre-spawn areas adjacent to traditional spawning areas.  8 - 14' of water using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring has been the ticket.  Ice fishing for all practical purposes is done for the year. The focus for the basin moving forward will be pike transitioning into back bays to spawn,  This is open water fishing and an opportunity available as the pike season is open year round on Lake of the Woods. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. With both the ice fishing and spring fishing on the Rainy River being so good, many are looking forward to the MN Fishing Opener on Saturday, May 11th.  It should be epic. On the Rainy River...  An absolutely incredible week of walleye and sturgeon fishing on the Rain Rainy River.     Walleye anglers, as a rule, caught good numbers of fish and lots of big fish.  This spring was one for the books.   To follow that up, the sturgeon season is currently underway and although every day can be different, many boats have caught 30 - 40 sturgeon in a day!  We have heard of fish measuring into the low 70 inch range.  Lots in the 60 - 70 inch range as well.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  Open water is continuing to expand in areas with current.  The sight of open water simply is wetting the pallet of those eager for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th.   A few locals were on the ice this week, targeting pike.  Some big slimers were iced along with some muskies as well.  If you like fishing for predators, LOW is healthy!  
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