Can someone verify this?

[Mongro02]

I have been hearing lately that the Mississippi and the Rum Rivers up in the Anoka, Coon Rapids area are really polluted and the fish are not good to eat?

Anyone else hear of this?

Thanks.

[Daze Off]

Not sure about the Mississippi but I wouldn't eat anything from the Rum (which I fish a lot) - of course I don't keep anything anyway. I did eat a couple of fine Walleyes from the Missiissippi up between Dayton and Elk River in late fall. I don't think I glow in the dark or anything.....

Daze Off

[Mark Christianson]

Go to the DNR website and find out what they say about fish consumption on the rivers.
I really doubt there is that big of a deal.
I personally haven't kept a fish out of the Rum or Miss for 15+ years. I just like catchin' em.

[Lost]

I lived in Anoka not too far from the Rum River several years ago and talked to a couple people about what they were catching (this was before I took up fishing). In the storytelling, they mentioned that a lot of the fish weren't worth eating because when they cut them open they immediately didn't look healthy. One of the ideas they had about this was that a lot of the fertilizers and pesticides and whatever else that washes off the farms upstream had something to do with it.

The Mississippi, I think, is cleaner and a lot safer to eat out of.

[Riverratpete]

Having grown up on the river and still fishing it I have to say that this discussion comes up every now and then. I can that the river has improved in cleanliness about 110% since the 80's, clams are coming back, the Mayflys have definately come back and crawfish - these things are markers of clean water, if it wasn't clean, they wouldn't be there. People and cities no longer use the river as a dumping ground the way they used to either - thank-god. I have eaten fish from the river and have noticed no diffrence from a walleye caught at the CR dam and one caught on Mille Lacs. Could it be cleaner - SURE! but what body of water in this state couldn't be cleaner?

[deadeye]

I talked to some dnr guys that were down there doing H20 surveys a couple years ago and the water in the big miss just north of minneapolis is better than minnetonka and many of the other metro lakes. I wouldn't eat any of the fish south of minneapolis but I know lots of people keep them on the big pools (pool4 pepin ect.) so they can't be that bad.

[Guest]

Unless you eat fish from the river a ton (2-3 meals a week) over a long time, you have nothing to worry about. Check the consumption report from the DNR. Let's put it this way, have you EVER heard of someone dying or getting very ill from eating fish from anywhere? I haven't.

[CrapMan]

I would assume that river fishs are cleaner then lakes fish, just cause the water is constanley moving and changing. unlike lakes water were everything get dumps(lawn fertilizer) in and stay in.
just my opinion