Fridley-Mississippi River Fishing Report The 694 Bridge Area to 610

[JBMasterAngler]

I was donating plasma in shoreview the other day and decided to stop by the park at the bridge to check out the 'sippi. Water was fairly high so the current was flowing pretty good. I wanted to bounce a power grub along the bottom in hopes of snagging (not literally) a walleye. Well, I caught 2 smallies (quickly released of course) and lost 3 others. It looks like a nice area, especially upstream. So I plan on launching my boat there after the water goes down to normal. I have a small boat, but just curious what the average depth is all through there, and if there's any danger spots? Looks as though the area is good for smallies...how is the walleye and/or catfish? Is there any silver bass in that stretch? Anyway, I only fished from shore for about 15 minutes...I wandered upstream aways and then broke my line, by then I was feeling woozy from the donation, so I didn't have it in me to re-tie and get back to fishing. Maybe next time.

[UncleKes]

I live about 1 mile from there and I regularly fish that area. The area from 694 north to the Coon Rapids Dam can be good at times, especially from around where Rice Creek empties into the river about a mile north of 694 all the way up to the 610 Bridge.

The river IS boatable in that section. BUT! I would NOT put anything better than say a 14 foot Lund or Alumacraft in there. Something you are not going to commit hari kari over if you sink the thing by running it into a boulder, or impale the boat on a dead head. (A very real possibility in that stretch of river.) The area is not called the Land that eats Props for nothing! Trust me! However if you do decide to run this stretch heed my advice and pay close attention!

Just north of the 694 bridge you will see a large island. If you launch your boat and head north from there, go past the island on the WEST SHORE side. NOT THE EAST SIDE! There is a large gravel and rock bar extending from the East bank almost out to the Island. The bar is about 50-60 feet wide. I have launched my boat and have taken it across the bar at various times of the year. However, the water can be as low as 1 foot and I have at times had to get out of my boat and wade the bar dragging my boat along with me. I even had to remove my 9 hp Mercury once or twice and put it on the floor of my boat and then put it back on once I got over the bar. The area just South off the island is a dynamite bronzeback factory with a walleye or two thrown in once in a while. Enough to keep it interesting anyway.

In any event if you do launch in that section I would keep your speed down to a crawl and pay attention for rocks, dead heads and gravel bars in that section of the river. There is a reason why you don't see a lot of boat traffic in that stretch of river. Up around Rive Creek about a 1/4 mile north of the sand bar I just spoke about the bottom is made up of gravel bars, huge boulders that would do justice to a Japanese Rock Garden and enough assorted dead head logs and other debris to put any intelligent boater on tranquilizers for life! That is why there are so many nice fish in the area. There is limited boat traffic and they have a place to rest up and find a safe refuge. Most people fish from shore in that area.

Mind you, I said Most People do! If you can get up that way, a really nice little trip I occaissionally make is to run up to the Coon Rapids Dam, cut my engine and drift back down to 694 dragging a bait behind me. Lots and lots of Marble Eyes, Bronzebacks, Gators, and Kitty Kats to play with.

Contact me at [email protected] and I will tell you more!

Tight Lines.

Uncle Kes

[UncleKes]

Oops! Sorry JB. You asked about White Bass (Silver Bass). As far as I know there are no populations of White Bass north of the St. Anthony Falls. I would love for the DNR to stock some. I think they would do well in this stretch of water but under this governor golf clubs get more attention than fishing and the DNR is under fire for spending your money and mine on some whoop tee do or other.

I am waiting for someone to ask why they haven't been stocking fish like they used to? That really would be a scandal! But then this administration has been a scandal from the day they got elected!

Anyway, That is my gripe for the day! As you can tell I am a Democrat!

There are no White Bass in this stretch. Plenty of walleyes and Smallmouth, not many but some Largemouth, Crappies all over the place, Pike, Muskie, Lots and lots of Kitty Cats in the 1 to 5 pound range. Good eating size anyway. Huge Carp, and other types of rough fish like Burbot, Sheephead, etc. Just about what you would expect if you were fisihng the river up near Brainerd or parts north.

Like I said the river doesn't see much boat traffic because of all the rocks, bars, stumps and deadheads in this stretch. You can get a boat up their but my advice already given is to hug the Western shore and go very slow and sort of feel your way up their like a blind man crawling home from a full night of pub crawling!

Tight Lines.

Uncle Kes

[UncleKes]

Oops! Sorry JB. You asked about White Bass (Silver Bass). As far as I know there are no populations of White Bass north of the St. Anthony Falls. I would love for the DNR to stock some. I think they would do well in this stretch of water but under this governor golf clubs get more attention than fishing and the DNR is under fire for spending your money and mine on some whoop tee do or other.

I am waiting for someone to ask why haven't been stocking fish like they used to? That really would be a scandal! But then this administration has been a scandal from the day they got elected!

Anyway, That is my gripe for the day! As you can tell I am a Democrat!

There are no White Bass in this stretch. Plenty of walleyes and Smallmouth, not many but some Largemouth, Crappies all over the place, Pike, Muskie, Lots and lots of Kitty Cats in the 1 to 5 pound range. Good eating size anyway. Huge Carp, and other types of rough fish like Burbot, Sheephead, etc. Just about what you would expect if you were fisihng the river up near Brainerd or parts north.

Like I said the river doesn't see much boat traffic because of all the rocks, bars, stumps and deadheads in this stretch. You can get a boat up there but my advice already given is to hug the Western shore and go very slow and sort of feel your way up there like a blind man crawling home.

Tight Lines.

Uncle Kes

[JBMasterAngler]

Hmmm...I definitely don't mind wading the river on a hot sunny day either. Would the best access point for that then be at where the rice creek comes in? I'll probably fish the area both ways...by boat and foot. The upper 'sippi fishing is still fairly new to me...I grew up fishing the croix. Bass fishing here is WAY funner!

[river rat316]

Keep the white bass where they are, we don't need anymore competition for forage than we already have..... my personal opinion on stocking is don't do it, if it aint natural and sustainable by mother nature then it shouldn't be there.... but see I'm a conservative, we don't go throwing money at every thing we think is a "problem".... tax spend, tax spend.... lets see how that goes ehhh... ohhh wait we already got that as one of the highest taxed states

[UncleKes]

JB! Get off on 694 and head North on East River Road. About 2 miles up East River Road you will come to Mississippi Street in Fridley. Drive north about 1 city block and on your left you will come to an old renovated farm house called the Locke House. Pull into their parking lot in back. Their is an Anoka County Park that abuts the Locke House Property. Walk down the hill and cross Rice Creek over the Bridge. On the other side take a left and you can either follow the creek down to the river or do what I do and when you get to the river take a right and walk about a block north along the river.

The River in this area is all rock and sunken timber. Excellent Bronzeback and Marble Eyes fishing. If the current allows wade out into the river a bit or cast a floating rapala or crank bait (something that won't get hung up in the rocks)

This is where I would fish. The mouth of Rice Creek can get very crowded at times. Granted it can be good. The entire stretch can be good for Eyes, Cats, Carp. Smallies, you name it! But The slot about 1 block north of the mouth of the creek gets very little attention. In fact I intend going there next thursday evening for a few hours after dark. If I bump into you be sure to say Hi!

Tight Lines.

Uncle Kes

[UncleKes]

River Rat. I tend to agree. It is those Spendaholic Republicans who love to throw our money away on foolish things like wars and lawyers to save their own when they rat out our brave men and women who put it all on the line while working for the CIA! Yeah, I know how you feel!

As for White Bass. I think they would be natural if they had had the opportunity to get over the St. Anthony Falls. As for non-native species. I take your point. I get all hot and bothered each time someone shows me his or her photos or the largemouth bass they caught or the white crappies. Not to mention the Steelhead, Salmon, Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout they have stocked in Minnesota in recent years!

[MSRiverdog]

We don't have many Republicans in Minnesota most are just RINO's that follow the Dumicrate lunacy of the rest in this state.

RR316 is right, get over it.

[river rat316]

River Rat. I tend to agree. It is those Spendaholic Republicans who love to throw our money away on foolish things like wars and lawyers to save their own when they rat out our brave men and women who put it all on the line while working for the CIA! Yeah, I know how you feel!

As for White Bass. I think they would be natural if they had had the opportunity to get over the St. Anthony Falls. As for non-native species. I take your point. I get all hot and bothered each time someone shows me his or her photos or the largemouth bass they caught or the white crappies. Not to mention the Steelhead, Salmon, Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout they have stocked in Minnesota in recent years!

and as far as the fish thing where have they been stocking trout where they are not natural? Seems a little fishy to me since they need a certain environment to live and usually don't cohabitate with most warm water species (except for smallies) And no I don't think whities would be natural, if they were, they would have been here before St. Anthony falls.... pretty simple. Now if you will excuse me I will be getting ready for the real opener coming up on Saturday... lots of jigs and tubes to make

[UncleKes]

Rat! Brown Trout and Rainbows ARE NOT native to Minnesota! Browns were introduced here back in the Late 19th and early 20th century. Smelt, like Brown Trout are native to Europe. They were originally used as fish food at a hatchery in Michigan back in the 1930's. During a rainstorm one night the hatchery flooded and released some into a lake. Unfortunately the lake was the headwaters to a river that ran into Lake Michigan and they quickly spread all over the Great Lakes.

I am afraid we must agree to disagree about Silvers above the falls. But not enough to fight over. I just like them thats all and as I live less than a mile from the Mississippi in Fridley, it would be a lot more convenient for me to fish them close to home than have to drive down near St. Paul or Hudson to fish them.

I also think the best way to decrease the competition for available forage would be to increase the forage. More stocking of Perch, shiners, shad and other forage fish would increase the numbers of prey fish. Of course we are dealing with Republicans now and we all know those people are too busy cheating on their golf scores to have figured that out now don't we??

Of course another way to increase numbers would be to shut down all fishing in the State for five or ten years. I expect some Bush supporter in St. Paul to propose that one any day now!

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[JBMasterAngler]

UncleKes, thanks for the info. I'll be in the area on thursday, so I'll check it out for future reference.

[river rat316]

( Note from admin, please read forum policy before posting again, Thank-you.)

[gr81]

Hang on fellas... let me pop some corn and grab a beer. I can't miss this entertainment

[Big Bill Brasky]

UncleKes,

I grew up fishing the Upper Stretches of the St. Croix. White Bass have a way of taking over certain stretches of river, they are incredibly efficient feeders. While I do enjoy catching them the last place I would want to see them is the Upper Miss. They breed like cockroaches and eat like a massive pack of Wolves.

[Shack]

Anything below St. Anthony falls, can get above St. Anthony falls. The fish can go threw the lock. It is free and clear up to the Coon Rapids Dam. That is the dead stop for fish.

[blacksportsman]

I caught a 12" white bass at CR Dam about 4-5 years ago. Only one I've ever seen caught north of Saint Anthony Falls. They're in there, but probably not in numbers worth targetting them specifically.

Quote:

Anything below St. Anthony falls, can get above St. Anthony falls. The fish can go threw the lock. It is free and clear up to the Coon Rapids Dam. That is the dead stop for fish.

This is true. Dams with locks are not the impenetrable fish barriers that many people seem to think they are.

[UncleKes]

Big Bill! I had not heard that about them. The truth is I just started fishing them a few years ago and fell in love with them. They get big, fight hard and properly prepared are excellent table fare.

GR8 Ok! Ok! I will stop teasing Rat about his politics. The truth is I really don't dislike the guy. I have never even met him. He is just such an easy target I can't help myself. Personally, I would not even mind fishing with the guy and I would even buy the brewski's by way of atonement to the guy for being such a good sport and NOT punching me in the nose when I get a little TOO over the top.

Of course this one is just between you and me, GR8. If Rat finds out I wrote it I will deny I even heard of Fishing Minnesota!

Take care!

Tight LInes!

Uncle Kes

[UncleKes]

JB! I will be fishing the down by Rice Creek Thursday evening about 07:00 P.M. If you want to meet me there about then. I will be tossing Hard baits in the rocks. However if you want, Vados Bait Shop is nearby and we can switch to live bait in about 20 minutes time? We can decide when we get there and the fish tell us what they want!

Hope I see you there!

Uncle Kes

[JBMasterAngler]

Sorry, haven't been online in awhile. I never did make it back out there. Maybe wednesday I'll check things out. How is the water level?

[UncleKes]

I was out there fishing just north about 1000 feet from where Rice Creek empties into the river on Friday. I got two wallies (17 and 22 inches) and a smallie that weighed in at 2.2 pounds.

The water was not all that bad. I do expect this rain we have had will raise it a bit but not to the point where it is unmanageble.

If you do go down there head north along the river about 500 feet and you will come to another creek. Wade accross it and fish about 100-200 feet north of the 2nd creek.

The creek is not much. Just a sort of ditch filled with water that I suspects only runs when the water is high. Anyway, just north of the creek the river gets very rocky.

I caught my walleyes and the smallmouth dragging a shallow diving Tiger Perch Rapala along the bottom. The Smallie I took on the third cast with a senko and a night crawler. I was not really fishing hard. Just testing what was working and what wasn't.

Anyway, Good Luck!

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[UncleKes]

I was out there fishing just north about 1000 feet from where Rice Creek empties into the river on Friday. I got two wallies (17 and 22 inches) and a smallie that weighed in at 2.2 pounds.

The water was not all that bad. I do expect this rain we have had will raise it a bit but not to the point where it is unmanageble.

If you do go down there head north along the river about 500 feet and you will come to another creek. Wade accross it and fish about 100-200 feet north of the 2nd creek.

The creek is not much. Just a sort of ditch filled with water that I suspects only runs when the water is high. Anyway, just north of the creek the river gets very rocky.

I caught my walleyes and the smallmouth dragging a shallow diving Tiger Perch Rapala along the bottom. The Smallie I took on the third cast with a senko and a night crawler. I was not really fishing hard. Just testing what was working and what wasn't.

Anyway, Good Luck!

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[JBMasterAngler]

Yeah, my initial run through that area will probably just be testing things out and getting familiar with the river. I probably won't start hitting it hard until later this summer.

[UncleKes]

JB! Sounds like a good plan. It's probably a good idea to walk in and do some shore fishing first before you launch your boat and motor in there. Once again, the place is an underwater Japanese ROCK GARDEN, with more than the usual sand, gravel and rock bars and more than a few deadheads thrown in to make life interesting, just waiting to impale your boat like a butterfly on a pin! So watch your prop is the best advice I can give you when you do decide to boat it.

Having said that! The area from Rice Creek to the Coon Rapids Dam is one of the best places I have found for Walleyes, Pike, Catfish, Smallmouth.

Good Luck;

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[cichlid_baby]

Hello everyone,

I'm going to give this area a try the next few days. A few questions though. Do you fish this area strictly from shore while walking from place to place? If so, how far can one go without trespassing?

As a kid, I use to fish the lower Fox River back in IL where one could virtually wade the entire length of the river for miles and fish breaklines, eddies and such. At it's deepest stretches it averaged 3 feet or less, with the occasional 5 to 8 feet honey holes. It was great for targeting smallmouths. I actually caught my personal best muskie doing this while fishing for smallies. 47 1/2 inches on 8 lb mono with a number 3 Mepps spinner. That was awesome but it's been a while since I got that lucky.

I'd like to try doing something similar and was wondering if this part of the Mississippi north of Rice Creek suitable and safe for this kind of fishing? I'd like to spend a day wading from Rice Creek on up searching for some smallies and walleyes. Anyone have personal experience with this part of the river and know where there might be some danger holes and drop offs to watch out for?

Are there any rules or regulations about wading in the river?

[ameyers41]

I don't have much experience with the river, but I was out today on the west side out of the park on 83rd. Waded and fished down the park south. Picked up three little smallies on a jig and power craw. The rain held off, so it was a nice day to be out.

[UncleKes]

Cichlid! Read the string. You can put a boat in this area. However don't take anything bigger than 14 foot and make sure it is not something you are going to commit hari-kari over if you rupture the boat on a sandbar or impale it on a deadhead.

Also don't try to set any speed records in this stretch of the river and be aware of the water levels. The bottom is a Japanese Rock Garden. However, if you go slow and don't do anything foolish and stupid you can get a boat all the way up to the Coon Rapids Dam.

Like I said in previous posts. Most people hike in and fish from shore in this stretch but not all of them. Read my previous posts to JBMasterAngler.

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[DT10 Guy]

I drove by the park last night and saw a kayak at the landing. Is this part of the river fishable from a yak? Is the current too strong to paddle up stream? I have fished the St Croix before and was able make it back upstream.

I would love to get my kayak out there by the islands and catch a few smallies/wally's.

DT10

[UncleKes]

DT! Yes, they do Kayak this stretch of river. They also canoe a great deal. Good point! I usually take my boat up it because I am familiar with this stretch having grown up in the area. I personally would think the high water from all the rain would make the current a bit swift at the moment, however I should think if you hugged the bank where it would not be too swift you might be able to get up stream.

I am going out tonight to do some night fishing so I will let you know what the current is like. I have never tried fishing from kayak. I tried it in a canoe once and sitting down on a hard canoe bottom was too much for my arthritis and back. So I never did it again. But if you are young enough for such abuse, go for it. Myself, I am now at an age where I would bolt my "lazy boy" to the deck if I could and take the bar maid on board to fetch me beer and sandwiches while I am on the water! The daughters having spurned this role and the wife refusing to get into one of those teeny mini skirts and tank tops! Life gets tougher as you get older, you know!!!!

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[JBMasterAngler]

Stopped by the bridge today. Lost 2 bass and bumped alot of carp. Was thick with them down there, some had to be around the 20 pound mark.

Went up to the rice creek area, was my first time there. Group of people on the other side were catching sheephead, redhorse, and tiny catfish left and right. I had a couple strikes and a number of follows from the same northern, but only managed 1 tiny little crappie.