mississippi river Mississippi River North Fishing Reports

[eyeguy 54]

that thing was a beast dude. had to be 20 pounds. good thing a professional photo guy stopped by.

[Tom Sawyer]

Here's a couple more shots. To bad you missed the battle. It was funny to see the crowd gather behind me while the battle ensued. The pressure was on to land her after a few failed attempts, along with hearing all the comments of loosing the battle. Lol, What a riot!

[IceHawk]

Wow Tom what a Beast!!!!!! Congrats on a heck of a fish talk about a wicked tuna fight

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks Chris. Without having Berkley Fireline spooled up I'm sure the battle would have been lost.

 

[river rat316]

A true beast, they sure are fun, if you hooked 2 of those up you might be able to water ski behind them!

[eyeguy 54]

Had to look for an eye today so grabbed a scoop of fatheads and walked to a few of my favorite spots.  No eyes or northerns but smallies were in each spot. Catfish, rockbass and a young river monster that hit the 30 inch mark.  What a hoot that was.   Always a good day when a scoop of minnows disappears.  Poison Ivy is staring to show up.. Grrrr!  LOL  

[Tom Sawyer]

Good one Royce. The walleye I've been catching loved a jig with a twister, or hair jigs, tipped with crawlers; steady retrieve well off bottom.

 

 

​

[Rick G]

Good job Royce! Love the pics, especialy the ivy, Andrea found a batch by accident not too long ago

[Rick G]

Hit the river with Andrea for the last hr of daylight yesterday. Fished a small eddy that Tom S and I had tried a while back. Fish were in the whole, just not a ton of them. Nightcrawler on a #6 hook with just enough lead to keep the worm close to bottom. 

[eyeguy 54]

nice fishy Andrea.  

[eyeguy 54]

fair today.  5 eyes with 2 nice eaters.  6 smallies, 1 sunfish and 1 dogfish.   jig with a little crawler and plain hook with minnow worked fine. 

[derbier122x]

I tried south of the old 9th Ave bridge in a backwater area with everything artificial I own. I didn't have any live bait with me, but caught one little smally running a floating Rapala right next to a portage pier before I ever even casted it out. Scared the crap out of me but was still a fun time. It ripped the drag out to the current before I knew what was going on.

[Tom Sawyer]

Matt,give the opposite side a try.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Despite the even higher water levels, from the rain this week fishing remains hot below the St. Cloud dam. Walleyes, smallmouth, along with a few pike are still being caught with simple tactics. Jigs in white and yellow, plain or tipped with live bait have accounted for most of the fish I've caught.

If snags are getting a lot of your lead, go to just throwing a split shot and hook with live bait. Some spots are so full of snags, this presentation is all what I'd use. Works well, with a steady retrieve, and much cheaper if you do get hung up and need to retie.

[Rick G]

Good report Tommy! Haven't fished much myself this week, but heard through the grapevine that walleyes are still being caught. Time of day has been the key, evenings have produced most of the fish. Jigs and minnows or crankbaits worked over the sand bars will get a mixed bag of walleyes and bass.

If I get off work early enough today I might try the evening bite

[Rick G]

Would like to say we got into some big fish last night......lol  all babys. Didn't get anything over 13in, bass and walleyes were plentiful, just tiny. Sad thing is, we saw quite a few of these next generation fish going home in baskets.  When a walleye can slip through the holes in a landing net it's far too small to keep in my opinnion!

[derbier122x]

Tried that spot after work on the St. Cloud side this morning Tom. Thanks for the advice. Caught about a dozen smallies with a little 10 being the bottom side and about 15 being the high end. Nothing huge to brag about, but boy are they still fun to catch. Most were around 12. After they stopped on that side, I jumped across to the Sauk Rapids. I got 3 right in the grass hanging over from the bank with a Texas rigged senko. No weight. On the way home I stopped at the municipal park boat ramp to try there. I didn't pull the rod out of the truck due to a guy fishing with his dog tromping through the water. He said he hit quite a few smallies down there also.

[Tom Sawyer]

Yeah Matt, that spot held quite a few walleye early this spring. A few nice ones in the mid 20" range.

[Tom Sawyer]

Fishing below the St, Cloud dam has slowed considerably. While fishing with eyeguy54 yesterday afternoon, noticed the water level has dropped almost 2 feet. Along with lower water levels, we were greeted by a massive Caddis fly hatch. We tried a couple spots, looking for suckers and carp, fishing a worm on bottom, but only found two small bass in the slack areas. With the lowering water levels. it's time to focus efforts along the current seams, with more aggressive tactics. 

 

 

[derbier122x]

Good info to know, thanks tom.

[Tom Sawyer]

Twisters, Mepps inline spinners, and small shallow running crankbaits, are putting the hurt to fish residing in the current seems once again. Not many big smallies as of late, the big girls are recovering from the spawn. Give it a week and the better fish will be showing up again with more regularity.

[derbier122x]

I just lost something huge (I'm thinking pike) down at municipal. Smashed a floating jerkbait and made the drag sing for about 10 seconds. Talk about a depressing moment when it popped the line. I think I  will be using some sort of leader from now on.

[eyeguy 54]

probably monster musky

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I just lost something huge (I'm thinking pike) down at municipal. Smashed a floating jerkbait and made the drag sing for about 10 seconds. Talk about a depressing moment when it popped the line. I think I  will be using some sort of leader from now on.

​I'm sure you'll be fishing that spot for a while........ sounds similar to the one I had on at the dam, when we were fishing last. Might want to try a large minnow under a float, to see if it's still hanging around the area.  That stretch is noted for some decent Musky.

[derbier122x]

​I'm sure you'll be fishing that spot for a while........ sounds similar to the one I had on at the dam, when we were fishing last. Might want to try a large minnow under a float, to see if it's still hanging around the area.  That stretch is noted for some decent Musky.

Never thought about a minnow. I may have to try that. My daughter might even sit there for a while with me if I can find a sitter for the son...

 

[derbier122x]

Been pretty quiet. Anyone been out?

[monstermoose78]

Been pretty quiet. Anyone been out?

​You are right derbier. This and the St. Cloud forum slowed down. Either the fishing is so amazing they can't go home to type up a report or they died from losing to much blood from the bugs. Let's hope it is the fishing is so good.

[Tom Sawyer]

Decent one for today, Way to go Royce! It was fun fishing new water.

[eyeguy 54]

finally tried a wade. popped out with huck finns buddy for a couple hours.   stick baits wacky along the drops worked fair but mostly small fish. still fun tho and good to wear the legs out! couple more spots to hit hopefully in the next week. 3 or 4 times I'd get a smack and then the line would cut a foot or so above the hook.  I wonder if the zebra muscles on rocks would cut the line. 10 pound xt tied to powerpro.  never had it happen like this in the past. First time I thought maybe a musky inhaled it but after a couple more times figured that was not the case. 

maybe next time we will find a piggy tom  

[JeremyCampbell]

Great weather to go fishing for a little today.Brought a lunch with ,caught about 4 or 5 smaller sized bass ,and had a good hike along the river bank.