mississippi river Mississippi River North Fishing Reports

[srfishin15]

yeah we have a perm on mille lacs so we catch quite a few in the winter, but i'd never caught one in open wter before..

[Juan Grande]

Went out last night to fish by the hospital in Monti. Man was the water up. I'm guessing that rain we had last week finally made it down here from up north. Can't think of any other reason the water would be up. Tried bobber fishing with suckers, but the current pulled it so fast that we switched to bottom rigs. Didn't catch anything, but we were only out there for an hour. Some guy next to us said he caught a 9 lb walleye the night before.

[fishface]

Tried fishing it last Fri, a week ago. Was really suprized how high it was. Had to be three ft. higher than it had been before the big blow, didn't think we had that much rain. Was in waders and couldn't get off shore very far. Left early, too dangerous. It doesn't seem to be going down either the islands by the Monti bridge are still pretty wet looking. Might try and put the boat in.

[CrowRiverRat83]

The Brainerd Lakes area got 3 inches of rain last week. I assume all of that water is making its way downstream, hence the higher levels around here.

[fishface]

One of my co-workers reported 6" in the rain guage in W. Wright cnty. I had to work the entire storm so didn't pay attention to how much rain there was. It just seemed everything was horizontal.

[bassfishingnerd]

My son & I were out there last Saturday and the high water made things difficult. I managed two nice smallies, but the current was too fast for my anchor. Has anyone been by to see if the water is down at all?

[CrowRiverRat83]

Water levels are still up in Elk River.

[osok]

Water levels are still up in STC. The grounds are pretty saturated so it will probably stay that way until the 1st real cold snap.

[T.O.W]

Yep, high but there are fish to be caught where the currents run together. Watch out for all the debris still floating down the river. Water temp was 41. Heading out again today when it warms up a little. Good luck.

[EBass]

Hit Anoka and was the only boat there. 39-40 degrees, coffee colored and ripping current. The water is up 5-6 feet. Not one bite. I believe I'm done with the river this season.

[bassfishingnerd]

I am going to try to tough it out if the water comes down another foot or so. The lake bite was pretty good today, although, it was a slow and deliberate presentation.

[Presco]

Anybody been out wading or is the water still to high? Was out on the 29th of October and thought I might get swept downriver a few times. Didn't stay long. Have been checking these two sites, it looks like its coming back down (do a 30 day search on the second site). Just wanted a "feet on the street" opinion if anyone had been out.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/csg/station_report.html?mode=getstationreport&station=20065001

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?05288500

[Slabasaurus]

that second site mirrors what I have been observing down where Rice Creek meets up with the ole miss.

Current is still pretty quick, I would not be caught wading in there right now...

[T.O.W]

Went out again after having success last weekend north of Sartel. Water was down a bit but only found Rock Bass. The missing item was current coming out of a feeder channel. In the past I actually avoided the area after a heavy rain because of the excessive current but it has now proven to be the best time to target Waldos. I tried all the other typical areas and came up empty handed.

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[bassfishingnerd]

Thanks for posting the hydro links. I have been waiting for it to drop a foot or two before venturing out again.

[fishface]

Got one on the fly today,

Still pretty high though,

maybe down a foot from last Sun.

Long way to good safe wading.

[deadeye]

I have been out on the banks twice so far this spring with nothing to show for it. I went last Sunday for a couple hours and did hook into something but didn't land it. No clue as it was way out and in fast water.

Today I went out again but found my places of habit inaccessible due to high water and ice. Where I was at last Sunday I would have been under water today so that shows how a week can change conditions.

I have been hoping for a couple white bass for a little blackened cajuin grilled bass but so far no luck. It's still really early so we will see what happens. I would like to get a few nice redhorse (way better than white suckers) for fish/potato cakes too.

[trappingaddiction]

Decided to head out to the river today in the Sherburne/Wright county area. Fished from about 4:30-7:45. Caught a nice walleye and a smallmouth. I was really having trouble hooking fish today, as I lost around 6-8 fish, with a couple of them being really nice fish (did not see them, but the drag was pulling out so much that I could not reel before they got off). Might try to make it back there again this week/weekend to try to pick up some eyes and catfish.

[Vitreus]

[PoorWordUsage]. I've figured that the crowd thins out right about 30 min after the sun goes down. It might have something to do with the ten billion mosquitoes that swarm the pier at that time. I drench myself in deet, but I still get bit a couple times when I go down there. Doing well though. Average a couple eyes each time I go down. Seems like they are switching to areas of deeper current these days, and they seem to prefer the later hours, the more moonlight the better. I cpr'd a nice 6 lber the other night. Yellow twister tails on 1/4 ozers are still the best producer for myself. Rapala flat rap in the new colors work well for smallies down there. Fishing the river is the onnnly thing getting me through my brutal summer chemistry classes. Gotta take a step back and be thankful for what we have here. Good fishing, and lots of other outdoor activities right in our backyard. Keep taking good care of the fishery guys.

[Vitreus]

Not sure what poor word usage means. Shame that post got cut short...

[polarsusd81]

Been real busy with summer classes at SCSU lately, so I have really only had time to get down to the river at night. And dam... it's been busy down there! Don't get me wrong, I love to see people excited about fishing, but it's not worth it to even go down there if you have to cast your line in the same spot every time. I end up just chatting with the other anglers most of the time. Talked to a nice older guy who caught a 30 inch walleye on a nightcrawler about a week ago. I asked him what he did with it... I knew what he was going to say, but I still grimaced when he said it. He filleted it... asked him if he knew about mercury levels but he didn't care too much. Caught it in the current break just below the dam. I've figured that the crowd thins out right about 30 min after the sun goes down. It might have something to do with the ten billion mosquitoes that swarm the pier at that time. I drench myself in deet, but I still get bit a couple times when I go down there. Doing well though. Average a couple eyes each time I go down. Seems like they are switching to areas of deeper current these days, and they seem to prefer the later hours, the more moonlight the better. I cpr'd a nice 6 lber the other night. Yellow twister tails on 1/4 ozers are still the best producer for myself. Rapala flat rap in the new colors work well for smallies down there. Fishing the river is the onnnly thing getting me through my brutal summer chemistry classes. Gotta take a step back and be thankful for what we have here. Good fishing, and lots of other outdoor activities right in our backyard. Keep taking good care of the fishery guys.

Fixed for you. An extra letter in Dam. Word filter on this site is a NAZI.

[Rick G]

Talked to a nice older guy who caught a 30 inch walleye on a nightcrawler about a week ago. I asked him what he did with it... I knew what he was going to say, but I still grimaced when he said it. He filleted it...

I think I know who you are talking about. He is down there fishing the fast water almost every night in the fall. He gets several 7-10lb fish every year in that spot and keeps every one of them for food . I have tryed explaining to him several times that the river is not an endless bounty and by taking as many trophy class fish home as he does he is hurting the fishary.

BTW nice job on the cpr of that 6lb. We need more folks like you down there.

[osok]

[PoorWordUsage] tonight, In search of some eyes, Caught 2 rinky dinks but got annihilated by the cats. And some were some big kitties. The most action was right around dusk.

[Vitreus]

Thanks for resurrecting that post polar. I've been doing quite a bit of shore fishing around here lately, and I figure I should continue to document some patterns I'm starting to see. Areas of current change and current break are still where I am finding walleyes.I prefer artificials most of the time, but got curious and tried some of those green nightcrawlers on the stretch of warm, steady temps during the daylight hours. I read somewhere on this forum to try a red bead in front of my hook. The combination of the bead and the green worm must have looked like Christmas to those fish, because I haven't caught that many midday walleye for some time. Late night, however, is still the best time to fish em. 30 min+ after sunset. Ditch the live bait at night and have an arsenal of jig colors and combos ready, as their preferences are fickle. Paddletail shads have produced the largest fish for me, twister tails more numbers. Once the temp dropped and the rain rolled in, the walleye bite subsided. There are still plenty of species to be caught. No keeper walleyes today but a plethora of smallmouth, along with some crappies, sunnies, and catfish. It's no secret how good the smallmouth fishing is down there. So when I'm not catching eyes, I target the brutes. Heres a hint: throw a flat rap for 5 min in an area of shallow, slack water. You're chances of not catching smallmouth are pretty low, and there are some bruisers in there. Fun to fight. Have fun out there and remember to CPR the big ones and pick up your trash. There's a pile of plastic the size of Texas in the middle of the Pacific, don't make it bigger.

[Crankbait10]

DJ mind point me in the direction of where i could possibly hit up some smallies. Been looking for some smallie action for fun but been hard find them on the river? Any pointers would be much appreciated.

thanks

[mrklean]

personally i dont think you can go wrong anyplace on this stretch of the river cast out a jig and twister and you have a great chance of catching some nice fish. I have caught them from st could all the way down to elk river in good numbers.

[Rick G]

The water level and current speed has been kinda calling the shots as of late. I would have to agree with mrklean in that you can't go wrong on any strech of the river. Just start at any one of the dams and work down river till you find numbers. If you are not catching them you might not be ysing the right bait. I like 3in twisters with 1/8 oz heads I also like floating or jointed raps and no.3 mepps spinners. You can use any color you want as long as it's white or some shade of green. I find when the riv is this dirty and high the fish key in on things that look like the belly side of prey.

[mrklean]

1/4 oz jig head with a 3" chartreuse single tail or double tail twister has been my best bait since i was at SCSU for college small spinner baits would be my second choice

[Brad B]

went out in the Becker Area on Saturday afternoon and did a little catfishing. the river is down to it's normal level finally and has exposed alot of rocks in this area that have been under water earlier in the season. the current break has moved to more of the middle of the river now instead of just off the shore. the cats still seem to be relating to the current breaks in this area. as for bait I didn't want to waste time to go and get suckers to cut up so I took a chance and tried some of the secret 7 dip bait. I normally don't like dip bait but I had heard good reviews on the secret 7 so I decided to try some. I ended up catching a 24 1/2" cat on it. It pays to change things up and try different baits even if they are not your go to baits.

[EBass]

My neighbor swears by the dip bait. He also ties his weight on the line, but he still catches channels. 24.5" is a big cat for that area. What's your biggest? I saw (netted) an 8lb channel yrs ago by the Camden Bridge.