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Minnesota River Fishing Report


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I agree Capt. I have always wanted to fish the Minneosta during the winter but I'm so worried about the ice being safe I don't go.

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I will be fishing it on Sunday and make a report. I usually fish the river quite often in the winter. As was said becarefull, the ice can change alot. The ice can change from 12" to open water over night, also from 12 inches of ice to open water in just a few feet. Always check the ice when walking out there! If you find a nice hole with little current, off of the edge of fast current it can be very rewarding, with a lot of larger fish. Good luck and stay safe if you do go out there!

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If you find a nice hole with little current, off of the edge of fast current it can be very rewarding, with a lot of larger fish.

I have just the spot and did a little recon the other day. Now I just need to put a line down. Maybe Sunday for me too.

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Well I gave it a try on Sunday afternoon. I tried a couple different spots, I fished with shiners and fatheads, with no luck. There were a few others out there that told me they had good luck a little while back, but nothing recently. I fished a spot in 13 feet of water just off a deep hole that the current was dumping the river slush into and made it impossible to get a line down.

Just an example of how unsafe the river can be, I was drilling holes around the deep hole all with a good 18 inches of ice, I went towards the outer edge of the deep hole where the current dumps into it and there was about 3 inches of ice, where 20 feet away there was 18+ .

I have a few more spots I will try during the next week or so and will report back, hopefully with a better report!

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I hear ya there.. gotta be careful.

Last year the one time I went on the river I seriously could not keep the eyes off my line.

Caught probably 50 of them nothing bigger than 11 inches though.

Still fun... its amazing on how clear it can get in the winter time.

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I am going to give a go this evening in a deep hole,this is the first time going fishing on the river with ice. I hope I can get a couple tips before I go. will a 1/4oz wt be enough? should I try ne jign raps/CD's or just dead stick. shiners/ fatheads/chubs/ small suckers. I am wanting to catch an eye or two. thanks in advance for tips and tricks!!!!

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Well here are my river ice fishing experiences which all come on the Mississippi.

Jigging raps are the #1 bait thru the ice. River fish want movement and these give it. Plus with the # of hooks the hooking % is high. Tip the treble with a minnow head. #5's are top, try 7's for a change up.

A rocker minnow is a close second. Tip the hook with a minnow head also. Chartruese is great.

Never have much luck with deadsticking for walleyes. It works for crappies, but not for me with the walleyes.

You say deep hole. How deep? Is there current there? If you can find a current break (wingdam) the fish can stack up on the up river side in the deep water.

The raps work fine in 30 FOW and more. If there is a lot of current there- you will want a #7 or to move to a more slack area.

Good luck!

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well my efforts were 100% the water was only 5% of what I thought is was going to be deepest spot I found was 5.5ft guess I wont be fishing there again! How deep is minicon park?

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It can take the pressure a lot more than any lake around here. Plus its just certain area that are easier to access that get what pressure there is!

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idk what your talking about dude that river goes for miles with holes in it most people dont even know about.....

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i know shes a definate producer but to risk your life for some fillits

Ah, you gotta die from something, mine as well be with a fillet of fish from the river and a cold beverage.

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I haven't been down to Minicon this year, but you should be able to find close to 30' in that stretch, not sure on the river levels though. In the spring right after walleye opener we found a few spots that pushed 40'.

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I have always wanted to fish over in the New Ulm area with a boat, I have a infinity time on in the Granite falls area, but nice to try something new as well.

River Rat-

Is there alot of bends and holes in and around the new ulm area, per say from Redwood to New Ulm?

Any falls or Dams in that area?

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From New Ulm upstream to Highway 4 is a great stretch, lots of nice deep holes, big bends and tons of cricks flowing in. Heading downstream of New Ulm it starts to get wider, narrower and shallower, especially past the Cottonwood river. I do not believe there is any dam in the area, I know alot of people run snowmobiles in the winter over that stretch.

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idk what your talking about dude that river goes for miles with holes in it most people dont even know about.....

i know most of em

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Originally Posted By: SHAQ
The mn gets pounded up in my parts

Dent by Perham confused

yes dent by perham, but i travel & also live in the southern metro

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Troy Smutka
      The calendar migrators from the Dakotas have been passing through central MN in trickles the past few weeks, and the recent cooler weather has some Canada ducks starting to show up. We have been harvesting mallards, pintails, gadwalls, wigeon, shovelers, greenwing teal, canvasbacks, redheads, bluebills, and ringnecks in decent numbers.
    • SkunkedAgain
      It doesn't look like the lake level has gone up at all. I was up a week ago and struggled to get my boat in and out of the public landing on the west end of Head O Lakes. I used my paddle to push the boat further out to deeper water. I could hear the hull moving over the sandy/muddy bottom near the launch.
    • JerkinLips
      Pretty tough.  Was catching about 2 walleyes per hour and the biggest was only 13".  Back up Thursday so I hope I have better success.
    • smurfy
      the kid and I always check our stands prior.......i'll go back to check the conditions of said stands before he gets there to see what we need. while i'm at it if i can i shoot at grouse with shells that appear to not have bb,s in them!!!!🙄
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  With unseasonably warm weather, there are still some anglers hitting the water and most have been rewarded.  Limits of walleyes and saugers being caught, and the forecast looking ahead is favorable. The best bite on the south end of LOW has been in 22-28 feet of water. Water temperatures are dropping and as the temps cool further, the bite has been excellent.     Vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners has been the program for most anglers.  Bring plenty of bait, as you’ll need to sort through some smaller fish and short biters.  Plenty of eater fish to be had, just have to do a bit of sorting.  Anglers are also reporting very good numbers of jumbo perch and occasional pike mixed in with the walleyes.     For those fishing structure, if you slide up on top of a rock pile, don't be surprised to catch a big smallmouth bass, there are plenty around.   This week’s hot colors have been gold, gold/glow white, gold/chartreuse, gold/orange, and gold/glow white/pink.     One tip, a stinger hook on your jig will catch you more fish if you start missing too many fish. On the Rainy River...  Bait dealers are reporting good numbers of shiners in the river this past week.  Interesting, each night is different.  Some areas have the small shiners called pinheads.  Other areas have the larger minnows.     The river is producing some nice walleyes in various spots from Four Mile Bay to Wheeler's Point, to Baudette all the way to Birchdale.  There are 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale with plenty of public boat ramps along the way.     Walleyes are being caught in various depths, but 15-25 feet of water has been good.   Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners has been highly effective. Some anglers are also trolling crankbaits to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results. Sturgeon fishing has been strong.  The catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is open into the spring when it changes to the "keep season" on April 24th. Up at the NW Angle...  Fall fishing continues to be excellent. Points, neck-down areas with current, shoreline breaks, and transition zones from rock to mud are all productive locations for walleye right now.   It is traditionally a mixed bag up around the many islands in this part of the lake and this fall is no different.  In addition to walleyes, pike, jumbo perch, and crappies are in the mix.  A jig and minnow has been the most effective presentation. Good muskie fishing is the norm during the fall of the year and area reports have been good.  In addition to casting, trolling shorelines, points and neckdown areas has been effective.  Muskies are often targeting schooling tullibees this time of year. The weather forecast for the next couple of weeks is conducive for fall fishing.  If you don't deer hunt, or if you have harvested your deer, consider some bonus walleye action before the ice forms.  The bite continues to be excellent.    
    • leech~~
    • gimruis
      I'm not one to leave that to chance the day I need it.  I always check on my stands prior to the season.  Just like I always shoot my rifle before the season and I always run my outboard motor before fishing opener.  Too many things to go wrong without confirming it ahead of time.   I guess it could have been beavers but the house itself didn't appear nearly big enough along one ditch.  It was about the size of chair.  I've seen beavers houses many times before and they appear much bigger than that.
    • leech~~
      Good thing you made a check run.  That would have really suked walking into opening day.  Why do you think muskrats and not beavers?  
    • gimruis
      Well I checked on stands over the weekend.  Kind of a disaster.   All the ditches are plum full and twice as wide becauase muskrats have clogged an area.  I spent an hour unclogging it and the water is slowly moving again, but our bridges and planks were underwater.  The back portion of the land where the best stand is was inaccessible.  Hopefully that changes by Saturday.  I have a feeling the muskrats are just going to clog it back up again.   Tons of standing corn still too.  They've started on it, but being so wet now with more rain coming, whatever's there will remain there for the foreseeable future.   All the grassland is completely flattened like a pancake due to 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow.  That eliminates about 75% of the pheasant habitat in this spot.  Total buzz kill.  And this specific spot was one of my better producers last season because the grass was intact and lush through December last year.
    • BWpineisland
      Jerkin, how was the fishing?
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