Minnesota River Fishing Report

[TruthWalleyes]

Nice evening yesterday.

1 Walleye (20" Cut bait), 8 Shovels (24"-29" Crawlers), 6 Channels (14"-28" Crawlers/Cut Bait) and this monster Flathead.

Had to smack my Bird with a shoe too

[wastewaterguru]

That looks a lot more like a mad tom than a flathead./

Just sayin'

[TruthWalleyes]

Yeah after i posted it i had a friend tell me it is most likely a willow cat - mad tom .. etc. It was used as bait for the next hour but nothing bit

[NKLCOLT1911]

dang dude did you ruin your screen?

[harvey lee]

Sounds like you had a great outing Truth.

Seems the river fish are going well.

[JackPineGuy]

smackin yer bird?

[TruthWalleyes]

No harm done,.

[SurlyRobot]

The walleye fishing from shore really slowed down today, they had been biting real well lately but they didn't want anything to do with my fatheads today. My buddy caught 2 sheepheads on crawlers and I got a big fat buffalo on a fathead. Seen a lot of gar cruising around lately and I saw a creek completely choked out with big carp the other day in the Chaska area.

[JeremyCampbell]

I was useing fat heads too.I should have tried plastics today

[DTro]

The river will be a dead sea for a while with all this rain. Its chocolate milk and rising fast. Was just down at the falls in Jordan and the creek is ROARING.

[Gordie]

No harm done,.

Got a lesson about the Birds and the bees, didn't ya

[Grainbelter]

Finally made it to henderson for the first time Tuesday this year, did ok, 1 cat about 20ish and a sumo sucker, and of course a whole lot of little cats (don't they ever get big?!?) Tried plastics for walleye for about a half hour with one good smack but nothing else so I popped a pbr, lit a stogie and threw worms out the back. Pretty consistent bite. Water's moving along decent and muddy but I fished some slower current. Boat launch was muddy but otherwise excellent. I didn't see any green markers on the logs yet though Scott.....

[Scott K]

I have them, I just havent been out much yet this year. I will get them on soon, since I will have some spare time to fish after this week.

[Craigrbox]

Looking to head out this Fri night and Sat between Black dog and Shakopee the river looks up but nothing like last year. I haven't had any luck catching cats on this stretch, I have managed eye's on the mouths of creeks and inlets but can't seem to find the cats. I am used to fishing the croix with lots of snags and backwaters and this dredged water is new to me. Should I just be looking for holes in the channel or should I try to find snags that are now underwater or should I be concentrating on areas where water flows in? This will be my second year on the MN and I am hoping to have better luck than last year. Any help would be appreciated.

[ARB]

Been out 4 times over the past 6 days, fishing between Shakopee and Jordan. Water temps have been pretty consistent at 63/64 degrees. Been having between 3-8 runs each night on 5-8 inch bullheads, only one small 20" flathead in the boat. I need to figure out a method for consistently hooking up with more fish, but its been nice to have consistent bites at least. Most of the accesses seem to be in pretty good shape at this point.

[TruthWalleyes]

5-8" bullheads i usually run a tandem hook, J or Circle. Make sure there is lots of hook showing. Before tossing the bullhead in the river, make sure the hooks won't turn and hook into the bait. It seems that when i'm missing hookups on catfish - it just continues to happen! Grrr, But those are a few tips that should reduce the misses.

Good Luck.

[NKLCOLT1911]

went out friday, the weather was nice and thats about it, i decent channel and a dink and a white bass was all i and my partner had to show for a night on the river, heading out tonight to try for a few hours, got some fresh bait that needs some exercise.

[ARB]

Thanks for the tip truthwalleyes, will make sure with those hook points can't turn back into the bait. Have recently went to a tandem 9/0 circle hook rig. Was using a 9/0; 6/0 rig and just couldn't stay hooked up on that smaller back hook, I'm hoping that the bigger hook will do the job.

[Alagnak]

I'm sure there are others- but I personally don't know one single person besides probably Steve D, that uses circles for flats with live bait and does worth a darn on them. Just when I think I've tried it enough over the years and SWORE I'd never try it again I now have reason number XX why NEVER AGAIN- I just had to throw on a big 9/0 circle this morning that was floating around my box. 99% of the time these days I only use them for cut bait on chans and sturg. It was even a smaller bully and part of the reason I did it- had a nice run, engaged and swept/reeled just like I do with any other circle bite with cut bait- it loaded/ bent over nice and POP out comes the hook.

Not that J's catch everyone you get a hit on by any means- there are a million factors. Some nights it might be everything under the sun hitting it besides a big flat mouth you just never know. 10 minutes later after of course going back to the J- I have another hit, run, set, hookup- only to find out it's a 25'' eye ball with a 7/0 half down the gullet. Exactly what I don't want to happen and why'd I'd love to use the circles on live bait too. I'm certainly all ears to anyone who thinks they've mastered them because in my book they stink on big live for flats.

[TruthWalleyes]

I'm with ya alagnak. I like an 8/0 circle for cut bait, drag tight, rod in rod holder - let the fish double the rod over and start reeling. I won't use a smaller circle hook unless i'm just using crawlers...and if it's just crawlers for sturgeon i stick with the 8/0.

I also tend to use J's for big bait and flats.

It's a great feeling when your rod is loaded up and the hook pops out

[ARB]

yeah its a major bummer, happened to me about 10 times in the last week. I may go crazy soon if it happens again. So how long are you guys letting those fish run with a bully on a J hook rig then? I run the same channel cat rig as you guys, circles with a closed bail, never really played with the J hooks, guess I will have to give them a shot when using live bait.

[Alagnak]

As mentioned- there's just so many variables. I've had several outings where you can't miss one- then the next outing you cant hook one (doing the same thing). I think my record is like 6-7 misses IN A ROW in a night- now that will make you want to break a rod over a knee LOL. So what I'm saying is don't get down on yourself and, they aren't all flatheads that's for sure so it's impossible to hook them all when half of them can't get that bait in their mouth anyway. All I can say is I take it like I take a pike with big bait on a tip up rigged with a quick strike rig. I don't even touch the rod until I know it was hit/smashed and bait stops moving, then I like to set it when it's on a nice slow walk in the opposite direction. This way I like to think the line is coming out the corner of the mouth on the way back to you in hopes for a good corner hook (although half of them are in the upper). Then, you'll have one that just slurps it in, and takes it towards you up stream or sideways and doesn't even pull clicker (not as common) so then I just reel my slack up to it while following it with my rod a little and try to sweep my rod back downstream (same reasons in hopes for corner). You CAN set too hard and rip the hook out, snap braid, break terminal tackle, etc and you can certainly set too soft. When you know exactly when the in between is- let us all know and write a book on it. ;-)

[NKLCOLT1911]

i stick to 10/0 j's for live bait flat head and 6/0 to 8/0 for cut for channels and sturgeon, i use these mostly for the reasons stated above and i seem to have better hook up ratios this way, sure i have had misses but thats part of fishing, at least your getting action i went an entire year without catching a single fish.

[ARB]

I appreciate the tips guys, will put that info to good use. I'll get a report up next time I get a chance to hit the Minnesota.

[TruthWalleyes]

When you know exactly when the in between is- let us all know and write a book on it. ;-)

Exactly!

I'd buy that book.

[LukasH]

Finally got myself on here! I come on here to check out what people have been saying so I figured i would finally register. I have been having a great year on the river, lately the bullheads have been working well for me and a couple on cut bait. here is a 32,35,28. We have been getting a bunch in the 10-20pd range. Good luck fishing everyone!

[LukasH]

Been doing most of my fishing out of land of memories and judson area around Mankato. Anyone else had any luck? Here are some more fish we have caught this year.

[Gordie]

Welcome to HSO LukasH and glad to see your posting so kittys

River is high and running a strong current, we got three flats last night 26-31 inches and a turtle. Caught flats in 5-7 fow and on a current seam. The turtle came in almost slack water with a ton of bait fish. Had several other bites, but could not connect.

Lots of debris catching on the line.

[JeremyCampbell]

Those are good size cats! Seems like these high water conditions are baring some fruit.

[Alagnak]

Those are good size cats! Seems like these high water conditions are baring some fruit.

Actually- those were well before the most recent high water. Notice where they're standing. ;-)