Minnesota River Fishing Report

[JackPineGuy]

good lord the shako acsess was packed this weekend

[Gordie]

good lord the shako acsess was packed this weekend

So was Jordan access..

[DARK30]

Its not exactly the place to "get away" anymore. Should be a little better when it gets cold.

[JackPineGuy]

ya untill about 5 yeras ago the river was about the best palce ta avoid the crowns on a saterday. now its quite the oppsite since that guy moved down form bemidji or whatever

[JackPineGuy]

We got four flats and four channels last night. The biggest flat was 35x22 and she was really beat up These fish were caught in 20 plus fow on creek chubs. The channels were 28.5,30,31 and a 30 inch class fish boat side released.

Caught them on cut bait and found them on the inside current seams 6-10 fow.

theres a perf eater to bad its from the rivski

[Nabl1418]

Anyone been fishing the Minnesota river by Mankato in the last week or so? I was thinking about heading up there this weekend for a night of bank fishing. I was wondering what the river level is right now. Is it low? Would it be worth trying for a night?

[ec30_06]

It is really low right now

[aanderud]

Anyone been fishing the Minnesota river by Mankato in the last week or so? I was thinking about heading up there this weekend for a night of bank fishing. I was wondering what the river level is right now. Is it low? Would it be worth trying for a night?

For water level, you can always use the USGS sites (well, unless the sequestration shuts them down anyway)...

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mn/nwis/rt

Invaluable tool for those who use the river and want to know if any particular stretch is fishable with their boat.

[Scott K]

It has reached last years lows, so yes, it is very low.

[TruthWalleyes]

I drove by it last thursday and noticed it had dropped a whole lot since the last time i saw it.

Be careful at the land of memories access. It drops off at the end when water is this low and your trailer frame will drop down to the cement when your tires go off the edge...Been there, done that. FYI.

[Nabl1418]

Ok. Thanks for the info guys. I'm a couple hours from Mankato so I wanted to know before I came. I think I'll head the other direction this weekend and go to the Missouri River for a night of bank fishing instead. Probly head to Mankato next spring for a night. Thanks for the information.

[JackPineGuy]

the minnesota river shes a goin dry

[Alagnak]

the minnesota river shes a goin dry

IDK JackPine- it just came up the last few weeks to a nice little flow. A LOT more flow than last year at this time.

[DTro]

Walleyes have dried up too....

[JackPineGuy]

there not bittin or what?

[JackPineGuy]

ok i dident realize it came up a lil. i havent fished the river in the fall for quite a few years. use ta get tons of nice fish in the fall but have been side tracked with muskies and hunting now as an adult. years ago i fished the river over just about anywhere in the state and did awsome in the fall. now i usually just hit highwater in the spring and sometimes fish it over the summer. i see you guys still get lots of biggens down there in the fall which is great ta see. to be honest i prefer 15 or 16 inchers in the river nowdays or saugers of similar size for eatin. most guys realese the big guys now days which is awsome. when i was a kid every body around was eating big slabs oughta the river. i rember back in the early 60s the ol man ustta keep 8 or 9lbers oughta there. looking back it seems kinda odd.

[Alagnak]

i rember back in the early 60s the ol man ustta keep 8 or 9lbers oughta there. looking back it seems kinda odd.

With the condition of the water back in the day this explains a lot. LOL

[JackPineGuy]

w

[harvey lee]

For anyone who has been on the Mn river, what have you found for water temps?

Thanks

[RuddyDuck]

What are the water levels like from Mankato up past the New Ulm area? When I was in NU in April it was pretty low for that time of year, just wondering if it came up a bit with the rains. Thanks.

[Papa Grump]

48-49 in the main channel last Sunday , probably low 50's after today

[DTro]

It was 55 yesterday, this rain will cool it off a bit though I'm sure.

[NKLCOLT1911]

came up more than a bit.

[dan z]

Had a touch over 54° last night. And some activity on the clicker.

[clayton08]

Had some clicker activity yesterday also. 2 landed and one hog got off. This one was 39by22

[pikerliker]

Nice fish! How is it getting around on the river now?

[snagfinder]

Getting around is great if you can get on. Only place around BP to get on is Jordan.

[MattL]

A buddy and I took advantage of the open water the last couple days and got out in the boat. We got a mixed bag of walleyes/saugers ranging from little guys up to about 26". Vertically jigging minnows in 10-22' did it for us. Here are a few of the bigger fish..

[pikerliker]

Nice fish Matt and way to take advantage of the warm weather! If life gives you lemons make lemonade as they say

[Fever]

So, I have a couple things to rant about..... Please be patient and don't judge too much, as I typically don't complain too much about much.

Anyway, I've been ice fishing the Mn River now for around 6-7 seasons. I made the switch from area lakes to the river for a few reasons. one of them was to get away from the crowds. The others were the challenge, the risk, the excitement, and of course the quality of a certain species of fish found there. I've had some luck and have had some struggles over the years. I'm cool with that and see the downs as being part of it all. Anyway, recently, I've had a little success, not alot, a little. And, I've been quite happy about it. To my point - Now... Outdoor news publishes a few lines about some fish potentially biting on a fairly accessible area of the Mn river that I've been fishing steady now for 4 seasons. Monday afternoon - there was around 2+ dozen people out there - half of them had NO CLUE what they were doing, and I've never seen more than 12-14 total there, ever. There was litter / garbage by the landing and in the parking area, and basically, imo, way too much pressure than the spot could possibly handle. Outdoor news really is the death sentence for smaller isolated fisheries. I wish they'd realize the impact they have. There are a lot of people that read that publication that are too lazy or too otherwise uninformed to find fishing spots on their own. I personally wish that segment of that publication would end as it does more damage than good.

Also to rant on... Some dude backs his car down the landing, and unloads it - then leaves it there while he goes out and fishes. Basically blocking all people from backing down to unload or load next to the ice. I cant wrap my head around that approach.... Next time I see that, I'm backing down and blocking him in and he'll just have to wait till I'm good and ready to leave. Common sense just isn't as common as I think it used to be.

There are some sketchy people (mainly from a small town located on hwy 169) fishing around that spot. I had a spud bar that I dropped while loading up on New Years Eve (It was WAY cold and I think my brain started to freeze a bit during the process of loading up). I remembered after about 2 miles down the road, flipped a u turn, and was back to landing after only 3-4 min. There was no spud bar (just the imprint of it in the snow) and a white pickup with a topper and a very recognizable sticker on the back drivers side window was pulling out. He saw me and instead of stopping or slowing to ask if it was my spud bar I came back for - he sped up and squealed out of landing parking area. Needless to say, if and when I see that white truck with the topper & sticker parked there again, he'll need to call AAA in order to get home.

Rant over

Thanks & carry on...