Coon Rapids Dam to St Anthony Falls Fishing Reports (Pool 1)

[Slabasaurus]

Too fun. River walleye do tend to have a bit more fight in them, but still, nothin too crazy. The smallies in there are fun as well, so yeah, definitely not really complaining... I'm more confused than anything to be honest.

I lived at 1st and marquette a while ago (24th floor, lookin south and east, breathtaking views of the river and city... plus got to watch target field go up), never made it to the river for fishin there. Could not tell ya why, maybe I was too busy fishin at the local pubs Used to go read down by st anthony falls right behind the post office, did not see any anglers there... ever. In fact, I think I saw a handful fish the island and that's pretty much it.

Ahhh, as I write this i realize how much i truly enjoy shorefishing. Next season i will have my own boat, but even then I anticipate doing plenty of shorefishin...

As far as the feeder creeks are concerned, I've had a lot of luck, and they smell like it's about time for the minnows to spawn... not to mention the scenery can be spectacular.

[e1teen93]

hey u guys are talkin about how you cant keep the smallies off ur line, have u guys caught them near cr dam at all lately? just lookin for any help i can get, i havent been having too much luck.

[sicheneder]

i read all the other posts and it sounds like everyone else fishes north of 694. i was wondering if anyone fishes south of 694 towards the dam for smallies this time of the year. i stopped at the boom island launch on saturday and wasn't going pay a dollar an hour to park. ended up going to pool 2 for walleyes instead.

[EBass]

Cool pic slab!

For the most part I do fish north of 694. Some day I'd like to travel from hidden falls and go through the lock just to see what it's all about. I know there's some good smallies to be had and good channel cat action.

[UncleKes]

Because of the difficulties with development South of 694 it has been my experience that most people fish North of 694. They do start wetting a lone around Ford parkway and Minnehaha Falls all the way south into St. Paul. Haven't been there in years as I now live in Fridely so I cannot tell you what the fishing is like. A good friend who regularly fishes there says the Catfishing is good and in winter he can get some nice white bass toward St. Paul if the river is open. Sometimes he fishes the ice near shore and gets a few fish too. Depending on the current speed and ice.

North of 694 there is not as much development along the River so there is better access for shore fishing and a boat or canoe. The best bet is a duck boat or jon boat along this stretch.

Uncle Kes

[Slabasaurus]

Thanks ebass... was a bit chilly that am, but definitely worth it.

One of these days I'll try the area around and south of the 694 bridge... don't have a bot yet so I do like the expansive shoreline to explore, although I'm not sure how far south i can really go being shorebound.

[EBass]

On the West side of da sippi the North Mississippi Regional Park (Camden Bridge) has plenty of trails heading north. But there's a trail that goes south for a bit right under the tressel. That's about as far south as you can go on the west side from shore.

The East side has more park and trails go a little further south, but then it hits a residental area and some bar/restaurants. I see people all over the shore fishing, walking dogs, hanging out.. More so from the Camden bridge going north. Plenty of area to fish.

[Slabasaurus]

Noticed the fishing has picked up substantially this week...

went out last night for an hour and a half maybe, started out with a hot walleye bite. Then the bite died completely... it was pretty strange. After half hour or 45 mins of casting to a ghost town I feel a little tug. Think it's weeds so i don't do anything, until it tugs again, so i set the hook. "Wow" i said. Looked at my buddy, said "Holy [expletive deleted] this thing is huge!" and as i said "HUGE" my rod tip bent down hard.

Fought it for 10 mins, then it swam out into the current and positioned itself on the far side of a brush pile... then it worked itself free.

I'll never know what that one was, it was one of the biggest things I've had on the end of my line though.. and the last time a hot bite turned cold I hooked into a 47" ski on my Ultralight setup. It fought like a big musky, but who knows. NO 7 shad rap cast over some weeds, slow and steady retrieve.

[EBass]

Good deal on the bite picking up. Sad that you lost the biggun, but that's why they are the bigguns. At first I thought it was a carp, then you said using a Rap, so Pike, Eye, or Ski. Hmm... My buddy did catch a huge carp on a tube, but haven't heard of one hitting a Rap.

[Slabasaurus]

As soon as the hit came i thought "Toothy monster." Then as I drove home I wondered about the possibility of it being a carp... as it's been since 1994 that I've actually had a carp on my line, and that was with a bamboo rod so it wasn't on for long.

I'm sure they'll hit a rap, but a no 7 shad? That seems a little big. then again I have very little knowledge on the behavior/feeding patterns of carp.

Gonna give WBL the old college try tonight with a buddy... here's to hopin the eyes have moved shallow... I'll be back to the river thursday night to see if i can find out what this bad boy (probably girl) was.

[e1teen93]

Hey so have any of u fished near the coon rapids dam lately? i dont have a boat, so thats pretty much where i have to fish, i live in coon rapids, if you dont fish the cr dam, where would a good spot for me to shore fish be? I havent been havin much luck at the dam lately... and am tryin to figure somethin else out.

[Slabasaurus]

Check the major times (solunar) and try to fish during them. This week is a good week to get out during the evening/night if you can. I too am shorebound, and with the full moon nearly upon us, with cool water, well it's a great time to be.

One thing I have noticed recently is that the water levels have been decreasing, so the spots workin 3 weeks ago are pretty barren... the key then is to look for similar structure nearby and work that. I do this with a bottom bouncer drug back to shore, using feel to find weeds/rocks that I can't see. A large part of why I enjoy fishin rivers is how often they are changing, you have to learn to adapt. (Note the drag method is conducive to donating equipment to the river if there are any stumps/trees/roots...)

Check out the boat launch near 694, I think it's on east river road. There's about a mile of public shoreline to fish there. I haven't tried that stretch yet, but plan to in the next few days.

[e1teen93]

have you been fishin at the coon rapids dam at all lately? thats where i usually fish off shore, theres a lot of shoreline there too.. any luck?

[Slabasaurus]

Never made it out to the CR Dam... buddy lives in Fridley so I usually end up around 694.

how is the park after sunset? Do they let people fish there or are they sticklers... I have bad luck with cops in parks, usually end up with a ticket if it's "after sunset."

If you're not havin too much luck take a look at other factors as well... eg weather, wind, temp, pressure trend, solunar detail... and cater your outings to meet the best conditions. Last night I went out and was skunked... had some bites but pressure was on the rise, and i did not make it out until after the cold front pushed through. I've found that no matter where you're sittin relative to the solunar times, after cold fronts come through It's tough luck for a few hrs up to a few days. Looks like pressure is stabilizing a bit so tonight from 9:30-11:30 would probably be great... and tomorrow evenin from 10:00-12:00. Tomorrow at 10pm-12am the moon will be full, and at the highest point in the sky. Note, I've noticed a flurry of activity during the major times, but that doesn't necessarily tie out to bites. That depends on your presentation Example: I caught a 6# smallie this spring at the beginning of a major. After that we didn't catch much, but the greenies and gills were topfeeding all around us, looked like rain drops almost. If i had a fly, woulda been non stop action. I didn't though, so was "stuck" with just the beast of a smallie.

One basic rule i tend to follow when fishing new lakes/rivers/streams is to look to the windblown structure. Could be a tree laying in the water. Could be the shoreline, whatever it is, there will be baitfish blown to it (Not sure on rivers how well this works really due to the whole current thing).

I noticed you're after rough fish. I have not had any luck with these guys on the river this year.. haha. Each time i 'try' I end up with a gamefish of some sort. The advice I have above though still works. They may be more willing to bite after cold fronts, if for nothing else the slower presentation used to bring em in.

[e1teen93]

Alright that sounds like some good advice, i'll pay more attention to that stuff from now on. have u had much luck near 694 lately? maybe ill try there, you fish north of 694 off the shore you said?

[Slabasaurus]

HOLY COW is the river high as heck right now. One of my spots went from being uncastable because the snags were all at the surface to unfishable because the structure there isn't really effective anymore. Heh. So... gotta move around to find where they went! The feeder I frequent was up maybe 3 feet, and walking to the river from the feeder has become... challenging? Yeah. bud ended up bailing into the creek...

Ahh, this is what makes fishin the river fun...

After the icy hurricane went through last week, I managed to do well on the eyes right around sunset (just after mostly). Big cranks, slow retrieves were the ticket. 21, 20, 20.5, 18, 17, 15. The 20.5 was a 4 pounder. She really let herself go.

[deadeye]

Nice. I did really good last Monday before the storm blew through. I just saw that the water is up ridiculously high and was kinda thinking about trying after work again. Glad to see it might be worth a shot.

[Adam Wolf]

Reading through the posts it's funny, I had some real good action the week of Oct. 20th as well. It was right after a rain storm here in the metro and water was up a bit, but not like it is now. Went out last night managed one small pike and one 17" eye. I get in the habit of going to the same spots over and over, I think I've put enough time in by now to know when these spots will produce and when they won't, which takes while if you are used to lake fishing. I'm still fairly new to river fishing and figuring out the current, especially being limited from shore, but I really like the added challenge it gives, you really gotta be on top of it and react accordingly.

I generally fish plastics on a jig since they are cheap and you can work them slow or fast. I might throw on a rap one of these days though if I can find some time and move around and see if I can't find some new water. Good luck,