St Anthony to Ford Dam

[popriveter]

Does anyone fish this stretch of the river?

I have fished the mile below the Ford dam a thousand times and only went through the locks to try the stretch above once.

I live nearby and see canoes float through there, but it seems to be mostly ignored. The one time I tried it, I caught a ton of smallmouth bass. Are there walleyes and saugers to speak of? Any big structures that a newbie should be alerted to?

Do fish tend to stack up under the St Anthony falls dam like they do under the Ford dam?

[Ralph Wiggum]

I have not, but I am hoping to try it this year.

[popriveter]

Well, this is a little disappointing. Maybe I'll have to ask the question during open water season. Maybe I will just have to figure it all out myself. I'll watch for you, Ralph!

[goblueM]

i've heard there's good smallmouth, i can't speak to anything else. i've just fished it from shore

[mrklean]

there are some cats in between there and plenty of smallies

[Ralph Wiggum]

What's the nearest/best launch below Ford Dam? Going from the upriver side would require going through both St. Anthony locks.

[jwmiller33]

Ralph,

Hidden Falls is a public launch on the Saint Paul side of the river about a couple hundred yards down river from the Ford Dam. This is going to be your best bet

[Ralph Wiggum]

Thanks. That's what I thought, but I have never launched there. I'm guessing it gets pretty busy?

[mrklean]

i fished out there one friday night last summer and it was pretty busy that night but it could be worse it could be tonka on a saturday afternoon in the summer

[JimBuck]

At times it can be just like Tonka when those cigarette boats scream through there.

[jwmiller33]

I launched from Hidden Falls quite a bit the past few years and it does get a little busy the first couple weeks of March in the spring, but after the spring rush is over, I would not consider HF to be a busy launch compared to others in the metro. I rarely, if ever have to wait to launch or load my boat, and besides the first 3 weeks in March, there are rarely more than 3-4 other trailers in the parking lot. There are more people who use the park to run the trails, walk the dog, picnics, etc than there are people who use it to fish.

[mrklean]

ha there are some interesting characters down there as well ran into a few shore fishing down there last year

[jwmiller33]

ha there are some interesting characters down there as well ran into a few shore fishing down there last year

you can say that again! one of my friends actually had a guy on shore who literally tried to jump into his boat

[mrklean]

haha my gf and i fished few hundred yards downstream of the dam one Friday night left at about 11 and there were tons and tons of high school/college kids going down those steps turns out there was a big kegger back in the woods got a kick out of that

[popriveter]

Hidden Falls is my go-to launch when the lakes are too busy. I fished out of there on Memorial Day and Labor Day last year and didn't have to wait in line to launch. Plenty of open parking spaces too. I have been told that if you intend to keep any Pool 2 protected species that you catch above the dam, you can't drop a line either on your way to or from the locks.

I catch and release so many walleyes and saugers in the stretch below the Ford Dam that I have to think it is possible to get a meal from above the Dam, but I haven't met anyone who's caught a walleye or sauger there yet. I guess I will probably just keep eating channel cats. They are more fun to catch anyway.

[jac714]

I have fished this stretch extensively over the last few years, I generally put in at the North Mississippi Park or at Boom Island park in North Minneapolis. The rip-rap on the east bank at the old Scherer Brothers lumber site (just upriver of Boom island) generally holds a quite a few smallies, continuing down the east bank to about the Hennepin Ave bridge will generally produce some more small mouth. There is not much between the upper and lower St Anthony locks but just down stream below the university (look for the large concrete drain culvert emptying into the river to river flats park is also pretty good on the east side. I have not spent much time working the sandy banks between River Flats and the Marshall Ave bridge. Starting at the Marshall ave bridge to the Ford Dam is pretty good on the east side. The west bank from about the ford dam back up to almost the Marshall Ave bridge is also pretty good.

If you are interested in giving it a try during open water let me know I am always open to a day on the river.

[popriveter]

Thanks for the great reply, Jac. I read through it using a satellite view on google to see the spots you referenced. I must really be hungry for open water fishing because I got super-excited just looking at the satellite shots and remembering my one day on that stretch. I only fished from the Ford Dam to the Marshall bridge and back. Now I have a few reasons to keep going north.

[Dragon Fish ll]

Yes there are some walleyes in that strech but no where near as many as below the ford. your best bet to catch them there is in spring when the water is fast just find some good slack water and between the bass, crappies and catfish you will catch a few walleyes. Ive been fishing down there the last couple weeks and on certain days have had non stop crappie and sunny action. but they will change locations just like that on U. Brought a friend with one day about a week ago because he always wanted to catch a crappie from the miss and he managed two Bass one being a large mouth, not the norm. after the spring they scatter and get a little tricky to find. between the locks at st anthony use to be a real fun spot during the off season during march and april for some good cat action. but ever since they closed the locks and drainded it a couple years back the fishing dropped way off. After someone who used to be on this site told me not mention it on here he tld everyone on here about it became the place to go for a couple of years.But the fish havnt returned like before, not at all. But il still check it out ia couple of week

[jac714]

Let me know if you want to try it. During the summer I hit that strech at least once a week. The smallie fishing is great, plus you can get just about anything out of the river (Walleye, Northern, Channel Cats, Sheephead,) in that area.

[popriveter]

I expect I'll probably take you up on the invitation this summer. I'd love the chance to pick your brain a bit and learn some new water.

To me, the Mississippi is an exciting challenge. It has so many species, so many quality-sized fish and so many variables that it's been tough for me to get excited about lake fishing over the past couple summers.

Do any of you hit many white bass in this stretch?

[frazwood]

I used to fish this stretch of the river often. There are a handful of spots between the falls and Ford dam where you can launch a canoe.

The fishing is very interesting along here, to say the least. I have caught so many different species of fish that it's hard to list them all. My fishing style is almost exclusively for smallmouth, so any walleyes, white bass, etc., were accidental.

The walleye and white bass that I have caught in this stretch, though rare, were nice size (although my standards are famously low).

My favorite part of fishing this stretch is the lack of other boats on the water. I am usually in my canoe alone, so any boat traffic really causes me a problem.

[mrklean]

im gonna do a little more cat fishing down there this year

[Tator2k]

I also do this stretch a bunch in the summer. You can go as far up stream as the old Lowry ave bridge and find good structure.

We call this the 5 species a day trip. If you can't catch five different fish there's something wrong.

[BronzeBrother]

I too have spent many of days stomping around in the mud and sand in this section of the miss. I grew up fishing on those banks. Muskies, walleye, sm bass, Northerns, crappies, sheephead, huge carp, channel cats galore, long nosed gar are just a few of the species I have caught in this section. This part of the river holds a special place for me. The memories are so many. I was fishing the big sandy beach just south of the Marshall/lake street bridge when they were building the new bridge and the one arch collapsed! Very sad. But also another memory of that section was me and my buddy were fishing just North of the ford dam when my buddy hooked onto a big fish that stripped all his line off his reel. 25 lb test line, drag turned up to try and turn that fish and it ran like a bull and took all his line. All I could do was stand there and laugh my butt off while this monster took it all. This section may not have the reputation for producing the eyes like below the ford dam but it has other species that more then make up for the lack of walleyes!

[BronzeBrother]

I also do this stretch a bunch in the summer. You can go as far up stream as the old Lowry ave bridge and find good structure.

We call this the 5 species a day trip. If you can't catch five different fish there's something wrong.

Couldn't agree more with this statement about the multiple species day

[SkunkedAgain]

Just be careful heading north of the Lowry Avenue bridge. The last time I was up there (a few years ago) there were still signs stating that they don't dredge much further up the road. At some point you'll find that, other than in spring, the Mississippi gets very shallow heading towards the 694 bridge. You'll definitely hit some rocks...I have!

[mrklean]

is there decent shore access around there?

[Tator2k]

My two 'favorites' happened basically on the same beach.

First, we were chasing carp around when my buddy put his rod down to light a smoke. His rod took off, and he had to drive in ripping everything out of his pockets trying not to get his phone, wallet and stuff wet. In the end he ended get snagged and breaking his line but not before being dragged up stream about 100 ft. Last time he was going use a Loomis on carp.

2nd favorite was this one:

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2339148/Got_a_spare_gas_can#Post2339148

[jac714]

Just be careful heading north of the Lowry Avenue bridge. The last time I was up there (a few years ago) there were still signs stating that they don't dredge much further up the road. At some point you'll find that, other than in spring, the Mississippi gets very shallow heading towards the 694 bridge. You'll definitely hit some rocks...I have!

The channel ends just north of the Camden bridge, it is pretty abrupt when it does, it goes from 9 feet to about a foot and a half in a boat length. Cost me a prop to learn that one

[mrklean]

which is the camden bridge?