Muskies in the upper Minnehaha creek?

[MNoutdoors99]

Hi, My name is Jim and I have been planning a kayak fishing expedition with a friend on the Minnehaha Creek starting from Grays bay dam and ending around Lake Nokomis. I have fished in the creek several times now around various places and I have encountered several fish species. One of the main locations I have fished is on The Civic Center Trail Bridge which is about a mile downstream from the grays bay dam. The bridge is right by the Minnetonka City Hall. I have caught Bluegills, Green Sunfish, Pumpkinseeds, Hybrid sunfish off or around the bridge so far but I have also seen some kind of Hognose sucker swimming under the bridge and have seen lots of dead and alive carp too, But that is not all! I have seen plenty of medium sized largemouth bass cruising downstream as well. BUT! This past September I was fishing with my friend and we were using topwater lures and we had a pike-like fish hitting our lures a lot, I would say it was around 18" and by the color and behavior of it striking repetitively I believe it was a Northern Pike. I thought it was interesting that a pike would be in there but a few days later we decided to try fishing at the Grays bay dam. We fished for around a half hour and we were on the Lake Minnetonka side of the dam when we heard a kid fishing on the Minnehaha creek side shouting about a fish so we decide to check what all the fuss was about and he had caught a 25" Tiger Muskie! this was in the Creek itself so after this moment I have had so many questions.. We fished a bit longer after the kid caught the tiger muskie and my buddy caught 2 Northern Pike around 15" in the creek. We eventually tried this little dock in between the dam and the bridge and I caught a little pike around 12 inches long.There is a video of me with the Small Pike below this article. So after that we went back to grays bay dam again and I caught 3 more Pike and there was another person fishing there so I started to ask him if he has seen anyone catch any muskies in the creek and to my surprise he pulls out his phone and shows me a picture of him holding a small tiger muskie he said he had caught a week prior inside the creek! So I know for a fact tiger muskies are in the headwaters of the creek but I have 3 main questions I have been searching all over the web for and here they are: Is there any normal Muskies (Non-Hybrids) in the creek? If yes then do they stay in the headwaters of the creek or do they swim downstream? and also, how are the muskies getting in there? My guess for those 3 questions would be that if tiger muskies are getting into the creek then muskies should also be getting in as well. I also would assume that muskies and all other species of fish disperse throughout the creek. Some may find places to live such as deeper pools to survive the winters and dry seasons and some may just swim all the way down and end up staying permanent residents in deeper parts of the creek and lakes connected such as Meadowbrook Lake, Lake Hiawatha or Lake Nokomis or even go right over the Minnehaha falls and if they survive that huge drop then they carry on through the rest of the creek into the Mississippi River. And my guess for the final question is either Muskie eggs, fingerlings or just Muskies and Tiger Muskie's in general get washed through the Grays bay dam into the creek and get stuck in there and possibly breed in the creek itself? Who knows but all I know is that Tiger muskies are for sure in the Minnehaha creek at the beginning and also I know that a guy caught a 35lb Muskie in lake Hiawatha and from reading the DNR surveys it doesn't say Muskellunge are in that lake and the only way for a normal muskie to get in there would be for one in Lake Minnetonka get swept into the creek and continue its journey all the way down and into Lake Hiawatha. I do know that Tiger Muskellunge are stocked in Lake Nokomis and Nokomis is connected to the creek and so is Hiawatha so I understand Tiger Muskies can very well be in Lake Hiawatha and the lower part of the creek but the thing is those fish can't swim over the Edina mill dam which is the border between the Upper Minnehaha creek and the Middle Minnehaha creek so that means any fish in the upper part of the creek came from Lake Minnetonka or were born in the creek itself. I have also read on other fishing forums that people have seen and have large Muskellunge follow lures and jump around 54th street and Arden park so I believe they came from Lake Minnetonka as well. Anyways what I am trying to get at is from what I have been reading lots of people don't believe there is fish in the upper part or middle part of the creek and they spend all their time fishing where the creek meets the Mississippi river past the falls (Lower Minnehaha Creek). But I am telling you guys! The upper part of the creek has lots of fish as well and for sure has Tiger Muskies and I am positive the occasional Muskie as well has to be lurking in the creek. I have seen massive splashes of large fish in the creek but have not seen what fish as they are very fast when they jump but I would assume they are either Large pike or Muskies grabbing a frog or something. I have never caught a muskie before and I don't wanna bother with Lake Minnetonka as it would take a long time to catch one. So this spring and summer I will be making multiple kayak fishing trips throughout the length of the creek and see if I can come across one of these fish as I have been predicting. So what are your guy's thoughts? Have you ever caught any Muskies in the creek? Any stories or info? It would help a lot for me and my friend. thanks! - Jim.

 

[MNoutdoors99]

bump

[macgruber]

I’m a few years late on this, but I can confirm there are musky throughout the creek.  I watched a couple giants spawning below the dam at Grays bay in the spring, I know of a large one caught in Meadowbrook lake on the fly, I’ve hooked into and seen a few monsters below the falls.  Gotta think there’d be one or two floating around the Minneapolis stretch near the lakes where tigers are stocked.  I don’t know that I would target them anywhere other than the headwater stretch as they would likely be spread out thin through the rest of it.  I love the creek, fun to explore.

[gim]

Technically, any fish species present in Lake Minnetonka could be present in the creek, since they are connected.  That would include a pure strain muskellunge.