First eyes of the fall

[Paul Waldowski]

Try towards Chaska. I cannot give up the spot because Dennis will kill me . We caught all of our fish on a jig and plastic, no live bait at all. Think shallow, some of our fish hit like a bass on topwater, and look for creeks flowing into the river

[Dennis Steele]

Hey tj

There is a lot of good spots downstream of Shakopee as well as towards and past Chaska.Heck the whole river is good for eyes.

Right now untill the water temps drop into the lower 40's,I expect to see most of the action fairly shallow.I was out today and we picked up walleye just about everywhere we tried,one or two at each area.

Pitching jigs into current seams near creekmouths has been the best producer.I like bright colored plastics like ringworms,ringgrubs,and big power baits.No minnows needed,but if you have confidence in minnows,tip your plastics with one.

I use the lightest jig I can get away with.I typically have three rods rigged with three different weight jigs.Anywhere from 1/8th to 3/8th depending on depth or current speed.Yu basically want your jig to drift just off the bottom with the current.

I also think rattles can attract more fish.I like to use jigs with rattles like JR's Tackle rattle jigs.Or put a little glass worm rattle in the plastic.

Once the water cools off a little the fish will be concentrated in the holes.Thats when the realy good bite starts.Then its a matter of hovering over a school of fish you located with your sonar and verticle jigging.Again its plastics for me first.If I have trouble getting the fish to bite on plastics then I will put a nice lively minnow on.But again platics usually out shine just a plain jig and minnow.

[tj417]

Great advice Dennis - Thank you - Do you eat walleyes out of the river?

Anybody? Do they taste fine - I know its probably that "No more than one meal a week or month" thing, but can I keep some?

[Dennis Steele]

Oh sorry,

I do keep a few smaller ones that have had less time to absorb contaminates.

[Mr Special]

With some luck, I might be on the MN on sunday.

It's been too long.

[Dennis Steele]

Had a slow weekend.

Saturday Jim W and his lovely wife joined me.She is a good sport to put up with a slow bite in the rain and wind.We were running and gunning the creek mouths and only picked up a fish here and there.Scanned a few of the holes to see if they were hiding there but never saw a decent school on the graph.We did one nice one,a 28+" eye in 10 feet of water along the mudline on a JR's Tackle rattle jig with a chartruese ringworm.Caught a couple more on 5" white Kalins.

With the light winds on suday I figured I would scout some fish in the holes.I picked up 3 nice eyes from 19 to 24" and a 21" sauger.All the fish came from less than 12 feet of water on the tail ends of the holes.Didn't see anything any deeper.The fish still seem to be scattered during the day. I did hear several reports of a good bite at sundown at the mouth of creeks.

Here is a pic of the nice eye we got on saturday.

[Jim W]

What a pig Dennis! Nothing better than watching a piggy surface and go into the net!

Thanks for having Susie and I along! THe conditions were quite rough, but you did an excellent job at boat control and getting us on some action! Susie really enjoyed her time on the river! You kind of see why I can get out so much....I just wish she could come along more often!

Thanks again Dennis...You ROCK!

Jim W

[nitewolf3008]

WOW nice pig!! i've been meaning to ask you dennis where did you buy that river pro at i'm getting tired of watching the outboard going bump and bang can you email me the info at [email protected] ..thanks

[LEECH21]

Nice fish Dennis! I'm still trying to break the 25" mark for walleyes. So I am very jealous.

[Dennis Steele]

Thanks guys,

Theres a few of them in there.I see a couple that go about that size or better every year.You hear a couple of stories of 12 to 14lbers cought every year also.My best so far is 30.5".Still waiting patiently for the real HOG.

Its interesting that all the fish over 8lbs that I have caught out of the MN River, have come from less than 10 feet of water.Never have caught a pig in the late fall in the holes.

nitewolf.

The River Pro's are made in MO.No doubt one of the toughest boats made.I put mine up a 45 degree rip rap bank at 30mph this spring and did little damage at all.A couple minor dents is all that I have to show for it.Plus its the shallowest running boat that I have seen on the market.I can run in ankle deep water with no problems.

You can do a search for "riverproboats" that will take you to the website.There is also a dealer in East Grand Forks.Whiskers Guide Service from the Red River,and Crookston forums is sponsored by the dealer and can get you in touch with them.

[MNRiverRat]

I love big walleyes, my biggest is 29.5", out of the good ol' river of course. I can't beat the nine pound mark though... I have had 8 people catch the biggest walleyes of their lives fishing out of my old boat on the river, lots of 8+ pound fish and every single one of the in under 8' of water. It all depends on where you can find them at, I've had 3-8lb fish come out of the same spot, all within an hour of fishing. Other times it's hard to even find a runt. I do have to say that I primarily fish with jigs and minnows, seems to work for me.

MNRiverRat