newcomer needs help!

[IKOLA]

I have lived around MPLS my whole life and fished almost everywhere, but never fished the mississippi.. My love for walleye and smallmouth has always battled with the fact that I do not own a boat(I do it just isn't running yet).

What I am asking is for someone to give me a few shore spots on the river near the cities that a guy could go to catch a few EYES and Smallies! I am not asking for any hotspots or secrets just a starting point, a place I can go and not waste a whole day without a fish.

I am a curtious and respectfull fisherman who can be trusted to take care of the areas I fish. Any info would help and I am willing to share a few of my hotspots around the metro in return, including a spot that holds the biggest sunfish I have ever seen in my life, went the other day to catch a meal, in 20 minutes caught 20 fish, kept 9 the smallest being 8 in and one that I swear was 11.

Minnehaha creek and hidden falls are to areas that I have heard of but I know nothing about them .

[Shack]

There is a good thread going in "Minnesota River" section about Minnehah Falls with some good tips. I would use a crawler and your will not be wasting your time. You also might get a good sized carp or cat with that. Weight,stop, leader and hook. Tipped with crawler, you should be good. Bring some differnt lures and another poll with a quick clip. If river harness does not work, switch to lure poll. Look on ground around you. You will find area's were other people have fished. Try their and see what happens. Give it 15-20 minutes and move. Good luck!

[EBass]

The minnehaha confluence is a good spot. I hope you like walking up stairs But it's a good spot.

Another good spot is on the opposite side of the minnehaha outlet. The river bends and creates a nice large eddy that holds everything from crappies, white bass, sheepies, walleyes, saugers, pike, smallies and maybe even a bullhead or a big ol mooneye. Oh yeah cats to. Both Flats and Channels.

Any who - that entire area is open to the public and has a few miles on both sides of the river. This is in Pool 2 but you prolly know that.

Stone Arch bridge is a small area that gets fished pretty hard, but hold nice cats from time to time and smallies with a walleye in the mix.

Going north - under the 694 bridge there is about a mile on each shore that's open to the public.

A lil further south is the North Mississippi Regional park (Camden) and that has a mile or so of shore to fish to. Also has a RR bridge that has a nice hole behind it from the most northern barge. There I gave my shore spot on line. Good catfish spot - well it can be. Hit or miss, but I've seen a couple 8lber channels caught there. I have boat now

Just watch out after dark. There are some weirdo's out there.

[nofishfisherman]

The Minnehaha area isn't all that great right now. The water level has dropped so the fish seem to have moved on. You might be able to get a few small smallies hanging around there but its been pretty dead there lately.

I would probably try the opposite side of the river from Minnehaha it looks like people have done better on that side lately. You can get there from Hidden Falls, lots of shore line to work along the enitre park. If you can find anywhere where there is a current seam it would be a good spot. Also the rip rap along the shore probably holds smallies. The seam at Minnehaha had alot of fish stacked in their for a few weeks but the current has decreased now.

As for bait and lures on Minnehaha almost everyone who was catching walleye and smallies was using shiners caught in the creek. Crawlers haven't been used much and if you did you would probably get more rough fish.

I have used just a plastic shad on jig and casted it into the seem and boucned it along the bottom on the retrieve. I did pretty well with this technique most of the spring.

I to feel your pain, I have no boat but like to catch the eyes so the river is the best option. If I come across a good shore spot in my future explorations in the next few weeks I'll be sure to let you know.

[IKOLA]

Thank you all so much! Everything that you have written is all new to me, so today I learned alot. I am going to try and get out soon, and because of you guys I now have a plan of attack!

[IKOLA]

Sorry to ask for more but I just thought of this when thinking of what to bring.

What depth am I looking at in most areas? I'll figure out lure selection my self.

[nofishfisherman]

No need to apologize for asking questions, thats why we are all here.

Depth can vary alot, and it changes regularlly. On one of my last trips down to Minnehaha walleye were being caught out otward the main channel in the current seam and they were also coming from just a few feet of water no more then 10 feet from shore.

I think finding the right depth isn't nearly as important as finding the right type of water. If there is a nice current seam or eddy, or rip rap or something else that will hold fish it won't matter so much how deep the water is. Just keep your presentation in the strike zone (bottom foot or two)

If you want to cover alot water and you want to make sure you are in the strike zone I would recommend a jig and minnow. You can also use a jig and plastics (Sassy Shad, Twister tail, etc...) I have been using a 1/4 ounce and haven't had a problem with the current being to strong, if you find the current is to strong and won't let the 1/4 oz get to the bottom fast enough just go heavier.

Ounce it hits bottom just lift your rod tip about 6 inches or so to lift the bait off the bottom, then lower it back down and as you lower it reel up the slack. When you feel it hit to bottom again just pause for a second and then lift your rod again to jump it forward. Do this all the way back to shore, you'll be amazed how you'll catch fish right at your feet occasionally so make sure you work the presentation all the way back.

If you have any more questions just ask. This is my first year of fishing the river but I put in alot of time so far and learned alot. Once you learn whats going on it can be a ton of fun. There's always something biting on the river.

[EBass]

You're looking for current seams (current going one way, then right next to it it's going to opposite direction) or eddys. Also fallen trees that go out a bit in the river create an eddy and have caught some eyes doing that. Jig and curly tail grub. Dusk is a good time per use.

It's different each time out since the water is going up and down. Also, after rain storms check out culverts that have some water going out.

Best advice is to pick up some waders and walk around. Be carefull though if you don't know the area. A lot of people wade by the Minnehaha confluence just feel with your foot a lil bit before you take that next step. The main channel drops real quick.

[nofishfisherman]

Yeah I am not sure if i would do the wader thing until you know where the drop offs are. After looking at the area with very low water i have an idea of where the danger zone is but if you haven't seen it before you'll never know, one step to many and your over the edge.

Here is a picture of what it looks like with very low water conditions.

Line C is where the drop off is into the main channel which i think is about 12 feet deeper then the surrounding areas.

There is a website that has good info about this area, not sure if i am allowed to post the link or not. But I am sure you can find it doing a search. The website explains about the fishing area on each letter of the picture.

[nofishfisherman]

by the way Ikola, have you gotten out yet?

Any luck?

[EBass]

Wow nofish, can't paint a better pic! That's really low water, but seems about right for late summer/fall. When the water is that low look for current.

[nofishfisherman]

It was even lower then that late last summer. The creek was just a trickle.

[IKOLA]

Nofish I'm tryin to get out but I have yet to talk my fishing buddys into the river. I will get out soon though and thanks again for all the help it was more than I could have asked for.