Hi all,
I’m going to give catfishing a try this year. I live in Minneapolis and have 3 rivers close-by to choose from. Which one would you suggest I try? The Minnesota, the Mississippi, or the St. Croix? 
Hey Fishface! Welcome to the board!
My short answer to your quesion is….yes.
Did you have a certain cat that you were targeting or just cats? I’ve never fished the MN river…but that’s going to change this year. I’ve only fished the Miss once for cats although Dirk and others pull out some awesome fish. I’ve only fished the Croix 3 times for cats. Skunked once and two 7 to 9 pound flats the other times…but there’s bigger ones out there.
So…it’s really up to you. I think the (I hate using this word) easiest of the three would be the Mississippi, (to find spots). The Croix has less snags and I can’t say much for the MN…but other, more experianced cat men will.
Good luck were ever you go…and remember to take a camera along…or at least let us know how you did! 
Well, I just want big and plentiful catfish, as do we all. I’d prefer big ones. I was thinking of trying to first try the Coon Rapids dam on the Mississippi R. in the NW metro, MN area. If any of you have other spots to suggest trying, feel free to let me in on them. I grew up fishing saltwater, and have only fished freshwater one season, and did OK, but no cats. 
Hey Fishface,
Welcome aboard!
I fish the C.R. dam alot and have mild success on the cats.
Plenty of small ones, ( 1 to 5 lb range ), and can usualy pull a 10 to 20 lbr every other trip.
The best spot is at the big damn on the Coon Rapids side using live 3-5 inch sucker minnows.
Most people will be fishing about 10 yards down from the main dam and will be casting out only about 30 feet or so. What you want to do is go down a little farther to where the two fences meet and cast out as far as you can. I have seen a lot more cats come out from beyond where most folks have their bait. A good baitcaster or more weight will help you get there.
Shoot me a PM sometime and I will gladly take you to some of my favorite spots up around that area.
I am up in the NW metro as well, i havnt fished the coon rapids dam much in the last couple years too crowded for me, i prefer the anoka dam, generally pick up a couple cats each time there in the mid range, but in the mid summer there are huge carp there, picked up several in the 20 lb range and got my personal best there which was a 35 pounder 
, what a blast pulling them in. Only draw back is there are a lot of those nasty little small mouth b@$$ around there 
ugly little creatures, almost as bad as those wallnutters….almost 
Cattin_Addict
Pardon my geographic knowledge, but where is the Anoka Dam? Is it by Monticello, or closer in to the cities than that?
The Anoka ‘dam’, if i am correct is in beautiful downtown Anoka. It is more of a waterfall than a true dam and is on the Rum river and not the Mississippi. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Dfresh,
You are correct. The Anoka Dam is located right downtown Anoka and can be fished from either side but the East side offers the best parking and the easiest access. It features two fishing decks and some really, really great fishing earlier in the year when the water is at the higher levels.
Later in the summer, you can practically walk across the river and not get your feet wet from the large concentration of bullheads that take up residece in the shallow pool below the damn.
You will often find me nightfishing there for cats as the Coon Rapids damn locks its gates around 10:00 pm and for the last 3 years the conservation officers have not allowed any night fishing there. Apperently the C.R. damn had a problem with partying teens and so they now just chase everyone out after dark which leaves the Anoka damn a viable option for night fishing.
Just drive all the way through downtown Anoka on Main street, ( Hwy 242 ), and you will find the damn.
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