Mississippi River is Rising Fast

Looks like the river flow is going to be increasing for at least a week. I’m not a big fan of high water, especially in the fall as I have little experience fishing it.

The tailwater at the Hastings Dam is expected in rise 2 feet in the next seven days and the flow is projected to increase from 16 kcfs (thousand cubic feet per second) to 25 kcfs.

Hasting Dam

At the Red Wing dam, the tailwater is expected to rise about 2.5 feet and the flow is projected to increase from 27 kcfs to 42 kcfs.

Red Wing Dam

That’s a lot of flow for late November. The watershed has received a lot of rain, and at this time of year with the cool temps, no vegetation growing, cloudy and humid conditions, not much evaporates.

If the Red Wing dam does reach 42 kcfs, that will about match this seasons high flow which was seen back in late May / early June.

Red Wing Flow for the Past 12 Months

Boone

I am also not a fan of high water in the Fall like this…Especially when fishing in low light conditions. Last weekend we were out after dark (at a lower level than what it is now) and we had to navigate 2″ x 12″ boards with nails sticking up and logs floating in the river. I hate to think what would happen if I hit one of these hazards on plane.

The best Fall low light river fishing I remember was in 2011 and 2012. Both of these years had very low water in the Fall. I had this same discussion with some guys I fish with…Some guys like the higher flow in the Fall and others (myself included) like lower Fall flows.

One good thing about the higher flow is it will make freezing the river more difficult.

I’m not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing. All my fall experience on pool 4 it has been the typical lower flow. But that won’t keep me from trying. Maybe be able to find fish in some obvious current seams now.

One thing I forgot to add is there does seem to be a better daytime and dusk bite this year with the higher flows and dirtier water. Several times this Fall on the river I noticed the bite slowed way down after dark though.

Water above St.Anthony is higher, but yesterday and today seemed the same to me. Much of this water coming from the MN?

Smallies are finally starting to show up in their deep holes though. But with the higher flow (clarity 3-4′) they are pushed more to the edges. And with the dirtier water that medium between bright and natural baits has been hot for me.

Completely agree with the dawn/dusk bite.

High November water means only one thing to me.

All the displaced holed up snakes are looking for a nice warm outboard to snuggle up to.

..and for that reason, I’m out.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

High November water means only one thing to me.

All the displaced holed up snakes are looking for a nice warm outboard to snuggle up to.

..and for that reason, I’m out.

Threaten them with Blade Baits.

Show’m your target practice attire jerr

Should be good for the ice if it ever gets cold?

< Last weekend we were out after dark (at a lower level than what it is now) and we had to navigate 2″ x 12″ boards with nails sticking up and logs floating in the river. I hate to think what would happen if I hit one of these hazards on plane.>

After dark, we’ll have to drive the boat like we do when ice chunks are floating around which means off-plane running about 5-7 mph for me. I know some guys run fast after dark even when big ice chunks are floating in the channel but I’m not one of them. It might take me an extra 15 minutes to get somewhere but the fish will just have to wait for me.

Last Saturday evening well after dark I almost hit a small buck that was swimming across the channel. I was off plane and only going about 7 mph but passed about 20 feet behind him. They actually swim pretty fast.

Boone

LOL Boone, it’s good to know when the water is rising a person need to watch out more for debris. Slow down ect, but I didn’t know with rising water there are more bucks in the river! LOL!

It’s that time of year when the boys get a little screwy!

Not sure if Ive fished high water this time of year. Have fished flood water in Oct and it was fantastic. Think I would start out approaching the bite just as any other high water period. Move to shore and look and look for areas with less flow and current seams. The fish are still in the river and should have the feed bag on for fall and winter. Most likely just location that has moved.

Hair jigs always seem to work well in high water. Im amazed at how thew can find them in some of that dirty water but they due. Slow higher water like in the spring time slow rolling blades can be a good option to.

Is this a walleye thread?

Spent quite a bit of time at Hastings dam this past weekend and Monday for the first time. Best bite for me was in heavy current. 6-12 oz weight.

Looked like the jigging boats stay pretty close to each other lol.

FBRM,

Not exactly a walleye thread but that’s what most people fishing the Mississippi this time of year are targeting. What were you targeting… sturgeon and cats? I’ve spent some time up by the Hastings dam fishing for cats/sturgeon but have never done that good. Also, up there one is only allow one bait since it’s Minnesota inland waters so I think that discourages some people from fishing for cats there.

I’ve found it strange but the current below the Hastings dam always seems faster than the current below the Red Wing dam even though the dam is wider at Hasting and it doesn’t have the added flow from the St. Croix. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s been my perception.

Boone

Well the one line thing is the only reason I waited until now to try the dam. Luckily boat control is terribly difficult in the changing currents that would make running multiple lines hard so it’s not as annoying running only one line when I am holding the rod.

Crazy how then currents operate out there.

Just checked the P2 flow in St Paul and it is now running over 3X normal for this time of the year. Average is 6,400 cubic feet/sec vs. 20,000 today (11Nov2015).

For those that “like flow” we now have it.

Attachments:

1. 

   Capturep2.jpg
   

Higher than normal water levels this late means better ice fishing in the backwater areas.Lake Onalaska should be better this winter,like it was about 4 or so winters ago when the river was higher than normal.

Is the water still high?

Yup

Jonesy wrote:

Is the water still high?

Last night it was high, fast, and cold. And lots of mud in the water, clarity was maybe 6 or 8 inches. Needless to say the fishing was sort of slow.

SR

You can click the links in the original post to check the flows and levels, and the river forecast. Yes, it’s high. About as high as it’s been in the past year. Certainly not flooding or even close to flooding, but unusually high for late November. I think a good portion of the watershed received about 4 inches of rain in the past two weeks and that’s what’s causing the high water.

Maybe it’s good for the waterfowl and waterfowl hunting but I’d prefer more normal flows for fishing.

Pretty slow fishing for us last night. A lot of the crap on pool 2 has washed down river since Friday. We managed 4 wslleyes. Like Friday crawling the jigs across the bottom help trigger some bites. Current might just be holding them tight to the bottom.