Struggling new guy

I just took up fishing as a hobby this summer. No one in my family fishes, so I am without a boat and without guidance.
I live in uptown Minneapolis, so as I’m sure you can guess I have become familiar with Cedar/Isles/Calhoun. I have caught abundant panfish, and a few largemouth, but I don’t really have any focus in how and where I fish.

I am having a good time fishing, but I am getting quite discouraged at the lack of larger fish. I am really interested in catching more bass, and I would love to take in some northerns. Any advice, keeping in mind that I can only shore fish, would be greatly appreciated.

if i were u i would make a post in trip swap and look for somebody to take u out in their boat. if u offer to throw down money i’m sure somebody would offer to take u out. or i’m going to be fishing musky on tonka all day friday and some of saturday am so pm me if your down.

IDO is a great place to start. Welcome. Watch for a open seat somewhere close to you or keep up on posts. A lot of good people on this website to help you out.

Welcome to IDO!

You have made the best first step in my humble opinion. Being a member here and asking for help is on the right track. As I’m sure you have figured out by now, some of the best mid-west fishermen frequent this site.
Mentioned above, Trip Swap, is great. Many guys on here offer up their back seat to people who want to get out and learn.
Here’s a couple thoughts to maybe help you out. Shore fishing can be tough, when your limited to a single spot.

Get out and fish with as many guys as you can. You will see many different techniques and pick up on a lot of tips that will help shorten the learning curve.

Focus on a single species. By targeting one species your concentrating on learning everything about its required habitat, forage base, seasonal patterns,…

The search function on IDO works very well, and the history here is unmatched by other sites. You can search back to posts entered a couple years ago, so there are tons of things to read.

Ask all the questions you want. It is very rare that a question will go unanswered here.

The investment in a guide could be right for you. If interested, ask for recommendations on a guide that will suite your needs. Good guides are a great resource for learning a lot in a short duration of time.

Good luck to you, and again, welcome to IDO –

Maybe try looking to the rivers in your area for additional fishing opportunities. The river offers miles and miles of fish able shorelines. Lots of parks along them with many walking paths that allow easy access to the river.

The rivers are good places to find small mouth bass and some large mouth. Some areas have northern and muskies to. The best bet I have found for just catching fish on the river is soaking a night crawler on the bottom with either a jig or slip sinker rig. Just about every thing swimming in the river will eat night crawlers.

As recommended above a guide is a good bet to get out with but I know is not in everyone’s budget. A couple of other good bets for getting out on the water is to rent a canoe. There are a number of local places to do this. Taylors Falls, Rum River, Cannon River are the ones I remember of the top of my head. Most people I see that rent these fish from the canoe but dont be afraid to stop and river bank fish for a while to.

If you are interested in river bank fishing let us know. There are many on this site that do this and would be will to share spots.

Go buy a couple spinnerbaits. Wait til the sunset hour and run them under the water a couple inches from the top. You’ll get bass and pike in piles

First of all, thank you to everyone for the great advice. It’s refreshing to see a community that is willing to help others.

I have tried river fishing a little bit. I have been to hidden falls park in St. Paul a few times, and found that just before sundown I can always catch a few carp with a night crawler on a plain hook. Other than the few carp, I haven’t had any luck on the river, with the exception of a random small mouth.

To give you guys an idea of what I’m working with I wanted to detail my gear. I have a 6’6″ Shimano FD4000 spinning combo, with 20# Power Pro strung on. As far as lures go, I have a few spoons, from really small up to 3/4oz, a dressed spinner size 4, a smaller X-rap and a rattling-suspending Rapala shad. I also have a small variety of soft baits, a popper, and a pumpkin seed Scumfrog.

I hope this information can help with advice.