Anybody been out?? Doing better during daylight or after dark? Water has murked up a decent amount above the confluence- maybe 2’-3’ visibility Sunday evening. Fished sundown to a couple hours after dark near minnehaha. Zero bites. Plenty of suckers and shiners around tho.
Have been out a couple times the last week and had luck throwing ripping raps in the current seams during the day
Have been out a couple times the last week and had luck throwing ripping raps in the current seams during the day
Where? Upper p2? Were you from shore or in a boat? Shallower or deeper seams?
I got a few small males tonight from one of my shore spots above the confluence. 1/8 ounce jig and longer profile plastic in moderate light/moderate current.
I went out a few times last week Labman, as i reported clown huskies at night. One night 1/8oz chart jig w chart orange core moxi got em. Im still from shore. Caught several each night. Above the confluence.
One has to recognize the seams. I am not throwing out very far at all to the seams where i was. Sometimes fish come 4′ from shore if thats where a seam is.
If they are humpin and dumpin right now it will slow, as to be expected, but usually some smaller males will still bite which gives a guy something to do.
I got a few small males tonight from one of my shore spots above the confluence. 1/8 ounce jig and longer profile plastic in moderate light/moderate current.
You fishing my spots man??? 
That’s where I’m usually hanging out early spring also. It’s been slow so far for me there as well. Should pick up over the next couple weeks though.
I promise I’ll give your spots back, mahto! Lol
Nick, I didn’t realize you were fishing that spot. Thought you were staying up in your hood fishing around the CRD/SAF. I would imagine numbers are much better below the dam on p2 tho. I’ll have to pick up a clown colored HJ. I like using them, my favorite when the water is clear is anything “natural” baitfish looking, i.e. helsinki ghost pattern
That pools season closes for gamefish with the inland state. Wish I could fish up here rn, makes for alot less driving. Alot more smallies which makes it for more catching as well. Will have to wait another 6 weeks.
Hoping to fish between the confluence and dam tomorrow morning and have only launched in that area once (Fort Snelling). What is the best ramp to launch from early morning? Am I able to launch from Watergate early on the weekend?
Hoping to fish between the confluence and dam tomorrow morning and have only launched in that area once (Fort Snelling). What is the best ramp to launch from early morning? Am I able to launch from Watergate early on the weekend?
I doubt watergate is open before 8am. Usually this time of year they are just putting boats in and not always open.
I’d launch at fort snelling or hidden falls. Hidden falls is open at 0600. I don’t know if lilydale is open.
Hidden falls is usually open at 6. Plenty of times I’d show up to do some early shore fishing before work and gates locked still.
Usually early spring is when I have issues. Haven’t been to they side this year yet tho so maybe it’s better.
That pools season closes for gamefish with the inland state. Wish I could fish up here rn, makes for alot less driving. Alot more smallies which makes it for more catching as well. Will have to wait another 6 weeks.
Oh yeah… duh. I suppose you do that more in fall time then.
And to pegs- yeah I would just go to hidden falls to launch and be done with it.
Pretty quiet in here lately. I’ve been meaning to get out and chase cats sometime soon.
Last time there for me was Monday,got a few around 20″ one fat 24″ and a bunch of small ones.Current is ripping spent more time removing debris from my jig and line than I did actually fishing.Channel cats were hitting pretty good a couple weeks ago before the water came up and cooled,havnt been down there enough lately to say if they are still biting.Good luck
Was out yesterday for just a couple of hours on the upper end. Pretty fast and pretty dirty water. Temp was 45.
Took awhile to find active fish….jig and minnow on seams got us a bunch of small males. Some were milting so might be a bit of spawn going on still.
If we don’t get anymore big rainfalls and the temp and flow stabilize the bite should get going pretty well.
Anybody launch from Lion’s lately? Is the dock in?
Anybody launch from Lion’s lately? Is the dock in?
Used it Saturday. Good to go. If the water keeps coming up, you may need some knee boots to get on the dock with dry feet.
-J.
Thank you sir!
Anybody been out? How about on the upper end?
I was down there this weekend. The water was at 48.8 degrees. Lions was in good shape. The water was low with moderate flow and fish are to be found. It should get good over the next week. I am sure many are still working their way back down river from the spawn yet.
I was out Saturday afternoon from Lillydale up to the dam. Same water temp as Bushman, and caught a few smaller fish up at the dam.
I marked fish at the confluence and outside of the marina but couldn’t get any to commit. I tried a few different presentations at each spot before heading up stream.
I was out Saturday afternoon from Lillydale up to the dam. Same water temp as Bushman, and caught a few smaller fish up at the dam.
I marked fish at the confluence and outside of the marina but couldn’t get any to commit. I tried a few different presentations at each spot before heading up stream.
My guess is those are junk fish. There might be a few walleyes mixed in but likely not many. There will be fish around the confluence all year but once the MN River let’s go and the water dirties that usually seems like it for the bigguns. If you mark them on SI and they are suspended at all their not walleyes.
Hoping I can get out this weekend a little further south – I’d agree with Buschman that the fish are probably falling back and the bite should be lights out pretty soon. A little early for the summer spots but seems like we are few weeks ahead of normal.
Glad to hear the optimistic bite forecast! This is my first spring, and this will be my first summer putting serious time on the river.
Good luck out there this weekend, I’d be interested in hearing how you do. I’m heading up to the Chippewa Flowage to see my folks and fish WI’s walleye opener.
Old news-but caught some real nice sized males last Thursday that were still milting.Fished from downtowm up to corner by dog park,caught fish most places I tried.Biggest was 22″ lots of small ones.
Was a pretty weird spawn this year. Do any others agree with that “assessment?” Glad to hear some peeps are getting some fish. I haven’t been out for a week and a half, save for one short trip
Was a pretty weird spawn this year. Do any others agree with that “assessment?” Glad to hear some peeps are getting some fish. I haven’t been out for a week and a half, save for one short trip
I haven’t been down much this year. The last few years I’ve been on the upper end consistently in February and March prespawn and done really well. Once we hit early April that’s always been transition time.
So, I don’t know if it’s been a weird year other than we never got really high water which seems to change things up a lot. Those real high water events always seem to create some very short but very good bite windows pre and post.
When I shore fished a lot this was my favorite time of year. Fish in transition and hungry. Right at dusk they were up shallow all over. My guess is that is the case right now.
Was a pretty weird spawn this year. Do any others agree with that “assessment?” Glad to hear some peeps are getting some fish. I haven’t been out for a week and a half, save for one short trip
I think it is too early to tell on on the spawn. I am sure it was not a good spawn this year with the low water but to be honest I do not know. I would assume we will not get a good idea for a year or two when we see a year class come out of it. I know we have had some really bad year classes in the past. I think 2011-12 was the worst one I have seen. We have had some years where there were huge year classes and some not so good anyways. This year??? I have no idea. I would guess it was a bad year for many females in the P2/Minnesota system but that is only a guess.
I had concerns early regarding the spawn, but then i never saw fish show up to the high water spawning locations; at all. They all stayed near the main channel in plenty of current and spawned on nearby current seams and such. So at the end of the day, i am highly confident the spawn will be a great success. Water conditions have remained stable leading up to and post spawn. This is all good IMO.
But, pre-spawn the fish were able to be spread out more than high water conditions so i think some’s spring bite struggled due to not adapting and not looking for fish on sonar. I spot checked high water spots religiously this spring and never fished them, but i mostly fished pre-high water areas and those continued to hold fish up to spawn.
7 years from now, we’ll continue to have some pigs to chase. My 2c.
All good points. Yeah the low water played a big role. Last spring with the really high (and really clear) water, it was really good from mid March to mid April, especially after dark. Lots of fat females in that timeframe!
Got out Saturday with @JasonP. Chasing crappies was a bit of a dead end but got on to some decent walleyes and sauger.
Fish seem to be settling into early summer patterns….cranks, plastics, live bait all caught fish. Heavier current seemed to be the ticket. When you found them they bit.
Water temp in the mid 50’s…water coming down so the bite should continue.
I think the spawn was fine,maybe drawn out a bit.Fish were using and traveling different areas because of the lack of current and low water.I would also guess fishing was tough for some as the amount of boat traffic on the upper end dropped off quite a bit this year compared to years past.
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