Mississippi 694 area

Anybody fish much up or downstream from the public access by the 694 bridge? Looks pretty darn fishy to me there!

I drive over this area at least once a week, but I never see any boats fishing. I’ve wondered the same thing.

I made it just past there one time boating from 494 and it got so consisitently shallow I gave up. By shallow I mean 6 or so in the middle but enough to be freaky on plane given the .0003 inch visibility. That’s all I know.

I drive by every day and see a boat every now and then. A buddy of mine fished it a few years back, at a time when the river was running low and it was very shallow near the bridge – he had to get out and push the boat in some areas. There are some walleyes to be caught there. I think he fished north of the bridge, around the islands. I used to fish south of there as a kid, near the Camden bridge and caught plenty of carp and suckers. I’ve even seen a good muskie caught there. Hope this helps and good luck.

I have fished that stretch alot both in a boat and from shore. This time of year it is really shallow in most spots, so navigation can be difficult. You need to key on current breaks, tailraces, and holes if you can find them. The area around where Rice Creek pours in is a can’t miss spot, also where Coon Creek pours in north of 610. The south tip of the island that you can see from 694 holds fish all day, the island creates a large eddy off the tip.
If you are gutsy enough the best action for all species is closest to the C.R. Dam, deeper holes, large rock piles, and way more current breaks.

This stretch of the Miss, and the one above the dam, are probably the most underfished pieces of water in all the Twin Cities when you consider the quality of the many species that swim there.

There are alot of muskies in this area. The shallow water is definitely the problem. Just this past spring, there were ALOT of dead fish up near the Coon Rapids dam, most of which were rough of course but, there were alot of good sized muskies and some MONSTER walleyes also.

What killed all those fish?

I never did find out for sure. I heard that they got trapped up by the dam because of the shallow water. We saw this very early this spring when the ice was going out.

Fished below the dam Sunday from 1:30 to 7:30. Cats were biting well in the back waters in front of logjams on cut sucker. Nothing big, but plenty of action. I caught 10, the biggest being @ 3 lbs. Smallies were game around the same jams on spinnerbaits. Biggest I got in was 17 inches. Had another snap the line boat side. Couldn’t raise any with poppers, but I was out in the heat of the day. Water levels weren’t too bad. Running the main river you could pick you way through the rapids that are just starting. Backwaters were up to 4 feet deep and were easily navigable with electronics.

Really good stuff, guys – – thanks!