semi upper stretch of mississippi

I’m looking to explore the river some in the Brooklyn park/Fridley to Coon Rapids dam area. Never been on it. I have a decent river boat and tried between Elk River and Monticello a few weeks back. Gulp. Navigation is treacherous. Not my thing. Is this stretch, ummm, a tad easier to navigate than the former.

Also, one would assume the fishing would be decent. Any hints as to what to look for? No need to be GPS coordinate specific. Just looking for general hints and what species of fish frequent the area, besides the obvious. We’re attempting to find some decent walleye, bass, perhaps crappie fishing.

Thanks in advance for info.

I live in Fridley, and you can launch right at 694 off East River Road in the park there. As the water is still a bit high, navigation is a bit easier, but be careful upstream of there in regular or low water. The bottom can come up fast and there are some boulders that lurk right under the water.

That being said, I do a lot of cat fishing in the area, and they can be found in good numbers with a big one here and there. I do see a lot of guys fishing bass and walleyes in the rubble and boulder areas among the big islands north of 694. If you have a depth finder, look for the deeper spots in the main channel where you can also find a hump or boulders to break up the current a bit.

Best of luck and watch your prop!

I live in Brooklyn Center and fish that stretch from shore on a very regular basis.

Yeah, the stretch from the Camden boat landing at Washington and Lyndale all the way up to CRD is extremely difficult to navigate unless you know where the channel is. I was out one day with my dad on that stretch and we hit a rock with the prop. When I looked at the GPS display later that morning it showed a freakin ISLAND in the spot where we hit the rock!

Also be warned that the boat landing at 694 is extremely steep, very long, and has a curve right at the very end just where the boats enter the water… I fish from shore straight across from there a lot and have seen many a would-be boater having issues with that landing.

The river along there has a tendency to suddenly double in width and go 2′ deep all the way across. Great for fording, horrible for boats.

If you wanna go for it, go for it. I woulnd’t take my boat up there when there’s so much other river available to be fished. On the other hand, there are a ton of wing dams to be played on or around and it may be worth while.

Just FYI – I’ve never seen a boat upstream of the south end of CRD park, and you can’t get beyond the bend in the river just downstream from the dam because the entire width of the river is a very shallow rapids across there.

Thanks for the info. I was mainly going to concentrate on the area from BP to 252. The islands and back channels and the certain sand flats and eddys that are created are what I’m looking for. Didn’t even think of wing dams. I’ll report back.

There are wingdams in this stretch? Where are they?

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There are wingdams in this stretch? Where are they?

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Along the edges of the river, in the water.

Ha ha. Can you be more specific? I have never seen one north of 694..

Just a quick update on this thread. We launched on the Brooklyn Park side at the launch around 85th Ave on Saturday. Going upstream of there is NOT advisible. I think I hit more rocks than water up there, resulting in a spun prop. Oh well, I guess I have an excuse to buy a nice new one.

Not to say it can’t be done, as I have seen lots of boats go up further than I did, but maybe go with someone who is very familiar with the channel.