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Posts: 25
| Hi guys, Minnesota dude here.
Noticed on DNR website it says muskies are present in the Mississippi River North of the Coon Rapids dam. I myself am a river rat, and this destination is exactly the same distance from the lakes I usually fish. My question is, how abundant are they? Fishable population? How far do I need to go to run into a fishable population? Don't need your secret spots guys, just seeing where I should drop the boat.
Thanks a ton guys!
Edited by TyPaulson 3/1/2016 7:44 PM
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| lower density, higher in overall size. bottom in constant state of change. this is what a guide on the river said at a M,Inc. meeting not too long ago. I think he guides further up stream and uses a jet.
Edited by mnmusky 3/1/2016 8:00 PM
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Posts: 859
Location: MN | mnmusky - 3/1/2016 7:58 PM
lower density, higher in overall size. bottom in constant state of change. this is what a guide on the river said at a M,Inc. meeting not too long ago. I think he guides further up stream and uses a jet.
Noah binsfield was his name. Really seemed to know his stuff. He did say a jet was key to getting around. He will be at the Wausau show |
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Posts: 3157
| Actually I would try the stretch between downtown St PAul and st Croix,,,we keep hearing rumors but guys who fish it are very much closed lip about it we never get around to exploring it.
Also witnessed this myself,,,one spring we got a call from a musky guys non fishing friend that we should go check out the overflow pond at the coon rapids dam/area that had just melted it's ice and there were dead muskies around it. We figured he was mistaking pike for muskies but we drove down anyways and walked around the shore. "WOW" there were a lot of beautiful fish of all species dead obviously trapped in there when the ice froze and winterkilled,,, walleyes some over 8 lbs, smallmouth some 4 lbs plus, and of course rough fish and panfish. Also 4 dead muskies between 38 to about 46 inches. One guy fishing also told us about a big muskie that some kids dragged away and hung from a tree like kids would do and he pointed us to the area. We saw it hanging but didn't get real close because it was pretty ripe but it was in the 50-51 inch range. Makes you wonder because that's a fair amount of muskies in that isolated backwater might be interesting to explore that just below coon rapids dam area. The river looks pretty rough to navigate and I know there's a barrier on how close you can go upstream and not sure where you would launch. I've always been going to wade that stretch and throw a topwaters to see what I could raise but has always never get the time to do it but this area might just be a hidden gem. Love to hear if serious musky guys have??? Also anybody looking for something to do now that it's March might want to take a hike around that overflow pond and see what they find now that the ice is melting. Love to hear!!!! |
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Posts: 187
Location: West Metro, MN | I used to live in Elk River and fished the stretch from there north to Clearwater frequently for smallmouth bass. I am sure there are muskies in the stretch north of the Coon Rapids dam, but the density must be very low. The stretch between Coon Rapids and St Cloud has a few deeper pools in it, but overall a jet boat or a Jon boat you don't mind whacking a rock or 2 with are the only options. I waded a lot fishing for bass, but you are definitely limited trying to access some of the deeper water that way. There are likely muskies to be found below the Coon Rapids dam as well, but again it is a low density play. All if that being said, the smallmouth fishing is so good and fun it wasn't worth my time to sling Muskie lures in that area. |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Watch Mike Keyes "Skinny water muskies" Its for real, very low pressure muskies and some big ones too, they live in an environment that makes them hard to land..downed trees with 15-20' holes under them, etc. You need some serious muskie tackle. Our muskie club (Muskie Matters, Inc.) stocks them here in Mauston WI in Lemonweir River -> skinny water. I've seen 40" fish spawning, and they were not stocked....early spring they can be very skinny heading up river to spawn...black/orange Mepps Musky Killer bucktails or 6-8" bumblebee twitch/crank baits seem to work best here.
Have fun!
Al |
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Posts: 833
| I've always been curious about the area upstream of the Coon Rapids Dam. Upstream from the 169 bridge it starts to get gnarly with shallow water. I talked to a guy who claimed to have seen them upstream from that bridge, but I've never had the desire to put my lower unit at risk to check it out. Between the 169 bridge and the dam is quite navigable, but with Tonka so close I've never really invested much time exploring it. Mill Creek and the Rum both enter the river in this stretch though, so there are definitely fish around.
Several years ago the DNR dumped a surplus of musky fry in the mouth of the crow river, but that was one time deal. No way to know, but seems likely that some of those fry survived. Problem is there is no dam between Clearwater and Coon Rapids and parts of the river are quite shallow and full of boulders. Lots of water to cover and as was said above, you really need a jon boat that can handle the skinny stuff to move around.
I'm sure there are fish in the rum as well. Mille Lacs is stocked and historically has always had a nascent population of musky. Doesn't take much of a leap of faith to think some of the fish moved into the rum from the big lake or moved up it from the Mississippi. Now there are several dams, so are they still there? Who knows?
In all these cases it would mean an investment of time to search the system and try to find a fish. For me, my fishing time is so limited it just hasn't been appealing enough to invest a few days. Maybe I'll do it this season...
Edited by Brad P 3/3/2016 8:37 AM
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Posts: 37
Location: MN | I work in Coon Rapids and frequent the Dam often. Ya lots of fish washed up after ice out near the overflow area....muskies included.... A guy who lives on the river near there says he catches muskies every year while bass fishing from his dock....I wonder if a guy could cast from shore in that area as it drops off fast in some areas from my boating experience near the old boat launch there.... what bait would be best to throw in that current? |
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Posts: 3157
| Silver blades bucktails lots of flash works good in trout streams,,,..might even go with a eagle tail the single hooks less likely to snag.
N go |
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Posts: 1000
| Would be cool to see the Crow, Rum, and Mississippi managed to provide a very unique fishing experience so close to the west metro. Likely wouldn't run into much resistance from anti-musky groups. |
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Posts: 833
| From the DNR sites I do not believe they stock any fish (Musky or otherwise) in these stretches of the river. As I said before there was that one surplus dump at the mouth of the crow and that was about it. |
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Posts: 2754
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Maybe you guys should organize a club and stock some? I would be surprised if MN DNR objected - rivers are very different than lakes...they've always been there so what's the beef?
Have fun!
Al
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Posts: 323
Location: Elk River, MN | As of late it's been difficult coming up with enough muskies to stock in the lakes, there definitely isn't enough to contribute a viable population to such a river system. And many guys, as already stated, would rather fish the nearby lakes than devote the time learning a river system. |
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Posts: 1039
Location: North St. Paul, MN | I'd prefer learning that river system...just my .02, but that would be right up my ally. Sharing a spot on Bald Eagle with 8 other boats, catching ZERO or fishing the river with (maybe) one other boat and catching zero...I'll take the river.
This is giving me an idea for this teacher, this summer!!!! ;o)
Edited by muskyroller 3/5/2016 8:45 AM
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| I've fished the area from elk river to anoka my entire life. I've heard unconfirmed reports but have never seen one. I also know several very serious SM and walleye guys who regularly fish there and also have never seen one. IMHO very low population. |
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