Mississippi River - Champlin to Coon Rapids
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Mississippi River - Champlin to Coon Rapids Fishing Reports
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Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Soft Swimbaits (Sm/Md)
Structure
Rip Rap
Forage
Minnows
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Soft Swimbaits (Sm/Md)
Structure
River Channels
Forage
Shad
Small swimbaits and Ned rigs did all the damage. Jerkbait wasn’t productive, Walter clarity was 8’, water was low and current was decent. Fish were spread out and really anywhere from flats, to deep holes and heavy current to Eddie’s.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
Rock Pile
Got out on the river for a few hours after work. Had quite a bit of success on the jerkbait up shallow. Smallmouth were schooled together on rock piles and boulders. Also had some success on a square bill.
@MasterfullyBaiting
Bronze Ambassador
9/12/22
Species
WalleyeSeason
Fall
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
Rock Pile
Forage
Minnows
Floating Jerkbait used on shore where rocks snags are very common.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Swim Jigs
Structure
Boulders
Fish were caught casting shoreline with slack water upstream from the Champlin bridge. Best 5 around 15lbs
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Soft Swimbaits (Sm/Md)
Structure
Boulders
Forage
Minnows
switched things up a bit earlier in this week. For a stretch of time, I was exclusively throwing a mini chatter bait and it was working well for me. We caught a ton of fish on that bait and my buddy kept throwing the mini chatter and caught the biggest smallie of the day on the mini chatter bait. I like to experiment with various baits to keep in my back pocket on tougher days. I wanted to try a different technique to see if I could get a bite going. I was throwing a zoom super fluke in pearl white, and that bait was hammering fish. I was rigging the fluke upside down so the hook pocket on the belly of the bait hid the hook point a bit. I wasn't worried about snagging on things so I didn't want to Texas rig the bait to prolong its life a little more. The great thing about this bait was its ability to skip under just about anything and not get snagged up. With this rig I was able to get my casts real deep under brush and trees up close to the bank and that's where a lot of my bites came off from. Many lures wouldn't be able to get back to the corners I was able to hit which I feel made this bait really shine in some locations.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Crankbaits 0-6'
Structure
River Channels
Forage
Minnows
Water Temperature
80°
Water was very low, bass were stacked up in a small river channel off the main channel. 4-6 feet of water
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Bladed Jigs
Structure
Boulders
Forage
Crawfish
Decided to venture above the dam on Sunday and Monday evening. We are still learning this new stretch of the river as we have only fished it a couple times for the past few weeks now. We found tons of good areas to fish so far. The water is much deeper above the dam which allows for plenty of variations in presentation. We stuck to what has been working well for us below the dam, and that was chatter baits. Specifically, we were throwing the z man mini max green pumpkin 3/8oz with an orange trailer trying to imitate fleeing crayfish. Since the water is much deeper above the dam you could probably get away with throwing a 1/2oz as well to get that bait down to the fish. We threw lures up against the banks as we normally do but most fish came mid to late in the retrieve cycle telling us they weren't up against the shore. We didn't get many traditional "lure hits the water and fish hit" bites. I couldn't tell if fish were trailing the lures into the boat or if they weren't seeing the lures until they got deeper into the water column, but multiple fish hit right next to the boat almost like a musky bite so focus on retrieves all the way to the boat. I found the best way to actually catch fish was to fish the chatter bait similar to a jerk bait. I would cast to the bank let the lure sink a second or two start the retrieve and while I was retrieving the lure I would give it several small pops throughout and let it sink on the pause a bit each time. fishing just a straight and steady retrieve didn't produce fish as it previously had for us. We ended up doing well on each outing catching about 20-25 fish each time, with a couple of nice ones mixed in. The one thing to note is that the water above the dam is dominated by recreation from pontoons, to wake boats and jet skis the water sees a lot of boaters so just be aware if you choose to fish this stretch of river there are many other users out there. early mornings did seem to be the quietest and gradually picks up throughout the day.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Structure Jigs
Structure
Laydowns
Forage
Crawfish
I love this stretch of the river because you can target smallies with power fishing techniques. We didn't find any giants on this outing, but caught plenty in the 2 to 3 pound range. Skipping a jig under overhanging trees was the most consistent pattern and produced our bigger bites, but we were also able to pick off a few roaming bass with a ned rig.
