Mississippi River (Monticello to St. Cloud)
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Mississippi River (Monticello to St. Cloud) Fishing Reports
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Reports from all past years within a 60-day time frame
Species
WalleyeSeason
Winter
Technique
Soft Jerkbaits
Structure
Standing Timber
Forage
Minnows
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Soft Swimbaits (Sm/Md)
Structure
Rip Rap
My go to finesse swim bait for small mouths at Monticello are the keitech 3.3 inch fat swing impact small mouth magic color rigged on a owner twistlock light 1/0 or 2/0 hook. No weight needed. I throw it on my bait finesse casting setup (phenix k2 medium light with a shimano scorpion BFS reel). You could throw it on a spinning setup as well. I usually find current seams or little breaks in the current and cast out there, let the keitech drift in the current with occasional rod twitches and reel turns to make the tail paddle. I caught well over 30 smallies today in about 3-4 hours of fishing. You could also use spray scent to help increase bites as well.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Live Bait Rigs
Structure
Rock Pile
Forage
Minnows
Biggest one today was this 20incher along with 2 19inchers and a few 18’s but the bite was really hot today
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
River Channels
Water Temperature
45°
working a jerk bait thru current seams on the mississippi was producing very nice smallmouth bass. was wading near shore throwing into 3-5 feet of water. Jerkbait was a slow sinker and I was working it slow with long pauses between twitches.
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Live Bait Rigs
Structure
Boulders
Forage
Minnows
Bite was slow at first but it picked up sucker minnows were the only thing they biting at first but then they were hitting both suckers and fatheads once we ran out of suckers we started using 2 fatheads at once and that really worked this 19incher was the biggest this day along with a few 18inchers as well
Species
Northern PikeSeason
Winter
Technique
Soft Swimbaits (Sm/Md)
Structure
Dam
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
River Channels
Forage
Minnows
Fished 11.12.2021 It was a very windy day to be out, with wind gusts up to 20+ mph coming from the West, Northwest. Made for very tough fishing, the wind made the windchill much colder. Felt like it was in the 20s. Fish a Zman ned jig head with some Yum dingers that I cut to ned size as ram out of ned plastics. Used blue/black combination. The fish were a bit finicky but casting it 45 degrees up river and letting it “swing” down and bounce off the bottom seemed to do the trick. The smallies will pick up the bait almost at the end of the swing, I’m thinking they follow your bait in until last minute as you’re reeling back and it creates a different direction or motion to make them bite. Talked to another angler using live fatheads and they reported fishing was great! Caught some in the 3 pound range otherwise averaged 1.5 to 2 pounders were common. Get out there and fish! Smallie action should continue to get better as we move into the weather months!
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Finesse Hair Jigs
Structure
Rock Pile
Forage
Minnows
First time using maxscent baits on smallmouth. Worked pretty good got a few others besides this one.
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Winter
Technique
Hard Jerkbaits
Structure
Boulders
