Minneapolis/St. Paul area

[walt-14]

Sounds like I may be spending a decent amount of time up in the cities in the coming weeks and I’ll have quite a bit of time on my hands.  I’ve never fished any part of the city but figured there has to be someone on here that can steer me in the right direction.  Just looking for a lake or local pond of some sort that I can do some bass fishing.  Would be great if that pond isn’t just full of 10-12 inch bass but has the possibility of producing some nicer fish.  I’ll be fishing from shore so that might narrow down some possibilities.  Thanks for any suggestions fellas!

[MN Fisher]

Lake Minnetonka - my 'home' lake. There's plenty of good bass in it, BASS has even had some tourneys on it. Good shore fishing spots in various places - but there are several boat-rental places as well that have everything from a 14' with a 9hp up to full bass boats available.

[OperationEagle]

The main metro lakes of Harriet, Calhoun , etc are good producers as well. I’ve caught some great fish from shore from the chain of lakes. 

[gim]

10 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

but there are several boat-rental places as well that have everything from a 14' with a 9hp up to full bass boats available.

Boat rentals are currently prohibited under the state order until at least May 18.

 

My advice if you are stuck on shore is to fish a river. They aren’t super high this spring and it will be a nice mixed bag of fish.

[walt-14]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Boat rentals are currently prohibited under the state order until at least May 18.

 

My advice if you are stuck on shore is to fish a river. They aren’t super high this spring and it will be a nice mixed bag of fish.

I would need a lot more guidance on fishing a river.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve fished plenty of rivers but all being in my neck of the woods and places I’m pretty familiar with.  I wouldn’t have a clue as to where to access decent spots when it comes to rivers up there.  If you’d care to elaborate some more, that would be great! Thanks 

[gim]

Areas near dams or spillovers where water churns would be where I’d go. Downtown Anoka where the dam is on the Rum prior to where it feeds into the Mississippi is a good area. Areas under bridges could also be effective and the river is often deepened in these areas for pilings. I don’t know if there is a public area to fish near the Coon Rapids dam but maybe someone else can direct you about that specific area.

[FryDog62]

Agree with the Rum River dam in Anoka.  Spillway may have some other fishermen at any given time but they are there for a reason.

[walt-14]

20 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Agree with the Rum River dam in Anoka.  Spillway may have some other fishermen at any given time but they are there for a reason.

Did a little bit of research for this place and it looks great.  Can anyone give me some input on what the water levels are like right now and then maybe what the river is like? By that I mean, if I throw a bottom contact style lure and I going to lose a ton of them or would I be good throwing something like that? Also, predominant species going to be smallmouth at this time of the year or what else would I be dealing with?

[FryDog62]

I haven’t been there this year, but here is a gauge for the flow of the Rum.  I would guess it’s medium-high right now but the readings in the link could be your benchmark.  
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=05286000

 

You’ll catch a bit of everything in a river but yes smallmouth, a few pike/walleye and even though I haven’t caught them there I’ve seen guys catch some big catfish.