Mississippi River just north of Minneapolis?

[Turtle Angler]

Now that it’s gotten frigidly cold here in MN, I thought I’d bring up this topic. A friend told me that the stretch of the Mississippi River immediately down stream from the Monticello Nuclear Power Plant gets pretty good (relatively speaking) once the rest of the river freezes over because the water stays open due to heat from the power plant.

 

Has anyone tried fishing that stretch of water in the winter, and if so, with what kind of tackle did you have success?

[Standard]

Montesippi park.  Very popular, especially on the warmer winter days.  It's gonna be packed this weekend.  

 

A lot of people up there use minnows on a bottom rig and do very well.  It's really just shooting fish in a barrel at that point..

 

I've got a couple 18" or so smallies throwing jerk baits / crank baits from the shore, I'm not much of a live bait guy.  It's fun fishing but be prepared for your warm weather gear to misbehave if you're fishing well below freezing.