ArmchairDeity
11-03-2008, 03:38 PM
I went out with a buddy looking for big cats on Saturday... we ended up starting in Belle Plain and worked our way back to Shakopee. I was told to look for big cats on the river by Valley Fair but couldn't figure out how to get there, so we ended up fishing on a backwater which I thought was the main river channel (now I feel like an idiot).
We started under the Highway 25 river bridge just west of Belle Plain and going SW from the bridge was a bust... I now think we should have been in the slack water full of downed timber on the NORTH side of the bridge (dur) but at the time I wasn't sure what to do or where to go. We were there for a good 2 hours with nada, zilch, zip when we took off for Shakopee to try our luck up there.
I got some good strikes under the 101 bridge going north from downtown Shakopee but couldn't get anything to hook up... looking back on it, I can think of a good 4 times/places we missed opportunities and spots I want to get back to. Maybe this upcoming weekend. I have a ton of nasty dead suckers left over from last Sat, so I'll probably stick them in the freezer till next weekend. I want to catch something over 5#... my current PB is a 3.5# channel I hooked using a 4/0 circle hook and chicken liver.
I wanted to hit the river back by Valley Fair's employee parking lot, but I didn't want to take a chance on getting towed by security, so we left that spot and headed back to the part that, as it turns out, is on a backwater. What I did NOT realize is that this on the east end of this same park there's a trail and a bridge out to the main channel. Live and learn, eh?
Next up are the areas down by Blackdog and out to Snelling... I want some big cats so bad I can taste it. If anyone's looking for another one or two guys in their party, I can cover gas, food, bait, whatever, but I really, REALLY dyin to hook into something fabtastulistic.
So far it's all been the Mississippi at 58th St. and all small. I've tried the Camden landing about a half-dozen times and never hooked a damned thing in there... so if anyone has pointers for the NW side of the metro on the river, that'd be great too. I'll keep putting up fishing reports as I get chances to head out, too, so I'll try to contribute in kind as I get tips.
Thanks so much and I'm so glad to have found this resource!
We started under the Highway 25 river bridge just west of Belle Plain and going SW from the bridge was a bust... I now think we should have been in the slack water full of downed timber on the NORTH side of the bridge (dur) but at the time I wasn't sure what to do or where to go. We were there for a good 2 hours with nada, zilch, zip when we took off for Shakopee to try our luck up there.
I got some good strikes under the 101 bridge going north from downtown Shakopee but couldn't get anything to hook up... looking back on it, I can think of a good 4 times/places we missed opportunities and spots I want to get back to. Maybe this upcoming weekend. I have a ton of nasty dead suckers left over from last Sat, so I'll probably stick them in the freezer till next weekend. I want to catch something over 5#... my current PB is a 3.5# channel I hooked using a 4/0 circle hook and chicken liver.
I wanted to hit the river back by Valley Fair's employee parking lot, but I didn't want to take a chance on getting towed by security, so we left that spot and headed back to the part that, as it turns out, is on a backwater. What I did NOT realize is that this on the east end of this same park there's a trail and a bridge out to the main channel. Live and learn, eh?
Next up are the areas down by Blackdog and out to Snelling... I want some big cats so bad I can taste it. If anyone's looking for another one or two guys in their party, I can cover gas, food, bait, whatever, but I really, REALLY dyin to hook into something fabtastulistic.
So far it's all been the Mississippi at 58th St. and all small. I've tried the Camden landing about a half-dozen times and never hooked a damned thing in there... so if anyone has pointers for the NW side of the metro on the river, that'd be great too. I'll keep putting up fishing reports as I get chances to head out, too, so I'll try to contribute in kind as I get tips.
Thanks so much and I'm so glad to have found this resource!