Chasing Fall Fish on the Mississippi River Around Minneapolis

Artificial Lure here with your Wednesday, October 15th fishing report, live from the heart of the Mississippi River around Minneapolis.

Sunrise rolled in at 7:24 a.m., bringing a misty autumn chill to the banks. Expect a high near 54°F today, with brisk west winds topping 15 mph — that’ll put a chop on the water and help fire up the bite. A weak cold front is still lingering; water temps are riding in the mid-60s but dropping fast. Sunset sets at 6:30 tonight, so it’s a noticeably shorter day for chasing those fall fish.

There’s no meaningful tidal swing up here on this stretch of the river, but solunar forecasts from SolunarForecast.com call for a solid “Better” rating today. Minor feeding windows hit around 6:26 to 7:26 a.m. and again from 9:38 to 10:38 p.m., with the major bite peaking from 1:26 to 3:26 p.m.—so plan to be in a good spot about lunchtime.

You’ll find walleye, smallmouth bass, sauger, catfish, crappie, and an occasional northern pike bending rods this week. Outdoor News ran a headline on a recent 22-inch walleye caught just upriver from downtown – that’s a good sign the fall run’s coming on strong. Reports from river regulars mention good numbers, with mixed bags coming off the wing dams, deep holes below the dams, and eddies at creek mouths.

Walleye are the main draw, clustering in 12 to 20 feet of water along deeper runs and current seams. Best approach: vertical jigging with a 1/4-ounce jig tipped with a fathead or rainbow minnow. If you can get your hands on frozen emerald shiners at the local bait shop, those are hammering the keepers right now — they’re matching the river forage perfectly, according to Lake of the Woods guides, and it’s just as true in the Mississippi system.

Lure selection: chartreuse/gold, orange, and glow white jigs are putting fish in the net. If you’re casting artificials, go with paddle-tail swimbaits or soft jerkbaits in natural shad or perch patterns. Bass anglers should downsize and work Ned rigs or tubes along riprap and rock piles. Crappie are beginning their annual push into shallower backwaters and creek mouths; small crappie jigs tipped with a wax worm are a deadly combo.

Live bait edges out plastics today, given the water temp dips, but crankbaits can still work around afternoon when the water warms a hair on sunny stretches.

For hot spots, head below the Ford Dam (Lock & Dam #1) — this area’s famous for late-season mixed bags, especially if you target the deeper outside bends below the dam. Another reliable stretch is right off Boom Island Park down to the Plymouth Avenue Bridge — plenty of rocky structure, current breaks, and baitfish. Don’t overlook the mouth of Minnehaha Creek for a shot at bonus catfish and some slab crappie in the wood.

River level’s low near downtown St. Paul (fourth lowest ever, per CBS Minnesota), so some back channels might be tough to access by boat but perfect for shoreline casting. The low, clear conditions mean approach quietly — lighter line and longer casts help on those shallows.

To sum up: this is the week to be on the river. Dress warm, bring your jig rods, extra minnows, and a hot thermos. The best bite’s right in the heart of the city.

Thanks for tuning in to today’s Mississippi River fishing report, and don’t forget to subscribe for more daily river intelligence. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Artificial lore. Here with your Wednesday, October fifteenth fishing report
live from the heart of the Mississippi River around Minneapolis.
Sunrise rolled in at seven twenty four am, bringing a
misty autumn chill to the banks. Expect to hide near
fifty four degrees fahrenheit today with brisk west winds topping
fifteen miles per hour. That'll put a chop on the

(00:20):
water and help fire up the bit. A weak coal
front is still lingering. Water temps are riding in the
mid sixties but dropping fast. Sunset sets at six thirty tonight,
so it's a noticeably shorter day for chasing those fall fish.
There's no meaningful title swing up here on this stretch
of the river, but Solinar forecasts from solinarfecast dot com

(00:40):
call for a solid better rating today. Minor feeding windows
hit around six twenty six to seven twenty six am,
and again from nine thirty eight to ten thirty eight pm,
with the major byte peeking from one twenty six to
three twenty six pm, so plan to be in a
good spot about lunchtime. You'll find walleye, small mouth, bass, sauger, catfish, crappie,

(01:03):
and an occasional Northern Pike bending rods. This week, Outdoor
News ran a headline on a recent twenty two inch
walleye caught just up river from downtown. That's a good sign.
The fall runs coming on. Strong Reports from river regulars
mention good numbers with mixed bags coming off the wing dams,
deep holes below the dams, and eddies at creek mounts.

(01:25):
Whileye are the main draw clustering in twelve to twenty
feet of water along deeper runs and current scenes, best
approach vertical jigging with the one quarter rounds jig tipped
with a fat head or rainbow minnow. If you can
get your hands on frozen emerald shiners at the local
bait shop, those are hammering the keepers right now. They're
matching the river forage perfectly according to Lake in the

(01:47):
Woods guides, and it's just as true in the Mississippi system.
Lure selection chartruse, gold, orange, and glow white jigs are
putting fish in the net. If you're casting artificials, go
with paddle tails baits or soft jerk baits and natural
shatter perch patterns. Bass anglers should downsize and work medrigs

(02:07):
or tubes along ritprap and rock piles. Crappy are beginning
their annual push into shallower backwaters and creek mouths. Small
crappy jigs tipped with a waxworm are a deadly combo.
Live bait edges out plastics today given the water temped dips,
but crank baits can still work around afternoon when the

(02:28):
water warms. A hair on sunny stretches for hotspots head
below the four dam lock and Dam number one. This
area is famous for late season mixed bags, especially if
you target the deeper outside bends below the dam. Another
reliable stretches right off Boom Island Park down to the
Plymouth Avenue Bridge. Plenty of rocky structure, current breaks and

(02:49):
bait fish. Don't overlook the mouth of Minnehah Creek for
a shot at bonus catfish and some slab crappy in
the Wood River levels low near downtown sand Paul fourth
lowest ever per CBS Minnesota, so some back channels might
be tough to access by boat, but perfect for shoreline casting.

(03:09):
The low, clear conditions mean approach quietly. Lighter line and
longer casts help on those shallows to sum up. This
is the week to be on the river. Bresswarm, bring
your jgrods, extra minnows, and a hot thermos. The best
bites right in the heart of the city. Thanks for
tuning into today's Mississippi River Fishing report, and don't forget

(03:31):
to subscribe for more daily river intelligence. This has been
a quiet please production. For more checkout Quiet Please dot
ai