Late Fall Fishing on the Mississippi: Walleye, Sauger, and Pike Abound Near Minneapolis

Hey folks, it’s Artificial Lure here with your Saturday fishing report for the mighty Mississippi River around Minneapolis, November 1, 2025.

It’s a stunning fall morning, with sunrise at 7:47 AM and sunset coming at 6:03 PM. The weather has been cooperating—warmer than most Novembers should be, with expected highs reaching the mid-60s. According to Next Weather and AOL’s November outlook, it's sunny, dry, and mild, with just a light breeze coming out of the south. No precipitation or cold fronts expected through the day, so it’s a great time to get out on the water and enjoy those last open-water casts before winter sneaks in. River levels, according to DTN Ag Weather, have edged a little higher recently, giving boaters easier access to favorite stretches.

Fish activity on the Mississippi in Minneapolis is in its late-fall transition. Water temperatures are in the low 50s, a pattern confirmed by Lake of the Woods reports and regional fishing diaries. This means **walleye** and **sauger** are feeding heavy before the freeze. The bite’s been best in deeper holes and around structure, especially near rocky points and drop-offs. Anglers targeting 15 to 30 feet of water have caught consistent numbers of keeper walleyes, plenty of saugers, and some surprise jumbo perch. Arrowhead Outdoors reports that large minnows, especially 4–6 inch fatheads or shiners, fished on 3/8 ounce jigs or lindy rigs, are getting the most hits. Vertical jigging gold or chartreuse jigs tipped with frozen emerald shiners is hot—stick to these colors for best luck.

Pike are staging around mouth areas and rocky points looking for prey as the cisco and whitefish start moving in. Big sucker minnows under bobbers, or casting large minnow baits around these transition spots, have produced several mid-to-large pike this week.

Crappies and panfish are settling into their cold-water pattern. They’re on deep flats and basin areas, often hugging the bottom at 20–30 feet. Try small jigs with fathead minnows or even waxworms and let yourself drift. Crappie anglers are still finding enough for a solid meal, though you may need to check multiple spots—steep shoreline corners and deep weed edges have been holding scatter schools.

Bass action is winding down, but there are still a few largemouth hanging tight to laydowns and submerged timber—bring straight braid and a medium-heavy rod if you want to pull them out of those snags.

Best lures right now:
- Gold, chartreuse, and firetiger jigs tipped with shiners or fatheads for walleye/sauger
- Large crankbaits in shiner or perch patterns, especially deep-divers, for trolling along deeper flats
- Large minnow baits or sucker minnows below a bobber for pike
- Small plastics and marabou jigs for crappie, with live bait for added appeal

Bait choices:
- Fathead minnows, shiners, and sucker minnows are the ticket
- Emerald shiner slabs, if you can find ‘em
- Waxworms, especially for late-season panfish

For hot spots, check out:
- The stretch below the Ford Dam (Pool 2), which is historically reliable for late-season walleye and sauger—just be smart about water safety, especially with levels up.
- The mouth of Minnehaha Creek, where baitfish gather and predatory fish are never far behind.
- The rocky drop-offs near Boom Island and the deeper runs by the old Plymouth Avenue Bridge.

A quick heads-up: some stretches are still showing low levels of PFAS contamination according to the Minnesota Department of Health, especially Pool 2, so stay updated on advisories if you’re planning a fish fry.

It’s shaping up to be one of the best November weekends in years. Thanks for tuning in! Subscribe and stay with us for your next local river update. 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):
Hey, folks, it's artificial lure. Here with your Saturday fishing
report for the Mighty Mississippi River around Minneapolis. November one,
twenty twenty five. It's a stunning fall morning, with sunrise
at seven forty seven am and sunset coming at six
zero three pm. The weather has been cooperating, warmer than
most November should be, with expected highs reaching the mid sixties.
According to next Weather in AOL's November outlook, it's sunny,

(00:23):
dry and mild, with just a light breeze coming out
of the south. No precipitation or cold fronts expected through
the day, so it's a great time to get out
on the water and enjoy those last open water casts
before winter sneaks in. River levels, according to dtn AG,
weather have edged a little higher recently, giving boaters easier
access to favorite stretches. Fish activity on the Mississippi and

(00:46):
Minneapolis is in its late fall transition. Water temperatures are
in the low fifties, a pattern confirmed by Lake of
the Woods reports and regional fishing diaries. This means capital
walleye and sauger are feeding heavy before the The bite's
been best in deeper holes in around structure, especially near
rocky points and dropoffs. Anglers targeting fifteen to thirty feet

(01:09):
of water have caught consistent numbers of keeper walleyes, plenty
of saugers, and some surprise jumble perch. Arrowhead Outdoors reports
that large minnows, especially four six inch fat heads or shiners,
fished on three ah ounced jigs or lindy rigs are
getting the most hits. Vertical jegging gold or chartreuse jegs

(01:30):
tipped with frozen emerald shiners is hot. Stick to these
colors for best luck. Piker staging around mouth areas and
walkie points looking for prey as the cisco and whitefish
start moving in. Big sucker minnows under bobbers or casting
large Menno baits around these transition spots have produced several
mid to large pike this week. Crappies and panfish are

(01:53):
settling into their cold water pattern. They're on deep flats
and basin areas, often hugging the bar at twenty thirty feet.
Try small jigs with fat head minnows or even waxworms
and let yourself drift. Crappy anglers are still finding enough
for a solid meal, though you may need to check
multiple spots. Steep shorelined corners and deep weed edges have

(02:17):
been holding sadder schools. Bass action is winding down, but
there are still a few large mouth hanging tight to
lay downs and submerge timber. Bring straight braid and a
medium heavy rod if you want to pull them out
of those snags. Best lures right now gold chartreuse and
fire tiger jigs tipped with shiners or fat heads for walleye,

(02:41):
Large crank baits and shiner or perch patterns, especially deep
divers for trolling along deeper flats. Large minnow baits or
sucker minnows below a bobber for pike, small plastics and
maraboo jigs for crappie with live bait for added appeal.
Bait choices, fat heead minnows, shiners and sucker minnows are

(03:02):
the ticket. Emerald shiner slabs if you can find them,
waxworms especially for late season panfish for hotspots. Check out
the stretch below the four damn Pool two which is
historically reliable for late season walleye and sager. Just be
smart about water safety, especially with levels up the mouth

(03:23):
of Minnehaw Creek where baitfish gather, and predatory fish are
never far behind the rocky drop offs near Boom Island
and the deeper runs by the old Plymouth Avenue Bridge.
A quick heads up, some stretches are still showing low
levels of PFS contamination according to the Minnesota Department of Health,

(03:43):
especially Pool two, so stay updated on advisories. If you're
planning a fish fry. It's shaping up to be one
of the best November weekends in years. Thanks for tuning in,
subscribe and stay with us for your next local river update.
This has been a quiet please production. For more check
out Quiet Please dot ai