Late Fall Fishing on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis

Artificial Lure here with your Mississippi River Minneapolis fishing report for Monday, November 24th, 2025. It’s late fall and the river’s showing her seasonal colors: chilly mornings, glassy water, and fish making their final moves before winter. Let’s talk weather first. According to the local FishingReminder service, sunrise hit at 7:22 AM and we’ll see sunset just after 4:42 PM. Temps range from a brisk 40°F to a mild 69°F, not bad for November, with overcast skies expected—a real plus for keeping walleye and smallmouth active through the daylight hours. No tidal action here on the river, but that late fall water turnover means bait is stacking up tight against wind-blown points and those channel edges. Solunar tables say best bite times are around dawn and dusk, specifically 6:52 to 8:52 AM and 7:03 to 9:03 PM. If you can hit those windows this week, you’re set. Fish seem most committed early before the boat traffic and throughout the evening as temps drop. Now, onto the fish. Recent river action reports steady walleye bites on Pool 1 and all through the main Minneapolis stretch. Target 10–18 feet breaks using small jigs, 1/8–1/4 oz, tipped with fathead minnows or try a Jigging Rap for aggressive fish on the inside turns. Smallmouth bass are pushing toward midriver rubble and current seams—swing ned rigs or 3–4 inch swimbaits just off the bottom for best results. Folks still picking muskie from the deeper lakes in the metro: watch for bait clouds hovering between 12–20 feet and go slow with glide baits or big rubber baits. Northern pike are cruising in whatever green weeds remain; burning a spinnerbait across weed tops has picked up some quality fish lately. Crappie action’s shifted to mid-depth basins—find them with side imaging and drop small hair jigs or plastic under a float. There’s talk on the local chatter of multi-species limits: the odd white bass mixed in with big panfish, and even a couple chunky catfish pulled from below the dam late last week. Best baits today: - Fathead minnows on light jigheads for walleye. - Ned rigs, small swimbaits, or tubes for smallmouth. - Glide baits or slow-rolled bucktails for muskie. - Spinnerbaits for northern pike. - Small plastics, hair jigs under floats for crappie. If artificial is your thing, go natural colors in clear water and add some scent or live bait when the clarity drops—those short strike windows mean you want every edge. Hot spots: - Saint Anthony Falls Upper and Lower Lock and Dam: Both pumping out big walleyes and bass right by the seams and just above the rocky drop-offs. - Boom Island: Working well for bass, crappie, and the occasional northern. - Nicollet Island: Smaller crowd, but good numbers of smallmouth, especially near the rubble and pilings. - Pool 1 near the Ford Dam: Known for quality walleyes when the water’s moving. Remember, if you’re venturing out, bring some extra warm gear, keep an eye on boat traffic near the locks, and double check your ice gear for t This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.