Minneapolis Mississippi Fishing Report: Walleyes, Saugers, and More in Winter's Steady Flow

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Mississippi River fishing report for Minneapolis and the pool right around town. River’s running cold and steady, typical mid‑winter flow, with levels near normal according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers river gauges. With no true tide on this stretch of the Mississippi, the “tide” you’ll feel is driven by dam control and recent runoff, and that’s been pretty stable the past few days. Weather‑wise, the National Weather Service has us sitting in classic Twin Cities winter: temps hovering in the teens to low 20s, light northwest breeze, and decent barometer. That higher, steady pressure usually means fish are a little tight to cover but still willing if you slow things down. Sunrise is right around 7:50 a.m. and sunset close to 4:50 p.m., so you’ve got short but productive windows on each end of the day. Solunar-style tables from Fishingreminder say the better feeding pushes line up early morning and again right around dusk, which matches what locals have been seeing: slow middays, then a nice flurry as the light drops. Recent reports from local bait shops and Minnesota fishing forums around Minneapolis say the winter mix has been pretty solid: - Walleyes and saugers coming out of deeper current breaks below the dams. - Good numbers of smaller smallmouth hanging in slower pockets but more neutral. - Channel cats nibbling on cut bait in the deeper holes. - A few bonus crappies and white bass sliding in near warmwater inflows. Typical catches have been eater‑sized walleyes in that 14–18 inch range with an occasional 20‑plus, a handful of saugers per boat, and a couple cats if you commit to soaking baits. Best presentations right now: - **Walleyes/Saugers:** Vertical jigging 1/4–3/8 oz jigs tipped with fatheads or shiners, or a plastic paddletail when they’re a bit more active. Gold, chartreuse, and firetiger are still money in this stain. - **Smallmouth:** Hair jigs and small tube jigs in natural brown or green, worked painfully slow along rock edges. - **Cats:** Cut sucker or fathead chunks on a simple slip sinker rig, dropped right into the deeper wintering holes. If you’re a lure junkie like me, don’t overlook blade baits in silver or gold pounded along the bottom below the dams; they’ve been picking off some nicer fish when the current is just right. Couple hotspot suggestions: - The pool below **Lock and Dam 1** by Minnehaha: work the current seams and eddies downstream of the main flow for walleyes and saugers. - The stretch near the **U of M flats and the bridges downstream toward St. Anthony**: focus on deeper bends and rock transitions for mixed walleyes, smallies, and the odd cat. Standard winter safety note: WorldAtlas and other safety writeups call this upper Mississippi one of Minnesota’s more dangerous waters—cold, strong current, hidden snags, and those dam boils—so wear the PFD, go slow, and don’t push it. That’s the river rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.