Mississippi River Walleye Spawn Kicks into High Gear

Good morning anglers, this is Artificial Lure with your April 20, 2025 fishing report for the Mississippi River around Minneapolis. After recent rains, the river level has come up quite a bit, bringing a fair amount of debris downstream. The water temperature cooled off down to around 40 degrees last week but is steadily warming back toward 45 as we see more sunshine. With days getting longer, sunrise today was at 6:18 AM and sunset will be at 8:06 PM, giving you a good stretch of daylight to get after it. Walleyes are spawning right now, especially with the river levels stabilizing and water warming. Most of the male walleyes are milting, which means they’re eager and likely to bite. There are plenty of fish holding tight to rocky-rubble bottoms and the slack water edges, typically where slow and fast currents meet. Focus on depths less than 12 feet, and don’t be surprised to find them even shallower, especially early or late in the day. With the spawn going hot and heavy, expect the action to stay good through this week, especially with the full moon coming soon, which tends to ramp up the night bite as well. Be extra cautious of floating logs or debris if you’re motoring upstream, as the high water can bring some nasty stuff just under the surface[1]. Recent catches in the area include good numbers of walleyes, many in the 20 to 24 inch range, with some reports of anglers landing up to 17 eyes in half a day of fishing, about half of them over 20 inches. There are also sauger and a few nice crappies moving in from downstream, so variety is on the menu[2][5]. Best baits right now are still plastics—try purple firecracker Moxie plastics or B-Fish-N Tackle B-3 blades for pitching and snap jigging, especially around current seams and riprap. For catfish, nightcrawlers, cut bait, or sucker minnows on a 1/0 octopus hook in the deeper holes and slower eddies are getting bit. Shore anglers are also having luck with nightcrawlers under a bobber for trout and channel cats in the right spots[1][4]. Your go-to hot spots include the Ford Dam tailwaters (also known as Lock and Dam No. 1), which are always reliable for walleyes and sauger right now, as well as below the Coon Rapids Dam. Both are holding fish where the current breaks and there’s some rocky structure. Don’t overlook the mouths of Minnehaha Creek and Bassett Creek for active fish in the slack water. With stable river levels and rising temps, this week should see the bite pick up even more. Just be sure to dress for chilly mornings and keep a close eye on river debris. Tight lines, be safe, and I hope to see you on the water! This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.