Rice Creek

[deadeye]

I was wondering if anyone on here has canoed Rice Creek? I think it starts at Peltier lake up in Centerville and I know it ends in the 'sippi in Fridley. For some reason I think I remember hearing that you couldn't in years past because of the army/ammo plant that it went through but now they have it open to canoe down.

[KMR85]

I thought that it was opened to canoeing too, but I cannot confirm this.

[Duffman]

This might help, maybe a tad......

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/marapr10/getaways.html

[KMR85]

Thank you sir.

[deadeye]

Thanks for that link

I will probably give it a shot this spring. I like the idea of a standing wave. Sounds like fun.

Probably will have to break it up in a couple trips since I like to fish a lot.

I could even go solo since it does end up going into the 'sippi just north of home. It seems like a decent trip to me. Although the neighbors might find it a bit odd for me to be walking down the street with a canoe on my shoulders.

[KMR85]

You would have to portage around the Locke Lake Dam and the stretch between the dam and the Miss gets a little hairy when the water goes down. Should be doable during the spring though.

[deadeye]

Thats my home stretch of river so I frequent that area a lot. Canoes are perfect for that part of the river when its low. Its pretty fast current and its shallow but there isn't much that you couldn't do with a canoe. I go up and down it with my boat and do OK. I'm not sure the creek would be passable if it was low anyway.

I live just south of 694 on the BC side and I fish up at that park in the spring. Its a small portage. Maybe 2 or 3 rods.

There would be a portage at long lake in New Brighton too. There is a little dam there too.

I bet there is some pretty good fishing in some of those lakes and parts of the creek. Not a lot of people bother to fish it so who knows. It would be good to do after opener, maybe even bass opener. Lots of bass in those shallow lakes.

[KMR85]

I used to live in Mounds View and drove over the creek alot on long lake road. Never saw anyone fishing there. I thought about wading in there to try it in the fall but never got around to it. Is the dam on the side that flows into long lake or on the side where the creek flows out? It would be fun to canoe the rice and do some fishing along the way. I imagine a guy could get into plenty of suckers to make cut bait out of. I will probably hit the confluence of the rice creek this spring as it can be fun to fish. It gets crowded on the weekends though, even in the early mornings sometimes. I will probably have a 14' duck boat w/ 15 hp to fish out of this summer, so I will try to hit the Miss between 694 and 610. I also plan on fishing the Rum River quite a bit.

[deadeye]

The confluence at that park can be pretty good but it can be pretty buisy too as you said. It depends on the day most of the time. I have had weekends when it was dead there too. There is a couple of trees that went down into the creek there that could make fishing interesting this spring.

At long lake the dam is on the outlet. I haven't scouted there much but I also know on the upstream side at long there is a backwater channel that might be good in the spring. Long lake would be one place I wouldn't mind skipping over though. Every time I go there something bad happens. You could say its my bremuda triangle right here in the cities.

For that stretch of the river check this out. There is a little more info on that area. http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubb...he_#Post2081908

Oh yeah and happy birthday!

[Redlantern]

Deadeye, is the dam new? I grew up near there and used to tube and canoe Rice Creek quite a bit. I don't recall seeing a dam. There is a bridge there for Long Lake Road. As far as fishing goes, I never caught a great deal of fish other than suckers out of Rice Creek. A couple of small northerns and crappies and that's about it. Nice paddle, though.

[deadeye]

I could be wrong about there being a dam there? The last time I was out on long in my boat it looked like there was a dam there but I also didn't get to close and it was a long time ago.

Either way I think the upper stretch of rice is what interests me for fishing. That chain of lakes has got to have lots of bass and northerns in it. I have even gotten a lot of eyes out from under the dam at peltier and they would be coming up from those lakes too.

[Redlantern]

When I lived in the area we couldn't go through the munitions plant so we normally would start out by the maid. The upper reaches do seem more interesting than what I've been on.

[KMR85]

Deadeye, Unless there is a dam right under the long lk rd bridge I don't think there's one.

[deadeye]

That may be. I guess thats where I thought it was at if there is one. I would probably find a way to skip over that lake if I did that trip anyway. Bad things happen there. My canoe would probably break in half somehow.