UPPER MISSISSIPPI

[Guest]

In a boat that size you won't be able to make it much past the Rice bridge. The Rice bridge is about 12 miles from Sartell. You can make it about 2 miles past the Rice bridge before it gets pretty hairy. There are areas of shallow water and rocks. There is another dam just upriver from Royalton between the Rice Bridge and the Little Falls dam.

[Guest]

FLYINGFISH,
Thanks for the reply.The dam you mentioned past Royalton, would this be a better area for Smallmouth? I've also heard that there is alot of Muskie action up that way. Since I live in Princeton and the river is close I'm looking for some good advise. Or should I stick with lakes?

[Guest]

I'm wondering how far up river do you think i can get from Sartell. I have a Ranger 681VS. I don't need to be going wide open but i don't want to crawl either. Are large rocks a concern? I assume the dam keeps the water fairly deep. I'll mostly troll for anything that bites. Can i get all the way to Little Falls?
THANKS FOR ANY HELP

[Guest]

The dam past Royalton can be good for all species of fish. I don't know too much about the Muskies up that way other than they are in there and I've heard of people catching some decent ones. If you're looking to troll with your boat, the stretch between Sartell and Rice has some good areas to troll. Below Sartell to Sauk Rapids is accessable by small boat only. From Sauk Rapids down to the St. Cloud hospital is waders only territory. From the hospital down to the St. Cloud State dam can be fished with a big boat as well depending on the water level. You could keep going down the river and have good smallmouth fishing. The Mississippi has special regulations to help the population out. There are some good walleye action in the river as well, but the size usually runs pretty small. If you would like any further details without clogging the site up email me. [email protected]