kinni

[the man]

I'm just curious what is the biggest trout you have caught on the kinni? I have fished that river for quite a long time and it seems very hard to not catch the dinky small little browns that makes up much of the population of trout in the kinni I think the biggest trout I have caught was maybe 14-15 inches. So what is the biggest trout you have caught on the kinni?

[deets22]

i usually catch a few 12 inchers pretty regularly on the piece south of river falls. the slot limit there has relly brought the size structure around the last few years. for the most part though the numbers of trout in the river aren't going to really give you the best shot of a brown trout over 15 inches or even a brookie over 12.

[wooduck26]

I got one about 2-3 weeks ago that was about 1. ( I have a 12 mark that I use...it was oever that) it was by far the best Kinni fish ive got...Ive been fishing that river sonce the early '90's

[so haaad]

I've got an 18 out of an upper section, but that was maybe 10 years ago. In general the Kinni gets a lot of fishing pressure. Don't be afraid to check out the other streams in the area. Again, put in your time exploring and you'll find decent water.

[the man]

I'm not really looking for any tips or pointers, because I have fished the kinni a lot.

[J_D]

I fished the kinni alot while growing up in the area. One year during the c and r season i caught four browns that ran 20-23 inches. Just happened once though, went back to that same spot many times afterwards and never caught anything that big again.

[radke22]

My 1st trout ever out of the Kinni was an 18" brown caught right below the dam. Since that day about 10 years ago, I have caught hundreds of trout with the biggest maybe pushing 14" at the most. You gotta love the numbers on kinni, but the size wise, not going to happen there.

[Scudly]

You can bag five trout under 10" or four trout under 10" and one trout over 14." Fish 10-14" are protected. Personally I think the reg should be changed to bag five trout under 14.". Then maybe people would eat up and thin out those little dinks. Wild trout, great natural repoduction a good thing. Times have changed though. People rarely keep a stringer of 9" trout. Once on opening day I saw father and son spin fishing with a stringer of dinks.

My PB for Kinni is a 15" right at the dam at dusk, far right corner pool.

The lower end upstream of Co F should have lower numbers of trout, chance for bigger fish. I have had several quality evenings down there. Only problem is if you do not have a WI park sticker it costs $10 for the drop box for MN residents per visit! I said forget that and no longer fish the lower because of this. Most cars parked are dropped off for canoe or kayak. Pony up the park sticker and fish upstream of the parking lot. You will likely have the place to yourself minus the aluminum hatch.

[dudewheresmyboat]

I've seen some really nice ones in the Kinni, they just won't bite but than again I spin fish only. My pb would be at 16, but there are bigger ones and i mean monsters! I'm about a mile from the kinni, great stretch of water!

[itchmesir]

10-14" is a silly slot range..

[Scudly]

Here is Marty Engel's comments in the Kinni when I asked him about this unusual slot limit back in September 2008.

During 1990 the new trout regulation category system was implemented.  The lower Kinnickinnic River was assigned a protected slot of 12-16 inches, bag of 5 only one over 16 inches.  We evaluated that slot and found it to be effective, improving the number of trout over 12 inches, but not over 16 inches.   So we had an effective reg.  Then a number of years ago there was a push to simplify the number of special regulation categories form over 50 to 12.  When all the negotiations were done the decision was to eliminate the 12-16 slot option, so I was forced to change the slot to a similar one, the 10-14 inch slot.  This regulation has also been successful on the lower river. However, growth remains slow on the river primarily due to high abundance and low fish forage. Few fish make it pass 14 inches with either slot limit.  The slot was to encourage harvest of small trout,and encourage medium trout to reach larger sizes, however angler attitudes have changed and taking small trout is no longer popular.  If people keep trout they tend to want a larger fish.  I don't believe today's anglers will keep enough small trout to make a difference.  So changing the slot higher is not an option.  I did like the 12-16 better, but that is no longer an option for us.  I been considering another option of a 12 inch maximum size limit (can only keep trout under 12 inches), but would need substantial public support to get it changed.

[deets22]

great info scudly. i had the pleasure of listening to marty lecture in my icthyology class about cold water streams. that guy is full of awesome info. he also told us the same thing when i asked him about the slot limit. it is just tough to grow bigger fish when you have that many in a stretch of river. there is only so much forage to go around. another kicker is that brookies are so short lived, they don't have the time to grow big. in a fishery like the kinni there is nothing wrong with keeping a limit of 8 or 9 inch trout.

[itchmesir]

He is totally right about the trend of how anglers fish.. people no longer fish to have a meal.. people now go out to fish to chase the dream of catching something they can put on their wall.. multiple special regs have scared off the anglers that like eating what they catch... but fear for being fined.. arrested.. or having their equipment confiscated due to lack of knowledge...

i was talking to one of the firemen the other day as they were outside doing whatever it is they do.. and he was telling me how he used to trout fish.. but now he doesn't because there are too many different rules... unfortunately we can't just abolish these rules.. because it is helping.. but at the same time its hurting.. if trout fisherman population goes down.. and if people don't pull fish out of streams to keep.. there's no room for growth...

[deets22]

that is true. to fish the rivers in this area you have to bring the reg book and check it out when you get out of the car. that sucks that it scares fisherman away. the kinni rally could handle a much higher harvest rate.

[grate8]

regs aren't scary if you can read. what a load..

[dudewheresmyboat]

i'll do my part this year......take a few of the small fish.

[waterbound]

I take a limit every time I'm at the Kinni! Hard to beat fresh trout!

[nmitchell17]

I am just getting into fly fishing and so far have only tried pannies in the metro. If you don't mind me asking, where are some good places to access the kinni?

[waterbound]

There are plenty of places to access the Kinni. The easiest way for anglers coming from the Cities would probably be the access right off Main Street in River Falls. Here's a link to a site with all the Kinni's accesses so you can explore: http://www.kinniriver.org/about-the-kinni/interactive-map/

[Scudly]

Quote:

I am just getting into fly fishing and so far have only tried pannies in the metro. If you don't mind me asking, where are some good places to access the kinni?

Although popular with fishermen and folks just out for a walk, the canyon section below the dam is by far my favorite. Very scenic. Take 94 into WI. Take 35 south. Turn off on main street, take a right. Go through town. After you pass Dairy Queen on your right you will go over a bridge. Take your next right on Park Drive and go down to the end by the tennis courts and park. Pretend Park continues to go straight and you will see the path down the hill to the lower dam. Go fish the lower end.

June evenings at dusk the Kinni has some of the best sulphur hatches. Kinni apple sulphur. It is more apple green than yellow although yellow works just fine too. I like to use an emerger as a trailer, they will hit those first before the duns and then later the spinners. At times the river boils. Bring a flashlight headset because you will want to fish until you can no longer see your fly and it is comforting to have light hiking out of the dark spooky woods.

[deets22]

I really like that piece of river too. Lately it seems like my favorite spots always have someone in them. Good news is there is plenty of river to look for fish.

[Scudly]

Most popular time of year is now. Streams will get quiet once everyone starts heading to their cabins and doing lake fishing.