Spring Fever and Micro-fishing

[popriveter]

I am so anxious to get back to open water. I've been visiting clearance bait bins, organizing tackle boxes, fixing/upgrading boat accessories, cleaning and lubing reels, repairing rod tips...

I'm running out of stuff to do to bide my time. I have done some reading about micro-fishing and am starting to outfit myself to chase some tiny species. Size 20 hooks, small diameter line, telescoping crappie pole, etc. Seems like I should be able to start this pursuit almost immediately. 

http://microfishing.com/species-of-micro-fish/

I grew up in the south metro, and I know convenient spots to try down that way. For example, the Black Dog discharge should have baitfish available in open water year-round, but I recently moved to Brooklyn Park recently and need to learn some NW metro spots. 

Where would you try? Rice Creek? Elm Creek? Maybe Coon Rapids Dam area? Anoka Dam on the Rum? Are there any warmwater discharges up this way (other than Monticello)?

You know you're a little desperate for fishing when you're getting psyched to chase 2" fish.

[ZachD]

st Croix excel power plant .... And I think Anderson windows has a discharge too.

[popriveter]

Tried visiting a few spots on rice creek yesterday and saw no signs of life. 

Is anyone seeing baitfish or roughfish anywhere yet?

[th64]

Comon over I'll be fishing in my aquarium very soon-we had just enough warm weather to mess up the ice but not enough to get rid of it---aaarghh!

[popriveter]

This evening, I walked over shingle creek to a spot where I'd seen some baitfish. Made my first attempt at microfishing and failed gloriously. The baitfish were nowhere to be found. 

I pretty quickly discovered the reason. 2 small pike were sitting in the "holes" where I'd seen the baitfish. There's maybe 10" of water there and I was wholly unprepared to chase pike. I had a size 26 hook on 1lb flourocarbon. 

Ended up taking my kids to a park  on the river and saw some fisherman catch a few walleyes from shore.

That kinda snapped my mindset back to more traditional fishing. My boat is starting to look like a good idea.

[th64]

Nice fish-season is closed for those guys up there right?

[popriveter]

I was honestly attempting to catch sheephead. I went to spot where I've taken them before on jigs, but they weren't there that day. After an hour of encountering only a few gamefish, I figured it was time to cut it short because I didn't want to run afoul of the law. 

I try to avoid baitfishing before the open season because I hate to deephook an out-of-season fish, but it can be hard to target roughfish with artificials. Makes for a bit of a catch 22.