MN River versus Mississippi River catfishing debate

[Tim Ellis]

Which body of water is better for catfishing? I know the MN probably gets fished by more people but is it a better catfish fishery?

[Guest]

To me, the MN river is smaller so its easier for me to navigate with my shallow 17ft tracker boat. I think the Mississippi would be too big and current too strong for my little boat

[Guest]

I think your going to get a pretty one sided response with everyone leaning towards the Minnesota river.

Those 2 fiseries are very different fisheries, but both very good fisheries at the same time. The MN river is a more popular river for fishing cats than the Missis.

The MN in my opinion is a much easier river to fish. There is a good population of fish, its very small, and its easy to pinpoint where the fish should be which adds up to a pretty high success ratio.. and there is a good trophy potential virtually anywhere.

The Missis is a much larger, deeper, more complicated river system that throws its extra difficulties in.. barge traffic, boats, dams, man-made structures.. it can be confusing or overwhelming even to those who know it well when conditions are tough. There is no shortage of cats, and plenty of trophy size cats that can provide a phenominal fishery.. IF you can locate the fish.

Either of the rivers are excellent fisheries. The MN in my opinion has a better chance to produce a trophy on any given night, the Missis has a better chance to produce a record size fish at any given time. When I am on fish on the Mississippi, I will rival any catches coming out of the Minnesota in numbers and usually the overall average size is larger from the Missis, but the MN will usually take it on the largest single fish on an average night overall... this may be a unfair comparison because 10x the fishermen frequent the Minnesota than the Mississippi.

You cant go wrong either way fishing either river. The MN is easier to fish, the Missis is more demanding to learn the fish to catch(a lot more water), but really pays off when you figure them out.

I prefer the Mississippi

[Guest]

Quote:

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To me, the MN river is smaller so its easier for me to navigate with my shallow 17ft tracker boat. I think the Mississippi would be too big and current too strong for my little boat

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webwarrior.. The Mississippi has dredged channels and literally no current right now. Unless your boat has a jet on it the Mississippi is an easier river to run at just about any time. 17' boat isnt all that small and it takes some water to run it(no pun intended).

[BigWormin]

Your 17 footer is more than enough boat for the missisippi, i run my 16' 40 horse on it all year including early spring when it's raging, no problems here.

I've solely fished the mississip with very good luck, never ventured to the MN, probably because of the convienience of P2. I would definitly like to give the MN river a shot though and learn a new stretch of water on of these day's.

[Tim Ellis]

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Your 17 footer is more than enough boat for the missisippi, i run my 16' 40 horse on it all year including early spring when it's raging, no problems here.

I've solely fished the mississip with very good luck, never ventured to the MN, probably because of the convienience of P2. I would definitly like to give the MN river a shot though and learn a new stretch of water on of these day's.

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You have good luck catching nice Flatheads and Channels on the Miss? I have never fished the Miss south of the Twin Cities but have fished the MN alot with good success.

[Random guy]

I fish with cat guys on both rivers. The guys fishing the Minnesota want to go fish the Missippi because it's better and the guys on the Sippi want to fish the Minnesota because it's better. Grass is greener problem if you ask me. I like both. Maybe the Sippi a little more because I can run my boat on the Sippi and not the Minnesota.

[rushing]

No doubt about it, the mississippi is so much better. Everyone should just fish the mississippi from now on dont waste your time on the minnesota its junk there isnt any fish in it.

[hanson]

LOL! Thats funny Rob!

To be perfectly honest, I've got to believe that the Mississippi River is a better flathead fishery than the Minnesota, especially considering the lower pools. It has lots of fish and it has big fish. But once again, it really depends on what pool you are fishing.

"I Da Man" Briank fishes P3 & P4 extensively and he can put fish in the boat, night after night after night. Dan Thiem's 56 pounder he got with Brian is a testament to the trophy opportunities the Mississippi possesses.

They are just 2 totally different rivers.

[Random guy]

I like the Sippi beacause you can change complete structure, water, and temp elements and only travel 1/4 mile at most. The Sota is more of what you see is what you get other then a few pocket or small areas.

[BigWormin]

Yup, we've had some good luck fishing on P2, caught some really nice fish the last couple years, along with smaller ones to. We normally have a mixed bag of channels (at dark) and flats (after dark) every night.. except for recently it's been pretty slow. We've put a ton of time in on that stretch of river though, i'm sure if we put that much time in on the Minnesota we'd do just as good.

[Dennis Steele]

A lot of folks believe that the MN is better flathead water than the big ol' Missy. I think many have formed that opinion because of many of the InFisherman articles that feature the MN River.

Personaly, I think that the Missy is better water for flats as well as channels. The river is larger and can support more and larger fish. The fish will concentrate in feeding areas and your catches can be larger and more plentiful than in the MN River. THe only thing about the Missy is that it is a more diverse river and pinpointing the best spot can become more difficult.

To me the MN River (my home) is more of a consistant producer only because I have been fishing it for 20 years.

On the channel cat side.... There is no doubt in my mind that the Missy is far better water. I have had 80 fish days on that water and some areas I frequent its uncommon to catch less than 30 cats a day. The deeper water and "channels" support better channel cats. After all channels cats are called channel cats because they like the channel!

The MN your mostly confinded to fishing a few current swept holes or hoping from snag to snag.

[Tim Ellis]

Dennis- great insight. Thanks.

[Guest]

Wow.. everyone agrees that fishes both rivers... Thats something new

They are both great rivers.. I think its easier to catch fish in the Minnesota, but if I could only have one river it would be the Mississippi.

Too many people are intimidated by the size of the Mississippi.. its a lot of water and can be frustrating, but it really pays off when you figure out a system that works.