Fishing in Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area runs 72 miles through the Twin Cities metro, from Dayton and Ramsey in the north down to Hastings in the south.

It's an urban river park — working locks and dams, barge traffic, floodplain lakes, and rip-rapped shorelines — but the fishing holds up.

The river here is recognized as a serious smallmouth bass fishery, particularly in the northern suburbs and upstream, and the floodplain lakes tucked into the corridor add a different kind of water entirely.

The northern stretch around Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park is a reliable starting point. Rip-rapped shorelines and outside bends hold smallmouth bass and walleye; pools and slack water are where you'll find catfish, panfish, and northern pike.

Cenaiko Lake, within the same regional park, is one of the floodplain lakes worth exploring.

Pickerel Lake at Lilydale Regional Park and Snelling Lake at Fort Snelling State Park round out the stillwater options, with trout, panfish, northern pike, and largemouth bass spread across these lakes depending on the season.

Below Lock and Dam 1, walleye fishing picks up noticeably. The boat landing at Hidden Falls on the Saint Paul side is a known local spot — fish either side of the landing, or hike upriver toward the dam where the trail breaks out onto a gravel beach.

Catfish show up there regularly. Lake Rebecca near Hastings anchors the southern end of the corridor. Fishing here follows Minnesota state regulations. For boat ramps and water access, the Minnesota DNR's Metro Area Rivers Guide covers the corridor well.

Check with the park directly for any site-specific rules before you go — access points and conditions on an active commercial waterway can change. The river doesn't ask much of you to get started, but it rewards the angler who learns a particular bend or pool.

Sixty miles of water through a major metro, and most of it fishes better than people expect.