Fish On! With Denver's Mississippi River Guide Service!
Mississippi River & St. Croix River Fishing Guide Denver McKinnon. Over 38 years of experience!
Denver has been fishing the Mississippi River system for over 38 years. With a lot of experience on the river, Denver feels that guiding is the best way to pass on the Mississippi River and St. Croix river knowledge he has gained over the years.
Whether interested in bring home fish for dinner or looking for a trophy, Denver will do his best to provide you with a happy and exciting day. You can choose the target species between Walleyes, Sauger, and Crappie. The techniques you learn with Denver will help you when you are out on your own on the Mississippi River and St. Croix River. Denver guides on the Pool 2 (St. Paul), Pool 3 (Hastings), and Pool 4 (Red Wing) of the Mississipi River. He also guides on the St. Croix from Hudson all the down to Hastings. Book a trip today with Denver's guide Service, and let your Mississippi or St. Croix River fishing adventure begin!
Check out Denver's recent Mississippi River fishing reports. He adds a report almost each time he is out, so check back often to see what the fish are up to! Also, take a look at his Mississippi River trip logs to see stories from his client trips and testimonials!
"Thanks again so much for a great day fishing. My dad and I had a great time. Good luck with the softball in Mankato and drive safe." - Matt (Red Wing trip 09/23/11)
Mississippi River pool 4 walleye report
I know it's been quite sometime since my last fishing report. I had been very busy from guiding to hunting with the dog, deer hunting with family, back to bird hunting with missi in South Dakota then back to the old Mississippi River for walleye and sauger fishing.
Let me start out by saying thank you to all my folks that choose my guided services over the year. These folks make my day seeing them enjoy thier time in the mighty Mississippi River and when I see the smiles on faces I know I'm doing what I'm paid for.
The bite this fall was quite the difference from the last couple years. I myself think this is due to our river being above average through august then the bottom dropped out of it in September sending many fish back into lake pepin. And why do they need to go anywhere else from that point with the schools of Shad on the lake. Food is the main draw for them just like a human. You are gonna go to where it is easiest to fill your belly. With that being said the amounts of bait on the lake system is incredible. This makes it a challenge to get the fish to bite on your baits out on the lake late into the season.
Think about the fish you caught starting in beginning of fall. The fish south of redwing were loaded with Shad. While the fish from colville north normally had minnows blue Gill and even little drum in them. This shows you those fish on the lake didn't need to go anywhere until the bait decided to start moving up the river system to the warmer water temperature. Hence follow the bait and the fish will be right there. And each day even hour was different on the bite and even the size of the walleye sauger you caught. One thing I make sure I do each day is checking the time we get bit. Some days it seemed the fish moved up into the river at around 10-2. Making those critical notes can help you determine when to fish an area. I get guys in the boat that say when we going to the good spot then later say why didn't we start in this spot. When I fish each day I make sure to pay attention to all details. Hopefully this helps you out in the future.
The last couple weeks of the busy season had days of struggle but making those little adjustments made things come together for my vessel for my folks to put walleye and saugers in the boat. We started out fishing in water depths from 8-13 ft early October to 14-26 ft by the second week of November. The change in depth all had to do with water temp, pressure on the fish and how the bait moved deeper. Every decision is made depending on each day we were out there. I vertical jigged blade baits, jig raps, and jig minnow at times, I used miller rigs other days and even started to Dubuque rigged last two weeks. All techniques had there days to shine. Being able to adjust is key to putting numbers in the boat.
As for next spring this might be the time to contact me being I'm starting to get my calendar going for next spring early summer. I have booked 15 trips for next year in the last two days. There is never a to early booking so you get that spot reserved. Always keep in mind I do fish throughout the winter weather depending since my boat is in a storage located above the river. Quick and easy to take boat in and out. And heated.
I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family. Looking forward to the 2026 fishing season should be great if we get the snow they predicting this winter.
Good luck out there guys and gals!!!
