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 walleye and sauger report for June

With all the rains over the last few weeks it has been fun chasing walleyes on the river system.  These walleye have been everywhere from up into the shallow waters and in depths from 2-10 ft.   How you try to catch them is the challenge you give yourself.

We have been dragging jigs at times to get our walleyes to bite in  depths of 5-8 ft. We have also pulled the rig to catch them at times.  The most consistent in my boat as of late has been pulling bottom bouncers with night crawlers and leeches.   Seems like everyday you need to find out what technique they want the most.  
 

I have had many great days on the water with some high numbers of walleyes coming into my boat as of late.  There seems to me an abundance of smaller walleye and sauger in the system this year ranging from 5-10 inches long.  As a guide I love to see this it shows our system is very strong with the last couple years having great spawns.  There are also plenty of walleye in the system ranging from 20-26 inches long.   Some of the best spawning fush we could ever have.  I am big on letting this fish go even though the regulation says you can keep one over 20.   IMO if you get a fish over 28 inches and want to have it mounted on the wall that is also a great idea. No better memory than seeing your trophy hanging in your house or cabin.


I have been very busy with many new and old clientele as of late and I do appreciate everyone that chooses my guided service. It is so fun watching guys and gals really enjoying themselves on the Mississippi River system not only in redwing but also pool 3.   The laughs and nagging on each other is what makes me keep working hard to put all of my clients on a great bite.  
 

I just got done with two groups of people over the last two weeks.  My folks from Hamburg , Iowa are always an absolute blast to have.  They are the most laid back set of peeps I could ever have.  Jason and John I can't wait until September to get you two gentlemen out on our perch adventure.  And Rita and the gang I will always be ready for next June.  
 

Bill, Keith, and Karl are dear to me since Bill and I served in the Navy together.  What an amazing time we had back then and it's awesome that we have connected again for each year on the river. I'm gonna try to sharpen up mt golf game to try to get to y'all's level next summer.  As always thank you for coming.

 

The water levels are gonna start coming up quickly again. As of this morning we were at 10.86 ft and it is calling for a rise of 2.1 ft in next 6 days.  That is without the rains on the way so imo it's gonna come up more the the 13 ft level.   Hoping all folks up and down the river are prepared for the flooding.

 

When dragging jigs I like to use Jacks jigs and also Bfishin Tackle dragging jigs.   Colors can be all over the board ranging from black, orange , blue, and chartreuse.  Each day can be different depending on what the walleye want.  Crank baits I've used have been Rapala jointed Shad raps. Regular Shad raps, flicker shads,and salmos.   Again depending on the day and depths I'm targeting is when and where I use certain crank baits.  I know bandits and bombers also work well on the river system.  

 

Good luck out there guys and Gals!!!!
 

 

 
About Denver

Denver has 38 years of experience on the Mississippi River...

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Checkout Denver's stories from his guided trip and see client testimonials!

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