Zumbro River Fishing

Next weekend I’m thinking of taking the wife out on a canoe on the Zumbro River. Looking for any and all advice regarding good areas to fish and where to rent a canoe from. Zumbro Falls would be preferrable, I’ve heard they have a canoe rental place but just wanted to see what anyone on here thought. Do places drop off and/or pick up? I’ve got a truck I can put at one launch, but would need a drop-off or pick-up. And of course, I’d like to get some good river fishing in. I’ve heard the Zumbro River can be good once you get away from recreational areas.

Thanks Southeast MN brethren!

It’s been awhile but I have taken canoes from the Power dam just below lake Zumbro down several miles. I believe the canoe rental place is “Max’s?” And they pick you up at the end. Maybe a different owner/name now but started right at the base of the dam. Saw Ron Schara do a show once from there too. Actually pretty good fishing overall – mostly smallies… but we have also caught walleyes, pike, catfish. Rumors of Muskies in there too although I haven’t found them. Enjoyable trip, let us know how you do. Here’s a recent article on fishing the Zumbro:

http://m.startribune.com/love-flows-for-the-zumbro-river-and-the-fish-it-holds/318307161/

There’s canoe rental at Macs below the dam at lake Zumbro and pick up at Zmbro Falls. You can rent at Zf too and shuttle to the dam. In my opinion that’s where th best fishng will be found, but you can depart at ZF and they’ll grab you at Milleville too. That run has fish too but more Muskie reports I hear are from the dam down. The run from the dam to ZF is a designated small i.e. Water with a chanc at some real quality fish. Walleye and sauger can show up in the whole river as well but are not going to be there in numbers.northerns can be a frequent fish and can be pretty decent catches.

I suggest light smallie gear and tackle as it will get bit by about everything I’ve mentioned.

The river flow is dictated by whether the dam is making electricity or not. When the generators are idle you can expect to do a little wading. Both running well or slow, the river will offer fish and scenery. Some of the scenery is more common when it’s hot and may be exotic…..if you get my drift.. Regardless, this is a super drift.

Tom can you go from CO. 7 to the dam by boat ?

fireline wrote:

Tom can you go from CO. 7 to the dam by boat ?

No. Not unless you feel like dragging through a bunch of real shallow riffles. Your best bet is to just suck it up and pay the $20 launch fee at Macs and drift down.

Or float down from one of the other launch points. You can motor around a little bit from Cty 7, but you’d never get all the way up to the dam without a lot of hard work.

We went from dam to Zumbro Falls several times we had own canoes. We caught rock bass, smallmouth, redhorse , carp, walleye and sauger, channel cat and a 45 inch muskie. White flukes or twin tail grubs on jigs and x-raps did well and we used worms on deeper slow spots. You do have to get out once in awhile for shallow riffles but you want to fish the base of every riffle anyhow. A really nice river to foat fish and wade in.

Mwal

You can also launch from Co. Rd 7 I think but you’ll need to have your own pick up vehicle. There was a parking area right there on the west side of the bridge. Maybe that’s changed, been a while since I have been out that way.

Going upstream from 7 would be a lot of work especially if the generators are idle.

The drift from Zumbro Falls to Millville can offer some good fishing with the addition of some possible trout added to the ticket. When I was younger I did this trip a few times and seldom was dis-satisfied with it. There were more walleyes/sauger to be had on this leg too.

Last I heard the canoe rental place was $50 bucks to float from ZF to Hammond !!
Even more from the dam down I bet.
And getting $20 bucks if you wanted to launch your own canoe and no ride.

They just built a new canoe launch on the north east side of the Hwy 63 bridge. DNR I’m guessing and free.
The trip down from Millville is better IMO and fishing better too…not to mention less people. Still need a PU truck at the bottom end where you want to get out.