Check out this monster flathead caught by Grant Kokal! You can follow his adventures at kokal_fishing on IG!
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Carpicide Re-cap!
-Evan Griggs, Owner, Fishing For All
On May 31, nearly 50 anglers gathered at 56 Brewing before spreading out across the Twin Cities in search of common carp and other overlooked urban fish.
Hosted by Fishing For All and Carp Unlimited MPLS, Carpicide combined a catch-and-release fly fishing tournament with conservation, community, good food, and plenty of good-natured chaos. Anglers explored waters throughout the metro, documented their catches, picked up trash, and competed in categories ranging from biggest carp and most carp to the urban grand slam and best potluck dish.
This year’s highlights included a 26-inch winning carp, a 51-inch combined carp-bass-pike grand slam, three carp caught by a single angler, a 9-inch smallest carp, several impressive native fish—and even a crowd-favorite goose.
After a full day on the water, everyone went to Forgotten Star Brewing for a potluck, stories, awards, and prizes.
Congratulations to all of this year’s winners, and thank you to every angler, volunteer, partner, prize donor, and community member who helped make Carpicide another memorable celebration of the wild fish and waters found throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul.
We’ll see you next year!
Read on below for our 2026 camps, classes, and memberships!
Bragging Board
Fish, fish, fish, and more fish are being hooked and landed in our great state! This is the time to get on the water for your chance at nearly everything that swims!
If you don’t know where to start, want to target something specific, or want to take your fish-catching ability to the next level, book a trip or class with our team so we can put you on some fish!
Frequent Fishers Monthly Membership Program
Our club is growing! Join the adventure!
Frequent Fisher Memberships with Fishing For All are for intermediate to advanced skill anglers looking for advanced-level learning, deeper experiences, and diverse fishing opportunities!
As a Frequent Fisher Member, you get access to 8 exclusive benefits plus additional perks.
Details for this membership can be found below!
Fishing Report: June Fishing Report
June brings strong fishing opportunities across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Weed growth is becoming established in lakes, river fish are settling into summer current patterns, and trout activity is increasingly influenced by rainfall, insect activity, and water temperature.
Metro Lakes
Largemouth bass are one of the most dependable metro targets in June. Focus on docks, emerging vegetation, inside weedlines, milfoil pockets, cabbage, and outside weed edges. Bass may still be recovering from the spawn early in the month, but they become increasingly active as water temperatures rise.
Spin Fishing
A weightless 4- to 5-inch wacky-rigged stick worm is one of the best all-around presentations. Skip it beside docks, drop it into weed openings, and let it fall naturally. Watch the line closely because many bites come during the initial drop.
When bass are spread out, cover water with:
- Swim jigs
- Bladed jigs
- Shallow crankbaits
- Weightless flukes
- 3- to 4-inch paddletails
- Spinnerbaits around windblown vegetation
During bright or calm conditions, move to the outside weed edge and slow down with Ned rigs, Neko rigs, Texas-rigged worms, or compact jigs.
Crappies are moving away from shallow spawning areas and relating to cabbage, coontail, outside weed edges, and suspended cover. Use a 1/32- to 1/16-ounce jig with a small plastic or crappie minnow. A slip float is useful when fish are holding at a consistent depth.
Bluegills may still be shallow on cooler lakes, but many are shifting toward weed pockets, docks, and deeper vegetation. Small jigs, pieces of crawler, waxworms, and small plastics are effective.
Walleyes are most catchable during the final hour of daylight and shortly after dark. Target windblown weed edges, main-lake points, inside turns, and hard-bottom areas with slip floats and leeches, crawler rigs, bottom bouncers, or small crankbaits.
Fly Fishing
For largemouth bass, use a 6- to 8-weight rod with floating line. Cast poppers, foam divers, and deer-hair bugs around docks, lily pads, and shallow vegetation during the morning and evening. During midday, switch to weighted streamers, Clouser Minnows, crayfish patterns, or leech patterns along deeper weed edges.
For bluegills and crappies, use a 3- to 5-weight rod with small foam spiders, poppers, woolly buggers, soft hackles, and lightly weighted nymphs. Fish small flies beneath a strike indicator when panfish are suspended near vegetation.
Pike can be targeted with a 7- to 9-weight rod, a wire or heavy fluorocarbon bite leader, and large baitfish streamers. Focus on weed edges, points, and shallow flats holding panfish.
Best bet: Fish docks and shallow weeds for bass during the morning, work deeper weed edges and panfish cover during the day, and finish on windblown structure near sunset.
St. Croix River
The St. Croix transitions into a summer pattern during June. Fish become increasingly concentrated around channel edges, current seams, boulders, island tips, shoreline points, depth changes, and areas where fast and slow water meet.
Spin Fishing
Walleyes are commonly found in approximately 11 to 24 feet of water. Pull crawlers or leeches on bottom bouncers, sliding sinker rigs, or three-way rigs along channel edges, sand-to-rock transitions, downstream sides of points, and current-washed shelves.
Small crankbaits are effective when walleyes are scattered. Troll along contour changes or cast crankbaits across points and current seams during low-light periods.
Smallmouth bass are holding around:
- Boulder seams
- Riprap
- Island tips
- Shoreline points
- Wood near current
- Eddies beside faster water
Start with a 2.75- to 3.5-inch paddletail on a light jighead. Cast upstream or across the current and allow it to swing through the seam. Tubes, Ned rigs, craw-pattern crankbaits, and weightless stick worms are effective follow-up options.
White bass may gather near tributary mouths, bridge areas, and current seams where baitfish concentrate. Cast small spoons, blade baits, inline spinners, or white paddletails.
Channel catfish can be targeted with cut bait, crawlers, or prepared bait placed along current seams, especially during the evening.
Fly Fishing
Smallmouth bass are the primary fly-fishing target. Use a 6- to 8-weight rod with floating line or an intermediate sinking line.
Productive flies include:
- Clouser Minnows
- Woolly buggers
- Crayfish patterns
- Murdich Minnows
- Deceivers
- Bass poppers
- Foam divers
Fish streamers across current seams, around boulders, and below island tips. Allow the current to swing the fly naturally before stripping it back. During low-light periods, fish poppers and divers around shallow rock, quiet shoreline pockets, and eddies.
White bass can be caught with small white or silver streamers when schools are chasing bait near the surface. Use an intermediate line when fish are holding below visible surface activity.
Northern pike may be found around backwaters, weed edges, and slower shoreline areas. Use large baitfish patterns with a bite leader.
Best bet: Fish walleyes along channel edges early, target smallmouth around rock and current seams during the day, and return to shallow points or current breaks near sunset.
Mississippi River
On Pools 2 through 4, June fish commonly relate to wing dams, closing dams, riprap, rock points, channel edges, current seams, shoreline wood, and tributary mouths. River level and flow strongly influence where fish position from day to day.
Spin Fishing
On Pool 2, cast jigs with ringworms, paddletails, or minnow-profile plastics across wing dams and current breaks. Use the lightest jig that still maintains occasional bottom contact. Cast upstream at an angle and allow the lure to sweep across the structure.
Smallmouth bass can be caught by cranking riprap, rock points, and wing dams with shallow-running crankbaits. Follow up with tubes, Ned rigs, or compact craw-style plastics once fish are located.
On Pool 3, shallow-running crankbaits can produce mixed catches of smallmouth bass, white bass, freshwater drum, catfish, and occasional walleyes. Cast parallel to riprap and keep the lure deflecting off the rocks. Flip tubes, craws, or compact jigs into shoreline wood when the crankbait bite slows.
On Pool 4 and Lake Pepin, walleyes and saugers spread into summer areas. In the river, pull crawler or leech rigs slowly upstream or drag jigs and live bait downstream along current breaks and channel edges.
In Lake Pepin, troll small crankbaits over shoreline breaks, sand flats, points, and transitional areas. Make wide passes until a productive depth, speed, and direction become clear.
Channel catfish can be caught with cut bait or crawlers along current seams. Flathead catfish are more closely associated with heavy wood, deep holes, and nearby current, particularly after dark.
Fly Fishing
Smallmouth bass, white bass, carp, northern pike, and freshwater drum are all realistic fly targets.
For smallmouth bass, use a 6- to 8-weight rod with floating or intermediate line. Cast Clouser Minnows, crayfish patterns, woolly buggers, and articulated baitfish flies along riprap, wing-dam edges, island tips, and current seams.
White bass can provide fast action when they push baitfish toward the surface. Cast small white, gray, or silver streamers into feeding schools and retrieve quickly.
Carp may be found feeding on shallow flats, flooded edges, backwaters, and quiet shoreline areas. Use a 7- to 8-weight rod with crayfish, damsel, leech, or hybrid carp patterns. Present the fly ahead of a moving fish and allow it to settle near the bottom.
Northern pike can be targeted in backwaters and along weed edges with large streamers and a bite leader.
Because current can make fly presentation difficult, use weighted flies, sink-tip lines, or short leaders when fish are holding deep.
Best bet: Crank Pool 3 riprap for mixed-species action, work Pool 4 current breaks for walleyes and saugers, or swing streamers through shallow current seams for smallmouth and white bass.
Driftless Trout Streams
Driftless streams range from clear to stained throughout June depending on recent rainfall. Smaller, shaded creeks usually remain cooler than larger valley streams. Fishing is often best during the morning and evening as daytime temperatures rise.
Fly Fishing
A dry-dropper rig is one of the most effective June setups. Use a foam beetle, Hippie Stomper, small Stimulator, or caddis pattern with a scud, Frenchie, perdigon, pheasant tail, or soft-hackle dropper.
Fish:
- Pool heads
- Riffle-to-pool transitions
- Shaded banks
- Undercut grass
- Current seams
- Slots between vegetation
- Soft water beside faster current
In clear water, stay low, approach from downstream, use longer leaders, and fish smaller natural-colored flies. Avoid casting your shadow over the water.
Caddis, beetles, ants, grasshoppers, and light-colored mayflies can produce surface action. During evening hatches, watch for rising fish near pool tails, soft seams, and shaded banks.
In stained water, use scuds, leeches, worm patterns, bright beadhead nymphs, and olive or black streamers. Trout frequently move toward banks, undercuts, and softer current when visibility drops.
Streamer fishing can be particularly effective after light rain or during overcast conditions. Cast small woolly buggers, leeches, sculpins, or minnow patterns across the current and retrieve them through deeper pools and undercut banks.
Spin Fishing
Use light or ultralight spinning tackle with 4- to 6-pound line.
Productive lures include:
- Size 0 to 2 inline spinners
- 1/32- to 1/16-ounce marabou jigs
- Small floating minnow baits
- Tiny spoons
- Small soft-plastic minnows
Cast upstream or upstream-and-across, then retrieve just fast enough to keep the lure working. This allows the lure to move naturally with the current.
Focus on the first several feet below riffles, deeper outside bends, undercut banks, woody cover, and shaded pools. In clear water, use natural colors and make longer casts. In stained water, use darker, brighter, or higher-contrast lures.
Single-hook lures and pinched barbs can make releasing trout faster and reduce handling time.
Carry a stream thermometer. Stop fishing for trout when water temperatures approach or exceed 65°F. Move to a shaded headwater, fish earlier in the day, or switch to warmwater species.
Best bet: Fish shaded riffles and pool heads during the morning with a dry-dropper, inline spinner, or small marabou jig. Watch for caddis, mayflies, and terrestrial activity during the final hours of daylight.
June Quick Picks
Metro Lakes
- Spin: Wacky-rigged stick worm around docks and weeds
- Fly: Bass popper early; weighted baitfish streamer during midday
St. Croix River
- Spin: Crawler or leech rig along 11- to 24-foot current edges
- Fly: Clouser Minnow or crayfish pattern swung through rock seams
Mississippi River
- Spin: Shallow crankbait on Pool 3 riprap or live bait on Pool 4 current breaks
- Fly: Baitfish streamer for smallmouth and white bass along current seams
Driftless Streams
- Fly: Foam beetle or caddis with a scud or perdigon dropper
- Spin: Small inline spinner or marabou jig worked upstream
Guide Tips: Fish the Water Between the Obvious Spots
Guide Tips From the FFA Team
One of the most common mistakes I see anglers make is spending all their time fishing the most obvious piece of structure. They cast directly at the dock, the fallen tree, the weed bed, or the deepest part of the pool. Those places certainly hold fish, but the best opportunity is often in the water immediately around them.
Fish like transitions. A transition is any place where one type of habitat, depth, current, or bottom composition changes into another. It might be the outside edge of a weed bed, the first drop beyond a shallow flat, the seam where fast river current meets slower water, or the point where a gravel bottom changes to sand. These areas give fish access to food, cover, and deeper water without requiring them to move very far.
On our local lakes, pay close attention to the outer edge of healthy vegetation. Bluegills, bass, northern pike, and other species may move into the weeds to feed, but they often patrol the edge or suspend just beyond it. Instead of repeatedly casting into the thickest vegetation, work parallel to the weed line. A small jig and plastic, spinnerbait, swimbait, or slowly retrieved fly can stay in productive water much longer when it follows the edge rather than crossing it.
The same principle applies on the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers. A visible logjam or rocky shoreline may attract your attention, but look for the subtle current seam extending downstream from it. Fish often sit just inside the slower water, where they can conserve energy while watching food drift past in the faster current. Cast slightly upstream and allow your lure, bait, or fly to travel naturally along that boundary.
On trout streams, anglers often focus entirely on the deepest hole. Do not overlook the head of the pool, the tailout, or the narrow feeding lane beside the main current. Trout may use the deep water for security, but they frequently move toward the edges of the pool to feed. Approach quietly, make your first cast before getting too close, and cover the shallow transition water before stepping into it.
The larger lesson is to stop looking at fishing spots as individual objects. A dock is not just a dock. It is shade, depth, cover, and a possible travel route. A weed bed is not just vegetation. It has an inside edge, an outside edge, pockets, points, and changes in density. A river bend contains several different current speeds and depths.
When you arrive at a spot, take a moment before casting. Ask yourself: Where does something change? That change is often where the fish are waiting.
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