Not only to keep people away, but for your own safety. Good call.

Tman! Yeah I klnow what you mean. Sometimes it is good just to listen to the silence and the stillness. One of my favorite spots is along the Rum. For a small river so close to a major metropolitan area it is surprizingly devoid of people. That's why I fish and camp along the Rum.

Your spots for fishing/camping must be beyond the range of my 16 ft Lund - never seen anyone camping and I don't recall seeing you guys on the water and I am generally there a lot - especially with high gas prices. On the other hand, I agree that you can feel very alone on the water there sometimes.

Saze Off! Funny! I don't recall you fishing either! If we had met I an sure you would have invited me aboard your boat for a cold frostee! Seriously, The weekend I did the trip I did not see any boat traffic on the stretch I used. I wondered about that because I thought the river was high enough for a small V-Hull or Jon boat? I did see some guys fishing from shore though! Didn't stop to say hi! Just waved and floated on by! What are you fishing for? Walleyes or Smallmouth!

Tight Lines;
Uncle Kes

UncleKes,

Yes, there are two landings South of Isanti. One is off Whiskey Road by the power sub-station, the other is within view of my deck at home.

The one in town is a MUCH better ramp with lauchable water MOST of the time, but you'll be on sand in a hurry from there during low water.

The one by my house is basically a sand washout with a parking lot. You can launch a small boat when the river is up, but forget it after that. A sand bar ends right there. We have gotten stuck with 4 wheel drive trucks to the point of hooking up two others to it to get out.

Low water = canoes or small drag boats there.

There can get to be quite a bit of pressure at times by our place.

The river is a great place to spend some unwind time, too bad theres so many hooligans around that I don't feel safe parking my rig overnight at any of the accesses between home and Princeton. We've launched upstream of Cambridge before and either arranged someone to bring our vehicle home (our pull out) or paid a nearby home owner to park our rig there for the weekend.

Not trying to scare people away, just stating the facts. Its a Disignated Scenic Riverway, so it can get rugged in more ways than one.

Good luck.

UK -

I'm pretty much confined to the waters from Anoka dam northward for about 4-5 miles at which point there are some boulders that I cannot motor through with the big motor and my trolling motor is not strong enough to carry me through. Actually since pretty much the whole dang river is no wake I tend to stay in the southern 1/2 of that range because it takes so blasted long to idle up so far....I don't think there is another launch ramp on the whole river that I could successfully use. Thought about trying the rough one at the County Park in Ramsey but don't think it would work and it would be a mess to get stuck in there.

With the projected cost of gas this summer I'm thinking I will be spending a great deal more time on the Rum than I would like since I only live 5 mins from teh Fairgrounds ramp.

Yes, if the access is easy, more parking, with a landing dock, I will DEFINITELY fish the RUM more... This is a great river to fish at ....

lake Off: I have not been to the County Park in Ramsey for a few years but as I recall the landing there is mostly for canoes or perhaps a jon boat. I seem to recall the river was not all that wide at the landing spot either? I may be wrong on this? But I personally would not want to launch my V-hull at that landing. I would think you would just be asking to eat up a prop.

Yeah, I agree. The 4 or 5 miles north of Anoka are probably the best for a V-Hull. Not to mention, the time of year will certainly affect the depth of the water. When I made my float tube trip there was a lot of water where I had to lift the tube and walk till I found deeper water. But there was enough (at least that time of year) to make it an enjoyable trip anyhow! I remember a lot of rocks and gravel bars that would really run your whole day if you hit one! Thats why I opted for a float tube? I wonder if one of those float boats they have out now would work as well?

Anyone been on the rum this spring using the Fairgrounds ramp? Water level looks quite low, but I need to get my boat out!

I don't think they have raised the water levels are the CR Dam yet. There are also some boards or something they put in at the Anoka Dam I think which probably aren't in yet either. Once they do both of those things the water level will come up.

What would you be fishing for?

d aze, have you ever made it up to Central Park? I was thinking about trying to launch they this year when the water is up a little. I have a smaller boat than you do so it might be ok.

You say it's a rough landing? What does that mean? Is it just a dirt landing?

Yep, I realize the water levels are low. I've already seen half a dozen trucks with empty boat trailers sitting there in the last couple weeks. Just wondering if any of them visit the FM forums......

What are they fishing for? Poor bass never get a break.

I have no idea. Just saw empty trailers sitting there so I figured they were putting the boats on the stream.

I just saw my first boat on the Rum yesterday as I crossed the Hwy 10 bridge. Looked like about a 12-14 ft ALumacraft and they appeared to be moving along the east bank pretty close in. They may not even have been fishing or they could have been trying to recover a bait that was stuck. No way to tell in the few seconds it took to blow across the bridge. Felt the urge to go down there and make sure they weren't fishing for smallies though.

Water level in the lower Rum is surprisingly high considering they won't think about putting the boards in for at least a few weeks yet unless they changed up and already put them in. Mississippi is running pretty high too.

To answer an earlier question - I have never made it much past the island with the narrower channel where the river bends sharply to the left. There is an area just north of there where boulders prevent me from getting through with the big motor and my 55# trolling motor is barely enought to hold the boat in place so advancing is out of the question. Sometimes it even gets dicey just getting that far. I've cut more than a few skeg lines in the sand.

I hope they get better at enforcing the no wake zone this year.