Fishing Princeton, MN

I’m a Mississippi River guy from Alma, WI now living in Princeton, MN and I’m out of my comfort zone. I was wondering about the little lakes around Princeton/Zimmerman area and if they were worth the time? Blue, Ann, Sandy, or any others I’m not aware of. We just got a brand new 18′ Sylvan and I’m itching for some soft water! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

I can’t say I have much experience with that area. If you live in Princeton, you are only 25-30 minutes south of Mille Lacs. That’s an awesome fishery once you figure it out. There are a ton of lakes in the Mille Lacs area that are awesome fisheries as well. I’ve never been impressed with lakes much further south of that.

I am having the same problem as you. I moved to Rochester from Northern MN. Thankfully the river is about 45 minutes away. It’s been fun learning the Mississippi down here.

I sent you my number give me a call. I ama little east of you and checking some lakes as I drive around. Incredibly windy today, its doing some damage on the lakes.

Blue, Green and Spec are all decent lakes in the area. They will fish small during peak periods due to all the locals. Green would be the first choice for most. Spec is a very clear lake that can get busy since there is a resort on that lake. Briggs and Julia are other options, they are towards St. Cloud from here.

I don’t want to get into to much detail for obvious reasons. If you would like some more info send me a pm.

BTW, are you working in town?

Welcome to Princeton.

I would guess Mille lacs or the Mississippi up that way. You may need to look at what you are running for a river boat. That stretch of river up there is shallow but still full of fish.

i lived in princeton for 1 year and had marginal success there. milacs was not good for me because i had a 14 foot flat bottom and i really had to pick my days i could go out. not a problem for you with your new rig. i have fished the lakes you mentioned but my favorite was spectical over by cambridge. do not even bother going to it on the weekend. the pleasure crafts will make you want to go postal (jet skis especially). midweek is the best time. there is a great bass population. i am a walleye guy, so i had to change my focus with the lakes around there. there are walleyes but not the numbers i was used to. the dnr lakefinder page did not say there was walleyes in there, but when i was scuba diving in that lake, i did see a couple. bring lots of misquteo dope in june/july. at dusk they are crazy because the lake is small and does not get much wind. we had days we couldnt keep the fish off the lines but we had to call it quits because the bugs just were sucking our blood dry. we also found some ok walleye fishing west of princeton within a hours drive. bridges lake i think. good luck. with your boat i would spend most of your time on the big pond, that is where you will be able to do the most damage.

If you also have a canoe or small boat the stretch from Princeton to Cambridge on the Rum River is the best walleye fishing around there and the smallies and northerns can be good too.

dd

Rum and Mississippi both offer good smallmouth fisheries from shore or a small boat…some good largemouth bass options at Spec and Blue, unfortunately lots of boats on all of the area lakes on the weekends and none are that big.

PM me, I live in Zimmerman and am willing to show you a few of the local spots and fill you in on the local bite. Do you bowhunt also???

Wow, I’m also new to the site and I never expected so many responses. Thanks for all the info, thats exactly what I was looking for. I expect to spend a fair amount of time on Mille Lacs, but it will be nice to have a few places to go and play after work. I’ll be in touch!

PS I’m working at Princeton Auto doing some selling and helping with their computers as well. I went to school for computers, but in these times one must be flexible in the job search. I’ve only been at this job for a little over a month, but it is a pretty nice gig.

I sent you a e-mail.

you are talking my home lake waters….Blue, Green both are good crappie lakes with some walleyes. both have bass and some northerns but I only really chase the crappies. The walleye bite can be decent towards the opener on Green and it will have a better quality of panfish. Blue is a numbers lake and you can go out and catch a pile of crappies with ease but cracking the 10″ mark can be difficult. Briggs is good for walleye and also there are some nicer crappies in it. Elk by Briggs also can be good for crappies/walleyes. Little Elk in the Zimmerman area is decent after ice out for crappies and around opener is popular for walleye. Sandy Lake is really pointless and to tell you the truth I have never heard anything but small sunnies and small crappies being caught and I tried a few times this winter and they were right small!!! Good Luck