12/28 Fishing Reports

Let’s hear your fishing reports from this weekend. I’ll start:

I went to Chester Woods today. The ice is very solid and 4-6 inches thick. The bite today was much slower than previous days (I was told), but it was still good. I caught several nice bluegills and 1 nice crappie during the middle of the day. A rat finke tipped with a waxie worked well. Fished in 25 ft. with most fish being in the bottom 5 ft. of the water column.

Good Fishing,
Mike

fished foster for a couple hours….got a grand total of 0 bites….

i think a little stocking may be in order sometime pretty quick…..

Nate and a friend were out at Foster Arends this afternoon and were catching fish again in 2-8 ft of water. Fishing was slower than the last time he was out but the weekends usually have alot more pressure. Thanks, Bill

I heard that supposedly they stocked the lake Saturday, but I have my doubts given the slow bite there this weekend. As Bill said, maybe the weekend pressure turned things off a bit? One thing I have heard is that the best bait switched from fathead minnows to waxies. I guess waxies would probably work better in a situation where the fish are less agressive. If they have not stocked it yet, it should be very soon.

Good Fishing,
Mike

Hey Mike, Well said when the fishing gets tough change up the presentation, that is the best time because you have nothing to loose. Just got back from wisconsin and grabbed some red euro larvea I would think this would be a good change up at foster.

Nate said he checked the ice where they usually dump the fish in when the stocked it and there was no cut out hole there so he doesn’t think they stocked it yet. Which means better bites are yet to come.
Thanks, Bill

I am going to pass along a lot of info on the various waters in and around Rochester. Be aware that I have not personally verified all of this information, but I get to talk to a lot of people from the area that have been fishing.

As stated above, Chester Woods is having a good consistent bite for bluegills. The better area of the lake is quite a walk out to near the dam and the arms close to the dam. Be careful of the ice which is very close to flooded timber as the trees absorb heat which makes the ice thinner. Water in the 25 ft. range seems to be best, and using a vex or other electronics will give you a big advantage because the fish are not always right at the bottom. The crappies are there, but don’t always bite real well during the day. I have heard of a very good crappie bite toward late afternoon into the evening. You need to be well prepared to stay out there after dark – so don’t go without making necessary preparations. The crappies will usually be suspended, so electronics will be a valuable tool.

Foster Arends Lake bite has slowed the past couple of days. There are still some trout being caught, but the numbers have decreased. The best bait had been fathead minnows, but it seems waxies have started to produce a little better recently. The fish can be anywhere in the water column, but with the water being very clear you can usually do OK fishing only 3-4 ft. below the ice. I suspect the lake will probably be stocked very soon.

Country Club Manor pits have been producing some bluegills and crappies. This body of water does not usually produce large fish, but numbers of keepers and lots of small ones. The problem with fishing there is the parking. It sounds like people have been getting ticketed in spots where I have parked previously without getting a ticket. That pretty much leaves the parking option to streets in the residential area, and then there could easily be the problem of cutting through private property. None the less, if you can figure out the parking problem, it can be a good spot. The water is fairly clear, but you don’t need to fish quite as deep as Chester Woods.

I have not heard anything about the Boy Scout Camp, but it usually produces some panfish through the ice.

Willow Creek is giving up some panfish, and from a couple of reports it seems the fish are a little bigger than what it has produced in past years. This is an impoundment with similar characteristics to Chester Woods.

I haven’t heard of anyone ice fishing Silver Lake yet, but believe it or not it does get some ice fishing over by the stone bridges on the east side. From what I’ve heard, there are some OK size crappies once in a while.

Lake Zumbro is producing some nice sunfish in deep water. The ice here is usually questionable until later in the season, but it sounds like several people have been going out. They are walking on by the Ponderosa camp.

The Mississippi backwaters are putting on a pretty good bite in some locations. The nice thing about many of the spots is that they are rather shallow and easier to fish. Some of the spots that are giving up fish are Wilcox, West Newton, The Finger Lakes, The Dike Road, The Long Walk, a few spots around Nelson and Alma, several harbors and marinas all along the river.

I want to encourage everyone to share information here. There is no reason to give up more information than you are comfortable doing, so don’t feel like you need to give up any secret spots, but you also don’t need to apologize for naming spots that are already very public and well known.

I hope this info helps, and above all I want to encourage everyone to get out and enjoy what is quickly becoming some very good fishing!

Good Fishing,

Mike

Thanks Mike for the great fishing info. Like Mike said-lets ALL share. You don’t have to give the exact location [spot on the spot] but please do give some info to help others just like you have been given info to help you. We can all help each other this way. Thanks, Bill

hit chester earlier this week after hearing about the great bite that’s been takin place back by the dam in the trees……yeah, right ……drilled hole after hole after hole with only 2 fish to show for the effort, neither of which were keepers .

chester has obviously been getting POUNDED the last few weeks…..which may have been one reason we had a hard time getting many. i’m sure you can still find fish, but a flasher would greatly aid in the search in that deep water.

Poor Jake, I’m actually starting to feel sorry for you. One of these days you’ll have to let good old uncle Mike show you how to catch fish.

I had a banner day today on Lake Pepin! 25+ crappies 10-13 inches and a couple nice sauger. This was through the ice. Almost all fish came on crappie minnows in 23 ft. of water. Fresh fish for dinner was great!

Good Fishing,
Mike

poor jake is right !!! i can’t remember the last time i went and actually caught fish through the ice . the open water didn’t work so hot today either .

….so i’m taken that as an invetation to all your secret spots. so when are we going. i’ve got nothin to do all this week

Hey Jake,

I promise to get you on some fish this week! Looks like it’s going to be a little bit colder, so maybe an afternoon would be best. Now if Bill gets his pain shots, we’ll get him out there too!

Good Fishing,
Mike

Hey Mike
did you get out today if so how did you do.
say let me know if your looking for someone to go to Lake pepin with ya this week or next weekend I will try to sneak away from work and get out there.

Ya I tell ya some people have it made being able to sneak out fishing while the rest of us have to slave away at work. Sure better be a good fishing report with all the good details if you guys sneak out! Thanks, Bill

How about a general area of Pepin you were at Mike. The way the weather looks this week don’t look like I will be working. Too cold for the boat so looks like I will have to try the ice. By the way, I picked up a Okuma reel from Mike a week ago and they are great. Used it 2 days at Red Wing and think I need 3 or 4 more of them. Good luck

Hey Art
watch out for those Okuma Reels my dad and I picked up about 8 of them at the begining of the year and loved them so much we were just there yesterday and picked up 10 more. man are they sweet reels Okumas are all I have rigged up on my jigging and trolling sticks now.
Thanks Mike you sure make a guys life alot easier.

Yes, I love those Okuma reels a lot! Great quality and real reel value for the price.

There are 3 areas to be aware of right now on Pepin. Maple Springs, Camp Hoksila?, and trailer point in Lake City. All 3 of these areas are giving up fish – some days much better than others. My best rig for crappies has been a small crappie minnow on a #8 red hook fished a couple feet off the bottom in about 22-25 ft. of water. The best sauger presentation has been a small jigging rapala, with the new goldfish color being best.

Good Fishing,

Mike

Fisherman, Nate was right if you ever fish with Okuma reels you probably want to replace the ones you paid 2 to 3 times more for. I have purchased all spinning models, does anyone have any info or reports on the line counters, how do they compare to the Diawa? Tight lines #5

Hey Joe
I have used the line counters for several years and love them to death would not change for anything. I have also used the Diawas and I have found the Okumas are alot more to my liking.
from what I have found there is not a bad Okuma reel I use them all from there Ice fishing reels spinning reels and line counters. Now its time to try the new line of Bait casters that they came out with.