Ottertail River?

[badfish]

Where are some good spots to fish from shore on the ottertail river, I might be going up there in a week or two. Im strictly CPR, if you dont want to say on here email me at [email protected], thanks.

[MJCatfish]

The Ottertail River spans many, many miles. Where will you be located?

Phelp's Mill by Maine, MN is a popular place to fish. A little bit of everything there. There are some spots that people fish early in the year up on Hwy 10 by Frazee. There are a few spots on the OT River in and around Fergus Falls that are fishable from shore as well. In the southwest corner of Ottertail Lake the river pours out, by Zorbaz, and that is a fishable area as well, with a fishing pier.

Good Luck and let us know how you did.

MJ

[DEADhead]

The action has been pretty slow in Frazee since the hot spell. the water has come down a ways; the only thing really biting the other week were sunnies and largemouth. Northerns have been pretty quiet this year. I think the majority of the walleyes have moved out by this time of year.

the OT downstream of Fergus Falls has been pretty decent, now that flows have gone down. The kitties should be nearing the post spawn period. The smallmouth action has been slower than usual for this time of year.

If you make it over to Phelps Mill let us know how you did. I've been meaning to make it over there one to try it out, but I can fish down by Fergus for the same drive time. If the OT is just as productive there as it is furthur downstream I may need to mix it up and go to Maine.

If anyone has a good shore spot where there are tons of buffalo, redhorse or carp, let me know. They are a blast on the fly. Thanks.

[badfish]

Well i'll be staying in New York Mills so anywhere within 20 miles up or down stream would be alright. Where would a good catfishing spot be? and is there any size to them on the river? I really wish they would make a good map of the ottertail.

Quote:

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If anyone has a good shore spot where there are tons of buffalo, redhorse or carp, let me know. They are a blast on the fly. Thanks.

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Let me know to, redhorse are fun, thanks

[DEADhead]

I don't think you're gonna get a lot of catfish action upstream of the orwell dam. you might have to drive a little more than 20 minutes if you want to catch kitties. There are plenty of redhorse down at orwell too, but often times they are in the main channel and harder to target with a fly; it's almost a random catch if you happen to get one. I'm sure if I dunked worms down there it would be no challenge to catch those things.

[carp_killer]

might have to make it down there with my bow if the redhorse are in there

[SDbowhunter]

Dont plan on boating anywhere the water is down really low. The only time the river would be worth fishing around that area is in the spring during the spawn which would be illegal. Ive tried it for crappies early on in the year and caught no crappies a couple walleyes, but of course they all went back in the water. If i were you i would go fish rush lake or big pine had a buddy last weekend catch a a limit on rush. Carp and redhorse are long gone tough bowfishing for em now.

[DEADhead]

I'm not sure what part of the river you're referring to SDbowhunter when you say it's only good during the spawn. Did you mean at phelps mill, the Otter Tail outlet at zorbaz, or near frazee? You can still fish during the spawn just can't target species in closed season. white suckers on the fly were a blast last spring during the spawning run. I know they close a section of the OT off of hwy 10 in frazee in the spring, but that's mainly because the bait dealers have a trap for suckers there, just downstream of the turkey barns.

As far as water levels, flows are still pretty high within the whole OT river system, especially for this time of year, where was it low? I'll second the notion that boating will get difficult here soon as flows are receding, especially after this week.

I saw plenty of redhorse last weekend downstream of Orwell, not a lot of carp, but they're still around. The turbid water and uprooted vegetation near the shallows (that makes conditions difficult to bowfish) indicates to me that carp are still active there.

it almost sounds like we were fishing an entirely different river from your description SDbowhunter

[carp_killer]

ive been shooting plenty of carp at phelps mill and the ottertail river by zorbaz and everything looked high to me as well i might be headed down there to orwell just to give it a try