Never thought I would become an urban angler!

[GoggleEye]

Well, I never thought I would say it, but I have become a metro area angler now that I have moved to west st. paul. Never in my life have I ever thought of living in the cities, but it has happened. I was wondering if anyone could help me with pointing out some descent walleye, muskie, or pike lakes in the west st. paul area that are not bombarded by jetskis, power boats, and a-holes (if such a thing exists) Also, is there a lake that has descent fishing where you can go and not see houses all over the shorelines and trash floating in the water??? Sometimes I just need to get out on the water and watch a bobber float and take it all in with some descent scenery around me. Any help would be much appreciated. Maybe my answer to these questions is to just get it over with and move up north and take a huge paycut........

thanks, GoggleEye

[nofishfisherman]

The minneapolis lakes are good fishing. You won't get any jet skis or pleasure boaters becuase they are electric motor only lakes.

Nokomis is a decent walleye lake and they all have muskie. Bass are also an option for you.

Might be worth your time. The scenery is also good just a little different then those northern MN lakes.

[Trucker Jim]

You know, you now live minutes away from a body of water that doesn't have hardly any homes on it at all. There are many spots where you wouldn't have a clue that you're in a big city by looking around. There's wild life galore-eagles, deer, ducks, pelicans, beaver, fox, etc. etc. etc.. This body of water holds large numbers of 20-28" walleyes, with a chance of breaking the 30" mark. Plus it's legal to fish all year long. Jet skiers aren't around that much. It's called pool 2 of the Mississippi River. You can launch under neath the new Wacovia bridge. This stretch of the river doesn't hold a lot of pike though, and there is some trash around, but not as much as you might think. It's also catch and release only. But it's truly worth while to get aquainted with this whole stretch of the river. You might end up thinking that you hit the jack pot-great fishing, great scenery, with all the comforts of the big city!

[channelfats]

I second the pool 2 comment.

Your other options would be to get used to the pleasure boaters, or ignore the development of the shores and hit the lakes during the week early and late in the evening. If chosing option 2 you might find the cities actually have pretty decent fishing if you take the time to learn them and give them a chance. Utilize the DNR lakefinder before you decide to give them a chance or not. Prior, waconia, tonka, Mpls chain(electric only=not much pressure), and many more. Aside from pool 2, I would also add the st. croix.

[LazyIke]

Nokomis is great if you don't want to see houses, but it's not great if you don't want to see huge planes flying close enough overhead to touch the landing gear! I've caught quite a few nice bass in there, and have met people who have been catching nice walleyes. I always see people hunting muskie too, but I haven't met one yet who's landed one.

[MuleShack]

Isn't there a lot of "other" scenery around Nokomis.....?

[fishuhalik]

The closest thing you have to a northern MN lake is the st. croix from taylors falls to o' brian park. Almost no development and tremendous bass & eye fishing

[iFishMN.YT]

You dont need to live up north to enjoy a nice day on a quiet lake without houses and boats everywhere, you just need to drive 20 minutes! 20 minutes on the freeway in almost any direction and you start seeing open fields and less people. Even 30 minutes to the west will get you out in the west metro, and if you look, you can find some quiet lakes that recieve very little pressure.

[long caster]

I will put my vote on pool 2 of the mississippi. Fishing is great, the scenery is awesome (saw 2 nice deer while trolling last friday)....every time i go out after work, feels like i just came home from a weekend up north, great way to decompress after a day working for the man

[potto]

I gotta Say Tonka is the best all around Metro Fishing Lake. Great Bass, Great Northern, Pan and Eyes if you can find em. Waconia, Independance and Whaletail are also good ones.

[Slyster]

Big Marine isn't that far.. less than 30 minutes up 35E (and then east) from St. Paul.. really a nice lake.. very rural.. only partially developed.. loads of northerns and bass. Forest lake isn't too bad either.. and has good muskie fishing to boot.... and WBL (White Bear Lake) is very close by and nice for northerns and bass and occasional muskie if you can get out between sunrise to 5pm on weekdays... WBL, like Minnetonka, you can just forget the weekends for fishing unless you get off by noon.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

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Isn't there a lot of "other" scenery around Nokomis.....?

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YES...the best in the business and one of the many reasons's I'll never move up Nort!...

[palisade1kid]

Baaaaaaack in the day I ewe'sd to go to nokomis.

Get old & the scenery down there looses it's charm.

[steffanf]

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but what are you guy talking about? I have only lived here for a few months and I don't know by what you mean by "scenery" at Nokomis...

-Gregg B.

[Maximum12]

The kind of scenery that might be jogging...or just come off the beach...or roller-blading (my favorite)...or taking a nice walk in a bikini top...if you get the drift...

[steffanf]

Oh... stupid me. I see that scenery all the time around several of the metro lakes, especially the ones with the paved bike trails around them. I like that scenery, but it can be quite a bit distracting. It sure beats seeing a deer at the waters edge... of course, they both can have huge racks...

-Gregg B.

[MuleShack]

[GoggleEye]

Thanks for all your help guys. I appreciate it and hope to make use of a lot of this great advice. Can't wait to check out some of these lakes and hopefully put some descent fish in the boat. If anyone out there ever needs a fishing partner, I am usually free on weeknights to go and some weekends. I have a boat with a 15 hp motor, however it is in a storage shed in Hudson, WI which makes fishing a little more expensive and time consuming now for me. I just don't have a garage where I am living right now and I can't have it in my apartment building parking lot. I would be willing to help out with gas and bait if anyone has an open spot in their boat. I have a canoe also if anyone knows of any good canoe spots. Like I said, I am living in West St. Paul so I would be willing to meet at a lake anywhere in the metro area or the surrounding areas. My email is [email protected] if you would like to get a hold of me. I mainly like to fish for walleyes, muskies, pike, and panfish. I've got more than enough gear to troll, jig, cast, or slip-bobber and would be willing to borrow rods, reels, baits, etc. if you need it. Good Luck all.

GoggleEye (Sam)

[MuleShack]

google Eye:

I plan on heading up to Mille lacs in late Sept and a couple times in October to troll up some eyes.

I would have an open seat for ya if your interested. ( i remember you had some ice fishing posts from up there last winter)

Beats fishing alone.

let me know and we can figure out what days work.

my email should be in the profile.

[GoggleEye]

That sounds great muleshack. I absolutely love pulling cranks on Mille Lacs. There's some nice eyes out there in mille lacs to be had trolling. Let me know when you are planning a trip up there....if I have nothing going on you can count me in. Just drop me an email.

GoggleEye