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new to area


Dooley87

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i am pretty new to the area, i live in cold spring and want to try the chain this winter and maybe some other lakes such as goodner or koronis, i own a gps and i have scouted out some spots to try out but the chain is a little intimidating, does anybody have any info on types of structure to try in these lakes (do fish relate to humps or ridges or weedlines or just deep holes etc..) not looking for any coordinates to honey holes just some helpful advice, fish mainly for crappie and walleye. thanks guys.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Welcme to FM Bearbait!

Two of the lakes you mention have very iffy ice early, especially this year. I'd focus on Goodner for now. I haven't talked to anyone who has fished it yet but generally a decent panfish lake with lots of pike. Be prepared to sort. Not much of a walleye populatation on Goodners.

The chain and Koronis will be much better walleye options. I'd toss in Rice as well. All of these have good panfish as well and the chain has the bonus catfish as well.

Welcome to the area.

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

First of Welcome to FM

As far as the chain is concerned it can be a little intimadateing to a newcomer but let me say that once you figure it out you will be very impressed! smile.gif I target alot of eyes and craps on the chain and here are some tips. For eyes concentrate on breaklines and humps and don't be afraid to go shallow (10 ft or less)!! There are alot of active eyes shallow in this system keep noise,light etc to a minumum and you will be rewarded. As for craps there are alot of community holes that you will see and they are good places to look and start. I prefer to venture out away from the crowd looking for crappies on the steep breaks and mud basins as these fish usally seem more aggressive.

As Borch stated Goodners is a excellent panfish and pike lake you definately have to do some sorting but if your looking for action it's a good place to look.

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bearbait87, i also live in cold spring, and welcome to fm. check my profile to get in touch or post here. i know a little about these lakes as i grew up in richmond. tend to be more knowledgable on lakes spicer way or talmoon area. i can fake it though. hehehe

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Hello all--I am also new to the area. Have been out on Lake Julia and done ok (sunfish/crappies). Any other lakes worth checking out near Sartell?? (i.e. Little Rock??)

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i moved to Cold Spring in March of '06 and the winter of 06-07 was my first year of ice fishing around here. I did not get to do much of it because of extremely cold weather and no auger or house. I now have a portable Clam 5600 and a new auger. I fished Goodners a few times last year, caught one nice northern and A LOT of 8-9" crappies. Just curious if there are any other lakes similar that may have a better ratio of "keeper" fish?

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Nice to see all these new people, welcome to FM. This St. Cloud forum sure has taken off lately with number of posts and people using it. Sorry I don't have more info on ice fishing, I'm still pheasant hunting and bow hunting. I've never delayed getting on the ice this long.

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welcome to the fm guys! I fish alot in the coldspring area. I have done pretty good for sunfish on browns, Crappies on the chain along with cats. Walleyes on koronis and rice and a few on the chain, hard for me to find them on the chain tho. The spunks in avon are pretty good for a variety of fish. Along with clear water and sylvia are also good if u get down that way!

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Thanks for the info guys...I plan to get out to the chain at some point this weekend, but might just stick to Julia as I have had modest panfish success out there. (although seems to be a very popular place!) Is Pleasant worth any effort to check out? I don't mean to be an info moocher, generalizations are fine with me!

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Welcome all the new FMers! laugh.gif

I've been out of town for a few days fishing.

As far as Pleasant goes it's a good action lake. Lots of panfish but sorting required. Some nice 3-5 lb pike and every once in a while a walleye. There's a special reg on Sunfish with a limit of 5 for Pleasant.

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I am also new to the area (St. Cloud) and new to the site. Anyone have any advise to lakes with decent night fishing for walleyes? I work until 530 but would like to get out for a while some work nights. I was thinking Koronis but am up for suggestions. Thanks guys, I look forward to contributing to the site!

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