Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Maple Lake - General Overview Requested


Recommended Posts

Hello All,

It has been quite a while since I last visited here. Not too much into ice fishing, but getting excited for the coming open water season.

Would appreciate any insight anyone can provide on Maple Lake as both a fishery and a recreational lake. My wife and I are looking at a few cabins there, but do not know too much about the lake. I have reviewed the DNR report, but it is fairly old.

My impressions are it is a ok all around lake with fairly good water clarity for the area.

Specifically, is the smaller lake on the NE side fairly clean or is there a lot of floating vegetation and muck. We have two young boys and would like to make sure that part of the lake is ok for swimming. Also, is the channel from the NE smaller lake into the main lake navigable (sp?) and if so is it reliably so?

Any other thoughts or info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - NFD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like Maple Lake a lot.

Very good lake for pike and bass. I have never really panfished there, but have heard some decent reports on that.

You can navigate with no issue between the 2 parts of the lake.

The channel is a no wake zone. No problem with even the biggest of boats.

The north bay is much murkier water color than the main lake, and is a lot of shallow water with 2 holes in it basically. Easy to see on a map.

Overall, I like that lake a lot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plenty of panfish in Maple Lake (both basins). Nothing to brag about in terms of size but typically plenty of action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice lake. Fairly clear and deep. Little Maple is shallow with lots of vegetation. Wouldn't recommend it for swimming. Like mentioned, no problem navigating through the channel into middle Maple. It gets some recreational boaters in the summer along with some angling pressure but nothing like closer metro lakes. Fishing is decent. Plenty of panfish action for the kids but Wright county offers numerous lakes nearby for the serious angler. I have a coworker that lived on the lake for many years that I can refer you to if you have more questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Thanks everyone for the information. I am a little delayed in responding back. The home we were looking at sold and I got tied up on some things so have not been back to the site.

Well the home is available again and we are focusing in on the lake again as well. The area of specific interest is the small channel that seems to serve the homes on the west (or north) side of the lake (Sherwood Forest area). This is not the main channel between the upper and middle part of the lake.

Is this channel deep enough for a 17 Ft Explorer to navigate consistently. I am not getting a real specific answer from the seller so it gives me concern.

Sticknstring - I sent you an email as well, I would really appreciate it if I could chat with you and/or the friend you mentioned if possible.

Anu other information is much appreciated.

Regards,

NFD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NFD, I don't know the area very well around there but the best advice I will give you is when that part of hte lake opens up, bring your boat back up in there and see how it handles. Right know, I think we're still below average on most lake levels so if your able to navigate, you should be fine for 90 percent of time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw a guy blast through the channel with his on full plane. Luckly nobody esle was in there, as it was almost dark.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.