boilerguy or anyone with some knowledge of lake sara ...

[rocki]

headed to sara and bloody this weekend, wondering if any of you guys from that area been out after some pannies or perch, a little heads up on were to start would be appreciated! bringing a new guy out on the ice, so would like him to see a little action.

[Pyrex]

The west county park on Sarah if you stay on the south east side of the bay (the first bay to the east) should be pretty good for crappies and perch. I havent been there for awhile but caught em there a few weeks ago. You will probably see alot of small perch the lake is really clear. I dont know about bloody though. Either that or Shetek. I would stay on the south side though, I have never had any luck on the north side for crappies (on Sarah)

[Eric Wettschreck]

For Sarah I'd stay south and/or east. As said, the water is very clear and you will see a bunch of smaller ones, and the nice ones are definately in there.

On Shetek, hit the north side. It's been a decent crappie bite by teepeootah point (Near the airator.)

I haven't been on bloody for a while. My best luck for crappies was either right off the landing and a little south, or straight west of the landing off the main point.

Good luck.

[hanso612]

I fish Sarah in the summer, and hearing it described as really clear gives me a chuckle. Last fall the green almost had a glow to it.

How clear is it? Can you see bottom? Hans.

[Eric Wettschreck]

While I respect the fact you fish Sarah in the summer, I fish it in the spring, summer, fall and winter. As is true with most of the lakes in the area, the later in the summer it gets, the more the algee grows and the greener the water becomes.

It's very clear, right now. You can easily see bottom in 9 FOW. This lake is perfect for sight fishing through the ice, or using a camera. Obviously if you are right next to the airator this will not be the case.

[rocki]

thanks guys, we will give it a go....I have also been told by many how clear it is, just like being up north in the summer!

[pointerboat]

What is FOW ?

[tjoutdoors]

feet of water

[rocki]

anyone else fish sara this weekend??? not much of anything for us!!

[hanso612]

Boiler guy, thanks for the update. I'm still feeling bad about a wise crack I made regarding that child psychologist a while back. Like I said before I appreciate all the work you do for the site. I wish I could fish Sarah all for seasons like you guys. I'd rather be down in the open spaces or up in Ely. Having regular posters give pictures and updates like you often do is worth the world to me. So I hope I didn't really offend you. If I did it won't be long before I leave myself open for a cheap shot. Feel free to take it-I owe you one.

I'm also looking for your input on how hard the winter has been on pheasants down there. Thanks, Hans

[Eric Wettschreck]

Thick skin and short memory.

While the winter has been a cold one, there has not been a lot of snow or ice. Sure, there will be some winter kill, there always is. It's been a decent winter for ringnecks, however. With a good spring for nesting, they should be just fine.

With any luck I'll be on Sarah, Shetek, or Lime chasing perch this weekend.

[hanso612]

I get down early in the spring every year. I do at least one windrow of tree planting a year out on the farm usually late april but sometimes in late may. I am very excited about the WMA and acquisition and drawdown of Maria. I think this will help Sarah stay clearer all year. I duck hunt Sarah in the fall as well and would love to see a drawdown on Sarah as well. That way emergent vegetation could get a foothold. The Dam keeps the lake from having a natural seasonal up and down.

Do you think you could do a draw down on Sarah without hurting the walleyes. Do you think homeowners would go for it if it meant cleaner water in the summer, but a chance hunter might be hunting from new emergent vegitation in their front yards. Any thoughts? Hans

[Eric Wettschreck]

This is just my opinion, but I doubt a drawdown will happen on Sarah. Sarah is one of the healthiest lakes in the area. There are a great many other lakes that need a lot of help before anyone even thinks about touching Sarah.

[pointerboat]

You mean to tell me ,you want vegatation in one of the best walleye lakes in SW MN, to hunt ducks??? Are you serious? WOW! I can help you find vegatation, like go 10 yds North of lake Sara & look NW... quack quack!

[hanso612]

I'm talking emergent vegitation like bulrushes not coontail and milfoil. Look at the shoreline of Sarah it is very barron the rocks are covered with a green slime and the water is very green most of the year. Bull rushes would be a great spawning habitat for Crappies, they are carbon sink, and a natural filter. they would be in the lake naturally without the dam. I'm not talking a draw down in the Maria sense where killing undesirable is the goal just the introduction of a buffer, just a return to the natural seasonal up and downs that are missing now.

I see duck hunting as a by product not a goal. I worry if Sarah is hunted harder the large raft of geese in the fall will move over to Shetak. There are great field hunting opportunities for geese because of this flock. A change in hunting habits could hurt this-but it could also get a ton of goose droppings out of the lake helping with the excessive nutriant load. I haven't taken a side on this issue nor am I pushing an agenda other than as you know I always fight hard for increased public hunting opportunities. But in this case I'm just asking for oppinions to help clean up the water.

I'm a big fan of if it's not broken don't fix it and I think Sarah is a prolific resource and is no way broken,but think it could be even better if cabins were on city sewer, farm runnoff was caught in buffers way up the watershed, and shoreline was returned to a more natural state. The Maria project will go a long way in filtering the water but it's just a start.

I don't know how much the dam raises the water level or even if its possible to drop the lake enough to expose lake shore without hurting the walleyes. How deep would the lake be without the dam?

[Eric Wettschreck]

It's not broke. It's one of the best fishing lakes in SW MN.

Without the dam the lake would be a creek. Seasonal ups and downs would be a creek, and a dry creek bed.

There are, and will be, geese on Sarah, Shetek, Maria, Lime, heck the geese are everywhere. Almost to the point that they are a nuisance. As far as public hunting land, if you're going to push that issue go outside Murray county. We have more public hunting land, per capita, than most of the state. Or, if you're that adamant about it, donate your land to the DNR and they will turn it into a WMA or WPA. Cleaning up any SW MN lake will take the effort of a great many landowners to reduce/eliminate farm runoff.

Sarah is one of the few lakes in SW Minnesota that is a fish factory. It's been a great many years since Sarah has been stocked. As a matter of fact, the DNR is doing studies on the walleye in Sarah to try and figure out why they have such a good rate of natural reproduction. They are milking Sarah walleye to stock other lakes.

City sewer and septic cleanup is in the works. If you own a house or cabin on the lake, I suggest you take care of business now before you are forced to, at a much higher cost.

[walleyeaddict]

I agree boiler....enough with messin with things. If it aint broke dont try to fix it!!!

[red dodge]

ANOTHER THING THAT WILL HELP CLEAN UP THE LAKE IS TO CLEAN UP THE TRASH THAT SOME POPLE THROW ON THE ICE AND OUT OT THEIR BOATS. WE NEED TO DO ARE PART TO HELP KEEP IT CLEAN.

[Eric Wettschreck]

Agreed. Actually, I usually take a garbage bag full of trash off whatever lake I'm on, every weekend.

It's sad.

[hanso612]

They already pushed through city sewer. I thought it made sense to do water at the same time but they primarily charged the lakeshore home owners and it became to cost prohibitive for it to be popular. More people benifit from a clean Sarah than just the homeowners. I would have loved to see more public money thrown at this project not just local but Federal.

In Northfield we are fighting 150 or so odd homes still dumping grey water straight into the Strait river upstream from us.

You are right about Murray co being the epicenter of public hunting in Southwest Mn-us and Lyon. That's why I'm constantly pushing Rock and Pipestone to step up. If they added some pockets of private public land it would short stop the hord that comes up from Worthington and Sioux Falls.

I hope to be able to donate a chunk of my own land someday. Here in Northfield our local chapter has been having trouble donateing a piece because of lack of funds on the state part to run it as an easment. The piece on Maria went for 3500 hundred an acre. So I understand the money goes fast.

One of our farms is on beaver creek and a group of activists did a door to door push attempting to educate and get beaver creek buffered end to end. I think it was called friends of beaver creek but I don't remember anybody know if it is still active? From what I can tell they were fairly successfull and beaver creek is a strong habitat corridor today.

The watershed of Sarah could be buffered as well, but it will take money from more than just the farmers.

Anybody have an old picture of Sarah before the dam and what year was it built?

[walleyeaddict]

old pics are always fun to see