Bass Ponds?

[blugold]

Last night I went down to the old bass rearing ponds just south of the mall of america off of Old Shakopee Rd. and I believe 86th ave. I did have a nice fish on but unfortunately lost it. Lot's of small fish surfacing, but not much luck at all. The pond was pretty muddy in color and kind of stunk. Just wondering if anyone has any information on these 2 bass ponds?

[manmountain]

I learned how to fish there when I was a kid. We mostly caught Pike from 2-6 lbs out of the big pond called Hogback ridge or something like that. There were big crappies in there, and we caught a few walleyes. I caught a 2 1/2 lb white bass out of there too. The pond beyond that towards the freeway has fish too. Pike, largemouth, crappie and bluegill. Actually, there could be anthing in there because

they get trapped when Long Meadow Lake floods, and those same flood waters connect the lake to the Minnesota river.

I caught a colorful bowfin (dogfish) there once. Long Meadow is not bad either. Some nice pike and bass. I've heard stories of big walleyes from the river getting trapped in the north end of the lake by the sheep farm. There are huge carp, buffalo, and an assortment of other rough fish too. You need a small boat or canoe to get out to the good spots though. No one ever goes out there but I don't know why. The lake is fairly shallow and weed choked, but plenty of fish come in from the river. There is a spot to launch a

small boat at the end of Old Cedar road past the Spur Station at 90th and Old Cedar. Good Luck.

[RobertELee]

Welcome to FM MANMOUNTAIN

That is some really good information, I will have to stop down there some time.

[blugold]

Thanks for the info.

[McGurk]

Head out there if you want, but I've heard rumours of those being contaminated from runoff years ago. I'd stay away from keeping anything, but the "frequent fisherman" down there will pull anything and everything that bites out of there to eat. Have a ball, though, and let us know how you do. They do get pretty stinky in summer due to being shallow and not having much water movement. The small fish surfacing were probably carp.

[Toothycritter]

I also learned how to fish there back in the 80's, and I have a few friends who have been ticketed there by the dnr for being out in boats or canoes because it is a protected wildlife refuge. It is legal to fish from shore, but not in a watercraft. I think they are worried about nesting sites being disturbed.

The pond that is at the bottom of the hill on the left hand side of old cedar ave. is full of nice big pike that you can catch from shore with spinnerbaits. That pond has a nice cold spring feeding fresh water into it. I'm only giving this info up because I'm no longer able to walk good enough to fish it myself, so have at it, and good luck.

[Flaco651]

The pond that has the dock type thing on it has some decent Largemouth in it. Went there in June and pulled fish from 2 to just under 4lbs. on plastic worms. The water in that pond wasn't to bad, pretty decent clarity then. We used polarized glasses and sighted fish along weed beds and casted to them. Also,isn't there 3 ponds down there?

[Toothycritter]

There are 6 ponds down there, not including long meadow lake. The 2 ponds I have had most of my luck on are the ones on the path directly to the east of old cedar ave, which happen to be the easiest ones to get to. There is a nice parking lot at the bottom of the big hill on cedar rather than walking down that crazy steep hill on 86th street.

[hondavxr]

(Contact Us Please) everytime I go down there I don't catch anything but eurasian milfoil I must go too late in the season and all the ponds are filled with weed.

[manmountain]

I'm surprised to hear of so many people fishing down there. I've haven't seen many people down there. I agree that eating the fish might not be a good idea, but the pond by 77 is very clean and clear. I only eat walleyes and panfish, but I've never tried anything out of there. I was aware of the refuge on long Meadow, and I thought maybe I'd get in trouble, but I never did. The bass ponds used to be used for breeding and stocking purposes by the DNR. The first time we went down there my friend caught a walleye right away and we weren't sure if we could even fish there. My Grandfather is the one who told me old stories about huge fish in Long Meadow. He fished there in the fifties and he said 20 lb Pike were common as well as 10lb walleye. I've never caught anything like that. The biggest fish I've caught there are 8 lb Northern, 4 lb largemouth, 3 lb walleye(Hogback ridge pond), and a 25 lb carp. The carp are just mammoth down there if you're into that sort of thing. I haven't been down there in years, but this thread has renewed my interest. I've got another secret place in Bloomington that has taken all of my attention. I've carefully guarded this information for years, but I can't seem to keep my mouth shut anymore. I learned of this place from someone at the Bass ponds so it seems appropriate. So here it is, and don't laugh, I'm totally serious about this. Mt. Normandale Lake. It's nothing more than a manmade widespot in nine mile creek, but it's got a constant supply of oxygenated water flowing through it, tons of baitfish, a weed mat thick enough to scare off a pro, very little fishing pressure, and some really big pike and bass. Weedless lures are a must because it's thick. You have to be in a boat, and forget about motors or trolling motors. Maybe a weedeater prop will get you around, but the lake is small enough to row anywhere. Follow the creek channel through the whole lake and cast big bass spinners at the crack of dawn in June. I guarantee you'll catch the biggest bass you've ever seen. My biggest fish from there are a 7 lb largemouth and a 17 lb Pike, but I know there are bigger bass in there. I took an inexperienced friend out there once. He gave up after 30 min and started smoking a cigarette. He left his spinner in the water and the wind was blowing us just enough to make it flutter back and forth. A massive bass came up and just nailed it. He lost it, but it was definately over 8 lbs. I met two guys there who said they were professional walleye fisherman. I believed them based on the fact they had 20 tackle boxes, a huge assorment of expensive rods, and a truck covered in sponsor stickers. They had arrived two weeks early for a walleye tournament on Minnetonka and had time to kill. They told me they had fished Normandale 4 days straight and they both landed Bass over 8 lbs. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't already landed a 7 myself. They got the tip from a professional Bass fisherman who lives on Minnetonka. Another friend who is not inexperienced, hooked a fish that would have broken the state record. We were crappie fishing in April with 4 lb test. The fish jumped clear out of the water about three feet in front of us. I tell people it was about 10 lbs, but the truth is that is was probably more like 12. Keep in mind that I am an acurate and conservative guesstimator, and there is nothing that erks me more than liars. The only reason I'm telling you this is because I want to see someone break the record out of Normandale so I can throw it back in the face of my non-believer friends and relatives. I haven't been able to get out there as much as I would like. The lake is tough to fish, and fish that size aren't dumb. A lot of my time is spent Trout and Steelhead fishing too. I need some help. The biggest Bass I've caught in recent years was 6 lbs. but big ones are still there. I had one last year that was really pulling hard, like ridiculously hard. She buried herself in the weeds and the hook pulled out. I've never felt anything pull like that, and I've lost a walleye(from another unnamed secret spot), that I guessed was in the 12-15 lb range. I had a 7 foot medium rod with 8 lb test but I never even turned its head in a 30 min battle. It finally bent the hook straight. This Bass pulled harder than that. I had a medium heavy with 14 lb test for that one. I fished Normandale very recently with my inexperienced girlfriend. She isn't inexperienced any more. We landed 25 fish between the two of us. Her biggest pike was 8 lbs, and mine was 5. I also caught a 4 lb bass. Her biggest bass was 2.5 lbs and the pike were all at least 3 lbs. Please consider catch and release if you go out there, because this is a small fishery and with the new developments on the north end encroaching too close to the backwaters, I fear the spawning grounds for these fish may be in jeopardy. Pike and Bass can be found at different times of the year from nearly out to 494 in the northend backwaters, all the way downstream to the walking bridge/dam at Hillcrest elementary on the east side of France. Pike really run around in those parts in march and april but you can't fish them legally. I've caught some nice fish below the falls any time of year. The best spot though is the creek channel right about mid lake. Dawn and dusk is your only real shot at a big one. I think Fall could be really good too, because some of the weeds start to recede and big fish start stalking up for winter. I haven't yet caught a huge bass in fall(5 lbs), but pike over 10 lbs are common. Another thing I want to try is night fishing in hot weather with big creek chubs. You can catch 5-7 inch creek chubs on a #2 panther martin in nine mile creek. I like to get them down by Hillcrest. They work awesome in Normandale because they are from the same system. Topwater mice, frogs, and buzzbaits can work at the right time too. Anyway, this thread is starting to get long, and I've spilled my guts enough. If anyone is interested in my secret trophy walleye spot, which is from shore by the way, I'd be willing to trade for a local sunfish/ crappie hole, where 2lb.+ fish are plentiful. If that even exists around here. Peace and tight lines.

-Justin

[manmountain]

Maybe I should be more realistic and ask for a panfish hole with fish over 1 lb. My Walleye spot is no secret anyway. A lot of people know about it, so I'll just tell you. In Vadnais Heights there is a chain of lakes which includes Pleasant lake, Sucker lake, and Vadnais. The St. paul water commission runs the whole area as most of St. Paul gets thier water from there. Only Shore fishing is allowed from designated spots. You can't even put a foot in the water. Its only good after dark, and its tough because the park closes at 10pm. The local sheriff's used to be cool with fisherman staying with in sight of the road on Sucker, but some of them are real hardasses. However, there are places on Vadnais where you can fish at night. Pleasant lake is permanently closed to all fishing. That is the lake where the DNR got the fish to stock into Steiger, which is out towards Waconia. In case you don't know what that is, it's a round bowl of a lake that the DNR stocked trophy size fish in. 50 lb Muskies, 30 lb PIke, 15 lb walleyes, 10 lb largemouth etc. They got those fish from Pleasant Lake. There are people who live on the lake and they can't even fish it. They fly over in helicopters to bust fisherman who are tempted. It still doesn't stop people though. It's probably the best fishing lake in the State. Well anyway, there are some huge walleyes in that whole system. People have pulled 15 lbers. out of Vadnais, but Sucker is less known. There is a spot where tubes dump water in from the creek that connects Pleasant to Sucker. It's a short section of river. That is where I lost the biggest walleye of my life. It's best under a full moon, and when the right tube is open and the left closed. #7 grey shad rap is my lure of choice. There, you know all my secrets now. Well, not all of them. If you try it, watch out for those (Contact Us Please) Sheriff's.

[iFishMN.YT]

manmountain...if you dont mind can you email me so that I have your email and can ask you a ?, or just post your email address on here.

Thanks. (My email should be at the bottom of this post)

[stellarfisher]

Mountainman- I have enjoyed reading your posts, I myself love to fish small ponds where there may be record breakers lurking. If you search under my name or the subject headline "woulda been a state record!" under the photo sharing forum you will see what I am talking about (a fish that I would guess to be well over 10+, I have measurements but no scale). I have many non-believers also. I have a small boat that can go just about anywhere and has gone places where it shouldn't have, if you would like to go out and try and catch some big fish sometime, whatever that might be (big bass, big sunnies). Let me know. My email is [email protected].

[lunkerlover]

I know of a decent producing white crappie spot where they get pretty large in size. They can get very large. I'll trade you for your walleye spot.

[manmountain]

I already posted my walleye spot, but I'd still like to know where this crappie hole is. I do strictly catch and release with big crappies and I won't blab it like I did with my other spots. e-mail me if your feeling generous. [email protected]