Swan Lake Fishing Reports (Silver Lake)

[bassNspear]

For those going to fish Swan(silver lake). The DNR is doing surveying out there. They have gill nets set out on south end, the east shore by the rocks, and on the north end by the park. They are marked with yellow boeys.

[deerslayer8259]

just wondering if there is anythign going on at big swan Like to try it friday but am still up in the air.

Thanks

[bimbo]

me and a few of my buddies went down there on wednesday and we caught our fair share of crappies limited out in about an hr..nice ones too not any of those 7-8 inchers we sat out on the ice and are thinking of going down there agan on friday so if ya see us come over say hey

[deerslayer8259]

lot of people out there or isn't it too bad??

[bimbo]

really wanst too bad, we got out there in the middle of the week so

[deerslayer8259]

i've never fished it so it could be an expierence!!

[bimbo]

yea.. good luck to ya!

[deerslayer8259]

thanks you too

[HDRIDER02]

What is the ice thicknes?Are you on the East side?I fished Big Swan twice last winter.Nailed a nice Walleye and some nice Crappies on the East side along the break line.

[bimbo]

im not sure how thick the ice was but we had our trucks out there, and we were on the east side too. musta been about the same place?

[Farley]

I was out there last weekend Saturday through Sunday morning. Pretty slow. Was with a large group of 30-40 people with 30 tip ups out and only one fish was caught on a tip up from 1-7 Saturday.

[bassNspear]

oh boy, i beat that was a fun time.

This lake still is one of the best lakes in its area. The lake itself can hold some awesome eyes, along with slabs as well. We do well trolling for them in the summer time. A guy should be able to run into them in the winter, but from the reports, it doesnt seem like it.

[fishinben351]

hey anyone ice fish big swan lake near kingston? it looks like it holds a crazy amount of crappies and decent sized ones too.i would like to try it out this year, let me know if you have had much luck there... thanks

[fishinben351]

haha guess no one fishes this lake...

[dukhnt]

I have fished it a couple times last year. The action was not fast and furious when I was there but I always ended up catching a few for a meal. Good luck.

[Phred52]

Traditionally, Big Swan always has been good for Crappies. Mostly a 'sorter' lake though, with an occasional real nice one mixed in. Also, It held a pretty good Pike population not too many years back. You never knew if you had a Pike or a Crappie eyein' your minnow. I haven't been on the lake now for about 7 years or so. In the early to mid '90's (just after the drought years eased) we had a "hayday" out there! Fished there lots in the '60's, 70's and some of the 80's with fair results. Seems like we always caught something to bring home for a meal. Phred52

[delta hunter]

Wondering if anyone has been fishing Swan lake just outside of Silver Lake? If so wondering what the ice and snow pack conditions are like and also if they are having any luck. Thanks for any info u can give.

[pike doctor]

foot of ice, lots of slush and snow and no fish. i think there are three houses out there. I have fished it three times and I havent even marked a fish. I think the water is too dirty. Carp got in the lake a couple years ago and they are really starting to ruin the lake.

[delta hunter]

was anyone driving on it? NO FISH that stinks, every thing i have looked at pointed to possible a really good lake. Just going to have to check it out for myself.

[silverbulletguy]

Don't waste your time on that lake. Many other lakes much more worth trying than that dead sea.

[mascad]

In other words, its probably worth a shot...

[delta hunter]

that is what i am thinking mascad

[pike doctor]

People are driving four wheelers. There is a lot of snow and slush out there. The lake has zero structure so you need to get lucky to find the fish. Like I said before the water is really dirty for some reason. And I would imagine in the next week or so they are going to be turning the aerators on. I am sure the oxygen level is already low on the lake and that is why nobody is catching anything.

If they were biting there would be more than 3-4 houses out there. It really is the dead sea. If i were coming from New Ulm I would try Star or Ripley. And a little birdie mentioned something about crappies on cedar to me, but you will need to walk A LONG WAY.

Good luck if you try swan. And stay away from the aereators

[silverbulletguy]

Good luck. I hope you catch lots of fish. Or at least have a good time trying. I will say there is a ton of 5-7 inch perch. Not worth wasting the time and the money of bait in my opinion.

[Fever]

My neighbor fished swan this past weekend. 6 hours no fish for him. His buddy that was with him had what he said was a 19-20 inch Eye up to the top of the hole before it shook the hook and sank back into the hole as he whiffed attempting to grab it. Other than that nothing. I too have thought about going there but haven't heard enough good news to get me there. I'm sure there are fish to be caught but there is no structure and basically you'd be sitting and waiting or drilling a [PoorWordUsage] load of holes and hole hopping in order to have success there. Don't think populations of Crappie or Walleyes are so that you could just sit somewhere and nail em. Good luck though! I've been spending my time a bit more East than Swan.

[bassNspear]

is the airater on?

[pike doctor]

Drove by yesterday and it wasnt on yet. The houses that were there are now gone and some different ones are there. I thnk 3 perm and 2 portables yesterday. It also looked like there was one perm/portable that got left on the ice and somebody destroyed it.

Talked to a guy at the landing and he said it was a dead sea. He was moving his house to washington.

I still say it is the carp that are destroying the lake. Pretty soon it is going to be worse than collinwood.

[bassNspear]

why do yout hink the carp are killing it?

[pike doctor]

They are destroying what little vegetation the lake has. Every year it seems like there are fewer and fewer weeds to filter all of the runoff into the lake. The water used to be pretty clear. Now the clarity is awful, compared to 10 years ago. No weeds equals less oxygen and no little micro organisms that the little fish eat.

The lake used to be awesome for bass fishing. Now the carp have taken over the shallows during spawning time. The water always looks bog-stained.

About 5-7 year ago there was a huge crappie die off out there. Personally I think someone was throwing fish in there from another body of water that included these stupid carp and they had some parasite that killed off the lakes crappie population. That is why you cant throw your unused minnows into the lake. I remember that May there were 1000s of dead crappies floating on the shore. The stinks was god awful. The lake has never been the same since. It used to look like a minature red lake in the spring and winter when the crappies were going. Now it hardly ever gets touched.

And dont even get me started on the HUGE sunfish that used to be there.

Swan lake is not the only lake in the area with poor water quality though. It seems like all of the lakes in the area have declined in the last 10 years.

[pike doctor]

And lets no forget about all of eggs carp will eat from other spawning fish.

And in the shallow warm water bowl that Swan is the Carp will thrive. That water gets pretty warm in the summer. Just the way carp like it.