Metro smallies?

[Sturgeon46]

Rum, Snake, Kettle, Cannon, Elk, Root. Lots of great places to shorefish and wade too.

[Smallmouth]

I have snagged a few smallmouth by accident fishing for eyes on WBL in the spring, not sure of the population though. Nothing else much in the metro besides what is listed so far. But here are some rivers and lakes that are somewhat near the metro.

Rivers:
Cannon, Crow, Rum, Zumbro

Lakes:
Washington - North of Hutchinson
Koronis - Paynesville
Big Birch - Sauk Center
Green Lake - Wilmar

Good luck!!

[Guest]

I'll second Green Lake. Its top-notch for BIG fish. I love fishing that lake for smallies.

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-FNC

"If I had a job... I'd quit it."

[bass-o-matic]

Don't know the population, but I've caught a few small ones in Prior Lake.

[Fisher Dave]

Nokomis has some smallmouth in it .. I get one here and there chasing walleyes in the summer. Occasionally a nice one.

[vern]

Hey Dave, interesting to hear about Nokomis. My brother caught one out of Harriet in the late 70's. He was sitting in one of those overhanging trees & saw about 4 or 5 of them, all about 1-2 lbs. He finally got one to hit a Sassy Shad. I've never seen or heard of one caught again. Either the DNR stocked a few or they migrated through the creek from Tonka. According to the DNR reports they have put a few adult smallies in the following lakes over the last few years: LacLavon, Loeb, Silver, Simley & Rebecca in Hastings. Probably not enough to actually target them though. Vern

[Lunker]

I know that minnetonka and the mississsippi river have smaillies, but are there any other waters that have them?

Catch the big ones(then throw em back)

[Little Joe]

Try the other river - St. Croix. I've boated quite a few down there. White Bear also has a few but not many which makes them tough to target.

[Lunker]

In Nokomis? I fish that lake a lot and have never heard of a smallie coming out of there. Interesting, some guy told me he caught a big smallie out of there a few years back, but i thought he was crazy.

[irvingdog]

So, lunker, am I then to assume you've met Fisher Dave?

[wastewaterguru]

Basso-matic,

I've been fishing Prior for bass two or three days a week for the last 4 years and haven't seen a one........

Where and on what did you catch em'??????????

I know there are rock bass in there.....are you sure that the small smallies weren't big rock bass?????????????

If there's some in there, I'll supply the boat, beer, bait, etc..... for you to show me where they are. I'm gonna get excited if you're right.

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I fish.....Therefore I grovel.

Here....Fisheeeeeeee!!

[This message has been edited by wastewaterguru (edited 03-12-2003).]

[Alphid]

wastewaterguru,
Bass-O was right about prior. I have also caught some smallies out there. The biggest was last year and it was around 4#. We have caught them on the South side of the lake close to the harbor. There is a sandy beach there.
Caught on Top water.

I love those smallies,
A

[ricqik]

There's probably a smallmouth in every popular lake. Even Phalen in St. Paul.

[Mr. Pike1]

Ceinko lake in Coon Rapids. This small lake is a designated trout pond. However, It holds many other species of fish including smallies. One evening I was roller blading with my dog around the trails and just happened to have my pole and some nightcrawlers in my vehicle (imagine that)so I fished off the dock and caught a few sunfish, crappie, small trout, and much to my suprise 6 smallies with the largest in the 3 lb class...

[Guest]

I know it's a little out of the metro, but the best smally fishery south of grand rapids is mille lacs there are some real hogs in there. Fish the bays on the south end.

[fish4ever1000]

I'm going to have to agree with Wastewater. I've lived on Prior for 23 years, avid bass angler, and have never seen one. Small largemouths can look like smallies, if your not careful. Depending on how bad bassomatics icthyology skills are, the fish could have also been white bass. I've caught quite a few of these fish on Upper Prior. Wastewater, you usually fish on the North end don't you? Have you seen any Whites on that end?

I'm not saying that its not possible bassomatic, if they were smalies they probably got there via the "night-time" stocking method, if ya know what I mean, definatly not a fishable population though.

[RossT]

I have caught a smallmouth that weighed around 3 1/2lbs. on Prior. This was back in 2000 and haven't caught one since, although roughly 5-10 per year get weighed in during the tournaments. I caught my smallie in a very awkward place, 2 feet of water on a buzzbait in Kneafsey cove. Strange. It was one of the most beautiful smallies I had ever caught though. Here is the picture: http://www.taylorfishing.com/images/pictures/smalliepriorlakelg.jpg

[Smallmouth]

Beautiful FISH RossT !!!

[fish4ever1000]

RossT has made me a believer. Hard to argue with that evidance, with the Prior Lake wagonbridge in the background of the picture and all...

[Zdaddy76]

The best small mouth lake I've ever fished including the BWCA exists in Wright County somewhere between Delano and Darwin. Many 4+ lb fish exist there. That's all I can do.

---Zdaddy

[EBass]

MISSISSIPPI above coon rapids. Not really metro though, but way worth it in the fall. Pool 2-4 is good as well. The Miss downtown will have numbers but not much size form my experience. Carp water I presume.

St. Croix above Taylor Falls. I know, not metro.

Mille Lacs, yep I know.

And that is a nice pic of a smallie.

Later,
EBass

[wastewaterguru]

OK, I'll buy it. Too bad there probably aren't enough in the lake to create a fishable population, cause that's a beauty!!!!

RossT,

Are the 5-10 fish per year you were referring to weighed in at the Tuesday night league weigh-ins???

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I fish.....Therefore I grovel.

Here....Fisheeeeeeee!!

[slabberknocker]

I know Cokato has a good population of smallies. Some really nice ones too.

Slab

[RossT]

Wastewater,
Yes, the smallmouth that are weighed in Tournaments are generally weighed-in during the Thursday nighters. A lot of the fisherman who fish the tournaments all claim to have caught one nice smallmouth out of Prior but I have yet to see the proof in pictures. Personally, I have seen quite a few weighed in, all ranging from 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds. Stories have been told of people hooking them and having a school follow, but I have not encountered this. I think that Prior could support a smallmouth population if supported by the DNR, there is an amazing amount of shallow gravel and rock, along with deep boulders, gravel, and sand.

[Alphid]

Thanks RossT for sending in a picture of your smallie on Prior. I wouldn't want to get branded a "liar" on the website. At our club tourny last year we had a couple wigh in too. On the DNR site it doesn't show smallies on fish in the lake. So the population must be pretty low.

[Guest]

RossT...NICE SMALLMOUTH! Looks bigger than 3.5! This lake is out of the metro also but how about Minnewaska by Glennwood! I have caught some big ones there not really trying.

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[jwilli7122]

Pleasant Lake in North Oaks, or so I've heard. heh heh heh.

[bass-o-matic]

I've been off of the forum for awhile and just now had a chance to finish reading the replies. For fish4ever1000 and anyone else that doubted my ability to recognize fish, I grew up and have fished smallies on the lower Mississippi around Winona my entire life up till 7 years ago (I now live here in the cities, but still spend just as much time fishing down there as here); I also grew up the son of a taxidermist, so I think I can tell the difference between a smallie, a large mouth, a rock bass and a white bass of all things. I never said I caught a lot of them in Prior, nor did I say they were big. I have caught a few small ones off of the big island in the main lake. That's it.

P.S. Thanks to everyone else that backed my "alleged" story. I wish the ones I caught would have been 3-4lbs. like the one in the picture!