Hard water south of Tonka. Steiger, Auburn, Reitz, Pierson, Ann, Lotus ect....

[daveyred]

I have been watching and posting on this site for about a year. I live in the Bloomington area and usually fish south toward Prior Lakes but want to expand my locations. I never see much about these lakes to the south of Minnetonka. Whats good, whats bad and is hard water the time to learn these lakes. No details wanted just some friendly advise.

Good Luck and good fishing.

[EBass]

Stieger has good bass and pike like most lakes do. There is a $5 boat ramp fee. I don't know how that works for ice fishing. I haven't fished the other lakes you mentioned. I will be hitting Stieger for pike a few times this ice season.

[Jameson]

I think Steiger is still catch and release of all sport fish. You can still keep pannies. Auburn's deep and can freeze up late/funny. Ann is a fun ice fishing lake. Size ain't great. C&R of large mouths. Lotus is another fun ice fishing lake.

[Sonicrunch]

Quote:

---

Stieger has good bass and pike like most lakes do. There is a $5 boat ramp fee. I don't know how that works for ice fishing. I haven't fished the other lakes you mentioned. I will be hitting Stieger for pike a few times this ice season.

---

I've been told the fee is for boat parking only. If you only park your vehicle, there is no fee.

[Wookiee]

Ice fishing would be the time to learn those lakes. If you need help figuring them out just go to Cabin Fever in Victoria and they have a wealth of info to share on all of those. I personally like all of those lakes in the winter panfish and pike. I also like Parley as well.

[Carp-fisher]

Quote:

---

I think Steiger is still catch and release of all sport fish. You can still keep pannies. Auburn's deep and can freeze up late/funny. Ann is a fun ice fishing lake. Size ain't great. C&R of large mouths. Lotus is another fun ice fishing lake.

---

I believe Ann also has a slot for pike. Its a nice looking little lake though.

[EBass]

Sorry I never keep any fish - so I forgot that Steiger is catch n release for pike & bass. And cool that we don't have to pay to ice fish.

[daveyred]

Thanks for the info. I am still suprised that there is not much talk about these lakes. Leads you to believe they are either real good or real bad. I have read that Parley is a good one for panfish. Any truth to that?

[Wookiee]

All those lakes can be great for panfish it's just that if word gets out they get over fished and take a while to recover. Parley does decent for pannies also and always a chance for a wally on that lake.

[daveyred]

I hear yeah FUN. Just odd no mention at all with a ton of lakes because of that one big one.

[iFishMN.YT]

Stieger, Auburn, and Parely are good lakes to fish, but yea they dont get talked about much, not really because of "great" fishing, but more because they are SO SMALL nobody wants to encourage more people to fish them. These lakes are pretty good, give stieger a try for crappies, gills, and pike on the ice and you should do ok.

[Wookiee]

I would have to disagree on that. If there is a hot bite on a smaller lake in the area during ice season all one needs to do is look at the fishing reports in a certain weekly newspaper for the W Metro and it gets totally destroyed.

[Sergeant Slabber]

You got that right!!

[fishuhalik]

There are some really good lakes in that area, but if you're after really big pannies I'd go more towards the clearwater-maple lake area. There's a ton of lakes in the area that recieve very little pressure and hold some giants. But like these guys said, be sure to keep your mouth shut unless you want a bunch of company! Some people don't mind sharing their fish, and I guess that's really good of them, but I'm kinda selfish with my spots. I spend alot of time and money searching for them and when I find one I don't like to spread the word too much.

[lucy1205]

Your quote is very true. but do u speak from expierence.

[daveyred]

Fishuhalik

Thanks for the advice and there are a lot of lake in the area but living down in the Bloomington area the drive for an evening of fishing would get a little long. May have to check a couple of them on the weekends. Any one in particular up that way you would recommend?