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Good Lake for Northerns


NELS-BELLS

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I'm looking for a lake west of St. Cloud that has a good population of Northerns. A friend and I want to take our 2 boys out tip up fishing this Saturday and of course it would be nice to see some flags go off. Size doesn't matter, just looking for action. Are there any lakes where they are trying to reduce the population of small Northerns?

Thanks,

Nels

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county rd 2 west of st joe . take a right on county rd 50 right after freeway ----3 miles to lake

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i heard beaver lake south of st cloud has a lot of slimers. i believe its right off hwy 15.

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Thanks for the replies. I haven't fished Island for many many years. Thats a possibility. Is there a map on the DNR website of Island?

My friend and his son are traveling from Osakis, but seen as I went to Osakis last time and we got skunked, I told him he might have to travel to my neck of the woods this time.

What about the Spunk lakes, or Big Fish, or how about the lakes up by St. Anna?

Nels

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Try Sauk Lake, there are numbers and a really good shot at getting a monster, i have my personal best on a tip-up last year, at 11.3 pounds on Sauk Lake.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Upper Spunk and lower Spunk have good pike populations. Big Lake near Richmond has lots of pike as well. Pearl can be good as well but the past week or so eventhe pike were slow going.

Good Luck!

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Pelican by St. Anna has a lot of northern but the size is very small. Not really worth the waste of minnows for them.

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Pearl can be very good if you find them, i also heard beaver is suppose to be full of them but i had no luck there yet this year.

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I've always had good luck on Achmann Lake just west of St. Joe...most people target the small crappies just out from the road but for tip ups we usually hike to the other end. No monsters for us but usually pretty good action.

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Go to Big Fish.

There are hoards of small pike there.

There is also a slot limit of 24-36 all release only.

It is diffucult getting one in that slot because there is such a large number of smaller pike.

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I have heard that Big Lake by Richmond has a lot of pike in it by a few people now. I have fished it a lot over the last couple years and rarely catch pike.........Where do people fish for them on that lake. Do they hang in the main lake or the bay more? Any suggestions would be helpful.

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Look for drop offs, weedlines, and other structure. The MN DNR compass will provide some insight.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Check out the bays and the humps and points contained in them. Put a tip up in 10-20 fow and you should have action.

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Borch, I don't mean to change the subject but have you washed your Acrtic Armor jacket yet? I got mine pretty dirty and was wondering how they come out after washing them. Thanks!!!

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

No not yet. I'm told to use less water when you do wash them due to the fact that they float. Hang to dry.

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First of all, thank you to everyone for your suggestions. We ended up going to Mound lake, south of Burtrum. Another friend and his son joined us from Brainerd area, so it was somewhat equal distance for all of us and its a beautiful northwoods looking kinda lake.

I should have known when we pulled onto the lake and noticed very few fish houses or people fishing, that it was going to be a challenge. We went to an area that I had some success spearing a few years ago. Set tip ups out in shallow water and as deep as 18' covering a big area. We fished from 1:30 - 5 PM on Sat and ZIPPO. NOTHING! I couldn't believe it.

I talked to a friend that was fishing on Big Fish the same day for Crappies in about 28' of water and he caught 3 Northerns. Go figure!

Moral of the story....the fish are deeper than you might think!!!

Nels

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