Hiniker

[JClay]

Anyone ever fish Hiniker Pond or know if it is safe to fish in the winter?

[Danube D]

A little cold to be out on a bikini hunt isn't it?

[gunderson21]

fished it in the summer and caught lots of little sunnies and smaller bass. No winter for me. It is quite deep so I would think it would be fine to fish, just bring a chisle with ya.

[Lunchbox21]

yeah i fished it during the summer too, same results. but we talked to a few other guys fishing it and they said their is some quality fish in there. i heard it was 60 feet deep. has anyone ever ice fished it?

[jhanks50]

it is safe to fish in the winter, I have never fished the middle of it but I also heard that it is 60ft. Have always had some luck with decent sized crappie some little sunfish and all the baby bass you can stand.. stay toward the side with the rocks

[MinnesotaMongo]

It's not 60 feet deep. My son has a Fishing Buddy Depth finder on his little float tube boat, and it ain't that deep by a long shot.

[therat]

I fished it quite a bit growing up...including ice fishing. Almost every species is in there(Smallmouth, Catfish, Walleye, white bass, Northern and all pannies) but pretty hard to track down in the winter. This year I was skunked out there on the ice. The deepest it gets is about 28ft give or take and this hole is opposite the rocks.

[JClay]

Are there really smallmouth in Hiniker?...I talked to a guy this past summer who said there were sauger and walleyes in there...We caught some sunnies and bass and also saw a monster carp...How would smallmouth get in there?

[MinnesotaMongo]

Dump a pail from a fishing trip is all it takes.

[zepman]

I fish Hiniker with my two boys alot. We've caught lot's of decent fish in here including walleye, northern, some decent bass (never a smallmouth) and of course crappie and sunnies up the gazoo. My youngest caught a 14.5" crappie out of there last summer so there is more than just "dinks" swimming around. Someone used to run an ice-fishing tournament out there each winter but this hasn't taken place for about 8 years. I fished in a few of these and usually a decent sized perch would win it. Have heard rumors of 10+ pound pike and walleye over 5# comming out of here as well but have never seen them myself that big. I'm sure if you poked around long enough out there in the winter you could keep yourself pretty busy.

[doughnut03]

I actually live in the apts on the far side from the swimming beach so I'm out there pretty regularly in the summer if I don't have time (or ambition haha) to run out to a larger lake. The fishing is really hit or miss, most people tend to have somewhat decent luck over by the large concrete culverts. I've honestly never really seen anyone in the middle, but for a small body of water there is just about every type of fish in there you can think of. Mostly Sunnys, Crappies and some Perch come out, but I've seen some pretty nice Pike and bass be pulled from the docks in summer. If you have any luck other than the bait-stealing variety I'm interested to know as I've brought the portable out a few times but have been skunked as I don't have electronics or anything.

[jwhawkridge]

Kev-o. I knew you'd be on here sooner or later!

I've only fished there a few times. Crappies by the rock piles, seen a few bass, never brought any in. The pond to the sound has TONS of small sunnies, very small but they're hungry. I saw a dead walleye and a dead northern in the woods there, so there might be some other fish in there. I would try the shallows right now, that's were they seem to be in the larger lakes.

[crappieking]

I have been fishing the "pit" since I was 5 years old.I basically lived down there my whole childhood,have caught tons of fish out of there.I'am 99.9% sure their are no smallmouth bass in that pond,but there are some huge crappies and some really nice eyes in their.Most of those fish that are in there came from the flood from like the 40's or 50's.Great place to take the kids.

[250XB]

The pond is stock by the DNR fisheries with a few fish as a kids fishing pond.

[MinnesotaMongo]

Is there anything in those run off areas adjacent to Hiniker? It's pretty tough to gain access, but a belly boat might do the trick in the summer.

[crappieking]

Mostly just carp and alot of snapping turtles. Also alot of little sunfish and bass.

[ilovehardwater]

I have caught smallmouth in the Minnesota river and if it flooded into Hiniker pond, there may be a few in it. I dont know if I would eat anything out of it because I know there was an old dump near the ball diamonds on the north side of Webster Ave. It's just south of Hiniker pond, it runs north right into the pond and I believe that it's called "Dead River." Who knows what kind of chemicals are in the water. When I was younger, I used to fish it. One day I was fishing and there were people taking test samples of the water and advised me that I should not eat the fish...BT

[crappieking]

My father did tests on that water for his job, that is the only body of water in this area where you can walk out up to your neck and still see the bottom. The pond has natural springs in it so it can't get much cleaner than that. And the 'old dump' by the ball diamonds does not run into the pit. If anything it may run into the oxbo,which is the pond right behind the pit, but I don't think so. I have eaten plenty of fish out of there and it's just fine. I would trust the pond more than any lake around here. The fish out of there are much cleaner tham most around this area. The pit is very clean, there are no gas motors allowed, so there is one less chemical right there.

[katofishingguy]

So no gas motors I would assume that means power augers too.

[ilovehardwater]

There is a culvert right on the south side of the rocks it runs directly into Hiniker from Ox Bow. The dump does not run into anything, the river located next to it does.

[crappieking]

The oxbo has not run into the pit for as long as I can remember. If you go look the city built it up in the oxbo so the water does not run into the pit.

[crappieking]

I don't think they worry too much about gas augers, as they don't let much if any gas in the water. You can check with the city if you would like, they are my employer. So I'am kind of up to date.

[JClay]

Good Info...If there are natural springs in there does that affect the ice at all?

[crappieking]

I think it does,you have to be careful where you fish,there are some iffy spots on the lake because it is spring fed. I can't tell you where they are exactly,but I do know out in front of the swimming area is a little scary.

[jhanks50]

I noticed that they had a area roped/coned off right out in front of the swimming area...anyone know if that is where one of the springs is or did something else happen there?

[doughnut03]

I guess the cones are there because the FD did cold water training out there (i.e. they cut huge holes in the ice) so they roped it off so no one would take an unneccessary bath...

[therat]

I caught one Smallmouth. I wasn't trying to say there is a viable population. I was as surprised as you all are hearing about it.

[Lunchbox21]

a buddy and i went fishing out there today over by the culvert by the rocks. the ice was about 18 inches. very little action. caught one nice 13 inch crappie and caught one real nice bass that was it. it seemed to only be about 10-12 feet deep around that area.we might try it again this weekend to see if we can find some deeper water

[crappieking]

Yes there are some really really nice crappies in their. But please remember that the pond has quite a few natural springs in it, so the ice can be quite iffy. If you can find the sand bar on the north side,you will find the fish,especially those nice crappies-can almost guarantee it. Good luck and be careful.

[Float tube guy]

there are no fish in hiniker..........it's only a carp pond