Cannon Lake & River Fishing Reports

[riverrat56]

Hmmm......I wouldn't be too worried, theres lots of shallow lakes in the area with no moving water in that don't freeze out.

[luckycrank]

there isn't much for "moving" water though

[lexifer]

The lower water is not only due to the dam repair. The new controller of the dam dude was mistaken at what the normal water level is supposed to be. After much feedback, he has seen his error and the lake will return to traditional levels once repairs are complete and mother nature brings us more water.

As far as freeze out - I am concerned but not panicked. Cannon has a lot of natural springs that feed it oxygen rich water.

[Team Otter]

I took my boat out on cannon today, which took me about 15 minutes to get off the access, and realized how low the water was. I could not get up the river to warsaw, and could not get through the bridge to go into wells. There were sandbars where there should not be sand bars showing. In my estimate, the water is down roughly 3 feet. I know they are working on the king mill dam, but there is no way the water will come up before winter. Are the fish going to freeze out this winter?

Or a better question could be, if there are any fish in the lake are they going to freeze out this winter. (I have fished it about 10 times this year and caught little other than bass)

I share your concern. The lake is absolutely chalked full of fish.

[Scott M]

The west end of Cannon is about as low as any of the locals can remember. The lake is down, but how far is hard to say for certain. I ran downstream from Cannon, into Wells, and up to the 35 overpass without any trouble. I passed a sparkly boat that was a little skittish in the river channel. That was about a month ago.

I wouldn't expect any problems with Cannon. There are some springs/inlets and even the most minute flow of the Cannon provides pretty good aeration. There was a time when the lake was drawn down even further for dam repair or construction and things turned out just fine. I won't be too worried this winter. The slightest thaw sends a lot of water into the system. Mid-winter thaws are important for keeping southern MN lakes aerated. Lots of white bass and walleyes. If I wasn't a hunter, its one of a couple lakes I'd be dragging cranks on this fall.

[Whisker Warrior]

I've fished Cannon Lake since the late 80's and i'm pretty sure that lake has never had an ice out....As da_chise stated it has a few springs out there and the river that flows through maintains enough movement to keep the O2 levels away from danger zones....The lake is definitely lower than i've ever seen and my friends parents who live there also say that, but i can't wait to hit the early ice walleye's out there!

[skip across]

up on the west end my dock is not a dock... just a pier over mud. when I put the dock in last spring I was in over 3 feet of water. I have fished the bridge between cannon and wells for 15 years and have never seen it this low.

on a side note: did anyone see the dead fish below the kind mill last week? when they shut the dam down there was no flow at all and the fish could not go down stream because it was too shallow. I am assuming there were too many fish in a small area and with no oxygenated water flowing over the dam, they got hypoxic and died. I was amazed to see the types of fish that were there, dead. I wish they would have seigned the area before doing the repairs: lots of dead game fish, more than I would have ever imagined, gone to waste.

[JBMasterAngler]

Just curious if anyone ice fishes the cannon river downstream from the king mill dam at the flowage by the fairgrounds (I don't remember the name of that other dam). Wondering if the ice is thick enough? We catch tons and tons of small white bass below the king mill dam in the spring, thinking it'd be fun to catch them through the ice. Let me know if you think I'm being crazy or this is something that's actually possible. Thanks

[dcmusky]

Funny I was talking about the same thing to a buddy tonight but on the river it's self. Who knows, got to be careful though. I've fished the MN river through the ice before and got some nice eyes too.

[Matt C]

The river is open pretty much that whole stretch. It barely skimmed over during that super cold snap. Id use a lot of caution if your going to walk the ice by Alexander park.

Heck bring the long rod and fish the dam.

[JBMasterAngler]

Wow, didn't even freeze over? I didn't realize there was that much current going through there. Oh well, guess I'll just stick with spring whities. Just out of curiousity, do you know how deep it is through there?

[Matt C]

To the best of my knowledge, I believe 5 feet max? Don't quote me on that though.

[magic_minnow]

Just wodnering if anyone ices this lake? Any info is appreciated!

[CaveMan]

Driving by it looks pretty dead out there.

[magic_minnow]

If one was to try it, what can I expect to catch?

[love2fish4ever]

Not long ago it was one of the top walleye producing lakes in the area, but has been pretty quiet the last few years. Going through a cycle I suppose, as many lakes do, the day will come again. Who knows, you could be the first! L2f

[stizoler]

Been on it a few times this year... Not a high walleye population like there used to be. You would most likely catch a cold and a severe case of boredom as this lake is pretty slow most of the time.

[luckycrank]

there are plenty of fish in cannon

last year was a good ice season there great crappie action as well as some nice perch.

but it can be brutal

[Matt C]

If one was to try it, what can I expect to catch?

Being its on the Cannon River system...take your pick of fish.

[magic_minnow]

looking for large sheepshead for my DNR master angler cert? lol

[magic_minnow]

*ahem* i meant freshwater DRUM

[stizoler]

Anyone scored on any decent bluegils out there? There was a decent population of smaler ones a couple of years ago...

[stizoler]

Tetonka has bigger sheephead in there compared to Cannon

[Matt C]

looking for large sheepshead for my DNR master angler cert? lol

LMAO. Thats is good.

Plenty of those guys in there ...

[KTapper]

looking for large sheepshead for my DNR master angler cert? lol

I found a massive school of sheaphead on German this summer it was fun!

[Natty Ice]

I scored a few 'gills out there last weekend. Seemed to have better luck with the perch and bottle bass!

[luckycrank]

There are some real big gills in there I know because I catch them every spring caught limits of 9.5-10"rs but they all have worms how where yours ?

[Scott M]

Nice #'s and size on the white bass and walleyes. Cannon will be one of my recommendations for opener 2010.

[stizoler]

I have seen the 2009 sampling report. How do you think the low water levels may have affected your sampling sampling efforts? Do you think there was any sampling bias caused by this? You have any insights as to where the white bass are hanging out in the winter? It would be fun to get inot a school of these eventhough I realize that they are probably less likely to be catchable during the winter months. I have caught whitebass during the summer and have gotten into some big bites, but the following winter they are nowhere to be found except for the occasional strangler.

[KTapper]

Oh no whites bite def. bite during the winter! They are a blast I fish for them with jigging raps and usually they are schooled up tight. I had a bunch of holes drill last yeat on a lake and one hold the flasher was a christmas tree the next nothing.