Canoe Access

[Works2Fish]

I have seen a lot of great information on this site, but I need some more specific help.

Right now I have only a canoe to put out on the water, which is a little more limiting than the boats many of you have. My question is, what are some good bodies of water, near the metro, with good fishing, that I can safely access with my canoe? I was out on Minnetonka a while back and the large wakes and waves almost resulted in a wet fisherman. I would like to avoid that.

I have been on many of the in-town metro lakes and the St. Croix, but have not ventured anywhere else (with the exception of the boundary waters). I am looking for those quieter lakes within an hour or so of the cities that have a shorter fetch, so waves and wakes are not an issue. Any recommendations?

Thanks for the help.

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"The two best times to fish is when it's rainin' and when it ain't."

[BigMike]

I'm not really sure if you are looking for lakes in the metro or out of metro but within a hour drive... but I'll give a few that I would try.

For in the metro you can't go wrong with the Minneapolis chain: Harriet, Calhoun, Isles, Cedar. All of those lakes have a great multi-species populations and would definitely be my first choice for canoe lakes. For out of the metro, I don't really know too many lakes, but I would probably choose to do a float trip on a river: mississippi north of anoka, rum river, zumbro, upper st. croix... You would have most of the water to yourself just because they are fairly shallow and again they all have good multi-species populations.

Good luck.

[Clayburn]

Try Rice lake in Maple Grove right off hwy94
it doesn't have a boat access so the traffic is light, but you can walk a canoe down from the NE corner of the lake, there is a public park there and it's a short walk.
That's just one of the many good canoe lakes good luck!!!

[Ducks and Fish]

I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago and the consensus seemed to be that the Mpls. chain is probably your best bet. I have meant to get out and try them myself with my canoe, but prior commitments (mostly bachelor parties and weddings out-of-town) and weather have kept me from getting out. If I get a chance to fish them I will post which lake I went out on and how I did. People also mentioned Phalen as potentially a good canoe lake because there are no motors allowed on it.

[LOWinEYEin]

The good thing about a Canoe is that you can put it in practically anywhere. I have a poly Jon boat(wanted something to stand in) You can hit the all the "privatly owned lakes".

Lots of fish to be caught. I prefer the north metro suburbs. You drive by a lake that looks good...just drop it in.

[pikehunter]

I'm also a canoe-only fisherman ... Also read the other thread ... it posted some worthwhile information. Fished Phalen three times last week and had no luck at all however. (Admittedly the weather was pretty tough though.)
Since then I've mostly been trying "normal" lakes and just disecting small bays and approaching them as a lake of their own. It works to a point, but on windy days it's still tough when the breeze is blowing the long way across the lake, so I feel your pain.
I too would appreciate it if anyone could lend a little more help. I mainly target Walleyes and Northern ...
Happy Fishin!