school section ice?

[fishkaholic]

how thick is ice and is it driveable with compact cars? any info on fishing?

[Jordyn Kaufer]

Well you cannot get access to school section anymore!

but i can because my friend lives on it and lets me use his back yard to get on the ice.

there's plenty of ice out there and lots of action out there!

only been out there once this year and caught a few crappies and sunnies

[Bigtime22]

Great lake with no access! Have had excellent luck with slabs the past few years but not this year. I am hoping that access will be available in the future, but right now I dont see any way of getting on this lake unless you do know someone or can get someone to let you on from their property.

[Jethro80]

No one taking the ditch to get on the lake anymore?

[Bigtime22]

Not possible anymore. They added a wall of boulders that cannot be driven over. I guess the only way that you could do it is to find a place to park and walk out from that northern section of the lake. I went there closer to first ice and just decided it wasnt worth it. Hopefully something changes, I hate to see a quality lake like that turned private. I feel like even those that dont live on this lake should be given a spot to get on.

[Jethro80]

Noooooo. That used to be one of my favs. That sucks!!!

[OakdaleFMR]

I will be there with the plow to push the boulders out of the public right away i.e. "the ditch". Sorry to those who think they own our public waters but every road has a public right of way and if that right of way extends to the high water mark then there is public access. I will be there today before the game with my tape measure. I hope the local "land lords" want to discuss the issue with me. I always accessed the lake off the road, but I haven't been there for a couple years because on of the land lords came out and harassed me when I had my young kids along. I think today I will show with my tailgaiting group seeing how we are watching the game in Grant.

[honda4life]

dumb question.......where is school section? Never heard of it.

[Jethro80]

Are you serious? I can help get the boulders out of the way.

[Jordyn Kaufer]

Great lake with no access! Have had excellent luck with slabs the past few years but not this year. I am hoping that access will be available in the future, but right now I dont see any way of getting on this lake unless you do know someone or can get someone to let you on from their property.

hey where were you catching them out there??

[UdeLakeTom]

They did the same thing a few years ago to Long Lake just across from the North St. Paul Fleet farm. First the blocked the easy access, then they added boulders along the road to take away the access the 4 wheelers were using.

[dougger222]

I talked to the farmer that owns a bunch of land around the lake last Winter. He got in big trouble for doing some land modifications a few years ago. His points seemed valid but the DNR didn't agree!

Fished the North part of the lake and caught a bunch of tiny sunnies. A lot of anglers were tip up fishing in getting bass though. First and I guess now the last time on that lake.

We got on on the very North end and crossed that lake then some land and got to the middle section. Guessing the boulders are on the ditch on the very North end?

[Jordyn Kaufer]

well i will be going fishing there soon because my friend lives on the lake and i'll let you all know how it goes when i go!!

[Sandmannd]

They did the same thing a few years ago to Long Lake just across from the North St. Paul Fleet farm. First the blocked the easy access, then they added boulders along the road to take away the access the 4 wheelers were using.

I have been looking for a way onto that lake for a couple of years. Anyway to get on it at all? How can they put up boulders on these lakes so the public can't get on? How is it legal to do that?

[UdeLakeTom]

I wish I knew...somebody told me that unless a lake is land locked, there had to be a public access to it. Not necessarily a marked one, but there had to be one. Since this lake and School Section appear to come right up to the road, I would think that would make for a lake access??

[Bigtime22]

I would think so as well. My only problem is that there is nowhere to park within a mile of the lake. I know there is a school about 1/2 mile south of the lake, but I just haven't bothered with doing that. My brother and I used to drive down that ditch on the north end of the lake and walk around the bend to the main section of the lake. I always thought that if a lake bordered a road, that was considered access. That might be the case, but the parking situation poses the problem. I just hope this mess is figured out since it is a pretty close lake to my parents. I have thought about contacting the DNR on this to find out the exact truth, haven't gotten to that. Let me know if anyone hears anything on this, I would like to be informed on the reasoning.

[Bigtime22]

Originally Posted By: Bigtime22

Great lake with no access! Have had excellent luck with slabs the past few years but not this year. I am hoping that access will be available in the future, but right now I dont see any way of getting on this lake unless you do know someone or can get someone to let you on from their property.

hey where were you catching them out there??

You get me on the ice and I will definitely bring you to the spot. Let me know if you are ever interested.

[kywest]

I went to High School in Stillwater back in 97-2000 and my buddy and I used to fish the very north end of the Lake. There was a house on the east side of the road that runs North and South (just south of their house the road is underwater now), we talked to them about parking at the bottom of their driveway and they were more than happy to let us park there. Mind you that was darn near ten years ago. I would venture to guess if you asked someone, they would let you park in their driveway.

[jdog]

any boulder moving ill help i seen this happen early on ice season i guess the right of way went away when the water went down its not 13 feet but its still how do you actualy judge it in the winterisnt snow really water

[Huey]

Originally Posted By: Ude Lake Tom

They did the same thing a few years ago to Long Lake just across from the North St. Paul Fleet farm. First the blocked the easy access, then they added boulders along the road to take away the access the 4 wheelers were using.

I have been looking for a way onto that lake for a couple of years. Anyway to get on it at all? How can they put up boulders on these lakes so the public can't get on? How is it legal to do that?

You can still walk on to Long lake from the N end by the boulders.

If you want any company out there, let me know. I live by there and just started fishing that lake. Nothing but tiny panfish so far.

[TheIceFishingKid]

If you go to the DNR website on the lake survey for School Section it lists the access avalable as using Keller Ave. public right of way. So this is a legal access to the lake by foot not by vehicle.

[PeteS]

I called the conservation officer asigned to that area and he said that Keller Ave is no longer a legal access due to the water level being so low. You would have to walk on the owners land who posted all of the no tresprassing signs and believe me, he doesn't let anyone on the lake there.

The boulders were put on the North side of the lake by the DNR and another landowner. The landowner didn't like that the road was deteriorating and so the DNR placed the boulders every 5 feet so a car/truck will not fit, but a boat will. So I guess when the water level is high enough again you will be able to launch you boat there, but don't think of parking anywhere near there or someone will call the Sheriff. Pretty smart thinking.

When I was a kid we would fish off the road with no one else ever around. I went back years later and you couldn't even find a spot to fish. The entire road was lined with people fishing off the road and blocking the right of way. Weeks later the no parking signs were up and very well enforced.

I just chalked it up to another one of my favorite fishing spots down the drain.

[BM JIM]

YEP! ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I called the conservation officer asigned to that area and he said that Keller Ave is no longer a legal access due to the water level being so low. You would have to walk on the owners land who posted all of the no tresprassing signs and believe me, he doesn't let anyone on the lake there.

So the water is low that shouldnt mean we cant access the lake. I thought public water/land was to the regular high water mark meaning just because the water is low the land that is now there doesnt automaticly belong to the closest lakeshore owner it still belongs to the public whether water covers it or not.

[DannyB]

Last year there was a back way onto the lake follow the road past the school it should be the second left after the lake its a dirt road next to the tree farm follow it till you see the power lines if you can get onto the the ice ther were several spots to drive onto too. Follow the power lines this will get you onto the lake. we did this last year without incident

I havent been there this year but I'm going to try soon I dont think its right to deny lake access

[Black_Bay]

I found the following article on the DNR site. Hopefully it clears things up as far as who owns what and if access is legal.

Pardon Me Myth!

Who Owns the Lake Bed?

By Dave Milles

Nature is fickle! Last year at this time some of you were wondering how to get the lake

out of your living room. This year you may be planning a Labor Day barbecue on the thirty feet

of dry lakebed in front of your cabin. The question is, when you’re grilling “name-brand Brats”

on the lakebed, can you exclude the general public and your neighbors from your party? The

issue of who owns the lakebed has placed the Division of Waters in the middle of neighborhood

disputes more than once in the past.

Lake levels and the weather have a

lot more in common than simple cause and

effect. You’ve heard the old adage

“everybody talks about the weather, but

nobody does anything about it”. Well, in

Minnesota “everybody talks about water

levels, but everybody knows everything

about it”. In fact, many Minnesotans have

collectively assembled this knowledge and

created their own water law mythology.

One of the best- known myths holds that the

State owns a definable strip of land

(commonly accepted to be 10 feet wide)

around every lake and along every stream.

Another mythical law says that the State owns all the land under all of the lakes. Consequently,

when a lake level drops, the exposed bed is public land available for use by anyone. Pardon me

myth, but these things just aren’t true!

Who owns the land under Minnesota’s lakes and what rights, if any, does the general

public have to use the dry beds or shorelines of our lakes? As with most “legal” questions, there

is no simple answer. A very general “rule of thumb” is that the shoreline property owner’s rights

follow the water level up and down. In other words, the public normally has no right to use the

shoreline or dry lake bed unless the adjoining shoreline is already in public ownership (i.e. the

shoreline is already part of a public park, beach area, access site, etc.). This does not mean that a

landowner can fill, grade, build structures and otherwise alter the topography of his dry lakebed.

This type of activity is strictly regulated through the Division of Waters permit program.

Naturally, there are a few exceptions to this “rule of thumb”, but it works 99 percent of the time.

For the purist who wants to know what happens the remaining one percent of time, the

answer gets a bit more technical. First, we have to distinguish between three “legal” categories

“One of the best known myths holds that the State owns a definable strip of land (commonly

accepted to be10 feet wide) around every lake and along every stream… Pardon me myth, but

these things just aren’t true!”

PDF compression, OCR, web-optimization with CVISION's PdfCompressor

of water. These are: 1) “navigable” lakes and streams, 2) “meandered” lakes and streams and

3) “non-meandered” lakes and streams.

“Navigable” waters are those lakes and streams that were used (or were susceptible of

being used) as highways for commerce at the time Minnesota became a state. This is often times

referred to as “the federal test of navigability.” These highways of commerce included most of

our major rivers (the Mississippi, Minnesota, Rainy, Red River of the North, St. Croix, St. Louis,

etc.) and many of our large lakes (Superior, Leech, Cass, Mille Lacs, etc.). Navigability of a

water body has usually been determined by the courts by applying the federal test. The United

States Army Corps of Engineers has several publications available which show most, but not all,

of our navigable waters on a map. Surprisingly, very few of our 11,842 lakes and 5,564 streams

are considered “navigable” waters. This does not rule out the possibility that a water body now

considered to be “not navigable” could in the future be determined to be navigable.

When Minnesota became a state in 1858 the federal government gave the ownership of

the beds of all “Navigable” waters to the State. In particular, the State of Minnesota owns the

bed of all navigable waters below a point called the “natural ordinary low water level”. In

most cases, a detailed survey would be needed to establish this level. However, it is clear that if

Lake Superior (or any other “navigable” water) were to completely dry up, the land under the

lake would be public property.

“Meandered” waters are the lakes and streams that were surveyed and plotted

(meandered) on the original Government Land Office surveys of Minnesota. These surveys were

done primarily in the mid 1800’s. There are 5,480 “meandered” lakes shown on these surveys.

The lands surrounding these “meandered” lakes and streams may be in private or public

ownership. However, the land inside the “meander line” of the lake or stream (the boundary

shown on the original survey) has not been assigned to a particular owner. Consequently, the

lake bed is jointly owned by all of the landowners surrounding the lake. If a lake has been

drained or goes dry permanently, the owners may go to court to subdivide the land within the

meander line and show the portion they own on their deeds. In the past, this process has led to

some interesting property boundary configurations. All the remaining lakes and streams (those

that are not “Navigable” or “Meandered “) are considered “Non-meandered” waters. Since

these waters were not surveyed in the mid 1800’s they did not show up on the Government Land

Office’s maps. The land under these lakes and streams belongs to whomever holds the deed(s)

to the lands that surround them. In fact, many people who own the beds of non-meandered lakes

pay nominal property taxes on their lake beds. Since they have always held title to the land under

the lake, there is no question as to their ownership if the lake dries up.

Keep in mind that most of our lakes and streams are not “meandered” or “navigable”

waters. Consequently, whoever owns the shoreline also owns the land under the water. While a

boater may run watercraft over the entire surface of the water body, when the bed is dry…keep

off. Sorry myth, but that’s the way it is!

[TurnUpTheFishing]

Huh, learn something new everyday. Myth Busted.

It just bothers me a little that these people are going through such great measures to keep people off 'their' lake.

[Sandmannd]

Originally Posted By: Sandmannd

Originally Posted By: Ude Lake Tom

They did the same thing a few years ago to Long Lake just across from the North St. Paul Fleet farm. First the blocked the easy access, then they added boulders along the road to take away the access the 4 wheelers were using.

I have been looking for a way onto that lake for a couple of years. Anyway to get on it at all? How can they put up boulders on these lakes so the public can't get on? How is it legal to do that?

You can still walk on to Long lake from the N end by the boulders.

If you want any company out there, let me know. I live by there and just started fishing that lake. Nothing but tiny panfish so far.

Shoot me an email at shane at [YouNeedAuthorization] dot com. We'll have to hit it some night.

[PeteS]

I guess if I lived on a lake, I wouldn't want people on my property. I know someone who lives on Mann lake. People would walk the RR tracks to get there and then stand on their property to fish. He said people would do #1 and #2 right on his lawn in front of his kids. They would leave trash and cook fish on his lawn, too. People were hauling 5 gallon buckets of every fish they caught and would come right back for more until the lake was fished out. One of the ways to stop people from lining the lake shore is to put up no parking / no trespassing signs. Oh well, there's plenty more lakes to fish.

[mwodziak]

Thats a good example of one bad egg in the bunch ruining it for everyone else.

I've heard the rumor that there is a DNR hot shot that lives on the lake that has some major influence on that lake.