Albert Lea-Austin-Faribault-Mankato-Northfield-Waseca, Fishing Reports

[KTapper]

I also saw a few bass and a dogfish on the camera. I had a tip-up down, but never had a flag at Frances or Tetonka.

Did you say Bowfin?? I might have to see if I could ice one over there!

[JIvers]

Originally Posted By: 'eyehunter

I also saw a few bass and a dogfish on the camera. I had a tip-up down, but never had a flag at Frances or Tetonka.

Did you say Bowfin?? I might have to see if I could ice one over there!

Yup. Dogfish = bowfin.

I've seen a couple caught on tip-ups around Winona, but have never gotten one through the ice myself.

[Waters]

We been out on a few different lakes this week went after crappies and perch on monday and did really good I have been fishing eyes at night and have been picking them up in 6-10ft 16-19 inchs on dead sticks going to hit it hard this weekend well post how I do

[icefishing21]

Fished from 10am to 1pm today and ended up taking 4 big gills home all about 9"-10".

[sleepless dad]

Fishing yesterday from 9am-noon on a little lake around Faribault and had great action on big gills & crappies, with a lot of small perch mixed in. Fished 15-18 FOW and marked fish everywhere. Used a #12 red glow fatboy & also a rattlin' varmit with a dropper and both produced well. The fish were hanging out near the bottom and they'd come racing up to strike about 1-2' off the bottom.

I spent time looking deeper for jumbo perch but found only small ones. Maybe I should've switched to something larger, but it seemed like the little ones would come screaming in before I could find their bigger brothers.

[7outof10]

i fished last night and this morning in my perm i was fishing a weed bed 13 foot of water i was in a spot that had a really constent crippie sunset bit going for the last 3 weeks but they stoped 3 days ago ........they changed to a monring bit the same bit but about mid morning they are going now i think it has something to do with the fishing persser in the evenings and the cold

[no bait nate]

fished mid-day today and pounded the panfish on a lake close to home. sorted through the gills to find some with nice size but every crappie that was caught was keeper size. released over 30 fish and took 6 nice ones home for dinner. a nice mix of crappies and gills, chartreuse and glow plastics was the ticket in 28' today

[no bait nate]

fished from 8 to 11 this morning and the fish were not very cooperative. marked lots of fish on the screen all morning but they were anything but active. finally got some action once i made it half way through my tackle box, but nothing to talk about for size. maybe it was the change in weather but it wasn't happening.

[PerchSlayer]

Was out on a lake near Faribault, bluegills were biting during the daylight hours with a couple northerns coming through as well. Was in about 22 feet of water. Gills were hitting wax worms on small jig. Gills ranged from 7" to 10".

[Fishman11]

Hi, I'm new to ice fishing this is my first season and just got most of my necessary gear a couple weeks ago. Was thinking of going to the Faribault area because thats the nearest area with lakes close to me. Was hoping to get some tips or intel. on which lakes produce some good sunnie or crappie action, thanks.

[dan z]

marked a few fish and ended the day with one small walleye and two small sunfish. tme did not help us today with only getting a few hours to fish. hopefully we can get out and spend some more time on the lake. found a stack of them just as we had to pack up.

[no bait nate]

oh it's a bad day for the fish when they are slamming the plastics. fished a local lake today from about 11 to 1 and the fish were very active. lots of borderline gills and good numbers of crappies mixed in. seemed like they were all schooling together. great day of landing and releasing many fish. most were on strait plastics but a few crappies did fall the the deadstick with minnow. hopefully the bite will hold out a few more days so I can get back out with some friends and their kids. it would be a riot if the action from today carries over.

[riverrat56]

Nate,

Shoot me an email when you get a chance,

[email protected]

[tori's dad]

I found the fish more cooperative during the past day or so- it may be the impending warm up and winds switching from the NW to the SW- gils and craps starting to hit - not just marking them but actually getting some of the to go- good feeling! Headin to Ottertail in the morn for three days - excited for warmer weather.

[pikerliker]

I fished the late night 11 PM to 1 AM on Elysian a few nights ago looking for some eye's. Had several come in seemingly aggressive right at my jig, but not a hit. I did have one hit my dead stick and minnow and ripped the minnow off before I could get a hook set. But no fish iced.

~piker

[Reid G]

Wow, the gill bite turned on for us this weekend! I'm sure the warm up played a huge roll. Some nice 8+ inchers too. Must've caught 100 gills between the two of us. They were suspended and very, very active. Hittin on the drop, before you could flip the bail over. Very high in the column too, sometimes coming through and hitting ~4' below the ice. Some very pretty fish too. Lots of color.

[luckycrank]

SOUNDS FUN WHEN WE GOING?

[NTW]

Nice work! Can be a blast when you can get on nice gills through the ice...they really battle!

[no bait nate]

was out flying solo again yesterday from 11 to 1:30. once again the panfish were slamming the plastics. So much fun when you don't need to stop to add bait. Probably landed 40 fish, a mix if gills and crappies, in the short outing and they were not slowing down when I had to leave. This warm swing is doing wonders for our fishing action and is going to hang around for a while from the looks of it. Get out there and catch them IN LARGE NUMBERS while you can. Just remember to only keep what you may eat so the fishery you are on will stay as good as some of them are, and others can enjoy the fun for the years to come.

I'm heading out again today with a friend of the family's that is here from Italy, and has never been on the ice before. This should be a blast to watch him battle with the little bruisers one after another. hopefully by days end we will have some good keepers so i can give him one of my favorite true "american meals".

[dan z]

had our way with the panfish today. when they showed on th flasher you could entice them to bite. had a school swim through and light up the flasher and only got one to fall for the teardrop. tried plastic's they did same thing. maybe a different jig would have iced more fish but still had a lot of fun! kept 5 gills and 2 crappies for the pan. prolly going again tommorow to get a pattern on them.

[aberg22]

if any one could shot me a email where would be a good place to fish. I have tried loon twice, hinker pond, and lake washington. Not one fish. I wan't to find something this winter so I can take my kids. I don't eat fish just love to fish. I can only go on weekends do to work s. If someone wants to come with email me also for weekend I just got a clam command post so have lots of room. 4 guys 6 hours on sunday at washington 1 crappie. [email protected] Thanks Andy

[mnhunter79]

Andy, e-mail me

[email protected]

[wall_hanger_fishing]

Hey everyone Im takeing my fiances little brother out fishinhg this weekend and its only his second time out and I guess I would like to get him on some fish or atleast a chance but if anyone has any ideas or suggestions on where we could go around the mankato area i would greatly appreciatied it. You can email me @ [email protected] Thanks for everything

Good luck everyone

[nick99]

just wondering what lakes you have been fishing would love to take the kids out to catch some pan fish.

[riverrat56]

I'm not sure exactly where you guys are located at, but Clear Lake to the south of New Ulm is jam packed full of small crappies but they are sure eager biters. Pretty much a shallow bowl, you'll catch fish all day and around dark it will be constant. A minnow or waxie on a small jig under an Ice Buster is all you'll need. I'd try just outside either group of houses, get about 50-100 yds past them.

[Reid G]

Gill pic from weekend, off the phone...

[nick99]

what lake is that from

[Fishman11]

Wow nice work Reid!!! Care to throw a bone to a fellow fisherman...ha ha. Email me [email protected] I'm catch n release only.

[no bait nate]

looks like a healthy helping of fish n chips there. nice work Reid.

I got out yesterday with a friend who had never seen a frozen lake before and had a blast. The panfish were slamming with the warm weather in the afternoon. Plastics out preformed live bait just because you could get it down there faster. Nice sized gills and some decent crappies got to take the vertical exit and made it to the fry pan. fun day of great fishing with a bonus white bass that was pushing 18"! never saw one that big before, tough pulling it through a 5" hole. Fished from 11-5 pm, in 28' of water

[NTW]

Nate, you've really been taking it to those pannies! I've caught a lot of those white bass on the river over the years...good fighters on light tackle. especially when they have a little size to them.