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

[Team Otter]

South Central MN Weekly Fishing Report, 1-27-09

No recent snowfalls have helped travel on our area lakes. With any luck, a forthcoming warm-up will help melt down some of the snow that is out there. Last week, 4-wheel drive was the only option on many of the lakes, especially when accessing and leaving but things have settled and getting around with an ATV can be done. Obviously, a snowmobile can be used too. Walleye fishing picked up a touch from last week but the bite is short-lived. Your best opportunities to catch fish are during the last few hours of sunlight or when the sun is highest in the sky. Most walleyes are either being caught in 20+' of water or in less than 10' of water. This week, JB Lure's Rattlin' Varmint, Lindy's Rattlin' Flyer Spoon and Northland Buckshot Spoons tipped with a small fathead minnow out-produced the more simple approach; plain hook and minnow under a float or rattle reel. The pan fish bite has been slow to decent. Snow cover and moving water is playing more and more of a role in success rate. Right now, there is solid action for crappies, 'gills and perch in 22 - 28' of water in funnel areas that are adjacent to main-lake points and mid-lake structure. Like the walleyes, there is a day-time bite but it is important to stay mobile and move from snow drift to no snow drift with your hole drilling to see if a pattern forms in one location or the other. Pan fish are responding well to plastics and hair jigs tipped with spikes but Flutter Jigs from Fishing Minnesota's own Outdoor Pro Store and Fiska Jigs are also producing.

[Waters]

Bigreb07 did you try the north side they been pulling a few from there

[Green]

I have a buddy coming to visit on Saturday. I was wondering of a places to catch some crappies and get a fiew flags. I was thinking german or jefferson. Does anyone have any ideas. You can drop me an email. [email protected] Thanks for the help.

[Willy]

German is probably a little better bite for the pannies right now, but the lake is kinda a zoo with fishhouses. Nicer sunfish size on Jefferson though although it is a little tough fishing right now. A full day will get you half a pail full though.

Looking for slimers with your flags? Either lake in the weeds is a good choice and some big fish can be had at times. If you are just looking for action on hammerhandles, Frances is the place to be and I'm sure some sunfish/crappies would cooperate out there also.

[BIGRED07]

trouble28, fished off the island on janesville side 12ft moved to janesville this year so i thought i would fish it, lived in elysian before that always fished that end

[IfIwasawalleye]

Slow going on German last night. Two flags set up with no takers over 10 ft. weed bed and the gills were pretty shabby (18 ft). Moved out into deeper water around 6 and couldn't find a single crappie. Better luck to everyone else. Might go to Duck this afternoon and lift the spirits.

[Waters]

Well finally had some family up today and we got into some eyes and white bass we ended up with 16 eyes 15 to 23.5 inchs and way to many bass to count most the bass where over 15 inchs it was a nice day to run n gun

[Cold_blood]

lots of fish today very aggressive

[Jaspernuts]

Warmer weather definitely helped the fishing. Me and some buddies set out 10 flags and we had at least 20 pops and ended up with 7 pike and 2 bass. Everybody kept one pike and the rest were released. Bring on the warm weather!

[charlie1959]

what lake was this on e mail please,[email protected] ive had poor luck with flags this year

[Enginejet]

We were out over the weekend on one of the Faribault lakes and the pan fish were very aggressive. In 18 feet of water I fished a red ratso tipped with a wax worm and couldn't keep the Sunfish off it. I can't imagine that the color was all that did it but my wife was using a small orange jig also tipped with a wax worm and was getting just a few fish. We fished well away from the crowds in an area that doesnt get much pressure and combined with the weather warm up seemed to help.

We sorted through them and had a nice supper tonight, nothing better is there..

[Team Otter]

South Central MN Weekly Fishing Report, 2-4-09

Another warming trend is on the way! Travel remains fair to good on all of our area lakes. With only a few weeks left in the hardwater walleye season, now is the time to start taking advantage. The fish are biting! Many of the lakes with both healthy forage and walleye populations are experiencing darn good bites right now because of the seasonal die-off of forage. Your best opportunities to catch fish are still during the last few hours of sunlight or when the sun is highest in the sky. Most walleyes are either being caught in 20+' of water or in less than 10' of water near sharp shoreline drops adjacent to main-lake points or secondary basins. Much like last week, JB Lure's Rattlin' Varmint, Lindy's Rattlin' Flyer Spoon and Northland Buckshot Spoons tipped with a small fathead minnow out-produced the more simple approach; plain hook and minnow under a float or rattle reel. You will hear that the pan fish bite has been slow to decent but this is mostly related to fishing pressure. Get away from the crowds! Snow cover and moving water continues to weigh heavily on your success rate. Right now, there is solid action for crappies, 'gills and perch in 22 - 28' of water in funnel areas that are adjacent to main-lake points and mid-lake structure. There is a day-time bite but it is important to stay mobile and move from snow drift to no snow drift with your hole drilling to see if a pattern forms in one location or the other. Pan fish are responding well to plastics and hair jigs tipped with spikes but Flutter Jigs from Fishing Minnesota's own Outdoor Pro Store and Fiska Jigs are also producing.

[PDOGG]

Good report Jamison. Just wanted to add that Jiggin' raps have made a come back in a big way. Even the larger (#7) sizes have been putting fish on the ice in the locations T.O. has described.

[Cold_blood]

did alright today nothing special got a few more for the plate anyone goin out tommorow? wanna tell me where the eyes' are at?i'd like to land one sometime this year lol

[Scott K]

Cold_blood, if you remember where I am at, I have been hitting a few here and there! Not a steady bite, but they have been nice in size!

[Cold_blood]

hmm thanks i remember....might get out saturday night or sunday afternoon thanks for the info if your lookin to keep your kids busy i can tell you to head to german

[chrisonice]

im looking to catch some white bass on ice but not sure where to go?

[PDOGG]

Tetonka, 24fow

[Phill Aldahl]

Went out to Washington today to enjoy the nice weather and do a little crappie fishing. Went out by myself since nobody in the open seat thread wanted to go with. Well the first spot I tried was good and I didn't need to do much moving. Drill 4 holes to start, 2 on the open ice and 2 on a snow bank. Started to notice a trend that the fish were under the snow bank, so I drilled a bunch more holes on the snow banks and kept hoping holes. The best hole seemed to be the middle hole on the larger of the snow banks near me. I was in 24' of water and got all my crappies suspended 10-18'. What would a post be without pictures!

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[Cold_blood]

nice fish

[Phill Aldahl]

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[The Hammer]

Nice fish!!! Hopefully I can get a few like that on Sunday!!

[benbosh]

Phil, where on the lake were ya if you dont mind sharing with me, you can email me if you want but dont have to tell me at all or the exact location just the general area would be appreciated. i have been looking for weeks to catch more than 1 fish at a time. thanks

[email protected]

[JigsawedEyes]

Are people driving out from the west end of Washington on the lake with trucks?

[7outof10]

Are people driving out from the west end of Washington on the lake with trucks?

yes they are

[Cold_blood]

7outof10 you got mail

[Team Otter]

Continue to think about funnel areas and pinch points out there folks. A lot of hard work today but in the end, we ended up finding a very large school of both crappies and 'gills and it was chaos. Triples and doubles were a reality.

Nice job today Nick.

[BK19]

Continue to think about funnel areas and pinch points out there folks. A lot of hard work today but in the end, we ended up finding a very large school of both crappies and 'gills and it was chaos. Triples and doubles were a reality.

Nice job today Nick.

what is a funnel or pinch point what do i look for on a map to find them thanks

[AndyM]

Went out today and nailed the perch, probably caught well over 60 myself, only kept 20 of them. All of the keepers were 10" plus. Walleyes were swimmin' with them but couldn't get them to commit. Fishing in 14' of water. Nobody has fished this spot all year . Pays to stay away from the crowds. Thanks to everybody on here for the helpfull information, I appreciate it.

[Team Otter]

Bill,

Look for areas of deep water that are stuck(or pinched) between a point, mid-lake structure and even shore. Shallower water is close by and inside and outside turns and underwater points are all the better. The spot Nick found today was a classic spot as described above with a large underwater point in ~28' of water and the fish were using the tip of the point and also in a touch shallower in 22 - 25' of water.