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

[Matt C]

lol.

[mosquitoman]

how are the snow conditions on Mazaska? was down last friday and it was bad even with 4WD. was planning on going out tomorrow afternoon but was just curious travel on the lake has improved. thanks for any info!

[Matt C]

It has turned into a ghost town out there....

With 4wd you should be fine going out from bull rush bay.

[TruthWalleyes]

Anyone see the 3 deer on Madison Lake yesterday afternoon?

Got a few pics, but they're not too clear!

[BehindtheHead]

i saw 3 deer the other night on the 90 degree corner by dauk's farm. there have been alot of them running around on washington too. see alot of tracks.

[TruthWalleyes]

[Matt C]

Thats very cool! They are even following the plowed road!

[zepman]

i saw 3 deer the other night on the 90 degree corner by dauk's farm. there have been alot of them running around on washington too. see alot of tracks.

Somebody has been leaving corn there on that corner for them to eat.

[ted4887]

Hope everyone had more luck than me today. I fished out at Washington * marked plenty of fish, but caught only 3. And they weren't even close to being keepers.

[no bait nate]

Hit the lake tonight with a fellow FMer for the sunset bite. Picked up one quality walleye and two smaller ones. All fish hit a green/glow rattle spoon with the single hook tipped with the front half of a fathead minnow. All fish came in between 5-6pm and nothing after that. The warm weather should hopefully make the fish more aggressive over the upcoming days.

[ted4887]

I'm going to be heading out tomorrow morning for the early bite. Hopefully I'll pick some up than. I'll try that rattle spoon & minnow and see if anything bites.

[missedoneagain]

We camped out Wednesday thru Saturday in our sleeper and did fairly well. Cleaned, ate, and brought home a healthy amount of 8-9inch gills and 10-13inch crappies. The bite was very light. Spring bobber was mandatory. Fished in 27 ft of water on the edge of a 32 ft hole.(away from the crowds) Tried a little shallower one day (21ft) and got into a better bite, but the gills and crappies both averaged an inch or two smaller. 80% of all fish were caught on waxies.

[sleepless dad]

Spent 4 hours this morning on a small lake near Faribault moving from place to place without a strike or even marking a fish on the vex. I fished depths from 6 ft to 22ft, moving to a deep hole, the drop off, the flat, the dead weeds and it was like the lake was dead. This has been to poorest season for me in years. I'm trying not to get discouraged, but I've only been able to get out a half dozen times, and I have yet to bring a single fish home. My kids even told me the last time I took them out it was the worst day fishing they've ever had. I hope I didn't burn them on ice fishing, but if you can't catch a sunfish something's wrong. I just can't seem to figure out what it is. I mean just last weekend I spent 3 days on Upper Red Lake and all I caught was 2-small perch, 1-8 inch walleye and a dinky eelpout on the rattle reel at 1 am. I've limited out at both here and at URL, but this year feels like I'm cursed. http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/images/icons/default/tongue.gif

[GrizzlyAdams]

Went out this weekend finally. Got out Saturday and Sunday to a local lake and had some pretty good fishing. Not spectacular or anything but caught some fish. We were set up in about 18' of water on an inside turn and were able to catch a bunch of sunnies and a few bonus crappies. Most of the sunnies were small but we did manage to snag a couple very hefty ones. The crappies were about 9 - 10 inches with one pushing 11 - 12. It was absolutely beautiful out both days. Didn't even turn on the heater yesterday. Drilled a lot of holes on saturday in the area we had the porty set up and managed one little perch. Best luck was just sitting and waiting. They would come through every 15mins. or so and would pick up 1 - 3 and then wait again. Saturday the fish were more negative and really had to be coaxed into biting. No single technique worked. Sometimes they wanted it sitting motionless other times they wanted it jigging aggressively then stop and raise it and everything in between. Sunday they were a lot more aggressive and we probably caught twice the amount than saturday. Was a great weekend and fun to finally redeem ourselves. All in all it was an awesome weekend and was great to get out and enjoy the weather.

[HOBBSTER]

Fellas, with the warm temps, snow and ice melting, has anyone noticed any accesses/ landings of concerns for driving out onto the lakes? I was out on Sunday, Madison DNR landing was fine, just wondering how much they've changed since then? Looking to go out tomorrow and Thursday. Just want everyone to be safe out there and not end up on the front page. Thanks guys.

[TruthWalleyes]

Madison DNr access is WET! Lol

I heard 50 degrees today - Might have to float across it!

[BehindtheHead]

a buddy told me yesterday he dropped a wheel in a 2 foot hole on the road right by westwood on lake washington.

i was on madison yesterday and the landing was very sloppy. when i drove on i went to the right right away. and i was fine with 4x4.

[TruthWalleyes]

Thats the same path i took - Its a little eerie driving through all that water. Probably driving to the left of the access today

[no bait nate]

Went out to check on the ice house tonight to see what the conditions are. Lots of slush and some water on the ice, especially bad at the accesses. Ice out on the lake was still great with at least 2' with maybe an inch or two of water on top in some areas. Decided to move the shack off of the holes and leave in it a fresh area or a day or two.

On a good note I dropped a line at about 5 for some of the best fishing I've had all year. I landed 9 walleyes and one dandy perch between 5:45 and 7 pm. I missed at least 6 other fish on both the jigging spoon and the deadstick. Four of the eyes measured over 15" with one going almost 17", with the perch going almost 12". Perfect night on the lake and awesome to hole hop unfrozen holes in the moonlight.

[Bateman]

Hoping to go out to Madison on Sunday. Anyone have updates on the driving condition. I'm thinking about going out of access by Bray Park. Any help would be great.

Will be fishing in a Clam Summit with my Dad. Stop by to exchange fishing lies.

Brad

[TeeWook]

Hey guys, any word on the Faribault lakes. I got a buddy coming from Wisconsin and I am thinking about hitting up Mazaska or maybe Kelley and Dudley. Any thoughts on the action on those lakes. I know the last time I was on Mazaska I wrote about it and I couldn't get the fish to bit and you guys help me out there a lot. Looking to make this a decent trip for my buddy and me. We are going to be looking for more pan fish than anything else. You can IM me or drop me an email at [email protected]

Thanks guys

[RockinHerda]

Went out for 4 hours this Sunday during the blizzard on Madison. Got nothing! Was a windy drunken day. Still had fun though!

[Grainbelter]

Spent a few hours on Kelly Saturday fishing for pike and never had a flag. That's not saying much though!!!

[Matt C]

You guys gotta let me know when your hitting Kelly! I'll walk/drive ya to the right places.

[Morneau132]

You guys gotta let me know when your hitting Kelly! I'll walk/drive ya to the right places.

Oh we've got a comedien

[Matt C]

[Grainbelter]

It was a last minute decision otherwise I would have! Need all the help I can!

[TeeWook]

Hey guys whats the word on the fishing in the faribo area. My old man is coming this weekend and would like to treat him to some nice panfish fishing. Any help would be great. Send me a pm if you would like.

THanks guys

[ted4887]

Went out onto Ballantyne today and caught tons of small crappies(6-9") and plenty of sunfish in 15-20 FOW. They were very aggressive, and wanted the presentation to be aggressive too. Even the little guys can be fun from time to time.

[TruthWalleyes]

I found the same thing last year near ice out. They were right up underneath the ice...but nothing big.