st cloud St Cloud Fishing Reports

[Horseshoe_Don]

Sunnys finally started spawning. Caught quite a few last weekend. Largest about .75. Will try as soon as the wind subsides if they didn't drown in the deeper water.

Don

[JeremyCampbell]

I met up at with an hso guy and talked fishing a little bit and then I did some scouting on the river.I found a spot thats new to me and fished on the bottom of some rapids.The kayaks were out on these rapids too.Found a school of smally and rockys.Accross the way I caught a catfish and misc fish.Orange gumball jigs with worms were appealing to the fish for me today.

[JeremyCampbell]

Spent some time fishing all around today.Small mouth bite was excellent in sartell and landed 2 carp biggest was 31" with a 8"girth.I'm guessing 12-15lbs.Used orange hook and crawler.

[Jared_P]

Found a few this morning...WOW what a beautiful morning for those that chose to sleep in...

JP

[Rick G]

Nice fish guys! Found a few big uns myself today. a 27

a 28

this big black 29in

and the big one for the day, a 31.5x18in piggy

[LPCrowRiverFisherman]

Hey Rick, can I come fishing with you? Catfish down here has been SLOOOW.

Puttin' some nice ones in the boat!

[Rick G]

When you comin' Back to town? Top side the dam has been slow, bottom has been good, but size isn't what it is above hit a dozen spots today, had two in the boat after the 11th spot, boated 6 in the last place... You are welcome to fish with me any time

[JeremyCampbell]

Gills in the creek today.Caught a dozen or so biggest was 8" All I had was some orange hooks on me and pieces of crawlers.Orange jigs and orange hooks have been great for me lately.I'm sticking with orange until the fish don't wantitanymore

[Sami]

I REALLY hate to do this being its my 1st post but I'm in need of some help.

I want to take my family out to a dock somewhere this weekend to fish. We don't have a boat so looking somewhere for a few hours where my 5 year old son can make some cast and spend a few hours. Sunfish or Crappies is fine and they honestly don't have to be huge in size either. Just some cheap entertainment for him.

My question is; Does anyone know where I could go? I've tried to do some research online through Google but coming up empty. I live in Sartell but willing to drive to places like Pleasant Lake, Pine, Pelican, or Two Rivers... Just want to find a public dock or something to do.

Please help if you can. Thanks

-Sami

[Rick G]

Welcome to HSO and the St. Cloud forum, Sami.

Pleasant would be a good choice, but there is always a lot of people using the public access. There are a couple good fishing piers around, Spunk has a nice one with access to some decent fish as does the Mississippi river here in town. Buerman's on Big is another good choice, if you have kids with they will almost always let you fish there. Lake George would also be a kid friendly place, plenty of action for them with all the bluegills, and you never know when something bigger will bite, I have seen some big pike and bass get pulled out of there over my life time.

[Sami]

Really Lake George in St Cloud? I had no clue at all. Maybe we will have to check that out. We drove to Pleasant last night to look around but they have stuff going on in town and could be a busy weekend there.

You mentioned Spunk Lake, from what you recall would you say upper or lower spunk? Or do you know what side of the lake.

Yes it would be me, my husband and three kids that we'd be bringing.

Thanks again for the wonderful forums and feedback.

[bigdog]

It would be Middle Spunk. Drive into Avon and take left to the lake (east side). Kramer also has a pier but you need to join the St Joe sportsmans club.

[pushbutton]

Welcome Sami, the pier Rick is referring to is on Middle Spunk. Almost due south of the public beach/Fishers in downtown Avon. You can also google Mill Park in Fairhaven. Lake Maria State Park is beautiful and has a pier as well as some boat rentals. Lake George is a sure bet though if you bring some wax worms and a tiny hook or ice fishing jig. No, you will not bring home supper, but will find some action right off the main boardwalk. Plus if the kids get bored or hot, the splash pad is a hundred yards away. Have fun!

[Sami]

Thanks everyone! I am glad I found this site. I'll update everyone with the results.

[Borch]

Just adding another option in Warner Lake near Clearwater.

Also see link to MN DNR fishing pier map and info.

Mn DNR Pier and Platform Map

[silverbulletguy]

There's also several docks at the river/chain access in Cold Spring. Good luck. Welcome to HSO

[JeremyCampbell]

Sometimes if I don't want to leave town I take my family to that little conoo access by heims mill in sartell.There's a grill over there and picnic table with a nice fishing area .It's nice to see another sartell guy in here.Hope you guys have fun!

[Rick G]

Made it out for a few hours this afternoon, action was kinda slow, found a few fish but had to work for them, here is a nice fat 29 incher. My buddy Traderlee got in on the action too

We found a whole school of these too, but size wasn't the best The best depth for the cats was 14-20 ft, got almost all on chicken liver, cut bait just wasn't doing the trick. Crappies were holding just off the main channel where it hugs close to the bank, find willow trees and you will find some fish. Ended my day here

[JeremyCampbell]

Sweet crappie picture!

[DougP]

Hello, new to the board and looking for advice. I fish with my 13 and 8 yr old. we don't have a boat. last summer we had a lot of success fishing for smallies where the sauk enters the mississippi. Mostly using senkos and tubes. This year we are having some difficulting catching any smallies. We have used senkos, tubes, poppers, torpedo's, spooks...nothing seems to be working. 2 part question 1. is there something different we should be trying and 2. is there a better spot to catch smallies that we can access on foot. thanks

[DougP]

by the way here are some pics from last summer!

[Rick G]

Welcome to HSO and the St. Cloud forum, DougP. The bite for smallies on the river has been hit and miss this year, more so than most years. You are in a good area, and using the right baits, just have to keep at it. For more good river spots I would just wait till the water drops enough so you can walk up and down the bank, there are plenty of nice fish just a few more yds in either direction. If you don't feel like waiting check out below the dams in St. Cloud or Royalton, always something biting down there. As for different presentations, 3in Mister Twisters, in-line spinners, like the no. 3 Mepps or a good old minnow under a float will get some bites.

btw, great pics, thanks for sharing

[silverbulletguy]

As always -nice report and pics Rick.

Took my little guy to Lake George for a while today. Mainly because of the closeness to the park and splash pad. He had fun catching the little sunnies for about an hour or so and then really tired himself out running around on the different playgrounds before he decided he would hit up the splash pad. I would recommend Lake George to anyone with little ones just wanting to get them exposed to fishing. Tiny jigs with gulp waxies and minnow heads worked great for us.

[Jared_P]

Had some fun "on the pontoon" (as the song goes) this morning. Started off throwing a good old fashion Hola Popper since the water was like glass...

Once the breeze picked up I decided to try something new to me. My brother in law turned me on to a soft bait frog. It's a Ribbit Frog made by Stanely Jigs. Paired up with a weighted double hook you sink into the body. I was really impressed with the action these had and really happy I went with the light weight (1/8 oz) for a slower sink. This bait was lights out for me...probably not new to some but new to me. Used a green pumpkin the whole morning and had some good fun. Here are a few I got pictures of...

Good luck and good fishing...

JP

[Rick G]

Some nice bass you got there

[Sami]

Well we did Lake Maria State Park, we did a boat rental but water was really green and quite nasty. Ended up catching ONLY bullheads which are not as fun for kids to catch. Will try another one of the suggestions next time for sure. Thanks again to all for the feedback.

[Jaron_K]

Made it out this past weekend on vacation around Birch Lake. Gorgeous weekend for fishing

This was the start of the morning.

25"ish pig smacked a rapala at 6:30 AM. Catch and release.

[Rick G]

Great pics congrats on the pig walleye!

[Jared_P]

Nice eye...

JP

[Rick G]

Kind of a marathon day today, started around 1 and didn't get done till 10pm. First spot was the Beaver Islands, with the lower water we thought we could make it around in just shoes and shorts. It wasn't quite as much fun as I thought it would be, but we still got out

Found a few ripe river treats along the way

Overall action wasn't all that good, I think we ended up only getting around ten bass for our efforts. Water needs to go down another foot or so before I try that again

Second half of the day was spent in the boat above the dam. We were after cats as usual, the bit was pretty good, it was the catching that stunk. We likely had 15-20 hits, but only a few hook-ups. I'm not sure what the problem was, but it was almost frustrating by the end of the evening

. Most of the bites we got today came from over 15ft. Cut bullhead and chicken liver both worked, can't say one was getting more hits than the other.