st cloud St Cloud Fishing Reports

[Rick G]

Eh, you're not missing much, Brad, and don't let Rick tell you otherwise.

We all know the fish quit biting after Labor Day!

Nice crappie Jeremy, they should start showing up in better numbers over the deeper water soon

[Stick in Mud]

So I hadn't been out to my local favorite lake in a while, but I was hit with a dose of boredom that I hadn't felt since the penultimate week of last year's American Idol....so I decided to go fishing in the rain.

I brought two rods with: one for senkos, one for topwater. The topwater was what I started with and what I ended with...fish were going nuts over deepish weedlines, though it was best if there was cabbage nearby. Twitch twitch twitch etc etc etc, nothing more complicated than that.

See y'all on the water!

[Naturboy]

I went out on the river with #4 Mepps spinners and did good on the bass but 3 spinners later I made up my mind to use leaders from now on, more northerns than I thought.

[JeremyCampbell]

Yeah,I have to switch to leaders myself.Kinda been losing northern with out them.Nothing real big but still its a bummer to lose good tackle.It's been awhile Natureboy ,If your the same natureboy I met you guys at the tourney last winter @ kraemer.

[perry p]

Very nice pictures! Nice smallies, and that crappie was big. I've fished the river up there near the Sartell dam. I remember there was a really nice access with a dock.. lots of memories! That lake near St. Joe, I think I ice fished that about three years ago. There were big crappies in there! I have a brother who lives in St. Cloud.

[Stick in Mud]

I went out on the river with #4 Mepps spinners and did good on the bass but 3 spinners later I made up my mind to use leaders from now on, more northerns than I thought.

It's getting to be that time of year...the pike and muskies will get more and more active as the waters temps drop. I always do better for them early in the year and then again late in the year, all the way through October.

[Huntin&Fishin]

Have you goten a few muskies on this stretch of the river? I saw a few kids chucking huge baits below the saint cloud dam and thought they were crazy. Is it a waste of time or is there a healthy population?

[JeremyCampbell]

Went out on sartell river tonight.I was aiming for crappie and Wahm Bam! A 20.5" walleye lingering an eddie.Found some smaller bass but the walleye took a crappie minnow on a glow 16oz jig ,without any extra weight.Ran in to some fishing buddies of mine too,which was awesome to see them and chat with again.

[Jaron_K]

Being so unprepared for bow opener on saturday i decided to hit a small lake in the area. This time of year I'm torn on whether to hunt or fish. Great decision on the fishing tho as fish were extremely active before the front moved in. Trolling crankbaits along the weed edge in 14' produced fish like i havent seen in awhile. I couldnt go 5 mins trolling without a fish on. Majority were bass in the 12-15" range i couldnt keep them off the hooks. I bet i caught 20 of the little guys. I did manage 3 northerns biggest being around 25" and 2 walleyes. One at 19" and the other at 23". All this happened from 8-10:30 AM. Switched to some deeper water around 11 to fish the suspended crappies i was marking and that paid off as well. Plain white jig and a minnow working slow worked. And again more little bass. Fish are starting to move out to deeper water thats for sure as the water temp was at 69 and will only rapidly drop from here on out. Fall walleye bite is just around the corner

[Rick G]

Great reports Guys I made it out on the river yesterday, fishing was kind of tough due to the rapidly falling water temp at 66 degrees, rising water, high pressure and that nasty wind. Couldn't fish the areas we wanted to, but still managed a few fish, though most were small. It was just one of those days

[Stick in Mud]

Have you goten a few muskies on this stretch of the river? I saw a few kids chucking huge baits below the saint cloud dam and thought they were crazy. Is it a waste of time or is there a healthy population?

Not a waste of time at all. I've had more luck fishing them above the St Cloud dam than below it, but that's probably because I spent more time fishing around Sartell and Sauk Rapids than farther downstream.

And I know there are a lot of guys who do very well for them above the Sartell dam, too.

Keep in mind that most of the fish I've caught (or had on) were when I was targeting walleyes in September, October, and even November with shad raps / husky jerks / flicker shads /etc. I've caught more on these baits than on traditional muskie baits, but again, I've thrown them a lot more, too.

[Rick G]

Have you goten a few muskies on this stretch of the river? I saw a few kids chucking huge baits below the saint cloud dam and thought they were crazy. Is it a waste of time or is there a healthy population?

Like stick in Mud said, it's not a waste of time trying. The population is not huge, but it is self sustaining. I have caught a few in each section of the river over the years while fishing for other things, but imo, above Blanchard has the best numbers of any of the river pools in the area.. Heck, you might even run into a Linder or two fishing this section late Oct or Nov

[eyeguy 54]

heck, you might even see me up there..... LOL

[Stick in Mud]

I've also found that they LOVE smallmouth bass, especially the ones flopping around near shore or boatside right before they get lipped/netted. There's not much that'll scare me more (other than seeing eyeguy in socks and sandals and that wading outfit he wears) than having a big 'ski grab a bass a second before I do.

[eyeguy 54]

wimp. crazy that a little ole sippi ski would make yer shorts change color.

[BigPikeGuy]

Went fishing on an area lake last night and caught the biggest walleye that I have caught this year!!! 28.25". I can't wait to hammer them under the full moon this weekend.

[eyeguy 54]

nice eye

[Stick in Mud]

wimp. crazy that a little ole sippi ski would make yer shorts change color.

Eh, I know where the big ones are.

[JeremyCampbell]

Nice Catch!

[JeremyCampbell]

Fishing has really slowed down for me these last three days,from st cloud dam on both sides to many places in Sauk rapids,sartell and again a local lake.Very slow. some crappies,bass,sunfish come out once in a while but I guess the only thing for me is to try above these two dams and see what's comes and then when the funk is over get back to what I been doing below the gates

[Rick G]

Nice fish BigPikeGuy! You guys sure must have some large local lakes in the Verndale area I can't even see a hint of shoreline in your pic.

Jeremy, I'm in a similar funk... If it wasn't for one heck of a crappie bite I would be hurtin' I hope the system we have coming through will turn the walleyes on this evening.

[eyeguy 54]

ocean...

[JeremyCampbell]

I was looking at that too Rick.He did well on hideing the shore in that pic

[Rick G]

Hit a small sandbar on the river just South of town this evening. As I suspected, this weather turned the walleyes on. Got some smaller ones

and even one nicer one, low 20s or so

Here she is swimming away free to be caught again

. Went and tried by the day after prime time, it was a waste of time, got one tiny 'eye and a few smallies. Bout the only thing I did get up there is some cool pics

I think I will hit that spot I got the walleyes up again in the morning before work and before the front comes in.

[BigPikeGuy]

Thanks for the compliments guys! Yes I did crop out the shoreline on the picture, but I can promise you that the fish was caught within 20 miles of St. Cloud.......... Or about 2 miles from my house! I really should change my location to St. Cloud on my profile because I've been living in the area for the past few years, but I'm not sure where I can get that changed at. The fish was very healthy when I released it, despite it's pale color. Here are a couple of more details, I caught it in 6 feet of water trolling a shallow shad rap around 6:30 PM. One other boat saw me hoist it out of the lake and they rushed over and started live bait rigging on the spot once I continued my troll down the mid lake break.

[silverbulletguy]

BPG--my stuff--->edit profile scroll down and make the changes.

Nice eye. Even better that you released it. I know there's others that have caught fish that size or close to it and also released them. That's the best part in my opinion knowing first hand that there is a beast swimming in the lake you're on. Congrats!

[Stick in Mud]

One other boat saw me hoist it out of the lake and they rushed over and started live bait rigging on the spot once I continued my troll down the mid lake break.

I thought people only did that on Mille Lacs!!!

[hnd]

hey guys,

i'll be in sartell on a business trip next week, driving up from the quad cities. i'll have wedn night and thurs afternoon to fish for a few hours. I love shore fishing rivers and assume i have 2 nice spillways to choose from but i figured that i'd poke my head in here and see if i'm at a time of year where catching some eyes from shore at the dams is possible. smallies, eyes, doesn't matter.

just looking for a nudge in the right direction.

[JeremyCampbell]

Hnd-For Sartell/////once in a great while I like to fish in sartell.There's the bar their on riverside,look for the paths along the back of it and the paths will take you down to potential areas.There's also the popular area where folks park by the dam.Take a walk to the watab river bridge and follow the paths down.Don't be surprised to see ppl there.It's no secret at all.

[hnd]

thanks! would you say the st. cloud dam could possibly be more productive?