st cloud St Cloud Fishing Reports

[Genofish]

Thanks for the report Jeremy, maybe the warmer weather will turn theme on soon

[jigginjim]

I was thinking of using a cut sucker, maybe even try sardines packed in oil. The oil may get them to home in on the bait faster. A wallwyw or two would not hurt either. Thanks for the info, never fish chain in winter before.

[JeremyCampbell]

Wife surprisingly let me out tonight.Met up with Natureboy at Pleasant A little while before I got there he catches a Northern.After drilling and checking for marks for a little.I ended up settling on a hole and catching many very small crappies probeley 5"-6" a Piece on 29 fow fish were suspended 8-10 ft .Only a few keepers and a average gill went home.Trigger and clam pink plastics was my bait with a purple glow tunstan jig.Had fun otherwise.

[Rick G]

I made it out with a bunch of friends for a short outing this evening. Got on some good numbers of crappies, even a few nice ones, then the walleyes bit for a bout 30min.

finished off the outing with a few cats

[JeremyCampbell]

Nice guys! Did you use the rattle wheels for eyes/cats?

[Rick G]

Fishing was a little slower today than it was yest, but if you moved around and worked hard the fish were catchable. I spent about half the day talking and the other half fishing Managed to get a few respectable crapps though most ran small.

Small spoons tipped with minnow heads got most of my fish, with only a few willing to hit the plastics for me.

Got my first one of these in a long time too

Could have went the rest of the year with out a party crappie

Yes, the crappies are biting on the Chain but if your thinking about coming and taking more fish than you should, Think Again! Our local CO's are out there heavy I was told tonight that they got a good over limit bust just this morning Great job our local CO's are doing IMO

[Naturboy]

Yep I was checked on Grand last night, but nothing to show him at all except for my license. Just can't figure that lake out this year. I think I only had one bite and missed that.

[tonyjor]

Hit Pearl this morning from 6-11 with the boy. Tried 15 and 11 fow with only 1 missed strike. Graphed quite a few but no takers. Not much going on anywhere around either. Saw one small northern on a tip-up.

[Genofish]

Good time on cedar island with 621 and his crew then the afternoon

with Rick G and a few other HSO, good to finally meet Nells Bell and others that I dont recall names, Spent more time talking than fishing.

[Stick in Mud]

I heard you guys got into them....I was pretty jealous, considering my trip up to Mille Lacs was almost a complete bust.

[JeremyCampbell]

Hit Pearl this morning from 6-11 with the boy. Tried 15 and 11 fow with only 1 missed strike. Graphed quite a few but no takers. Not much going on anywhere around either. Saw one small northern on a tip-up.

. Tony- Was wondering if anyone was going out there in the morning.Seemed I had them bite at dark and a few right before. The other day when I went to Pearl ,it wasn't like bang bang.It took some serious hole hopping a alot of time.Changing positioning of plastic on the jig ,changing bait a lot .Seemed like an awful lot for only 8 crappies.Like Genofish said maybe things will change as we are warming up outside.

[Naturboy]

There were a bunch of people out on pearl yesterday and I desided to try it late afternoon. Two crappie for the pan but after everyone left I walked around to shallower holes to see if maybe that's were they went but no luck there either. Maybe I should punch holes in 3-5 foot areas before sunset then check them after dark?

[Tom Sawyer]

Maybe I should punch holes in 3-5 foot areas before sunset then check them after dark?

Paul, why not just fish lakes that have been consistently producing limits of crappies since first ice? By reading the past posts it's evident which lake has been hot, and which lakes are not. There are much better bites going on in the area, that's for sure.

I can honestly say I have not had a 2 crappie night this season; and have even pounded them during the day on one lake several times.

I doubt the fish are up in 3-5 feet at night, but please let us know what you find out.

[Rick G]

Tom, if we all hit the same lakes it would get pretty crowded .

Pearl, Grand and Pleasant have good populations of crappies, hit the right spot on the right day and it can be some of the better fishing in the area

[Naturboy]

To me it's more fun tring to figure something out than to just keep hitting the same nail over and over.

[Rick G]

Paul, keep after Pearl, it will pay off once you hit that school of 12in fish trust me, they are in there

[Tom Sawyer]

Only been on the chain 5 times this year. I've been pounding 5 different nails, not one has produced a 2 crappie night this season. Just don't think fishing shallow at night will help you unlock your mystery of either Pearl or Grand Paul.

You have been the one hammering these same lakes, with the same results. Trying to help you get on some fish, don't take it personally.

I must be in a minority of enjoying catching fish more than just hammering nails.

[osok]

I commend him on striking out and exploring. Rick is right, on any given day those other lakes can be quite rewarding. And it relieves pressure from whichever lake is has the hot class that year. I haven't fished St. Cloud in 2 winters now (wow), but there are some hidden gems to be found if conditions warrant it.

[NELS-BELLS]

Good time on cedar island with 621 and his crew then the afternoon

with Rick G and a few other HSO, good to finally meet Nells Bell and others that I dont recall names, Spent more time talking than fishing.

It was nice to meet you also Genofish and to see the HSO legend, Rick G again . Whenever I would look over at Rick, he was either fighting a fish or BSing with somebody.

My son had been begging me to take him to Horseshoe for some catfish, but due to weather and other conflicts, this was our first opportunity.

Unfortunately the cats didn't cooperate that evening but the crappies kept us busy. We threw some back and kept enough for a meal.

On Sunday evening we took the ATV and hit one of DTro's and Aanderud's cat spots. We didn't slay them but we caught 25 cats. My son got to scratch the itch and he out fished me...so he was happy.

Nels

[JeremyCampbell]

I'm with Natureboy.Let's find them fish!

[tonyjor]

We were after walleye and tip-ups for northern, using mostly rainbows on small glow jigs. I'm going to try again tomorrow morning to see if I can't find something. I work with a guy that told me an area to try. He said he's had good luck there some years and no luck some years. Either way I have until the afternoon to try to find something. Are there any bait stores open early around there?

[Horseshoe_Don]

Fished the same spot on shoe for the second night in a row.

Day 1: 15 craps, 1 eye

Day 2 12 craps, 1 eye, 1 cat.

Day 2 saw a huge number of cats on the sonar. I jigged to scare them away since I was eye fishing. Only fished for the Crappies for 1 hour then switched to eye gear.

Most crappies were caught on a waxie and a super small tungsten jig.

Don

[Rick G]

Don, if you only want walleyes, try the inside turn on the West side of that finger you have been close to. The 6-15 ft break on the inside turn and on the top has some scattered rocks and a little sparse weed growth. There are always shiners and small perch moving in and out of there, walleyes are never too far behind

[aanderud]

On Sunday evening we took the ATV and hit one of DTro's and Aanderud's cat spots. We didn't slay them but we caught 25 cats. My son got to scratch the itch and he out fished me...so he was happy.

25 cats is nothing to sneeze at! There's many a night when that's all we can muster. Our first time out this year, in fact, I think we got about that many. Nice work!

[Tom Sawyer]

Don, if you only want walleyes, try the inside turn on the West side of that finger you have been close to. The 6-15 ft break on the inside turn and on the top has some scattered rocks and a little sparse weed growth. There are always shiners and small perch moving in and out of there, walleyes are never too far behind

Patty had a dandy on that spot a couple weeks ago that gave a few good head shakes just beneath the hole and came unbuttoned. Super spot for eyes!

[AZBOWHUNTER]

Fairly new to the area and ice fishing, grew up in Arizona and spent 11 years in Navy. I have spent some time exploring the lakes around St Cloud in summer mostly for bass because that is what I am used to fishing. Pretty new to the ice fishing, I have all the equipment (I think) but was hoping someone with a lot of experience in the area would want to hook up and go fishing sometime. PM me if you are interested. I have tried ice fishing several lakes in the area (rice, horseshoe) with little to no luck. I am up for catching anything through the ice. I am used to catching bass year around with no ice, so any help would be appreciated.

[621vs]

Welcome going out sat afternoon pm me if interested

[Naturboy]

Welcome Azbowhunter, and thanks for your service. Lots of people on here willing to go fishing with you, myself included. If you are able to make the Cool Cats event you could run into just the right fishin partner out there and have a lot if fun. Don't forget to check your My Stuff tab at the top of the page for pm's.

[Tom Sawyer]

Welcome going out sat afternoon pm me if interested

Where are you headed Saturday Jessie?

[Rick G]

Where are you headed Saturday Jessie?

Jesse might be in that permanent house they put out on the Chain???