st cloud St Cloud Fishing Reports

[osok]

Nice fish.

[Rick G]

I was on the chain last night from 5pm till almost 1am. The light wind and bright moon made fishing enjoyable and ad to it that the walleyes were biting it made for a good night. I started the eve throwing jigs and fatheads over some mid lake stuff and got a few of the 11-12in fish that are so plentyfull this year. I found better size walleyes along a shallow sandy shoreline while throwing a gold shadrap. I never got into any real numbers of fish but size was good with biggest being a 23in. did get a nice smallie and a couple cats in the same area the walleyes came from. Water temp was 50- 52.

[osok]

Rivermiss if you fish Horseshoe I sure could use some advice. That lake has been getting the better of me.

[Rick G]

I have been hitting Cedar island as of late. I havent had a chance to fish horseshoe much this fall but there is plenty of good structure to try thats for sure. My best spots this year have been points and bars that have a large shallow flat or a slow depth taper on the top. If you can find one of theese areas with some rock even better and if there is still some weeds present you will be on them in no time.

[osok]

Fished Horseshoe yesterday. Well I started off fishing Horseshoe, but after having major issues staying in any one place or trying to control a slow drift w/ the wind I ran over to Cedar Island lake. Found and area w/ numerous cats, caught 4 eyes that will be keepers next season, and had about a 32-34" Northern to the boat side before he stole my favorite jig.

A nice "bowl" w/ steep transitions, eyes were caught in 21-23 FOW, Cats were deeper (26 FOW-ish), and the slimmer was in deep weed bed I found.

Heading out again today for a while. Just can't get myself to winterize the boat just yet.

[Borch]

Why would you winterize it if you have time to fish and the fish are still biting. If it weren't for deer season I'd be out this weekend.

[osok]

Borch, I totally agree with you. The fish are biting and today was no exception. Fished the chain again and caught more cats than I really wanted to but ended up w/ a few nice keeper eyes that found their way to the dinner table tonight. Only saw 2 other boats on the water today so finding room to fish wasn't an issue at all.

I know for many of us the change of seasons (fishing-hunting-hard H2O) can be pivot-able. As far as rifle opener for myself....not happening, I get to work this weekend.

You're right, my work schedule is set up nicely to accommodate fishing time.

I still need to make it over to Koronis to try that lake again. I take it you haven't put your boat to sleep yet either ?

[Rick G]

Im not putting mine away till there is ice forming around the shorelines. I will be headin back out to the chain in about a half hour for hopefuly a good mix of crappies cats and walleyes.

[Rick G]

Didnt end up getting any crappies and only one catfish but found the walleyes. I serched out about a half dozen of my favorite late fall early ice spots before I came across good marks on the Lowrance. Best depth was 19-23ft. on a steep shoreline break with much deeper water close by jig and fathead was what worked for me, my brother was getting less fish on larger jigs and redtails but he was getting a few better size ones.

[Borch]

Borch, I totally agree with you. The fish are biting and today was no exception. Fished the chain again and caught more cats than I really wanted to but ended up w/ a few nice keeper eyes that found their way to the dinner table tonight. Only saw 2 other boats on the water today so finding room to fish wasn't an issue at all.

I know for many of us the change of seasons (fishing-hunting-hard H2O) can be pivot-able. As far as rifle opener for myself....not happening, I get to work this weekend.

You're right, my work schedule is set up nicely to accommodate fishing time.

I still need to make it over to Koronis to try that lake again. I take it you haven't put your boat to sleep yet either ?

It's still ready to go based on how the hunting season goes. If it stays somewhat mild I'll likely be pulling cranks for November full moon.

[osok]

Fished the Richmond Chain O Lakes this afternoon. Another quite out in regards to the # of boats on the water. I was one of 4 in the parking lot. 1 person was pulling out while I was putting in. He had some success on Horseshoe but had to do a lot of sorting.

I fished Cedar Island and found the same thing, caught some fish but many were in the 13"-ish class and will be good fish in 2 years.

Right after the sunlight disappeared so did the fish. Not sure if they moved shallower and I missed the move or what. By that time though I had this section of the lake to myself yet again.

I'll keep the boat ready until @least after next weeks full moon w/ maybe 1,2 or 3 more soaks between. It's still good fishing folks, just have to dress like you are sitting in stand waiting for da deer.

Cheers

[pushbutton]

hats, gloves, parkas, boots off to you and the other three guys. thanks for making me fell like a wussy sure is fun having the lake to yourself. enjoy!!!

[Borch]

Sounds like fun osok!

[Rick G]

Fun but add any kind of wind and its down right cold thats for sure. I have taken a break from the chain till iceup. I have been finding some better size walters on Birch the last few times out. The numbers are not quite what the chain has been kicking out this fall but the size of the fish out there has made it worth while. Might make it out one more time in the boat this year then I will be fishing the river till there is enough ice.

[osok]

Riverfish.... I can't agree with you more.....down right cold @ times. Guess we can look @ it as "pre-season (ice) training".

I've tried fishing B Birch a few times this fall wit nothing to show but a couple of slimmers. It's a beautiful lake but very frustrating.

I'm going to head out fishing somewhere tomorrow, hopefully I'll be able to give a favorable report.

[Rick G]

I hit Horseshoe this early am fished from 6ish till around 8 when the wind got to be to much to handle. I didnt get but one small walleye in my two hours out but did see lots of activity on the graph. I had a tough time with boat controle today as the gusty cold wind made things intresting. I got the boat in the garage now warming up the lower unit so I can drain it for the year. Im done with open water and will wait a week or two for ice. Water temp was 35.5 so it wont be long now.

[osok]

Riverfish.... I fished Cedar Island yesterday from about 11-3 and dealt with the same issues. That wind was brutal for both control and warmth. It is to the point that I am wearing the Ice Armour I purchased @ the end of last season.

Like you I caught 2 small eyes that will be good eaters next season.

I'm holding off winterizing my boat until after Sunday's full moon. I'm just hoping that 1:the pressure system doesn't jack the bite up. 2; the Temps @least stay in the current area. 3; I'm not breaking through too much ice on the lake I'm strongly considering.

Water temps I saw on Cedar were about 34*, could be the discrepancy between fish finders.

While driving by Little Rock Lake today I noticed that it had a layer of ice covering (mostly) it.

Won't be long now if this weather pattern stays. Woo Hoo

[Rick G]

Was back on Horseshoe again today and found about the same conditions as yesterday. We sure didnt gain any ice in the last day but havent lost any either although the condition of the top layer took a slight beating today its still in decent shape. I have been working a steep shoreline break keying in on the 14-24ft depths. Ther is a deep water basin near by witch the walleyes have been holding in durring the mid day hours and feeding heavy on the break im fishing from around 4 till just after total darkness. Have had more luck on small fat heads on set lines or tip ups than I have gotten on the jigging spoons the last two days. If your headin out to the chain in the near future besure to check your path well with a sharp spud bar because the ice hasnt formed up real uniform this year.

[osok]

RiverFish.... I need to get together with you @ some point. you seem to have an fairly decent understanding of the ice in this area. I've looked @ the map that someone posted of Horseshoe and the "Meth hole". but NOTHING can compare to local knowledge. So if you are ever looking for a fishing partner of the day..........

[Borch]

If we get what we're supposed to get tonight and tomorrow it will mess things up terribly. Getting 6-8 inches of snow on thin ice is a bad recipe.

[osok]

You're so right Borch. If we do end up getting as much snow as they are forecasting, it might as well snow enough to sink this layer of ice and start from scratch. 2 days of above freezing temps w/ rain today has darkened the ice on the lake in front of my house, and about 1/3 of the lake is still open.

Of course this is all my fault, Wednesday I finally winterized and put the boat into storage.

[Rick G]

Osok we should hook up at some point this ice season as I would love to trade a little info. Well Horseshoe didnt flood to darn bad from all the rain and snow we had. I was out for prime time this evening and there was some slush pockets and a bit of standing water but the ice is still in fair shape. We could use some good cold weather to firm things up a bit thats for sure.

[osok]

I went out yesterday in search of some good ice- found varying thickness from around 1-2" upwards to 4"+. All of it had breakable crust layer w/ about 1/2" of water underneath. Definitely need to use extreme caution and lots of common sense, the 1-2" was literally right by a 4" section. So folks when you're out there and your "spider senses" kick in, take the time to figure out why.

All I caught yesterday was 2 dinky Perch, but it felt good to "ice" some fish, even if they went back to the hole.

I think with this weather and this area being spared the brunt of the storm we will see some increased activity this weekend.

[Stick in Mud]

Anybody been out recently? I've been focusing on Mille Lacs the past few weeks, so I haven't been out much in the area. But it's about time for the ice fishing to turn good, so I'm getting excited for some late ice fishin'.

[fishing_greg]

tried goodners and grand today nothing happening, tried a bunch of holes

[pushbutton]

welcome greg!

how deep were you fishing? would think if you were able to find some green weeds in the 7 to 10 ft range there should be some fish nearby.

[Stick in Mud]

Went out to Little Rock tonight....left lots in the lake for the next guy. Same old story out there, lots of little fish and none worth cleaning. Better than sitting inside all night, tho.

[fishing_greg]

has anyone been out in the st cloud area for some panfish with this nice weather??????

[gixxer01]

The sauk chain is still putting out crappies. Caught a another 13" the other night.

[osok]

Fished Horseshoe Monday night, Caught quite a few Croppies, quite a few were fat in the belly and had to do some sorting but ended up keeping 4 10" + Croppies. The fat bellied ones I figured were spawners and let them swim. Still a lot of ice out there.