Turtle Lake Fishing Reports

[tsewdim]

I'm guessing it's the catch and release Turtle Lake in Shoreview in Ramsey County. Haven't fished there for a year or so since the water level has dropped, but it's a good bass lake.

[311Hemi]

I was out there yesterday with my little duck boat. Took the pup and half a dozen duck decoys and paddled out to the reeds just south of the rock pile. Sat out in the reeds for an hour or so and enjoyed a few cups of coffee in the sun, and got the pup some retrieves though the dekes! Getting the pup ready for his rookie season....not too far off now!

Anyways....I saw a few boats cross over the south end of the bouy's. One paddled over it with the outboard up near the reed patch I was sitting in, another guy in a 16' or 17' boat used a bow mount to get over it. I saw him up front messing with the bow mount....probably adjusting it to go shallower. Saw a waverunner with a couple kids bottom out....they had to get off and walk it across. It's doable but I would not motor over it. There was a big ski boat at the landing as I first pulled up....they had a little trouble loading but got it up and out.

[UdeLakeTom]

Things should start to look up with all the rain we been getting lately. Lots of it today.

[gritsnham]

The smaller lake by my house went up alot but it recieves a good amount of storm water also looks like we are finally catching up on rain a bit

[skolfoppa]

Well... homeowner on lake told me that water level was down 28-34", and with a relatively small watershed it will take quite a few showers to recover. Most likely a few wet years for levels to return to "normal".

[Crawlerman]

Just a heads up for anyone wanting to fish Turtle Lake in shoreview. Forget it. Stay home, save your props and lower-units.

I tried in August and buried the tip of the lower unit in the sand right off the launch itself. The water is LOW.

The sandbar surrounding the launch area past the shallow cove is near impenetrable. It's like looking at the great barrier reef. No deeper then a foot its entire length from shore to shore. You can see the sandbar just under the surface along the entire length.

Watched numerous boats get their hulls stuck, and even more plow through kicking up a rooster tail of sand in the process. Bet there was a few seized lower units from being coated in sand....

I just hope the DNR can get the funds to dredge out a channel; otherwise unless you have a john boat or jet boat that draws less then a foot of water- save your lower units. Seems many lakes in the metro are in the same situation

[Zaraspooks]

I was there on Saturday and had no problems getting a Pro-V 1775 with a 115hp out. You have to use the center of both ramps and need the trollng motor to get past the sand bar but after that it was no problem. And the bass bite wasn't all that bad.

[chippy]

I went to go see the launch after work and it looked good enough to launch on. This is my first time on the lake, and was wondering can I get the boat through the shallow rock pile area? It looked pretty shallow. Would I have to hug that weed/cattail area to get the boat to the North end of the lake? Thanks all.

[jwmiller33]

i hear its pretty low. id recommend going on owasso or one of the close lakes

[fishuhalik]

If you're careful you should be able to get through. Just keep the speed down and the motor up. Maybe use a trolling motor if ya have one, those rocks'll tear your skeg/prop up real good!

[ogrejce]

I hear the from my uncle that the fishing is not that good on Turtle, he lives walking distance away. We go to Owasso also. Swim in turtle though.

[Maximum12]

Fishing is always good on Turtle!

We were out yesterday & caught a half-dozen fish, & lost/saw as many, in a few hours on the water. Split equally between pike & bass.

The shallow water to the left of the rock pile is really shallow, probably a bit more than a foot. I wouldn't recommend running your motor through it. We used the trolling motor & hit a rock going out. Seems a titch deeper closer to the weeds.

[rodmaker]

Fish Owasso, or Johanna.

For Eyes on owasso, Start at the North east part of the lake. Work the shoreline on the west side half way down. Fish 8-15 depths.

Reverse rig with redtails, or rainbows, Snell lenght 5-7 ft.

[Juice88]

Anyone fish this lake? Thinking about trying it...

[shizzy]

nope, but watch out for the rocks.

[Maximum12]

Assuming you're talking about Turtle Lake in Shoreview?

If so, use the search function, there's been plenty of talk about it. Lake is very low, last time we were out there was probably a bit more than a foot of water going over the rock bar. Very close to being unnavigable.

Plenty of fish in that lake!

[jwmiller33]

yeah there is a ton of info on turtle lake in this forum, just go back a couple pages. last i heard, that lake was really low all summer and boats were having trouble getting to the launch from the main lake and visa versa.

[Juice88]

Yep, sorry. I guess I meant Shoreview. It's close to NB though. Just saw the other posts too...THanks! Already thinking about ice fishing...

[tsewdim]

Good lake for bass when the water level is high. Not much size, but a lot in there.

[jwhjr]

Never a problem finding bass in there, but any of the "larger" ones have a big head and skinny bodies. Kind of a weird shape to them.

[skolfoppa]

Any ice/fish reports from Turtle lake in Shoreview?

[WallyGator12000]

Was out yesterday, straight out from the landing 300 yards or so. Solid 8" of clear black ice. Fishing was slow.

[dinomak]

Was there yesterday afternoon. Straight out from boat landing. Stayed till about 7:00. Not one bite. There's fish in there, but plan to do alot of sitting around to get em to bite.

[dinomak]

Ice was thicker than i've seen on other local lakes. A good 11 inches out in the middle.

[skolfoppa]

I was out yesterday too. Slow. I've been on a few spots that were regularly producing last year. I'm not seeing ANY fish on these spots so far.

Dino- were you in the solo clam north of the small perm village?

[dinomak]

yep that was me. where were you at??

[skolfoppa]

I was due east in the yukon.

[dinomak]

Anyone have any luck out there lately. Was out a couple times last week and was like the dead sea. I've had good luck with the walleye there in the past, but last couple of years I've been skunked every trip there. Any info would be appreciated.

[BizzityB]

I have been out there a few times this year. No luck. I think I have drilled over 100 holes out there to try and find some fish. Pulled in a few snakes and sunnies thats about it. The lake gets fished so heavily people keep almost anything. Havn't seen a Walleye come out of there in a couple years. Water is really really low this might be a bad bad year for this lake.

[skolfoppa]

I have been marking very few and seeing fewer on spots that have produced the past several years.