Morristown Dam Fishing Reports

[247outdoors]

How's the dam looking, is it still frozen or opened? Any carps or buffalo action yet?

[KTapper]

There is no way its still frozen. I will probably swing by it on monday and check things out.

[JBMasterAngler]

When do the silvers typically run? 2 years ago I missed it by 3 days, last year I was about 1 week too early.

[bassphish2005]

ok...where is the 'morristown dam' on what river?

[Matt C]

Cannon River. Near Morristown - Between Faribault and Waterville.

[bassphish2005]

kool...thanx for the info

[Chopper77]

Its wide open

[troutman72]

JBMasterAngler the white bass run about the same time the lilac bushes bloom a week or two.

[JBMasterAngler]

Thanks. My plan was to get down there sometime in the 2nd week of april. In the event I miss the silvers again I'll bring some oatmeal with to take on some of those monster carp.

[247outdoors]

Went down there today, no action on white bass, fishing was slow, caught few small perches, crappies, carps, lots of northerns tearing up my lines and off course plenty of bullies. But did managed to hooked one big cat.

[troutman72]

yea the northerns are just getting done spawing or are in the process. i fished yesterday afternoon and caught a bunch of 7 to 12 inch pike.if the dam in morristown is slow head down river to warsaw where the cannon dumps into the lake. there is a bridge on hwy 60 on the way to warsaw that is good from time to time. and about 85% of the land from warsaw to morristown is public. so never too early or late just get out and do a little walking. there in the river somwhere just waiting for it to warm up.

[JBMasterAngler]

Are there any fish in the pond behind the dam? I've made a few occasional casts, but nothing. Would it be worth throwing a minnow under a bobber out there, or just stick with the downstream section?

[adaylate]

Yes there is a few fish above the dam, but most of them are near the next dam up river.

[247outdoors]

Can you even fish at that dam, I thought it was private? Correct me if I'm wrong!

[KTapper]

Nope its public. There is even a nice park right down from the dam.

[adaylate]

Yes, you are correct Schmidtke's dam is on private land

[247outdoors]

can you get there by public land or ask the farmer on 230th st. West. Or how do you get there if it's public?

[adaylate]

I know he lets some people down there. I have seen other people access it by boat or a canoe.

[247outdoors]

Adaylate,thanks for the info! I appreciated. Maybe, I'll ask the farmer, it seems easier.

[adaylate]

Like I said he will let some people down there not everyone so good luck

[walleyehunter80]

why are some saying it is private and some saying it is public? Which is it?

[adaylate]

In town is city park land thus public. The out of town dam is private.

[heating guy]

can you wade down in water because as long as your feat are in water your legal dosen't matter how much water or little because all water is public domane it just the land that private

[adaylate]

Yea but you would have about a 2 mile walk in the water to get up to the dam.

[Carp-fisher]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in Minnesota isn't all land up to the high water mark on a stream public?

[Scott M]

Ordinary high water. It can be pretty tough to prove what OHW is. In a nutshell (and I mean taking a bunch of pages of legalese and condensing it into one sentence!), the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld that incidental use of what would be private land (unmeandered property lines) is acceptable (hunting, fishing, canoeing, trapping, etc.) provided there is a means for public access. So walking up 2 miles of the cannon river to Schmidtke dam to go fishing would be lawful public use.

Having said that, you better be confident that you have legal access and that you know where OHW is before you go walking into any waterbody!

[heating guy]

carp last I heard years ago it was 6' from high water but I go by in water just to be safe. For instance if you have a slough or pond right next to a ditch you can go into that water because the ditch is public ground but I want some one with authority to explain the definition of ditches and when it isn't a ditch anymore.

[KTapper]

So there is another dam other than the one right in town?

[adaylate]

Yes there is another dam where the cannon comes out of lower Sakatah

[Carp-fisher]

Thats great news. In Iowa, the landownder actually owns the land beneath the stream, so you can't even legally wade in a river on private land. I found out about this from a guy on a 4 wheeler with a shotgun.......