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Rochester Area Fishing Reports (Zumbro, Reservoirs, Foster Arend, Chester Wood)


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Fished Lake Zumbro yesterday. Lots of people out, although I never saw a fish. Ice was a good 8 inches in all the spots I fished. There were a fair number of vehicles out, including 1/2 tons but you won't see mine out there for awhile!!!

Fished the high banks, Ryan's Bay, and a few other spots ranging from 12' to 30' FOW. Never marked a fish on flasher or camera. It's the first time I have ever been out on that body of water so it was mostly exploratory and I deliberately avoided the few clusters of shelters that were out.

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  • 11 months later...
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I have a niece that lives in Rochester that wants to go ice fishing. Where should I take her for some pan fishing? I've never fished in that area. Thanks!

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I would suggest chester woods, west of rochester a few miles. good crappie/blue gills.

Depending on what you have for equipment and how far you want to travel, there is some good pan fishing on lake zumbro also.

In febuary, be sure to watch for my posts on "take a kid ice fishing". We hold an event at ChesterWoods that is a blast and everyone gets great prizes, food, and fun. Plus, its free!

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Chester Woods is a great place to go especially if you are looking for good size, expect to pay a small parking fee to get in.

Willow Creek Reservior (free) is another place I like to go with my son. Its free and the walk in is not so bad for young kids. Have pulled out some decent size pannies out of here in the past.

Foster Arendts Park (free) is another great place to go especially for younger kids. The gills out there are pretty small but they are hungry little buggers and will keep the kids entertained with lots of hookups. Always found this place to be a great way to introduce kids to fishing with minimum effort. Plus the DNR stocks some trout in there so there is some angling opportunity for the adults. :-)

Silver Creek Reservoir (free) is another place to go. Been a while since I was out there. Heard some good things from here but the hike over the dike is a bit steep for young kids.

Gamehaven Reservoir (free) is another place to go as well. The hike in the parking lot is a bit long for young ones. I usually prefer not to hit this one as the angling opportunities are pretty few and small.

Hope this helps...

Redbeard5289

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  • 2 weeks later...

Fished silver creek today. 10-12" of beautiful black ice. Fished for a couple hours and had good luck in numbers and species variety. It'll be nice to get some more snow to make the pull easier.

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Silver Creek Reservior, east of Rochester….

My first time on Silver Creek Reservior today, and I thought I would share. None of the fishing forums have had anything to say about it, and it's been difficult to get any information to plan my trip.

This is about as close as I've been able to get:

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/areas/fisheri...creek.html

There were quite a few portable shelters on the ice and a few guys on buckets. I opted for a bucket, because I wasn't sure how much I'd be moving. While it doesn't look like there's much structure by looking at the shoreline, I didn't want to assume that (and I still have no idea).

Ice appeared to be in the 14-15 inch range, as of today. I doubt the above-freezing temps tomorrow will have much impact.

I sat in roughly 12 feet of water. The flasher showed nothing at all, once I got the hole cleared of ice. That changed as soon as I dropped a jig down, though.

When the jig reached about a foot off the bottom, the water below and above immediately "filled in", and I knew I had quite a few fish below me.

In spite of that initial feeling that I'd found active fish, that turned out to be a little misleading. I found a school of "lookers", not "biters". It was probably my fault, and if I'd taken a little more time, I may have figured out what they were really interested in. I did manage to catch a few, and discovered that they were little perch.

I was using tungsten jigs with a few different kinds of Berkley Powerbait.

So, in summary:

14 inches of ice

12 feet of water

Perch off the bottom, up to about 1-1/2 feet above the bottom.

Nothing appeard to be suspended

Overall, still beats going to work, and I'm surprised I was able to find fish on my first trip out there.

If anyone has a topographical map of the reservoir that they can share, or any other tips to finding something other than perch, I'd sincerely appreciate it.

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Crappies and gills usually suspend around 7'. Crappie minnows work well and or grubs with flutter glo jigs. There's a little structure out there. Channel that's kind of in the middle otherwise weeds and such throughout. Look at a summer google image to see the weed lines. My best luck is early morning late afternoon. Punch a bunch of holes and see a structure that way and I've been able to find suspended fish too.

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Silver creek used to be THE place to go but with the big northern kill and now that everyone goes there, it has died down a lot. I hope it doesn't get fished out

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I've fished this hole for the past three years and have noticed a change in even that time. I live in boarder land where I am able to fish plentiful waters responsibly. What sickens me is people harvesting 6-8" perch and any crappie or gill they catch. The dnr did a good job of stocking over the years but the population over harvesting negated any efforts. This hole has a lot of potential but people need to be ok with CPR and not trying to fill a freezer with small fish.

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I'm taking my 5 year old out to willow creek tomorrow, it has been a few years just wondering if there are any reports? from what I remember it was just a lot of little guys but the walk is a lot easier then other reservoir's in town.

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natertater83,

The walk into willow creek is easier, especially if you drop off your gear in the handicap area and park your car at the top parking lot. The fishing is pretty good, my son and I were pulling up 5-7in gills before xmas. I have notice that the gills that we were catching were smaller than what I remember but hopefully the new restrictions will restore them to proper size in a few years.

Another good bet for smaller kids is foster arendts. The sunnies and gills are pretty small (less than 4 inches) but they are numerous and hungry little buggers that will keep the action hot for little ones. It is also an easy walk in from the parking lot. Took my son to foster arendts for a number of years because I knew the bit was hot and consistent for his level of attention and enthusiaism.

Redbeard5289

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Well we did pretty well (for a kid) Saturday on willow creek. lots of little sunnies and gills, even got a few bass but everything was small. He had fun which is all I cared about

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I was out on saturday at chester woods and landed a nice largemouth and a bunch of sunfish. 22 ft of water and the sunnies were basically laying on the bottom.

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  • 1 month later...

Took the family out on beautiful day on a heat wave full-47481-42566-screenshot_2014_02_12_1

full-47481-42567-screenshot_2014_02_12_1

, we ended catch some good size rainbows on slender spoon wow they put up a good fight on 3lbs test.

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Mmm, grilled trout...

If I didn't love ice-fishing so much I'd be looking forward to stream trout season.

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best time to eat them are in the winter when the meat are cold less fishy tast, bacon wrap them up some butter and garlic in the oven they go.

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  • 10 months later...

Any ice conditions report. I'm coming down for Christmas week to visit family and would like to take my brother in law from oklahoma ice fishing for the first time.

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Fished willow creek today. 5-7" of good ice. Lots of slush. Marked a bunch of lookers but no takers.

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  • 2 months later...

How's the ice, or lack thereof, on Lake Zumbro? I am ready for some open water crappie fishing and this ice can't come off soon enough.

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  • 4 weeks later...

anyone been fishing foster arend since ice out? looking at coming down to the area in the next week. want to wet a line.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  The focus for many this week is the ongoing deer hunting season which is a big tradition in these parts, even for avid walleye anglers.  There were some that either already harvested their deer or are more into catching fall walleyes than hunting.     Those that are fishing are taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and excellent walleye and sauger bite that is happening across the lake.  Cold weather is in the forecast in the upcoming days and weeks so that is also getting many excited. The best depths on the south end of LOW are 22-28 feet of water.     Vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners is catching most of the walleyes, saugers and jumbo perch.  Depending upon where on the lake you are fishing, some slots and big trophies are in the mix as well, but most reports are talking about good numbers of eaters.    Jumbo perch are coming in good numbers this fall which will serve ice anglers well.  Watch out for an occasional pike or even lake sturgeon mixed in with the walleyes.      There are good numbers of walleyes and saugers across the south shore which is setting up nicely for early ice.   On the Rainy River...  There continues to be good numbers of shiners in the river, and consequently, there are good walleyes in the river as well.     Walleyes along with saugers, pike and some sturgeon are coming in up and down the river.  Most walleyes are being caught in 10-25 feet of water in various stretches of the river.   Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners is the key. Some anglers are also still slow trolling crankbaits upstream to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results. Sturgeon fishing remains strong.  The catch-and-release sturgeon fishing is open into the spring when it changes to the "keep season" on April 24th. Up at the NW Angle...  As temps are getting colder, most are in the woods hunting and not fall fishing, however, for those who bundle up, fishing continues to be excellent.     A nice mixed bag with walleyes, saugers, perch, pike and crappies being caught. Very good muskie fishing with the colder water temps and shorter days.  Some big fish and some good numbers are being caught amongst the islands.  Both casting and trolling is getting it done.  
    • gimruis
      I hunt in the rifle zone so I don't have a need to use a shotgun to hunt deer, but I would be looking at this if there was ever a need to.   There could be state legislation introduced next summer that eliminates the shotgun zone completely.  It has bipartisan support.  Wisconsin removed theirs years ago and MN is usually later to follow.  They've tried to pass it more than once and it came up just short both times.  Probably just a matter of time.
    • Wanderer
      Oh, h e l l no! 
    • leech~~
      Screw that, here's whatch need!  😆   Power-Shok Rifled Slug 10 Gauge 766 Grain Grain Weight: 766 Shotshell Length: 3-1/2in / 89mm Muzzle Velocity: 1280
    • Wanderer
      20 ga has become a real popular deer round in the last 5 or so years.  The rifled barrels are zinging those sabot slugs with rifle like accuracy out to 100 yards easily.  Some go so far as dialing in for a 200 yard shot but really, by 150 they’re falling off pretty low.   I have a single shot Ultraslug in 20 ga that shoots really well at 100 yards.  Most everyone I know that has bought a slug gun lately has gotten the Savage 220 in 20ga.  Problem can be finding the shells you want.
    • leech~~
      My son always bugs me about getting a nice light over-under 20ga for grouse hunting.  I say Heck no, I'm getting a 3 1/2" 10ga so I can put as much lead in the air that I can!!     So, I'm keeping my 12ga.  
    • 11-87
      That’s almost exactly what I was thinking.  Have slug barrels for both   One for turkey and one for deer.      I have a 20ga mosseberg as well. (Combo came with the scope but never used.   I always liked the 12 better
    • leech~~
      Wanderer is right on the money and covered it well.  I was wondering too if you had a slug barrel for one of your guns?  If so you could make that your slug gun with a scope, and the other your turkey gun with the Red dot.  As you can afford it. 
    • Wanderer
      Kinda depends on if you want magnification or quick target acquisition.   More magnification options and better accuracy with a scope.  You get what you pay for too so get comfortable with a budget for one.  Tasco and Bushnell work but I find they lose their zero easier, have low contrast and don’t gather light well in low light conditions.  That said, I’m still using one I haven’t replaced yet.  Vortex has been the hot brand for the past several years for bang for the buck.  Good products.  Nothing beats Swarovski though.  Huge dough for those.  Burris is another decent option.   There are some specific models for shotgun/slug hunting in the economy brands and bullet drop compensation (BDC) reticles.  Based on experience I’d recommend not falling for that marketing ploy.   Red dots are usually lower magnification and easier to get on target.  Reasonably accurate but don’t do well with definition, like searching the brush for your target.  I put a HAWKE red dot on a .22 for squirrels and it’s been good.  For turkey, that’s probably the route I’d go.     If your slug shots are normally not too far and too brushy, I’d think a red dot could work there too if you’re only buying 1 scope.  You’ll be better off dimming the reticle to the lowest setting you can easily use to not over shine the target and get a finer aim point.   If you don’t have a slug barrel, you might appreciate one of those.  I had a browning with a smoothbore slug barrel that shot Brenneke 2-3/4 inch well.  The 11-87 would well fitted with a cantelever rifled barrel. 
    • 11-87
      Looking for recommendations on scope or red dot    I basically hunt turkey and whitetail, live in southern MN. So it’s all deer/ shotgun    looking to add a scope/ red dot as my eyes don’t work like they used to to with the open sights.    my gun options are 11/87 12. Browning BPS 12    not looking for the most expensive or the cheapest    pros and cons of one over the other
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