7 Mile Creek

[bugchucker]

Hey I'm fairly new to the area and I saw that 7 mile creek is listed as a stocked trout stream in south central Minnesota, I was just curious if it has enough current/depth to stay open during these cold winter months?

[armyfisherman]

I don't know much about that stream but I know that a GREAT place to go trout fishing is in ForrestVille. I went there a couple times and every time I went I got a nice catch. Brown and Rainbow are most predominant.

[Boker001]

Its not a very large watershed so I would assume it is not flowing much at all. The deeper you go into the park from highway 169 the better chance you would have to finder some deeper holes. Probably maxing out at 5-6 feet deep. There is trout in there though. We electrofished it a year or 2 ago and sampled some decent sized ones.

[armyfisherman]

I'm pretty sure that the rivers are frozen now but it's exceptional during the summer. Bring the kids there or just a bunch of friends and enjoy catching trout.

[ted4887]

I would agree with Boker on that it is probably not flowing real open right now.

The other problem you will have is that you can't legally fish it during the winter anyways. Check out the DNR's winter stream maps to find a stream that you can fish. You need to be pretty vigilant of the rules and regs when it comes to trout fishing, especially during the winter season.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/trout_streams/winter.html

[bugchucker]

Hey thanks! I didn't even realize that there were restricted waters during the winter season. Lots of good advice.

[ted4887]

Check out some of those SE minnesota trout streams though. Some of those streams you can really catch some nice fish, even this time of year. Alot of the streams will be open down there this time of year too.

[Scott M]

For those interested you can read a little bit of park history in the 2011 7 Mile Creek Park Brochure. Brown trout are stocked annually (as fingerlings mind you) but seem to do quite well. A number of habitat improvements have been done. If you park where the driveway ends and walk to the stream you will come across some of the habitat improvement sites including the biggest feature, a deep pool with lunker structures (bank-inset ash boxes that provide a resting spot) that holds most of the adult fish. You can even see them resting in the stream at times. Flow is variable at 7 mile, from just a trickle in late summer to floodwaters from the Minnesota backing into the stream in the spring. It's largely an underfished system. Although it looks like it gets a lot of use, most of the pathways through the brush to the stream are just people that want to look at the stream, not actual footpaths trampled down by anglers. 7 mile has been used as a living labratory for a number of colleges...Carleton, St. Olaf, MSU, probably even more.

Here's a snippet from the DNR's writeup:

Quote:

December 2007 habitat improvement work completed includes six banks shaped and reinforced with erosion control. The main pool in the population estimate reach was also deepened and five lunker structures were added. Elsewhere in the population estimate reach two cross vanes were added, a Hewitt ramp was added, and a channel deflector was put in place, to provide flow control, prevent channel braiding, and provide additional fish habitat.

Adult trout abundance is relatively unchanged from the 2005 assessment. Because only a few months have elapsed since the habitat improvement work was completed, it seems likely that adult trout have not yet reached carrying capacity. In this regard, juvenile trout would be expected to show a measurable increase in abundance more quickly than adult fish. Juvenile numbers have increased (0.52 fish per linear foot) since the last assessment. One fish, nearly nineteen inches, was caught in the assessment in the population estimate reach in the lunker structures. The largest fish caught were all sampled in the lunker structures located in the deepest pool, suggesting a positive response to the habitat improvement work. If future assessments sample more adult trout it would appear that carrying capacity has increased with additional habitat. The next scheduled assessment will show if improved and expanded habitat will help with overwinter survival of young-of-year fish and adult fish. Future habitat improvement projects should continue providing additional habitat and stabilizing banks.

Interesting to see that the average size was 9 inches, that there were 0.14 trout larger than 6 inches every linear foot, and that an 18.8 inch trout was caught.

Not too often do I see folks fishing out there. I saw a fly anglers out there once and when I spoke with him he said it was his first time ever fishing the spot.

[ted4887]

I stopped out once last summer and just walked some of the creek. It's unfortunate that according to the easment map, there isn't much outside the park in terms of angling easements.

I do fully intend to fly fish this creek next spring and hopefully will be able to give some more input on this creek. It's definitely a nice little park though.

[shoecardbox]

I grew up in southeastern minnesota if you want to trout fish you go there. No other place like it!! Almost any creek you drive by down there has trout in it. If looking for a family thing go to the root river in lanesboro you will have a blast, white water is good but really pressured you have to walk a long ways there to get fish. But there are tons of little creeks and never undrestimate the size of the creek for brook trout can live in very small creeks and browns as well.

[SouthernMNFisher]

Correct me if I am wrong... which I probably am... arent there some trout ponds outside of St. Peter somewhere... Somewhere by hwy 99 towards Cleveland? I remember there being something when I was younger but I am not sure if they have been kept up or stocked... Just thought Id throw that out there...

[GrizzlyAdams]

Yep the trout ponds are still there. They are stocked every year. There is also other fish in them mainly from when the river floods. Stocked only for Trout as for as I know. There was a thread about these ponds a couple or so weeks a go. Should be easy to find a few pages back.

[ted4887]

http://www.hotspotoutdoors.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/2459210/Where_is_his_lake#Post2459210

[SouthernMNFisher]

Thats what I thought.... it was fun to go there in the summer to see if ya couldnt snag a trout... The ones I caught a few summers ago seemed pretty healthy too. I just did the catch and release so someone else could enjoy in the fun. Its a good area to teach young kids how to fly fish as well. No current to worry about and if Im not mistaken its pretty well covered by trees so not much wind.

[ted4887]

I'd much rather deal with the wind, than the trees. I'm currently learning how to fly fish as well, and in my limited experience, the wind is much easier to deal with than the trees. GRANTED, i'm not in the water this time of year, so being able to roll cast while wading will help. But nonetheless, I will take the wind over heavy tree cover.

[SouthernMNFisher]

I meant the trees as a wind block... I dont think there are many by the actual ponds

[Jerry]

I spin-fished Seven Mile a couple times last season with no success, and that was about enough to convince me it's not worth another trip. The park itself is nice, but on the flip side, you'll have a lot of company there. I have also been to the St. Peter ponds (which are closed season in the winter, btw), and they aren't bad for satisfying the trout itch in a pinch. But really the SE streams are the place to be, even for those of us who live in the Mankato area!

[ted4887]

Jerry, how much of the creek did you hike?

[Jerry]

My fishing log says I made it just above the "second set" of bridges above the last parking lot. Looking at the park map, I don't remember if that means I made it to the farthest bridge upstream or the one just before that. Either way I think I did the stream justice and covered a fair amount of ground... I'm sure there are fish somewhere, but they're not easy to come by.