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Guys. I am moving to winthrop at the end of the month and looking for advice on ice fishing the area. What do they have for lakes that are fun or interesting to ice fish?

Thanks. Jon

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Clear lake by Gibbon is the closest fishable lake to winthrop. There are Walleye in there. The bullhead population is through the roof. It is fun for the kids though.

Lake Marion, North of Brownton, is also a fishable lake. It is a tough one to fish.

You can also fish the MN river. It is probaly the best bet to catch fish if you dont want to travel to far(20 miles).

There are not to many lakes around here.

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I do real well on the cottonwood river for eyes in the summer but not sure in the winter. Real shallow river in the summer. one good thing is if your ice house fell through it would only drop maybe 3 feet.

best luck would be on the bends of the river. Alittle deeper

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  • 3 weeks later...

WTP, When you fish the cottonwood, do you put your boat in the MN then go to the cottonwood or are there boat ramps on the cottonwood? I have never fished far up it.

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Clear lake by Gibbon is the closest fishable lake to winthrop. There are Walleye in there. The bullhead population is through the roof. It is fun for the kids though.

Lake Marion, North of Brownton, is also a fishable lake. It is a tough one to fish.

You can also fish the MN river. It is probaly the best bet to catch fish if you dont want to travel to far(20 miles).

There are not to many lakes around here.

Didn't Clear freeze out 2 winters ago? I use to fish it quite a bit and last spring a week after opener and another trip results in not one bite. Typically I use to do very well there before the previous winter freeze.

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If it froze out two winters ago it should be producing keepee eyes now being ashallow prairie lake.

Ill b out there this fall.

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Well, if there are some keeper eyes in the lake, I believe I will hit it this weekend and see what I can come up with.

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Well, I made my last trip to Clear for at least 3 more years. I went there at 3 and fished till 10 yesterday and here is what I learned.

Ton's of bullheads and the carp are everywhere. Not one walleye to be had. Talked to a homeowner on the lake and asked if anyone had been catching any eyes in the past 2 years since it froze out and he said not that he knew of. Did talk to another gentleman fishing as he takes youth groups out there and he said they catch bullheads and thats it. Not a walleye this year in many trips.

Clear did have approx 1/2 million fry stocked in it last year so it is going to be some time before those fry will be fish to eat.

My suggestions would be to go to lake Marion as that lake does have fish in it other than rough fish. Or, go north of Hutch or down in the Kato area if one wants to catch some fish.

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If it froze out two winters ago it should be producing keepee eyes now being ashallow prairie lake.

Ill b out there this fall.

The only way this lake will produce any eyes is by stocking. I highly doubt that there is a breeding fish in the lake.

You may catch some 4" eyes this fall at best. The fry from last year will doubtfully be not more than 4 inches long. Fry are stocked the size of a mosquito. Those fry will take 3-4 years to make one pound in size.

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WTP, When you fish the cottonwood, do you put your boat in the MN then go to the cottonwood or are there boat ramps on the cottonwood? I have never fished far up it.

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Haven't been on here in awhile. I don't know of any boat landings on the cottonwood. even if there was you would never get a boat on there. I walk it alot and fish the corners where it is deeper.

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I agree they wont produce. But the fry they did stock 2 yrs ago dhould be growing rapidly.. ill have to check it out!

Thanks!

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I agree they wont produce. But the fry they did stock 2 yrs ago dhould be growing rapidly.. ill have to check it out!

Thanks!

I agree they will grow but if u look on the DNR website, it takes 3-4 years to go from fry to a 1 pounder. So, since those fry were stocked, this fall u may be looking at a half pound eye. I sure hope noone keeps those but I am sure there will be.

Good luck out there. maybe a carp contest would reduce those number as it is loaded with them. The baby bullheads will be great feed for the eyes.

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Well, enjoy the baby eyes then as that is all they will be in one growth season.

I realize that anyone can keep what they want but I will never understand why anyone would target walleyes knowing they are no larger than 6-7 inches or 8 at the best.

Those same fisherman will then also complain that there are no larger eyes in a lake. Well, when you catch babies, some die off and that cerntainly does not help the future of any lake.

Have at it.

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