SW Metro suggestion for kid

[Squirtis]

Hi all,

I am going to bring my son out with me tomorrow and would like suggestions. He's 5 and I want to get him on some panfish. We have a Clam guide flip over and all of the gear we need. We have a 4x4 pickup, but no wheeler to get too far, so if there is plenty of ice, i don't mind driving out (I've seen some pickups on Mitchell here in Eden Prairie).

Thanks in advance,

Curtis

[Go_Twins]

I was fishing the SW almost 2 weeks ago and found tons of smaller bluegills and a couple crappies on Susan (12" of ice). I also tried the narrows on the north end of Lotus (didn't measure the ice) and found small bluegills and a one small perch. I've been out on Starring Lake for work and talked with a couple guys that were catching small bluegills and crappies also. The ice I measured there on the 18th was 13" 50yds. from the access. Again, all these fish were smaller than the length of your hand, but it could be some action. Good luck!

[ThunderLund78]

Cedar near New Prague is a pretty sure bet for crappies. Plenty of people out there driving, but beware if you're unfamiliar with the lake. It's aerated and it also has a history of developing soft spots in random, even previeously-traveled areas. You should be fine but if it was a nice day and had my kid along, I'd walk from the landing. There's an expansive thread on this lake a few threads down. But usually pulling a few crappies out is not a major challenge.

[awkwardjim]

Bryant lake used to have a bunch of smaller crappies around the deep hole,, haven't fished it last couple years tho, Curious if those crappies grew at all

[dave e]

Go twins. I just moved to eden prairie about a year ago. Fished most lakes in ep. In the summer but not in the winter. I think a lot of them got winter killed a couple years back. Any good lakes that have decent sized panfish in them? Feel free to p.m. me if you dont want to share with everyone. I could tell you some lakes i have fishing also. Thanks.

[Iceboy]

The crappies on Bryant are all still small, and the problem with fishing there is that they are so deep that a lot of them die once you bring them up. Lots of little pannies to be caught on Gray's Bay of Minnetonka, and it's easy to drive out to.

[Squirtis]

Just got back from taking my son to Mitchell. We went out there about 11, and it was dead. Around 3 we got a couple of bass and a nice 5lb northern. The Crappies and sunnies were schooling, but couldn't get them interested in our eurolarvae or the little crappie minnows.

The bass and northern were caught on medium to large crappie minnows. We had a couple of tip-up stikes on medium suckers.

Ice was a good 15". I brought my Toyota Tundra out there and there were about 3 other pickups/SUVs.

Thanks for the suggestions. We both had a great time and hope this up coming cold snap doesn last long so we can get back out there.

Curtis