Florence lake

[ikeslayer]

i was looking at the Dnr site and it had florence lake. It is in Stewartville. Can you fish this, is there fish in it is it worth my time. i also noticed there is a public access is this a no gas motor place too? just wondering if anyone has wet a line? ike

[uglystick007]

Lake Florence was a 75-acre reservoir on the North Branch of the Root River within the City of Stewartville. In the spring of 1993, the dam that impounded the lake breached, draining the lake and leaving a dry lake bed.

[ikeslayer]

Good to know however are their fish in it and all that other stuff i asked

just curious ike

[mark p]

Since the dam was removed, there isn't a lake there anymore. It is just the north branch of the root river running through there now. The north branch of the root river does have smallmouth bass in it as well as suckers, and carp.

[fish2live]

hey grew up in stewie and fished the root alot there are some big smallmouth a few crappie and if you get there early enough in the year you can end up with a trout or two. mainly smallies, carp and suckers. i used to fish at the meadow park it's part of a golf course now i pulled a 23 inch smallie there, also if you know were maple valley golf course is there is a good stretch through there also. good luck

[FishRulerHookEM]

I used to live in Stewartville not long ago and the lake is still there but its like a pond witha fountain in the middle. All I caught there was bluegills and sunfish so nothing too special.

[mnz71hunt]

The river runs towards High Forest. Just east of High Forest is a white bridge. Just up stream from the bridge are several pools and river really gets narrow. However there used to be lots of small mouth up there. The best I ever caught in this location is a 21.5" (I know seems like BS for a small as the stream is, but true). There is a gravel road to the west of the white bridge you can drive about a 1/4 mile up and there is a place to part by another small brige, just down from there is a place to fish from shore, walk up stream also. The stream is narrow, but there are fish there. Mainly used mepps spinners and rooster tails when I used to fish there years ago.

Good Luck.

[Tyler Holm]

I pulled this thread up from the archives.

I partook in a 5mi run and some other festivities in Stewartville on the 4th at the sight of this Florence pond. I couldn’t help but notice a few things. There were several fish surfacing.. Eating bugs or insects I presume. The fountain in the middle was flowing strong. There was a nice dock that looks like it has some angling potential.

It was good to see a sign up that was worded something like… “Adults please practice Catch & Release” and also said this pond was geared toward kid fishing.

I think this is another place that would be perfect for taking the kids.

[crazyice]

I have noticed that this lake is on the DNR website listed as one of the few in Olmsted county and have always wondered about trying to fish it, it might have to be on the "to do" list this summer yet.

[MRF03]

I am a Stewartville resident my whole life. Florence Lake is no longer in existence since the dam broke around 1994/95. This was a sad day as Stewartville was actually purchasing a dredge to clean up the lake, make it deeper and more useful. Then the dam broke and replacing it simply cost too much. The city then added on to the park on what used to be the lake bottom. They also added a kid's fishing pond which is stocked with bluegills. I have no idea why the DNR still lists the lake on their site. To see the old Lake Florence, go to www.thinkstewartville.com and go to the photos/glance back section.