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Josephine/Johanna/Owasso


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There are a ton of small gills in this lake. A guy doesnt need to get a back wax in the summer when you swim there, the darn things come up and try to eat any body hair exposed. That would be the last lake in that area that I would fish. There is a small lake over by Bethel that has decent gills early in the year and that thing should be frozen up solid as it is really shallow. Just follow E west from Snelling and you will run into it. It is just south of 694 and east of 35.

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Thanks guys. Any reports? I had a Christmas party last night, and the only thing I did today was lay on the couch and watch Police Acadamy...nice Beaver! Good luck and be safe. tongue.gif

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P.S.: we should keep this thread going with reports, ect. Anybody fish Silver Lake? Close to my house with tons of the 6" Craps suspended over 40'. BUt, the GF did get a 14" Crap out of there this Summer. Not to mention a 28" Eye and 7# Bass this Spring before season (caught on Crappie jig and released). The small lake by Bethel sounds interesting! Tell, tell, tell, but don't tell anyone else!

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PSS: I've lived here fore 5 years. But, I wonder if any of you'all have old-timer info regarding springs and such, un-safe ice, for any of these lakes: Johanna, Josephine, Silver, Bethel, Gervais??? It seems like I see orange cones later in the season over some spots. I hate those "Thin Ice" signs at the Johanna access and others too! I would have a life-jacket under my coat, ice picks, and a rope on me when going out now. The GF says I don't need these, since I just upped my insurance pay-off wink.gif.

Later.

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Swimmer, which Silver lake are you talking about. The one in North St. Paul is only 18 feet at it deepest and has an aerator system.

I have noticed almost all of the lakes in this are have natural springs. Just be careful and if you have never fished a lake check with local bait store, fish with friend, or get the scoop of someone familiar with the body of water you are tageting.

Gervais as few springs to be careful of. I have a couple of honey holes on this lake as it is in my back yard.

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The Lake you guys are talking about by Bethel is Valentine Lake, any one have any reports there were about 6 houses out there on Saturday, i may give it a try today... I will let you guys know how it goes...

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Here's the deal on Owasso. There were guys out on the bottle neck area where the lower lake meets the main lake on friday night. They must be walking out from someone's house to get there. I tried to get onto the main lake but didnt have any luck on Saturday. I go out from the park, west of the landing, and there was not too much ice there. I had my spud with me and it was punching through with one jab. Couldn't have been more than 2" of really bad ice. I think I recall hearing about a natural spring there. I dont think it is worth trying to get out there for another week. Not sure how the center of the lake is doing but I would think there would be more ice than where I was close to the shore.

On a side note, I hope this is not an FM'er, some bozo parked his car just on the ice. I think he had no problems, but seriously how lazy do you have to be to do something so dumb?

Keep the posts coming about the ice conditions. Even on Josephine there were big variances in the ice thickness within a few feet.

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Mr.Pike1: I was talking about the Silver Lake in Columbia Heights. Has a 50' hole on the NW side.

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Fished Owasso Sunday night. Ice thickness varies from 3 to 4 in the middle of the lake with about 1 to 2 inches of bad, crusty ice on top. Managed to ice two 19 inch walleyes just after dark. The only two bites I had. Watching with the camera before it got dark I saw a few lil crappies but other than that vary few fish.

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Swimmer, thank you for the update on the Silver you were referring to. Someone would be looking long and hard for 40 feet on the one by my house.

I drove by on Saturday and talked to one guy fishing the crappie hole. Stated 2-3 inches in that area but not much fish.

Good to see the walleye report from Sunday on the 19ers. There is a okay walleye population and many times they are running with the crappies in that hole. The bite though is mostly as dusk and just about an hour window

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Concerning Valentine, this lake is mostly a shallow mud hole. Many, many more productive waters to spend you angling time

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I have caught some nice bluegills early in the season on Valentine but it dried up really quickly as the season went on.

As far as the Owasso post, is that the center of the lake or the center of the hole off from the landing? I am not sure how a guy would get to the center of the lake. It was definitely not safe the route that I tried on saturday. Maybe coming in from the south side of the lake if you know someone that lives down there might be relatively safe but that corner by the park is not good and people should stay off it unless you wrestle at 125.

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I was out on Owasso Sunday with a couple of Friends. The ice was in the 2-4 inch range... closer to 2.5 inches for the most part. It was good, solid, clear ice. Still not enough to make venture all over the lake. We did manage to catch a bunch of those infamous crappies. Our Vex's were lit up to the point of thinking something was wrong with them. How can there be so many crappies in that lake??!!

Hey JaxMN05, how deep were you when you caught the walleyes? You don't need to give me your hot spot... just curious about depth. I've always had the most luck in the 20 foot range, but I know a lot of guys fish in the 7 to 12 range on the weedline. Well, good luck and stay safe!

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About Owasso: summer before last, there were a ton of 10-12" walleyes in the lake, I hope & expect that they're all grown up into real fish by this time.

I don't recall the post, last winter or the year before, but there was a report of an ATV going through the ice off the point on the west side, to the right if you're standing on the landing facing the deep hole. Someone posted there's a spring there, so beware.

Crappies? I ran into an old-timer out there last winter who said he's been catching bucketfuls of 6-8" crappies in Owasso since the war. Didn't ask which war. grin.gif There are millions! I've taken a picture of my Vex lit up just for the fun of it.

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It is a great place to take the kids. They absolutely love it, but I get really cold hands moving back and forth between the kids. At least with waxies I dont have to replace bait on the hook every fish. Most of the time you dont even need the depth finder. There are times when you cant even see your jig with all of the fish being marked.

It is a really good way to teach the kids about catch and release though. We let them all go and the kids are getting better with that. They ask why other people are keeping them and I just tell them that some people do that but we dont. We just keep a few fish that are in the eating size and we let the rest go. It is never too early to teach them about lessons about conservation.

There are eyes in there and it just takes some effort to find them and ice to get there. The spring is in full force on the point to the west of the landing as I mentioned in an earlier post. Last year, something went through to the west of the point over by the private beach. There was yellow tape and flags around the spot. That happened when there was 14" of ice on the main lake and trucks driving all over the place. Be careful out there and fish with a buddy if possible.

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Concerning were people were. They were on the crappie hole out from the access not the center of lake. Sorry about that. Yes, walleyes will be mixed in and I have hopes there will be more in the 17-19" class this year. We shall see as they run with the crappies.

Max- I know you fish alot of local lakes. I am thinking of a FM event on Phalen on Saturday 12/31/05. Maybe you would be interested.

SmellyJelly is another winter angler who posts somewhat regualarly so maybe he would be interested as well.

I know there are others but thought it would be fun to meet up and attack a body of water to find those pike, eyes, and maybe some pannies or bass.

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BigStevie,

Was in 23ft according to my vex. Had just switched to plain hook and a fathead when I caught the two walleys. Wasnt sure why the crappies wouldnt hit the smallest of my fatheads so thought I switch it up a little. I was in the middle of the lake. Came in from the south end. Long walk even with a little PRO fishtrap. Hopefully by Christmas we will have enough ice to bring along the sled and get out from the boat launch area. I did see one sled running along the shorline Sunday but no way would I take mine anywhere on Owasso yet.

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Went out on Josephine this last Tuesday, ice was 3-4 out pretty far and 5-6 in close. I saw a guy drive his mini van out on the ice. He was in close but, man what a risky thing to do. I can think of much better ways to destroy a mini van that doesn't endanger the occupants. The vex was lets just say, not very active. Not much to report. Hoping that the recent snow doesn't ruin the little bit of ice that there was. I'm going to head out there this weekend with my brother and see what the heck is going on. I'll keep y'all posted.

---Zdaddy

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Hey Guys, About Owasso, you can catch some nice walleye out there, we caught some dandies this fall shore fishing at the landing! Also some very hefty pike in there if you know where to put your tip-ups. The one thing I Would also mention is you can never be too carefull out there. A long time ago some friends were out there driving around, it was middle of Feb and they went through the ice! Official report said that rough fish had kept the ice thin in the area, but I also know there are natural springs in there so be carefull!

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Thanks for the headsup Ole. I plan on dropping my sled and pulling my yukon out along the shoreline this weekend. Will pull the tub out to the fishing spot by foot. To long a walk pulling the tub with all the snow we got now. Will let everyone know how the weekend bite is when I get off the lake.

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Does anyone know the average ice thickness of the lake after the last snowfall?

---Zdaddy

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Cant be much more than it was last weekend. I am very displeased. Either the ice needs to get thicker or I need to seriously lose some weight.

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Owasso isnt all that safe. A friend was out on Friday and talked to a guy coming off the lake that was wet and cold. Seems he was walking out to fish and went through up to his hips. Lots of slush under the snow from water coming up from cracks and auger holes too. I may take a walk out Sunday and see if its frozen up a little from the cooler nights since Friday. Be careful all.

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Hit Johanna for the first time ever on saturday. Didnt do good at all. tried for northerns but came up empty handed. Anyone have any tips on depths or atleast where I could find some good weedbeds? There are tracks from wheelers and snowmobiles but be careful there is a solid 7-8" inches around shore but only about 3-4" with slush around the deeper water/center.

I then headed over to Owasso for some crappie action and also managed a little walleye. The ice out there was spotty, 3-4" with some slushy spots.

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I tried some Wisconsin fishin (sittin in the truck watching tip-ups) during the cold weather last weekend on Johanna. I caught nothing off the landing in about 8' water. Only 2.5 hours "out there" though. Will probly try some "real" fishing this weekend there.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • JerkinLips
      41.6°F in Stuntz Bay Thursday morning.  Left my boat in the water to hopefully fish more before the lake freezes.  Caught four 9-11" walleyes in 2½ hours before I gave up due to the strong west wind.  Water level has not gone up more than a couple of inches at the most.  May be a good winter to jack my boathouse out of the water on the deep end.
    • Troy Smutka
      The calendar migrators from the Dakotas have been passing through central MN in trickles the past few weeks, and the recent cooler weather has some Canada ducks starting to show up. We have been harvesting mallards, pintails, gadwalls, wigeon, shovelers, greenwing teal, canvasbacks, redheads, bluebills, and ringnecks in decent numbers.
    • SkunkedAgain
      It doesn't look like the lake level has gone up at all. I was up a week ago and struggled to get my boat in and out of the public landing on the west end of Head O Lakes. I used my paddle to push the boat further out to deeper water. I could hear the hull moving over the sandy/muddy bottom near the launch.
    • JerkinLips
      Pretty tough.  Was catching about 2 walleyes per hour and the biggest was only 13".  Back up Thursday so I hope I have better success.
    • smurfy
      the kid and I always check our stands prior.......i'll go back to check the conditions of said stands before he gets there to see what we need. while i'm at it if i can i shoot at grouse with shells that appear to not have bb,s in them!!!!🙄
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  With unseasonably warm weather, there are still some anglers hitting the water and most have been rewarded.  Limits of walleyes and saugers being caught, and the forecast looking ahead is favorable. The best bite on the south end of LOW has been in 22-28 feet of water. Water temperatures are dropping and as the temps cool further, the bite has been excellent.     Vertical jigging with frozen emerald shiners has been the program for most anglers.  Bring plenty of bait, as you’ll need to sort through some smaller fish and short biters.  Plenty of eater fish to be had, just have to do a bit of sorting.  Anglers are also reporting very good numbers of jumbo perch and occasional pike mixed in with the walleyes.     For those fishing structure, if you slide up on top of a rock pile, don't be surprised to catch a big smallmouth bass, there are plenty around.   This week’s hot colors have been gold, gold/glow white, gold/chartreuse, gold/orange, and gold/glow white/pink.     One tip, a stinger hook on your jig will catch you more fish if you start missing too many fish. On the Rainy River...  Bait dealers are reporting good numbers of shiners in the river this past week.  Interesting, each night is different.  Some areas have the small shiners called pinheads.  Other areas have the larger minnows.     The river is producing some nice walleyes in various spots from Four Mile Bay to Wheeler's Point, to Baudette all the way to Birchdale.  There are 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale with plenty of public boat ramps along the way.     Walleyes are being caught in various depths, but 15-25 feet of water has been good.   Jigging with live or frozen emerald shiners has been highly effective. Some anglers are also trolling crankbaits to cover more ground and find fish. Both methods are producing solid results. Sturgeon fishing has been 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...  Fall fishing continues to be excellent. Points, neck-down areas with current, shoreline breaks, and transition zones from rock to mud are all productive locations for walleye right now.   It is traditionally a mixed bag up around the many islands in this part of the lake and this fall is no different.  In addition to walleyes, pike, jumbo perch, and crappies are in the mix.  A jig and minnow has been the most effective presentation. Good muskie fishing is the norm during the fall of the year and area reports have been good.  In addition to casting, trolling shorelines, points and neckdown areas has been effective.  Muskies are often targeting schooling tullibees this time of year. The weather forecast for the next couple of weeks is conducive for fall fishing.  If you don't deer hunt, or if you have harvested your deer, consider some bonus walleye action before the ice forms.  The bite continues to be excellent.    
    • leech~~
    • gimruis
      I'm not one to leave that to chance the day I need it.  I always check on my stands prior to the season.  Just like I always shoot my rifle before the season and I always run my outboard motor before fishing opener.  Too many things to go wrong without confirming it ahead of time.   I guess it could have been beavers but the house itself didn't appear nearly big enough along one ditch.  It was about the size of chair.  I've seen beavers houses many times before and they appear much bigger than that.
    • leech~~
      Good thing you made a check run.  That would have really suked walking into opening day.  Why do you think muskrats and not beavers?  
    • gimruis
      Well I checked on stands over the weekend.  Kind of a disaster.   All the ditches are plum full and twice as wide becauase muskrats have clogged an area.  I spent an hour unclogging it and the water is slowly moving again, but our bridges and planks were underwater.  The back portion of the land where the best stand is was inaccessible.  Hopefully that changes by Saturday.  I have a feeling the muskrats are just going to clog it back up again.   Tons of standing corn still too.  They've started on it, but being so wet now with more rain coming, whatever's there will remain there for the foreseeable future.   All the grassland is completely flattened like a pancake due to 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow.  That eliminates about 75% of the pheasant habitat in this spot.  Total buzz kill.  And this specific spot was one of my better producers last season because the grass was intact and lush through December last year.
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