LIttle Rock?

[JIGGIN']

Anything doing on Little Rock these days? Was wondering if the walleye/crappie/perch bite is worth checking out. Have had good luck over on the east side breaks this time of year during past years. 12-15 FOW usually produced good walleyes and crappies. Any advice for a former St. Cloud guy who hasn't fished the lake in 10 years??? Thanks.

[Sartell Angler]

I guess I'd just say concentrate on the sharp breaks and don't be like the bonehead I saw out there this past sunday driving across the whole lake in his full size truck with 7-8'' of ice below him!

I probably won't get out again for a week or so because I'll be finishing off the goose season and studying for my last final. Good luck and post up how you do!

SA/wdw

[The Donk]

Hey Sartell, where do you go to school? I am wrapping up a stint at the SCTC for surveying... One more semester left. Maybe we can hook up to set some hooks

[Sartell Angler]

Donk- I graduated from Sartell in '03 and am now a junior at SCSU majoring in Marketing. Meeting up with people on hunting / fishing forums is something that I had never done until this waterfowl season and so far it has definitely been a positive experience. Shoot me an email at indy500as at hotmail (Contact US Regarding This Word) sometime if you want to get together on an area lake. Usually it is just my younger bro (also at SCSU) and maybe a buddy or two who hit the ice together. I plan on bringing along the grill a few times this year and maybe a few bottles of Mich. to add to the enjoyment now that I am of legal age.

SA/wdw

[Bigfife]

I fished on LR last Sunday. I caught a nice walleye, crappie, and perch for my efforts. I also had 10 perch over 10 inches. 10 fow and away from other houses.

[smmurphy]

Where on little rock did you find ice? It still looked like open water when I drove by on 10 yesterday?

[bigb56303]

the water buy the bridge on ten never freezes over all the way and if it does it has to be extremely cold there is current there

[ASMOLEY]

Made it out yesterday but it was kind of late by the time i got out there. I ended up catching 2 perch and 3 crappies. They were all tiny. I was marking fish preaty consistantly but i could not get them to bite tried everything in the tackle box. There has really been an explosion of people and traffic on the lake. Measured 9.5" of ice when i left. Going out to try Clear lake south of Avon tonight let little rock cool off for a while. Good Luck to everyone keep the posts going!

[bluebeersnow]

I was on little rock on sayurday, lots of perch, no walleye, 1 small crappie. I talked to a couple of guys not to much happening!

[alwaysfishin]

I was out on little rock all afternoon on friday and into the evening. marked a lot of fish, some were suspended, guessing they were crappies but i didn't catch any of them. managed three small perch and an 8 lb. northern!!! boy was that a lot of fun on an ultralight with a tiny genz worm and minnow. fished in 13 FOW, can i ask for one walleye during this early ice period that's passing by quickly??

[bluebeersnow]

We had the camera down on sunday where we use to always catch walleyes on little rock and it was solid perch in 15 feet of water. We were there from 6 am til 11:30 and never seen a walleye. A northern came through and it never scared the perch.

[fish--on]

asmoley, how is clear lake in the winter? I've always wanted to get out there and never have.

[gonzo_08]

Was on Little Rock for a few hours today in 6' and just hammered some big perch. Has anyone got into anything other than perch?

[alwaysfishin]

I've been fishing the break out from the public access in anywhere from 8' to 17' of water. Only perch for me too, besides one northern. I've been talking to people in the same area and hear the same thing, lots of perch, occasional crappies, and a few northerns, but no walleyes. A guy has to assume that the walleyes would move in soon with that many perch in the area.

[ASMOLEY]

Hey fish--on Little Rock can get really clear in the winter last year you could see botom in 10 FOW this year it's still cloudy beging that it's connected to the river and so shallow with an alge bloom you could walk over it gets nasty in the summer but this time of year you can expect to clear water. My dad was out there on Sunday nothing but perch. Has anyone been fishing the rock pile? Maybe heading out tonight but still don't know where i should go. Perch are fun to catch but it would be nice to get into some crappies or walleyes.

[fish--on]

Thanks for the info asmoley, but I was really wondering about clear lake, south of Avon, that you mentioned in your earlier post. I believe this is the one by Farming? Seems like probably not much traffic out there in the winter. How deep does it get and can you get a few fish?

[smmurphy]

I was out Sunday afternoon with my kids and they caught 15 good perch in a little under 2 hours. I barely got a chance to fish, but is was still a good time all around.

[FUZZER]

I've got a seven year old daughter with the itch to fish almost as bad as I do!! Is Little Rock a good option to take her to? Is she going to be bored or can we possibly catch a few fish during the daytime hours to keep her interested right now. Taking her out on Monday the 26th for sure. I really want to keep her interested if I can.

[Dean Schellinger]

You should be able to keep her entertained no problem. Use a small jig and some wax worms or euro larva and even a bobber and those perch that are nuts out there should keep her busy all day. We were fishing in about 7-9 Feet of Water when we went out and caught 100-150 perch between my brother and I. You have to sort through them some but its still fun.

[bluebeersnow]

fuzzer you should have no problem keeping your daughter on fish the perch are everywhere.We were using the smallest crappie minnows in the bucket and more beat up the minnows got the bigger and the faster the perch seem to bite.good luck and good fishing!

[FUZZER]

Thanks guys for the responses. It's tough to get a kid interested in the outdoors anymore and I hope she stays interested at this point. I'll let her catch perch all day if means I don't have to listen about Bratz dolls or Barbie.com!!!

[alwaysfishin]

i agree the perch are biting like crazy right now. minnows, waxies, i was even catching one after the other on those cheap fake waxies as long as i kept it moving a little bit. plus if you would happen to get a northern or a walleye she would be hooked. they are definately out there to be caught!!!

[Mrfish]

Where abouts did you fish them? Near the houses in the middle or the north end?

[Sartell Angler]

they're all over the place...no specific spot required for the perch as we have caught them all over. I moved to a swedish pimple and a minnow head to try and only catch big ones but still ended up sorting through the tines...had a fun time out there last night though as we took the snowmobile out...

decided to stay after dark and try to catch a few crappies but they weren't aggressive at all...managed to get one to bite but it wasn't even a keeper...could see them on the Vex but they just looked at the bait. Tried everything but then gave up and left in time for supper.

[YakHead]

anyone out today has the warm spell screw up the ice any?

[Dean Schellinger]

I was out there this afternoon for a couple of hours. Saw a few vehicles on the ice but I brought the snowmobile and buzzed out there on that. It was thawing a little and some of the melting snow could have softened up a few spots so be careful. Outstanding day on the ice, was out there in a T-shirt catching a bunch of fish.

[FUZZER]

Went out on Monday from 9:30 until 6:00. Started out with just my daughter and I and we caught a lot of perch with some nice size ones early on. I think the kids a natural. She even fished with the Vex for quite a while and could read the thing very well. Needless to say she had some fun out there. We ended up with a group of ten people in a couple of houses and some fishing outside. We kept a nice pile of good size perch and managed a couple of crappies. A few of us stayed late to see if the crappies would start up after dark but my buddy caught the only one but it was a beauty! Tip ups got a big perch and that was all. How does a perch inhale a sucker minnow thats 4" long!!! Anyhow it was a fun day on the ice. The ice has done pretty well even with the warm weather. A little wet on top but not that bad. Some of the brave are still taking the full size trucks out though--some driving like (Contact US Regarding This Word)--way too fast!!!

[Bigfife]

I was out there a couple days this weekend. We caught hundreds of perch. In the morning they were insane and the size was better. One night we stayed out until 11pm and we caught two crappies after dark. I had a dozen huge shiners that I put out on tip-ups looking for walleyes or northerns. The perch had no problem eating them up. I just don't get how they can do that.