Other lakes for area newbie

[smmurphy]

This is my first hard water season in the St. Cloud area and was wondering about other lakes I might try. I've been on Little Rock with great success with perch and on pleasant with little sunfish and just wondered what else is available for easy ice access for pulling my Eskimo Lodge. I don't have a sled and it doesn't pull very well unless the ice is realatively smooth.

[Studer]

Well I think that anywhere you go right now, the ice is going to suck. But if given some cold weather there are a lot of great lakes to go that are very close to home. If you go east of town you can hit Briggs, Elk, and Julia. North of town you can hit Mayhew Lake for some small pannies, Little Rock, and depending how far you want to go there are of course lots more North!! If you want to go South of town you can hit, Beaver, Carnelian, Cedar, and Sugar. West of town will bring you to Grand, Pearl, Big Birch, Bigfish, Goodners, Watab, Horseshoe chain, the Saint Johns lakes, and many, many, many more. These are just a few. Pick up a lake map book and you will have all of the maps to these lakes. I know that I missed a lot of lakes but these are a few to get you started!! Welcome to the area. Good Luck!!

[djSEGment]

If you get a map that shows you how to get to these area lakes, you can also go to the MN DNR site and use their lake finder. You can get some decent maps that will give you depths and such....It worked for me.

[Captain B.R.K]

For panfish and crappie fishing, south of St.Cloud on Pearl and Grand Lakes are always good bets for a few fish here and there.

If you are looking to get down in the Clearwater area, Pleasant Lake in Annadale is worth checking out.

The main lakes were mentioned above. I was in the same shoes as you murph and I just bought a lakefinders map (spiral book) with all the area lakes. Read up on em' and hit those lakes that sounded good. Plus from what I read on the site to help influence my decision as well!

[smmurphy]

I have the lake finder book on the spiral and used it all summer from the boat, but I'm too old and lazy to drag my Eskimo Lodge out to my favorite spots, so I wax looking for some help with locations that were any easy drag...

I guess I'll just have to rough it again and leave the lodge and heater at home until the ice gets better.