Silver creek

[DzNuts]

A question that I thought somebody on here could answer. Who is the one paying to stock silver creek?

I am going to get yelled at for this, but..

[Down to Earth]

DzNuts,

The city official who I spoke with today told me that it has never been stocked by the DNR or any other public funds for that matter and was at a loss as to how there became a fishable species. The only thought he had to offer is that it some local residents may have taken it upon themselves to put adult fish in there at some point in time and as a result there is now a fishable populations due to a few years of reproduction. I have heard of crappies being caught out there, but others species I could not tell you.

Andy

[DzNuts]

That's weird. Cause at one time I heard or read that the DNR had stocked it and was waiting for the population to mature before allowing fishing.

On a side note. There ARE northerns in there. No, I have not fished it myself.

[DFisherman]

I don't think there has been much debate on whether or not the DNR stocked this reservoir, they DIDN'T. The question I have is can one fish this reservoir now? Have people been going out there? Is anything be enforced? It would be nice to fish an area with Northern and perch and pan fish locally.

[Down to Earth]

Here is the link for what was discussed here. The last post I made is what I found out from City Hall. http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=706918&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

I think the best thing you can do is call Rochester City Administration and ask to speak to someone regarding Silver Creek Reservior. They will be happy to answer any questions you may have. I had a good conversation with someone yesterday and gave me the chance to clear up a lot of questions I had first hand, without having to rely on heresay and second hand conversations. After you talk with them you can decide for yourself whether or not to fish it.

Andy

[Crickschop04]

DF- Lake Zumbro is within' 10min of Rochester, and it contains perch, northren, panfish, catfish, muskie, lm & sm bass, white bass, bullhead pretty much everything other than walleye, sauger, and they have a couple of public accesses. I bet a few people would even be willing to get you started on some general locations if you are interested.

[DFisherman]

Andy,

Rather then wasting my time and someone down at City Halls time not to mention everyone reading this post, can you paraphrase what you learned? I.E. Yes, you can fish there and what is the suggested route to get to the ice, or no, you will get a trespassing ticket if you fish there??

Also I appreciate other folks providing me an education on the Scumbro and the species that fight to survive in it but I live 5mns from Silver Creek and 30mns from the Scum. Thanks!

[CrappieJohn]

I'll paraphrase what this site will allow for posting.

Until there is concluse proof that no trespassing issues are being violated and that an agreement between all parties has been reached regarding the recreational use of the lake in question, it is off limits.

This is as far as the discussion goes folks. If people want change, they need to watch the local paper for advertisements giving towhship meeting times and go to those meetings where ALL of the information is first hand and not a product of the rumor mill.

If you are thirty minutes from the Zumbro, fish it.

[DFisherman]

SO...See you guys out there this weekend!!

[Down to Earth]

DF,

HEre is my last post on the thread I had a link to above.

"Here is what I found out from talking with county and city officials today.

I started out talking with local autorities and adminstrators and here is the latest scoop on Silver Creek Res.

The land surrounding the water is owned by the city of Rochester, even though it is in Havervill Township. That being said there is a Joint Powerboard who is responsible for its operations. In talking with the county sheriff who told me the county will not prosecute those walking in on land, I then called the City Administrators to get clarification on what I was told. The fact is, that even though the county is not persecuting IT IS ILLEGAL to access the water via land access. My next question then was since it is owned by the city was would an individual be able to go down to the city and seek permission to access the water by land and was told "NO". Even though they own the land the Joint Powerboard who as I mentioned is responsible for its operations is not giving permission.

While we talked about the land issues he did tell me that legal access could be gained by walking in the creek, but if at anytime you stepped foot on the land you are again ILLEGALLY TRESSPASSING. That being said I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE those out there to simply leave this body of water alone until the Joint Powerboard grants land access for the following reasons:

1. Even if you do access it legally I think it can give the impression to other sportsmen that land access is ok, even though it is not and encourage them to break the law.

2. It can give the impression to township and other area residents that local sportsmen don't respect the laws.

3. There are still those in the area who would like to see this area opened up for legal land access and if people continue to access it through a loophole in the law, it will only discourage those in power to change their minds.

Hope this clears things up a bit.

Andy "

Personally though I don't think it is a waste of time to gather first hand information before making a decision. I had a good 5-10 minute conversations with both the county sheriff and a city administrator and neither one of them talked to me as if I was wasting their time. These people are paid public employees and they are there for us to use as resources. I'd rather base my decision to fish or not fish this body of water on first hand communication rather than an internet message board, no matter how reliable and factual it is. Personally I would not fish this body of water and I encourage others not to as well for reasons mentioned and unmentioned.

Andy

[Down to Earth]

Quote:

---

If you are thirty minutes from the Zumbro, fish it.

---

I couldn't agree more with this statement. I live on the south side of town and even though I don't ice fish much I do fish quite often during open water and to me the fishery on Zumbro is one of the best in the area. I have no problem bypassing closer waters to fish the Zum. Your efforts and time will be well rewarded.

[Bogsucker]

I think this may be more appropriate for the discussion forum but I will post here. It is apparent that some misinformation is being distributed or convey by some of the parties involved with the issue. I emailed the DNR and asked for official clarification. You will note that the construction permit provided specifically that the water be left open and unubstructed for the use by the public. I do agree that fishermen excercise proper behavior should they choose to legally access the site. DO NOT WALK ON THE LAND SURROUNDING THE LAKE OR STREAM!

Here is the response I recieved from the DNR

-----Original Message-----

From: Craig Blommer [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 10:14 AM

To: Moore, David

Cc: Suellen Rau

Subject: Fwd: Public Water Law

David,

I am responding to your e-mail you sent to our info center regarding access to the Silver Creek Reservoir.

The simple answer is yes, Silver Creek Reservoir is public water. Provided you can access the water without trespassing and you don't walk around the shore land of the lake. To legally access the reservoir you would have to walk up(down) Silver Creek.

The attachments should help explain.

Thanks.

>>> Joel Wagar 01/27/06 9:30 AM >>>

This attachment is from our website. In addition the Permit that was issued for construction of the Dam at SR-2 contains the following language:

"Any extension of the surface of said waters resulting from work authorized by this permit shall become protected waters and left open and unobstructed for use by the public."

Let me know if you need anything else.

[Down to Earth]

Bogsucker,

Thanks for the additional info. Great work.

Andy

[CrappieJohn]

And until the hurdles and hangups that are being challenged by the Township, this is still going to be assumed to be off limits. The law enforcement officials, which have been represented at the basically every meeting, have indicated that being there is illegal.

Since there was no date attachewd to the dnr statement, it could have been issued after the fact.