Ostrander area, any good fishing????

[muc33]

Going to Grandma's in Ostrander just wondering if any good fishing around there?

[CrappieJohn]

There is a stat park not too far from there....lake Louise I think....and there is water there, but for the life of me have no idea of what sort of fishing goes on there. If any. And a daily sticker might have to be bought.

There are also some old iron mines that have fish in them...crappies and sunfish along with some other varieties....and these may offer some fishing. Most of these mine ponds are on private property so go understanding that permission getting will be required. There are a lot of these pits along Hiway 63 south and east of the Ostrander area.

If you find some fishing down there, let us know how you do. I never get down that way except for travel, never for fishing.

[smg04]

i grew up in a small town west of ostrander and iv'e never heard of anyone catching much out of lake louise, not sure where those pits crappietom is talking about but they might be worth checking out, or u could prob find some open water trout streams around spring vally or presten

[JIvers]

I grew up about twelve miles south and east of Ostrander. This time of year, the pickings are pretty slim for fishing in that neighborhood. The Root River and some smaller trout streams are not far, but most of the trout water is closed to fishing now. The iron ore pits CrappieTom mentioned are found around Cherry Grove, and most landowners used to let you fish them if you asked. I fished them a lot when I was a kid, but it has been five years or so since I tried any of them. The ones I fished had gazillions of stunted bluegills, some crappie and bullhead, and some nice largemouth. I don't know what the fishing is like in them now, or what the access status is on those.

Lake Louise, a couple miles north of Leroy, is a small shallow impoundment on the Upper Iowa river. It's really just a slow wide spot behind a low-head dam. I fished it a few times in high school, and caught sucker, carp, bullheads, a few smallies, largemouth, and crappie, and a channel cat once or twice. I haven't been to Lake Louise in probably fifteen years. I never heard of anyone ice fishing it, and I can't imagine the ice there is safe now (there is current going through it).

If you want to do some fishing when you're in Ostrander this time of year, I would recommend either heading up to Rochester, or driving south to Riceville, Iowa, and trying Lake Hendricks, a forty acre reservoir a mile north of town. In the summer, hit the trout streams.