Blegills are on the beds already in Minnesota

There are visibly active bluegill beds here in Minneapolis with the males stationed over them which normally means the crappie spawn is either far advanced or over already.

Crappies are also up shallow again. Last evening on a local small pond, I released three limits in about 3/4 of an hour all from 2' and shallower areas most of which were way too shallow before the recent rains raised the water levels. It is pretty amazing how quickly crappies find shallow areas that have just become deep enough for them to use. The bite was all kinds of characteristic crappie takes from "just there" to upbite to lateral line movement to aggressive one timers. It was a lot of fun to have so much variety in response.

Mostly they were pretty small but some exceeded the normal city average a bit. I still have not landed one well colored male out of some hundreds already released since the ice started to break up.

I tied into another big eater just this noon in about 20 minutes of exploratory fishing on a very tiny crappie plastic on a size 8 hook. It just plain went deep, stayed deep and took off for the center of the lake and I couldn't hold it. I don't think I even gained an inch on that whatever it was. Finally my 2# line failed. The fight was pretty much just plain freight train with some pauses for a bit of minor head shaking. No frenzied dashes like one might expect from a pike, a bass or a muskie; so it was likely either a gonzo carp or a very, very respectable walleye both of which are possible on that particular water. My micro-ultra-light, which is what I hunt with more and more these days, was way outclassed on this one.

Definitely a wierd year. But one with an exceptional bite when one can find it.

Nice report..thanks

good report, keep em coming

Down into NW Iowa last week for the youngest niece's high school graduation. My sister put on a fantastic open house for the girl. Next year she goes to college on a heavy scholarship for academics and music. Real proud of that kid.

While we were down there my sister and I snuck away to a friend's private farm pond. The only other time I was on that water was one afternoon three years ago; so it took us a bit and then we found some very nice crappies (11-13") and bluegills (7-10") on the BG Baby shad, including the first nuptially colored male crappie I have caught this year. Still none from around Minneapolis. This guy has a very well run pond that can't be over 5 acres that still produces quality bluegills, crappies and bass and also has grass carp and channel cats in it. Even the Iowa DNR can't figure out how he gets such good response from so many different species.

no1son, I'm a Virginia native, transplanted to GA for the past 2 years and about to transfer up to Minneapolis by the end of 2012.

It's interesting to read about bluegill spawning up there - I have a 1 acre pond in my back yard and the bluegill spawned about 2 weeks ago. They're off the beds now.

I'll be working in Golden Valley (General Mills) - curious if you have any feedback or input decent places to live with close proximity to fishing (yes, I understand the whole 10,000 lakes thing lol)

ekim22,

Pardon me for being amused, but there really is no place in the Twin Cities where good fishing is not convenient. There are fewer spots where one can conveniently launch a boat, however. Near General Mills in Golden Valley is one of those with decent boat access, Medicine Lake, but there are smaller lakes and ponds all over the entire Metro for fishing docks and shoreline fishing opportunities and many of those have carry on access for kayaks, canoes, etc.

Traditionally bluegill spawn up here is in late May or early June with crappies just a little earlier. There is some variation on that, of course, depending on the spring and the water involved. If the weather stays warm and stable the bluegill beds may actually stay active well toward the end of July, too, although the size of the bed declines, as fewer and fewer males renest. Recently and especially this year the spawn has really moved up the calendar.

Pick your home based on other factors. Fishing opportunities will not be a problem, unless you have a real big boat, and even then a short drive in just about any direction will put you on fishing.

That's good to hear.

I have a few questions if you don't mind.

I see tons of smaller lakes - are these mostly "neighborhood" lakes or are they mostly public access? The reason I ask is that down here in Georgia I really don't have much to compare the abundance of bodies of water too. In Virginia it was even less.

Are most of these lakes trolling motor only?

Right now I just have a jon boat w/ trolling motor but would like to buy a 17-18' boat...either a center console or a high-sided Lund. That's one thing I'm kind of looking forward to, growing up in the south, I saw Lunds on tv but there are no Lund dealers down south....and there are no comparable boats with open floor plans, high sides, and room for kicker motors. Everything down here is either a rocket bass boat, a pontoon boat, or aluminum trackers.

Do most of these smaller lakes contain muskie, northern pike, walleye, etc or am I just stereotyping northern lakes?

What's the typical bottom structure and water clarity of northern lakes? I understand it varies from body to body but generally speaking...? For instance the majority of bodies of water here in the south are stained/muddy with clay & grass bottoms (with the exception of some public water reservoirs).

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Originally Posted by ekim22

That's good to hear.

I have a few questions if you don't mind.

I see tons of smaller lakes - are these mostly "neighborhood" lakes or are they mostly public access? The reason I ask is that down here in Georgia I really don't have much to compare the abundance of bodies of water too. In Virginia it was even less.

Are most of these lakes trolling motor only?

Right now I just have a jon boat w/ trolling motor but would like to buy a 17-18' boat...either a center console or a high-sided Lund. That's one thing I'm kind of looking forward to, growing up in the south, I saw Lunds on tv but there are no Lund dealers down south....and there are no comparable boats with open floor plans, high sides, and room for kicker motors. Everything down here is either a rocket bass boat, a pontoon boat, or aluminum trackers.

Do most of these smaller lakes contain muskie, northern pike, walleye, etc or am I just stereotyping northern lakes?

What's the typical bottom structure and water clarity of northern lakes? I understand it varies from body to body but generally speaking...? For instance the majority of bodies of water here in the south are stained/muddy with clay & grass bottoms (with the exception of some public water reservoirs).

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First, waters in Minnesota, so-called navigatable ones anyway, which includes most of them are open to public use, although the shoreline may not be. They can be of any type although we have fewer of the big flowages found down south, and many more natural lakes. Most of the metro lakes are quite fertile, although not always heavily colored. Those with the real deep holes tend to be clearer as opposed to most of the smaller ones that can carry quite a bit more algae over mud bottoms. It varies quite a bit. As does the weed growth and type.

Some communities have been given the right to access but the shoreline land owner may not, although they may deny permission to cross their property to get to it. Many of the lakes and ponds are inside municipal and public parks generally with either ramps or what is called carry-on. You may not want to get rid of your olive drab floater; with a trolling motor it would be the right scale for a lot of the waters. There are also horsepower restrictions on many of the public park lakes, for example Minneapolis Park lakes are limited to electric only and both parks and a lot of associated parking are off limits between 10 pm and 6 am, but they are not too large for your jon boat for the most part. Conversely Richfield does not allow any craft or swimming on their city lakes while Bloomington has at least one that is limited (IIRC) to 6 or 8 horses with a strict no wake and speed rule as well. Three counties park system covers quite a bit of the west and north Metro also. There are quite a number of public launch sites with varying hours and an additional number of pay to launch locations. Stickers are required for parking and on boats in some of the public park waters and they generally do not translate across the whole area.

Pike and walleyes are native to most of the waters in the entire state although in widely varying densities, largemouth bass also in the southern 2/3 and smallmouths heavily in the north and scattered around elsewhere, especially in the rivers. Crappies, yellow perch and sunfish (primarily bluegills, but also including greenies and pumpkinseeds and in some parts of the state - although not most of the Metro if not all of it - there are orangespots, too) are also found all over the state. Sunfish size can reach a good 10" plus in some waters, but mostly an 8" fish is considered big around here.

The crappies are mostly blacks, but some whites are found pretty much limited to scattered spots in the southern third of the state. Most Metro crappies caught are black, although not all of them. IMO pretty much any Metro water that does not regularly winterkill should have at least some. Some waters are real factories. Average size is 7-10", but on some scattered waters they can get much larger. You will have to find those for yourself.

Muskies are found far beyond their original range, since they have been stocked widely, although not so widely as the walleyes which are heavily stocked in a whole lot of places, being the state fish and all. Muskies have a very strong lobby in Minnesota resulting in their having been put at one time or another in far too many spots, mostly where they do not reproduce. That includes most of the possible Metro waters big enough to float one at some time or other over the past 30 years or so. There are a few scattered, surprisingly large muskies in many of the waters that have not been stocked for decades that show up once in a while. Not all of us are happy with how widely and indescriminately they have been moved around. Understatement! Happily they are not stocked everywhere, and the DNR has gotten pretty fussy over stocking additional waters.

If you are at all into river fishing there is also an impressive flathead fishery that has developed on the Minnesota River that runs through the southern part of the Metro and up the Mississippi and St Croix rivers at least to the northern edge of the Metro, too, and lots of channel cats in those rivers and stocked into some of the lakes.

There is also stream trout fishing just south and east of the Metro and particular lakes in and around the Metro get stocked with trout of some three species at least. Special regulations and licensing are required for taking them on the specially designated waters. You have to go well north of the Metro to find lake trout, but occasionally whitefish show up in some Metro waters.

Bait shops can be few and far between, convenient for some waters, not so much for a lot of others. Bait variety is generally limited to nightcrawlers, red worms, suckers, and two sizes of fatheads with possibly also wax worms. There are some shops with a much wider selection, such as Vados up north and a few others that offer shiners, redtail chubs and rainbows often depending on the season and the shop. I am told there is a pretty decent bait shop on Medicine Lake, but I have never been in it.

We do not have shad nor are they allowed to be kept alive up here, although a lot of channel catfishermen harvest them farther south, freeze them and then cut them up especially early in the season. There is also a strict limitation on which other species one can use for bait and strict rules about how one can collect it. Oh yes, leeches are a common and effective bait up here for all kinds of fish and come in a variety of sizes, generally available all over once we get to walleye opener, but the little ones can be dynamite on sunfish, too.

Not an issue for me, since I seldom, if ever, use live bait anymore, except for catfish in the river on those few times I fish for them. Then I pick up one of the big decoy suckers that show up after muskie season opens and cut it up for cut bait, or just collect some nightcrawlers from the back yard after a good soaking rain. I don't catch many channels, but the ones I do take average 2-4 pounds with regular reliable reports of some people taking them to well over 20. My biggest is 13#, but then I don't fish for them much either. 50# flatheads are also regularly taken, although most are smaller and very few bigger this far north. The DNR works pretty diligently to keep flatheads out of any waters where they are not naturally found; so you are not going to see them unless someone has snuck one in providing you are not fishing on of the rivers.
For specific waters go to the Minnesota DNR Lakefinder site which gives a pretty decent if general and often outdated rundown of many of the waters in the state. Our DNR is reeling under the same heavy budget cuts that are happening in a lot of states, or I expect there would be more updating, which is now pretty much limited to the most popular waters.

There is also a west Metro fishing guide that runs to at least 3/4 inch thick averaging more than one lake a page that expands on the DNR info a bit. There is an additional volume for the east Metro if you are interested. You can also get detailed topo maps on chips for GPS handheld units or as programs for your computer. Some of them show amazing detail. The topo maps from the DNR are much less dependable and many of them are decades old, but still better than nothing. Be careful that any commercial chip you get is specifically made for your GPS, they do not work in most other units.

Good fishing.

You're the man - thanks for that wealth of information.

I will be flying up Monday and leaving Thursday for an "exploratory" trip. I'll work at Gen Mills HQ during business hours and then be doing some driving around to look at potential areas to live....not so much looking at specific houses but just general areas for now.

ekim....

With the Twin Cities as a home port you're going to be within an hour's, hour and a half's, drive drive to some unreal angling opportunities. While the electric motor will serve you good within the Twin Cities area, I'd suggest picking up a used outboard close to the HP max shown on the ID plate and venture with that rig while you wait for a larger boat to come along. That jon and gas outboard could be kept at ready for use on the Mississippi River below Hastings, Minnesota to the Iowa border all winter or at least below several of the many dams found below Hastings. I have a 14" jon with a 20 on it and fish very comfortably on the big river with it unless the water is high or wind gets to huffing along real hard.

I will say one thing.....you are going to be moving into an area with tons of fishing opportunities all year long. Of course we'll all be waiting for you first ice fishing adventure, then your first experience driving on ice. lol

That same size boat will also serve up the Mississippi north of Hastings after ice out and the spring flood subsides anyway through the locks in Minneapolis and then all the way north, too. The last lock north is right in downtown Minneapolis, but there are good launch sites up the river from there and good fishing all along the way in both directions for those who dig it out.

I see canoes and kayaks going through the top locks quite frequently; a decent jon boat with any kind of dependable kicker should be able to take it right in stride, too. Of course one can also contact the Corp of Engineers; they operate the locks.

LOL CTom - I already have an invitation from someone @ Gen Mills to go ice fishing....I'll definitely give that a shot.

Now as far as driving on the ice.....I realize to never say never in life but......coming from a southern boy, I can't see that happening LOL



Thanks for the info guys. I'm excited....especially at the thought of river fishing. There are certainly rivers here in Ga but not any major ones in the area of GA I'm at. In Virginia I was blessed to be 4 miles from a major tidal river and that was a blast. We're talking 100lbs catfish and excellent crappie fishing.

But yea, I'm super excited at the prospects.

Here at Rochester we have a ton of run-off control reservoirs that are ripe with fish of all kinds. I took a little jaunty to one this morning with a rod rigged up with a saftey-pin spinner to look for post-spawn crappies. I found none, but a couple sunfish and a few bass came out to entertain me. The bass season is a couple weeks away yet but the bass can't seem to read the rules so.... They all went back for a battle later on down the line.

The sunfish hit that spinner bait and were firmly hooked up. What these sunfish can lack in length they more than make up for in thickness. They are super strong fish. If they grew to 18" we'd have to fish them with chain instead of line.

Speaking of post spawn crappies, there is speculation that crappie spawn is really just getting started here in Minneapolis with the big runs just now showing up. What I have heard and been seeing sorta bears that out. That the crappies started real early with the exceptionally early ice out and the very early warm weather, but the following cold snap aborted that and now they are starting all over again as we have finally gotten stable enough warm weather. I have seen before that the male crappies can have their spawning behavior interrupted and have to start all over again. I still have not taken a colored up male crappie around here this spring.

Sitting in Minneapolis / St Paul airport waiting on a flight back to Atlanta right now. Appreciate the feedback from you guys. After work each day I was able to spend some time driving around looking at area. I went as far north as Elk River, swung out west as far as Waconia, and then ventured south to around Chaska, Chanhansen, and prior lake. I wasn't able to get to Apple Valley.

I liked the look of the Mississippi river up around Elk River...but honestly I liked the Waconia & Victoria areas the best.

Before you make up your mind about where to settle, check out the roads and the rush hour traffic. Some places are miserable to travel to and from at some times of the day. Pay attention to the routes for closure barracades; some roads get closed during some storm conditions and you cannot use them at all regardless of what kind of vehicle you have. Same goes for some freeway ramps. There may be times that they just plain bar you from getting on.

We have a saying up here that we have two seasons, winter and road repair. During the winter you will drive on ice sometime whether you drive out on the lakes or not. Winter storms will make long commutes on heavily traveled routes into nightmares. OTOH Road repair may make you wish for winter driving.

AND, Depending on time of day you drive to and from work....Can be a bear to drive into the sun in morning, and into it again in evening.. Even if you do not mind, trust me, it slooows traffic. We are still not Chicago, but the man is right, road repair and other things can make driving a real pain around here.

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Originally Posted by no1son

Definitely a weird year. But one with an exceptional bite when one can find it.

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We had finished our crappie and Walleye fishing earlier on Sunday, as well as the 8 year old swimming around the boat for a while as the adults continued to fish, so when he got back into the boat and started throwing a spinner bait for some bass, my fishing buddy and I looked at each other twice when he pulled in this cow of a bluegill.

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Of course, the wind and BIG boats made short work of our crappie spot, but not before getting into a bunch of them.

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Originally Posted by IMFSHN

We had finished our crappie and Walleye fishing earlier on Sunday...
Of course, the wind and BIG boats made short work of our crappie spot, but not before getting into a bunch of them.

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P.S. All but one of our couple dozen Crappies were blackened males.

A real dandy sunfish!

But not a bluegill. Color is wrong and there is no black spot on the back of the dorsal and the faint coloration on the back of the black tab wouldn't be there in a full blooded bluegill. It looks like a bluegill/green hybrid (from the golden fin edges - although the mouth is a little small), which are relatively common, and where fishing pressure is not too heavy they can get to be real pigs.

They are generally more aggressive than either of their parents and so usually get picked off first; so remember that spot. Something about it allows those hybrids to outgrow either parental species to a very respectable size. BTW you will not often take more than one or two of these bruisers from the school of sunnies you find them in and very often it will be the first fish taken there. Since the hybrids outgrow their school mates, the true bluegills will probably be a bit smaller, but hybrids of this size are a good indication that the school will also be relatively large for their species. This is also a male (from the extended gill tab) and is probably also sterile; some few of them aren't but the vast majority will never reproduce. Size potential decreases with additional generations anyway. So harvest of these will not hurt the population. Real good eating too, just like both parents. Nice fish and will definitely outfight a bass its size in the process. This is the same hybrid combination that some southerners select out of for the so-called "Georgia Giants" giving it the best size potential of all the sunfish hybrids. The extended gill tab also indicates that this is a fully mature fish and will probably never have gotten much larger, since male sunfish size slows to almost a complete stop when it matures. Also they are very pretty fish for their own coloring combinations.

Real good to hear about the crappies, too; the males are still trying to bed the way it sounds.

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Originally Posted by no1son

A real dandy sunfish! But not a bluegill. Color is wrong and there is no black spot on the back of the dorsal and the faint coloration on the back of the black tab wouldn't be there in a full blooded bluegill. It looks like a bluegill/green hybrid (from the golden fin edges - although the mouth is a little small), which are relatively common, and where fishing pressure is not too heavy they can get to be real pigs.

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: ) Thanks for the pan fish Species Identification 201 class. My fishing buddy and my son were calling it a pumpkin seed, which I knew wasn't correct either. Either way, it was flickering between 11 and 12oz., and since we were on the big lake, so I didn't mind one when my son wanted to add it to the couple crappies we did keep for a meal.

For those with kids, We've taken our son to creative kidstuff during father's day weekend for their Fish Print t-shirts [This year's [2012] Fish Printing at Creative Kidstuff Sat, June 16, 10am – 2pm. Check to be sure your local store is participating http://www.creativekidstuff.com/ ] , so I dug around for a t-shirt and acrylic paints when we got home to print a memory of the fish. The only white t-shirt we had (use white unless you're going to add some funky bright colors) was one two sizes too small, waiting to be donated. Since we're going to make a t-shirt squares quilt out of all his fish print t-shirts when he gets older, I figured he'll live without being able to wear it. So we painted the fish, pressed the shirt on to it, and then painted on the spinner bait. It turned out well, considering you don't always know what you are getting when pressing fabric onto a 3D object.

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P.S. Next fish print t-shirt planned is a crappie.