Central Minnesota

[piersm2]

I am new to Central Minnesota (St Cloud Area) and wondering who all on here is close by.  Should be on the lakes relatively soon.  Not a huge fan of early ice fishing by myself so if anyone is interested, let me know!  Also, what lakes around the area are decent for pan fish and/or walleye?

[Monticatgeek]

I am out of Monticello. mainly fish the wright county lakes with in 10 to 15 miles of my place. I do try to get to the Horseshoe chain of lakes up by Richmond and Cold Springs once or twice a season when I can.

[piersm2]

Is the fishing pretty good there?  There is a ton of water to cover!

[Monticatgeek]

no real giants but can find eater size when you feel like eating a few. The Horseshoe chain of lakes by Cold Springs and Richmond is a fun place to fish if you like to catch channel catfish through the ice. some of the wright county lakes see a lot of pressure from people coming out of the metro area but if you learn to adapt you can still catch them. hint use tactics that others are not using. example this one lake it seems like everyone fishes crappie minnows. I found with this particular lake you need to down size your jig and go to plastics over the mininows and then be patient and you can catch them when no one else is.

[Monticatgeek]

one important thing I forgot to mention about the horse shoe chain is that on horse shoe lake there is a hole that never freezes over so you need to stay clear of that. it is refered to as the meth hole. Methane gas is coming out of the bottom of the lake there and is enough to keep the water open in that area. it is over 50 feet of water. in really cold years it will skim over so you need to know where it is at and avoid that area. also DO NOT DRIVE OUT FROM THE SUMMER TIME ACCES ON HORSESHOE LAKE. IT IS ON THE SAUK RIVER AND THERE IS MOVING WATER UNDER THE ICE THERE IN THE WINTER. THERE IS A WINTER ACCESS ABOUT A MILE OR TWO DOWN THE ROAD FROM THE SUMMER ACCESS. these are the real two big things you need to know about out there. main lakes on the chain to fish is Horseshoe or Cedar Island. the other lakes in the chain can only be accessed by atv or snowmobile and that is only when the ice thickness permit. out there check thickness often and stay away from known channel and current areas.

[piersm2]

Thank you for the info!  I would love to get out on the ice this weekend...

[Monticatgeek]

I am going to be checking my early ice lakes on Friday and if they are at 4 inches or more I am going out on Saturday. just need to decide if I want to chase gills & crappies or set up the spearfisher 5000 and try some spearing for northern. might do some of each if I feel up to it.

[slipperybob]

Both Horseshoe and Cedar Island are good.  I focus more on catfish on Horseshoe mainly open spots.  Horseshoe can be a blast on big Rock bass about 8-9".

Cedar Islands has more structure fishing.  Better chance for walleye's there.