Anyone fishing Rochester area ice this year?

Not a lot of chatter on this local forum this year. Any stories or experiences?

I haven’t been to any of the Rochester area waters this year but a local pond in Goodhue County had 10 inches two weeks ago so I have no doubt that any of the Rochester waters would be good enough to fish.

Next weekend I think I may have kinda sorta talked the wife into coming out with me, which means I’m the guide and I need to get her to catch some fish. Thinking Chester Woods and just wondering if anyone has been out anywhere this year.

Hope all you in the Rochester area are having a good winter and have had some good times fishing.

Willow was doing ok a bit ago but had some open area where the geese were working the ice. Haven’t heard much about it for a week or so. I know KR7 is iced over well but no word on the fishing. The Cascade Complex, Silver Creek and Foster are being fished but people thus far are tight lipped. Not so much as a peep about the Scout camp lake. Chesterwoods has decent ice in the arm as one leaves the boat launch and heads toward the dam area but the ice thins as you get closer to the big bay area at the dam….4″ to 6″ there. I’ve heard smallish fish as a rule from Chesterwoods. I’m sure the Zum has activity now but like many years nobody says much about how they’re doing on the catching end of things. Both pools four and five have been kicking nice panfish out of the backwaters with decent ice thicknesses with the fishing and ice conditions variable depending on where you’re at.

Personally I’d leave the Zum out of the equation for a while yet as the lake was being lowered for fall maintenance and was open well into early winter when it was then returned to its winter pool level. I’d have to assume that jockeying the water levels left shoreline ice in a miserable state and the recent rains may have raised water levels again possibly messing with the already shady ice conditions. Walking out is likely fine and maybe wheelers and sleds will cut it but I won’t suggest vehicle travel there.

If I were to be looking for fish I’d be heading down to the backwaters and look for sunken wood in water of ten to fifteen feet and away from people. Sunfish would see a small horizontal jig with a bug of some sort as they really seem to prefer meat at this time of year. Crappies would see a vertical jigging bait like a Frosty Jigging spoon or a Jigging Demon with a white or bright colored plastic with lots of action from a single tail.

Thanks Tom. I’ve never really fished the backwaters before so I always kind of wonder what people mean by that. Is that more the areas around Lake City/Wabasha with pockets of water and inlets/outlets from the river?

Try the road between Wabasha and Nelson, WI. You’ll see people fishing. Wilcox has a great backwater to fish. West Newton landing, the old one…maybe seen as half-moon landing on maps, has fishing in the winter.

if you like 3 inch perch, they are all over the sloughs over the bridge from wabasha. Ive been out 6 or so times and ice is at least 4 to 5 in the puddles I been to. I would put out a report from time to time but nobody else puts the effort so I stopped doing so and fish on my own a lot. I have not been to SC WC CW KR7 or Gamehaven but I don’t need to catch any more 5″ bluegills in my lifetime. sure you can get one maybe pushing 8″ but even those are rare. Got into some nice trout the other day and plan on heading back tomorrow to see if they are still hungry. If you want to trade info through a PM, I can give up some good info as long as you get me some in return…..good luck!

I have been to Silvercreek several times. Like eyeguy said above, there are a ton of small gills. More than I can remember in year’s past. Small perch are still there too. This year we have caught more decent crappie than we have in the past. We don’t keep fish, but have caught several keepers each time out. We haven’t caught any pike yet, but always see them on the camera. I did hear someone caught a 40″ last weekend on a tip up.

I haven’t been to Foster yet, but I always enjoy fishing there and will be going there soon.

Agree with the other posters. Like Tom said, if you want a better chance at some decent panfish, the backwaters are probably a better choice. That’s where I mostly target now. Like Eyeguy etc., I’ve pretty much given up on real close in ponds to Rochester as it’s mostly tiny fish. Yes, you can manage an ok one here or there, but pretty much the exception in my experience. Hawkguy is right about Silvercreek – you can find some ok crappie here and there, so that’s an option.

Good luck.

The thing with the back waters is that just around a bend or behind a bunch of people on a community hole a person can hit pay dirt. Water depth and current changes are so frequent that one never knows just where fish might choose to hang out. Community holes are great for kids to mess with other kids and to sit and have a social beer or two but if you want serious fishing just get away from the crowds. A person seldom has to got far to get away.

Backwaters can be really different from other waters too. When the dregs of winter’s cold put fish in the deepest water in most waters, those backwater fish, especially those with current acclimation, can be found right under the ice in some very shallow water at times….like under 6 foot type of shallow. Since backwaters generally require anglers to search, I always opted to leave the flasher in the basement along with the portable and just open ice it, drilling lots of holes and focusing on water under 15-18 feet in depth….and yes, always fishing the entire column to right under the ice. Some of the largest crappies I have caught and seen caught under the ice have come from a foot under the bottom of the ice on nice bright days with some snow on the ice to cover shadows.

Lake Zumbro will offer some decent fishing if one learns to get away from the crowds and to keep his chops shut if he starts catching. My best fishing came from the open side door of the van way away from people with my catch pail well out of sight of others in the van. If people came along I’d shut off the flasher and say the battery died on me and fishing sucked. And as a rule my fish were taken at mid to upper levels in the water column regardless of what the weather was like or the how the barometer read. A glow red Forage jigging spoon in 1/16 ounce got the nod most of the time with one hook holding a real thin action heavy plastic tail. White was usually good.