Crosby Area Mines

Evening,
I have some property in the Crosby/Outing area.
I have wanted for some time to fish the open pit mines in the area.
Looking for some general advice on how to approach fishing them.
Maybe some guidance on the more productive of them?
Appreciate any help.
Steve

I live retatively close to the Crosby Mine lakes, I have fished them in the summer and the winter. Most of them are over 300 ft deep in the center. There are no fish there. The first 60 ft from the shore on most of the pits are submerged pine forrests. Fun to look at on side imaging but really tough to fish. My advice would to fish is 70 to 100 ft from the shore. They are all designated trout lakes and they have some bait restrictions that protect their futures.

If you wanted to try some non-restrictive mine waters, try the east lobe of Rabit Lake. I has some interesting structure, a 300 ft mine pit and a road bed heading to the bottom of the pit. Roosevelt Lake is also mine lake..

Hope this helps. Trout are a fun catch. The mine lakes with steep banks and undeveloped shores have the feel of being way up north. If you don’t find fish, enjoy the beauty.

Are you wanting to fish by boat or by shore? There are a few pits which you can dump a boat into, I can even get my 20′ Tiller into Huntington Landing. Pennington & Portsmouth both have a normal concrete landing. Alstead also has a fairly usable landing for a larger boat.

Do you want to catch Trout or Bass/Panfish?

Trout, I would be there ASAP after opener. Bass can be had fairly easily, just locate shore structure and fish. They drop off so quickly that fish really congregate to any sort of shore structure.

Ice fishing is also fun, but can be a bit of a workout. I would definitely hit the lake you want to fish in the summer with your boat and chart out the bottom. Do it once, and you’ll know where to fish in the winter. The DNR also stocks the lake right before Ice in, so right after opener in Jan is a good time to go.

Thanks djshannon…

A buddy fished one of those pits a while back and they caught monster walleyes in it. I dont remember if he ever told me the name, but they were huge.

TillrLife,
Looking to fish by boat.
I have a fairly large rig, Skeeter WX1910.
Looking to fish for trout.
Thanks for your repsonses…

I would absolutely still give it a try this time of year. Strangely enough, they do not get pounded on by fishing like one might think.

Check out the Huntington Landing, it’s only a few minute drive from Cty Rd 128. Worst case, just keep driving down the gravel road and try Alstead, it’s more useable than Huntington. You’ll want a full sized truck/SUV on either landing.

Not many guys are dropping their boats in on either so the fishing is better on them. You will need to pick up a park pass if you don’t already have one.

Those pits are no wake is that correct?

My brother in laws used to catch 15-16″ crappies out of them pits. This was probably 25 years ago or so.

I think some are even no gas motors, but it has been a number of years since I dropped my boat in one.

The guys at Oars N Mine in Crosby are always nice in my experience and I’m sure they’d point you in a good direction if you stop in for some bait

interesting thread…….i drive by the open pit mine on 6 just north of crosby and oars n mine. rarely do i see a boat on it, but i have. no clue what the name is???

The mine pit lake you see from Mn 6 is Portsmouth Mine Pit Lake. It has one of the easiest boat launch ramp of the bunch. I fish a 16′ Lund Pike classic loaded with electronic toys. I drive 6 often most days no one is on the water, summer or winter..

You will need a MN parks pass, plan ahead. They are available online and come in the mail in about 2 weeks.

Thanks everyone for the commentary.
I’m heading up in the morning, probably start with Portsmouth, then Huntington.
I’ll check with Oars and Mines on my way.
Got the park pass from other trips.
See you on the water…