Does anyone here fish Fountain Lake at Albert Lea,

I am looking to spend a day fishing this small lake. Is there some place that rents boats.
Is there some decent places to fish from shore.
Been told that there is some nice game fish in this Lake.
I appreciate any info on this.
Thanks.

During the spring I did a lot of research on the lake, and some older posts made it sound like the place to be. but after talking to some other people, i wasnt quite so confident. My group decided to pass after we heard about the fishkill and that the population hasnt hit its peak yet

I am wondering if maybe Pickeral Lake might be a better place to go. It sounds like a shallow lake, might be subject to winter fishkill also.
Any info on this.

There are many places to fish from Shore on all around Fountain Lake. Walleye’s, Pike, Crappies, Largemouth Bass, Channel Cat’s, etc. Majority of shoreline is City Owned.

Near the Dam off Bridge Ave., near the Bridges along Lakeview Blvd., off Highway 13 just north of Sunset St where the Creek comes through the culvert. Along the Channel on the Northside. Just llok for where others are fishing.

For Albert Lea Lake go to the Bridge on Front St the channel coming from the Dam and flowing into Albert Lea Lake, good place for Fall Walleyes.

Pickeral lake has nice Northerns now that the Watershed has reclaimed the lake, poisoned a few years ago and stock Perch and Pike. You really need a boat there.

No Boat Rentals. You might try looking for someone with an open seat, lots of activity whenever I’m down there.

Good Luck

PS: I grew up there and am down there at least once a month visiting and helping Mom.

I live in Albert Lea and fish both Pickerel and Fountain quite a bit, both hard and soft water.

Pickerel underwent a lake reclamation 3 years ago and the lake has improved 10 fold. The pike in the pics are only 3 yrs old, some of the best growth in the state of MN. This lake would take a boat to fish and the best spot right now is the furthest you can get from the landing.

The bluegill pic is from Fountain lake last ice season. That lake is full of gills, walleyes, crappies, some pike, and some very big catfish. Most of the lake is public access along the shore line, which is nice for the boatless people. Look in google maps and fish the bridge areas, where the current is necked-down. I was taking water samples last year and ran into the MN DNR pulling their test-nets and they had a pile of nice fish. This lake is my favorite in the area, real mixed bag lake. The walleye pic is from Fountain from last fall.

Albert Lea lake is loaded with walleyes and perch. Getting the eyes to bite is a feat in itself. The perch are very numerous though, which could be why the eyes are so hard to catch. Ive filled a few buckets with perch just west of the I35 bridge in the winter.

Yes I gave you some info. on the lake by PM, then asked how it went and got no reply.

There was some summerkill on Pickerel this summer, as there was on many many lakes in MN. The pike pics I posted were taken after the kill happened, it didnt affect the population very much.

There was also a winterkill in 2004 on Albert Lea Lake, which was catastrophic. That lake has fully recovered.

Never made it over there, otherwise i would have been more than happy to let you know. Sorry about that

Hey jerad,

I’m visiting my dad from california. I’ve fished fountain lake and caught some nice gills and crappie. But i want to go get some catfish. Is there any channel catfish or any other than small bullhead present? Any tips and locations on how to fish for them? Thank you

Hey carroll,

Is there any channel catfish in albert lea? How about fountain lake? Any tips or locations on hiw to catch em? Im visiting my dad and would like to fish for some bigger fish

Hey carroll, just seen your post about channel catfish in fountain lake. Can you give me some tips (bait, location, rig) pn how to catch channels? I seem to only be catching bullhead ????

Thanks!