Any Suggestions?

New to the midwest and looking for some nice Ice fishing action near Mankato, MN. Anyone have any suggestions for Walleye and Crappie in this area? Thanks for any help.

It’s been a long time now (14 years), but I use to live in North Mankato. I thought the fishing was fantastic in that area. Many lakes to choose from. Some of my favorite open water lakes were Madison, Elysian, Francis, Washington, and one of the Jefferson’s (can’t remember which Jeff I liked best). Didn’t have as much time to fish in the winter, but I did get out chasing panfish once & a while. Madison had some nice crappies it, Washington we fished bluegills & crappies, and even hit George once & a while through the ice. It’s been a long time, but that is what I recall. You could check the Bobber Shop in Mankato for info or the bait shop in Madison Lake (not sure if it still exists), they were always good sources of info for me many moons ago when I fished the area.

I would list Madison at the top of the list of lakes in that area, at least from my experiences. A solid walleye lake and good crappie fishing with some slabbers mixed in with the average sized fish. I liked the deeper water just outside the narrows that seperate the two halves of the lake. The crappies were almost always suspended so a flasher is a must have. Set lines or a small jigging spoon with a minnow head took the most fish.

About 45 minutes north on Hwy 15 is Lake Marion. North of Winthrop and about 3 miles south of Hutchinson. Gills and Crappies along with eater size eyes. I heard the eyes were hitting about two weeks ago.
A word of caution: This lake has airiators. They are clearly marked areas of unsafe ice…but every year someone tests the ice or gets lost at night and makes the plunge…including this year. It’s as safe as any lake…just know where to stay away from…again, it’s clearly marked.