Looking to fish the back waters of the Mississippi for sauger/walleye or perch. Looking at lake Robinson in Wabasha or lake pepin in lake city . Does anyone know if these lakes are accessible by atv or only foot traffic? Any info would be much appreciated!
Lake City’s north side is in Goodhue county. The sheriff in Goodhue has signs up banning all motor vehicles from the ice due to sketchy ice. Robinson lake is decent ice 6”+ in areas but I have yet to see any atv’s On the ice there. I did see a four wheeler out on the ice at Wilcox but just as far as the first community hole past the beaver house. There is a foot of ice in the first lake across from the pioneer campground. Ice is sketchy near shore, cracks just walking on/off yet. Seen no ATV’s there yet either. I won’t take my atv out yet on any ice.
Robinson might have some perch around and possibly crappies/sunfish but its pretty shallow and current-less for walleye/sauger unless you’re focusing on fringe water closer to the channel above Tipiota Point and that can still be pretty shallow.
The upstream side of Trailer Point in Lake City was a historically great winter fishery until the reactor in Red Wing got fired up. Its early yet so there may be some walleye and Sauger for the catching there. Straight off the landing at Roschen Park in Lake City may be another viable area too, since its just mid-January. I wouldn’t think a person has to go much more than 300 feet off dry ground in either of the Lake City locations.
You wont see much for Walleye in Robinson. You’ll get into some good eater sized pike and occasionally a good panfish bite. You’ll know the panfish bite is good when the access is standing room only. It’s one extreme or the other in many backwater spots. Some days you’ll be working for just 2 bites and other days you wont even be able to get a second line down. Those days are few and far between, but they can be worth the wait.
Thanks for the input guys! I grew up fishing lakes so the river is new territory for me. An now being in Rochester I mainly fish foster-arends so it will be a nice to change it up a bit.
Fishable ice at Methodist Point or is this just a silly question?
Fishable ice at Methodist Point or is this just a silly question?
Yes, but Goodhue county also has that access closed to any sort of motorized traffic. Posted Statute 86B.106.
80% of Robinson is muck that won’t hold fish due to decaying weeds and low oxygen. Many of the locals from Teepeota northward around Robinson complain about it filling in and turning green during summers (as they’re fertilizing their lawns mowed up to water’s edge and watching their mutts crap in it along the shorelines).
The remaining areas that do hold fish are an all or nothing thing as stated above. When they are there, they’re feeding. It can be lights out. When they’re not there, you could go days without a bite. You’ll run into a lot of “curious anglers” in these backwater areas. I cannot count the number of vehicles that will pull up to areas just to watch for a good 20-30 minutes before deciding whether to fish there or move on.
As far as Lake City goes, it’s rarely a truly on-fire bite in those areas as most fish roam the miles of flats with minimal structure to hold them. Perch and crappies can be found if you’re willing to punch holes and move. There’s no way I’d drive a vehicle out in these areas. On the Lake City side it’s not much of a walk to the most productive areas. I’d probably pass on a wheeler in this area for now too.
I spy….
Wilcox is full of guys happy to get a few pike, straggler perch and a slow gill bite. Can’t get out to where we all want to get yet cause of open water.
Petersen Lake has been Zeros this past week.
Straggler crappies, slow at park side
Straggler crappies on the Nelson dike
Straggler perch at the finger lakes , slow bite.
Fishing has just plain sucked the past couple weeks
That’s fine. I don’t drive on any way.
Saw nobody fishing, but at Frontenac today they were ice skating. In front of the Hok-Si-La public landing people had a hundred holes punched today but again, no one fishing. Trailer Point had holes but no fishing.
Jamie
if you want accurate info on the river you have to get it yourself. Fishing the river can be challenging to say the least, and as soon as a hot bite is found people flock to it and kill it quickly… best advice I can give you is travel light cover water and if you don’t get action move and try something else. and if you find a hot bite don’t tell anyone. I know lots of guys that carry fish in the pockets of there bibs back to the covered bucket so people don’t see them catch anything. also a float suit comes in handy ice fishing the river lots of areas that have thin ice that gets hard to see after a snowfall learned that the hard way! almost punched my ticket, got two close to a wing dam I knew had bad ice but could not see it because the fresh snow. went through up to my armpits caught myself on the edge of my portable. current swept my legs under by the grace of god pulled myself out.
Right Kepp….If you want to keep catching fish, better keep the real bites to yourself. I don’t mind telling people where the fishing sucks but if I’m on em….. forget it.
I haven’t been on a good bite anywhere for at least the last 10-12 yrs…
I haven’t been on a good bite anywhere for at least the last 10-12 yrs…
That’s because the river has been completely fished out! no more good fish left…. all it has to offer is sketchy ice and wing dams to take out lower units!
much better to stick with lake Minnetonka always a hot bite there!!!!
Would like to fish rivers more, ice and open water-if you would like to shoot me a pm, help me figure things out that would be great. Guys I fish with are busy with the young kid thing or the other extreme my other buddy is getting to that age (I’ll be there soon enough) where hiking with a bunch of gear is getting to be out of the question. So the boss in this house could care less if I fish by myself on a lake but worries when I go to a river. Nice that she cares. (overall she is less worried now that I have bumped up my life insurance—ha ha ha!)
Was able to get 3 spots to check out-probably well known spots, not sure.
Thanks
I agree with fact river getting fished out! Open all year and such is not good- used to ice fish maiden rock area years back and had a good time catching fish, but last year I went down and its like there’s no fish around anymore, its a shame! Wish they would restructure the river limits and seasons
Limit changes on border waters side is gonna change in 2020 but little to no benefit without enforcement and face it….. on warden per sector isn’t enough. Lots of guys fish out their honey holes, making several trips. Age old problem.
Would like to fish rivers more, ice and open water-if you would like to shoot me a pm, help me figure things out that would be great. Guys I fish with are busy with the young kid thing or the other extreme my other buddy is getting to that age (I’ll be there soon enough) where hiking with a bunch of gear is getting to be out of the question. So the boss in this house could care less if I fish by myself on a lake but worries when I go to a river. Nice that she cares. (overall she is less worried now that I have bumped up my life insurance—ha ha ha!)
Was able to get 3 spots to check out-probably well known spots, not sure.
Thanks
where would you like to fish, I’ll point you in the right direction since most people aren’t willing to help a guy get on some fish when it comes to backwaters
used to ice fish maiden rock area years back and had a good time catching fish, but last year I went down and its like there’s no fish around anymore, its a shame! Wish they would restructure the river limits and seasons
So now lake pepin is void of fish.
Y’all will eventually make me roll on the floor laughing.
So now lake pepin is void of fish.
Y’all will eventually make me roll on the floor laughing.
Gotta agree with this. Pool 4 may have seen a change in how the fish use particular areas, but there’s no shortage especially waldo.
Gotta agree with this. Pool 4 may have seen a change in how the fish use particular areas, but there’s no shortage especially waldo.
Bingo. They’re there. You just need to learn to adapt with the fish. Rivers change, which means fish patterns do also. Guess what that means? We must change too…
The spots that produced even 6-8 years ago are not nearly the same. For walleyes the population seems steady, it just takes new tactics or new locations. I troll more now than ever. When you get into late June, July, and August the fish really seem to roam in the lake. Some of the huge flats near creeks and ledges hold fish but they’re very scattered. The other factor that has changed in recent years is the shad population. I’ve seen more baitfish schools that are unbelievably large than ever before. I truly believe that it takes that much more effort to put fish in the boat or on the ice when a smorgasbord of unending food is available every 100 yards.
Panfish seem to be a little different story. The panfish populations are still solid, but the size structure has definitely taken a hit in many areas. The days of putting dozens of 12″+ crappies on the ice are hard to come by. The perch are probably the biggest success story as far as sheer numbers of trophy fish. However, many are decimated from March-May in the predictable spawning areas before, during, and after the spawn. Those regulation changes cannot come soon enough to protect vulnerable perch populations.
perch benefit from siltation of once deep backwaters – forming large flats. Flats fill with vegetation and leaves which provide spawning (and fry) cover and substrate for eggs. Perch numbers vary due to spawning success – totally dependent on water levels, clarity and weather patterns during the spawn. People pulling a few large perch (mostly females) has a lesser impact than their own environment. The same could be said for harvesting 8″+ female bluegill…
perch benefit from siltation of once deep backwaters – forming large flats. Flats fill with vegetation and leaves which provide spawning (and fry) cover and substrate for eggs. Perch numbers vary due to spawning success – totally dependent on water levels, clarity and weather patterns during the spawn. People pulling a few large perch (mostly females) has a lesser impact than their own environment. The same could be said for harvesting 8″+ female bluegill…
So that’s why I like to eat perch naked while rubbing my belly?
I have been going to Pepin for 5 years and all I can say is location, location, location. I find that the population here hasn’t suffered just has changed. You have to stay mobile and find them like anywhere.
Thomas – I also like perch just maybe not naked could get burned.. Lol
Maiden rock has had a few structure changes in recent years. One example that I can now talk about because it is gone:
Couple years ago a barge left a trench along the flat. That trench was money for 2yrs. It is now silted in.
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