Open Water Options?

Live around St Cloud/Cold Spring. Where can I get my boat in the water around here? Coronavirus ain’t gonna keep me home and I’m kinda sick of ice fishing. Anybody got suggestions?

I grew up in rural Cold Spring on the chain and live in the north metro now. Mississippi River would be my first suggestion. Not sure what you have for a boat or what is open closer to St. Cloud for water or Target species but Pool 2, 3, and 4 are good options. Plenty of info on this forum about fishing these pools in the Mississippi River section. Be sure to research regulations as for example Pool 2 is open to walleye fishing year round but is only catch and release.

As far as lakes go – with the current 10 day weather forecast it will be at least 2-3 weeks before we will see any open water boat fishing in the Saint Cloud area. The Briggs lake chain is often one of the 1st options in this area. The channel is rather close to the landing. Some years you can get a boat off a trailer at the landing and follow the shoreline to get into the channel. The crappie bite there can be good before all the ice is even off the main lake

On Sunday the access to the Sauk river in Cold Spring was about 10 feet of ice out from the landing if we get rain it may be open on Sunday. I’m going to try it if possible most of the river was open it might scratch that itch.

Hopping in a few weeks to take the boat around the edge of the mother inlaws lake lol.

Im unsure if Cats are still open and what the flow is like but I used to land my flat bottom behind the sports scsu sports complex. I built a prop guard but you could use waders too as there is a shallow water stretch between landing and the dam.
Id take it up just below the spillway to the dam. Id do really well for channel cats on the bottom in the deep water at the bottom of the dam. Id actually tie up to the big concrete pillars.