fishing from shore and hiking

I grew up in Pennsylvania hiking along mountain streams and lakes and fishing from shore. Moved here to Bloomington last summer and immediately started looking for places to do the same here. Found alot of beatiful hiking places along the Minnesota river and along a few lakes but rarely saw anyone fishing from the shore. The times that I brought my spinning rod along I did not have much luck. Never caught anything in the Minnesota, water seemed very dirty. Never caught much from shore on the lakes either, the area near shore seemed so choked by weeds. Two questions. First, does anyone have any suggestions on places to hike along the shore of either a river or lake and actually catch fish. It was not uncommon for me to fish and hike for 5 hours so do not worry about suggesting long treks. Second, I see very little fishing from shore when I’ve been out here. Is that because of the type of waters we have here. If so, I may have to get me a boat.

Have you done much trout fishing during your time in MN? We’re blessed with 100’s, maybe 1000’s, of miles of quality trout water in this state and if you’re willing to do the “long walk” a big trout or two is usually the reward once you get away from the easy access points near bridges, etc.

Your best bet is to get to your nearest DNR Fisheries office and get your hands on one of their designated trout waters maps that detail all the miles of trout water in the state, the species present as well as the quality of the fishery in that body of water. And I think they’re free too.

If bass fishing is your thing, there’s lots of places I can think that you could hike and wade to get into some dandy fish, once the sseason opens of course. The cannon, zumbro, root, mississippi r. are all good choices with the smaller bodies of water being much more managable for the new guy.

Lakes are tough. Lots of shallow water ringing the shorelines with those thick weeds to deal with that you spoke of. Fishing piers, many are present in the twin cities, allow you some access to deeper water w/o the need for a boat.

If you’re looking for some specific suggestions on waters to fish, visit the small stream forum and drop them a question or two. Lots of experienced “small stream – no boat required” guys hanging out there.

Best of luck.

Welcome to MN. I agree completely with Jame’s post.

Fishing from shore can be difficult on lakes, but there’s lots of people who do it. It can get a little crowded at the good spots and the take is usually just pan fish with the occasional Bass or Pike.

There are a few places along highway 8 between Forest Lake and Taylors falls in the Chisago Lakes area where you can fish channels between lakes. I don’t know if this is the experience that you’re looking for as it’s somewhat crowded and near highway traffic, but you get a better shot at a decent gamefish in those areas. Try the channel between North and South Center Lake on the outskirt of Center City. That’s my best suggestion for lake shore fishing.

Rivers have much less of a weed problem, and because of seasonal flooding you have more public land access.

The St. Croix has a lot of public land that isn’t heavily used. Once you get North of Taylor’s Falls you’ll have ample places to hit the shore. Mostly part of the St. Croix Scenic Riverway managed by the US Park Service, I believe. Many hiking trails and great scenery. Plenty of littles islands you can wade out to. It’d start around the Hwy 70 bridge. You might also consider a Wisconsin license because I think that most of the best spots are on the East banks.

A little closer to home, on the North side of Stillwater, is an area called the Boomsite. You’ll see more people there, but it’s a great place to site and soak a crawler on bottom.

Good luck, and post your thoughts after trying out a few places.
– Rick

Also check out the Mn. Trout Streams Forum. Those guys know the streams well and can lead you to many great shore fishing areas. Feel free to ask questions. Thanks, Bill

http://www.in-depthangling.com/forums/river/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=mntrout