Who says you can’t catch walleye around rochester

Had a young lady come into the shop today with a picture of the WALLEYE she caught out at Foster Arends yesterday……..Yep, Yep……after closer examination of the pic, I concluded that it was indeed a walleye and indeed caught at foster arends…….Looked to be a solid 23-24″er, if not more.

(so what do ya think Bill……..should we move the next club tourney form silver lake to Foster Arends )

Bring it up at the next club meeting Jake.
Thanks, Bill

walleye in foster????? how???? think somebody dumped it in or something? i’d like to see that pic for myself..

That brings about an interesting topic – how do those fish seem to continue to show up in Foster Arend’s or Lake Zumbro or some of the other lakes around the area?
Back when I was in my 20’s (a long time ago), I used to fish Foster Arends once in while before it was made public. It was full of fish including some walleyes, northerns, bass and panfish. Lake Zumbro used to be stocked by the DNR with walleyes, but has not been since some time in the 60’s I believe (it does have lots of northerns.)
So, why do these fish keep showing up? There is either some natural reproduction or some sort of midnight stocking program going on. Any other possibilities?

When I do hear of a walleye or northern being caught in one of these lakes that should not have them, it is almost always fairly large.

Good Fishing,
Mike

I had heard the story that Michaels Restaurant used to stock Foster Arend, before it became a public water. Foster was supposedly the source of the daily “catch of the day”.

I used to sneak in there and fish when I was a kid, before it was a public place. I don’t think sunnies and crappies were on their menu back then…but I could be wrong .

From my understanding is that Foster used to be privatley owned and the previous owner did indeed stock walleyes and northerns. I believe that most of the pits out in that area do still have some of those fish in it.
Bill, if I rember right, didn’t you and Nate know of the walleyes in the Fosters?
Jake, as we have learned of your masterful walleye skills , I still couldn’t see you catching a walleye even if it is at the cabelas’s fish tanks .
Aaron

I’m not going to be able to throw out driving directions right to the place but I know of one small lake / pond right on the edge of Rochester that is loaded with adult walleyes. Stewart and I have a buddy, Steve Swancutt, that has been taking his teenage kids and going to this little body of water every afternoon for quite some time and just having a blast on 15″ – 20″ fish. 15 – 20 fish in 2 – 4 hours has been common place. All released. Water clarity is very good and there’s some structure and depths in excess of 40′. This lake is ringed with houses… and we figure those that fish it have been focusing on sunnies and bass and have COMPLETELY over-looked the walleye fishery.

There’s some small little gems around Rochester that just don’t get talked about for obvious reasons. If there were some regs in place to protect these fish then maybe it could withstand a good deal more pressure but as it is right now, a lake like this gets “found” by someone willing to put in the time and then “mums the word” to avoid killing it due to overharvest.

I know of a place as well that has been stocked with walleyes by the local residents. It’s a private lake/pond. Could we be talking about the same place?

This place is restricted unless someone around the pond grants you access through their yard. Oddly enough it sounds like few to none of the residents around the lake know about the walleyes.

It’s amazing some of the info people are willing to share with a bait shop guy if he asks nicely ……..That being said, I know exactly the lake James is talking about. There is a guy that comes into the shop quite regularly (possibly steve?) that is catching and releasing walleyes out “there”. Unfortunatly, that lake is most definatly PRIVATE……you’ve gotta know somebody to fish in there (or at least “look” like you know somebody ).

But as far as the Foster Arends thing goes………I know the scuba divers claim to have seen numerous (at least 6-8) different pike and a couple walleyes in there. Mainly out in the deep 60′ areas and around the sunken digger.

But are there enough in there to naturally reproduce…….I doubt it…….Especially now that there’s one less

Its my understanding that the guy who use to own Foster Arends stocked it with alot of fish including walleye. Northern and bass were also some of the fish stocked and thats why every once in awhile you will see a big one caught. We are VERY fortunate to have all the bodies of water we have in this area and thats not even including the Mississippi River/Lake Pepin. We have a shore and wading fishermans paradise right here in this area plus bodies of water big enough for boats.
Thanks, Bill

Lake Zumbro definitely has a few walleye I caught one early into the ice season. and below the dam has a strong population that are easy to catch if you use a boat.

Lake Zumbro has been stocked every other year for the last 6 years with walleye fingerlings. Heard that some have grown up to 19″ and have been caught ice fishing this winter. Good to see that the DNR is stocking and they are staying alive. As for Fosters…have heard from the owner prior to it being made public that he stocked it with walleye. Either those are the same fish or there is some small breeding population left. Will have to find this private lake you guys are talking about!

its funny because I just drove by the described body of water with my 89 year old grandpa and he said “now there is a body of water with a ton of fish in it. To bad they don’t let anyone out there.” That is a big kick in the nads that they don’t let people out there or it is extremely difficult to do so.