Rochester Area Reserviors

There are ALOT of small reserviors, rivers, and lakes all around Rochester that are nice for fishing. Some have names and others don’t. They have bluegills, crappies, and some even have warmouths and perch in them. And then there are some that have trout, bass, northerns, musky, carp, catfish and the list goes on. Some of the bodies of water have very little structure and others will have some points, drop offs and even some humps and channel like indents in the reservior bottom. Both waxies and minnows will work well for getting these fish to bite along with worms and leeches in warmer weather. There are so many different bodies of water around here that we have a meca of small lakes [reserviors] to chose from. We have the option of being able to get to a body of water when we can only fish for a couple hours or if we are able to fish all day. So many choices, so little time. This past weekend I fished a, new to me, reservior and it was fun. Trying different bodies of water means we learn new things. Thats good for us. We have a ”small water meca” right in our own backyard. Get out and enjoy what the Rochester area provides for fishing. You will be glad you did. I look forward to reading about your fishing outting.
Thanks, Bill

Bill- It would be helpful to post some of these for us to see. I am aware of Willow Creek, Gamehaven, Foster Arends, Chester Woods, and Country Club Manor pits. (my favorite is closed right now- Silver Creek ) What else is there?

Why is it when I drive by silver creek there’s always someone fishing it? if it’s closed. Is it only open to a few? Doug

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Bill- It would be helpful to post some of these for us to see. I am aware of Willow Creek, Gamehaven, Foster Arends, Chester Woods, and Country Club Manor pits. (my favorite is closed right now- Silver Creek ) What else is there?

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Rochester Area Lakes, Reserviors, and Lakes

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Why is it when I drive by silver creek there’s always someone fishing it? if it’s closed. Is it only open to a few? Doug

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There are people that are fishing there. It’s a long story and I am not advising anyone to go there, but there are people going out there. Sure hope the law enforcement authorities do not start writting tickets for no tresspassing violations…..

Good Fishing,
Mike

Perhaps this forum will be more conducive to intelligent discussion than one on another website.

One, the State of MN has authority over the use of public waters, local agencies do not. Two, Silver Creek and Silver Creek Reservoir(SR-2) are public waters. The property surrounding SR-2 is owned by the City of Rochester who shares Authority of the land with other agencies of the Zumbro Joint Powers Board. The Joint Powers Board does not have the authority to regulate the use of public waters. They only have authority to regulate the land surrounding the lake. Haverhill Township, a member of the Board, has opposed allowing access to the lake via the surrounding property. I have, today, requested official comment of the DNR regarding accessing the lake.

Here it is!

—–Original Message—–
From: Craig Blommer [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 10:14 AM
To: Moore, David
Cc: Suellen Rau
Subject: Fwd: Public Water Law

David,
I am responding to your e-mail you sent to our info center regarding
access to the Silver Creek Reservoir.
The simple answer is yes, Silver Creek Reservoir is public water.
Provided you can access the water without trespassing and you don’t walk
around the shore land of the lake. To legally access the reservoir you
would have to walk up (*or down) Silver Creek.
The attachments should help explain.

Thanks.

>>> Joel Wagar 01/27/06 9:30 AM >>>
This attachment is from our website. In addition the Permit that was
issued for construction of the Dam at SR-2 contains the following
language:

“Any extension of the surface of said waters resulting from work
authorized by this permit shall become protected waters and left open
and unobstructed for use by the public.”

Let me know if you need anything else.

* I added “or down” as water flows downstream into the lake from the public road. The attachment was a synopsis of water access rules and precedence.

Where is the controversial Silver creek resevior located?

It is located on Silver Creek road off county road 11, east of Rochester.
I have been in favor of getting this open and have attended a meeting of the joint powers board. The board approved a lot of money to build an access road and parking lot on public land away from any private property. Unfortunately the township board has refused to budge. I really don’t know why the joint powers board does not overrule the township on this? The only member on the joint powers board that has worked hard to get this open is Pat Carr – at least that I am aware of. Some DNR employees have also expressed their opinion that this should be open to the public.

Good Fishing,
Mike

Ditto what HOF said on location. It seems every ice fishing season controversy arises. As Mike said the land around it is controlled by the Joint Powerboard, and accessing the reservior on land is ILLEGAL as Bogsucker posted. THe only way to access legally is through wading though the feeder creek THE WHOLE TIME.

I personally will not fish this body of water. One of the reasons is because as Mike said there have been efforts to obtain public land access and I feel the Township will maintain their resistence if they continue to see people out there now.

Another reason I won’t fish it is the average person who drives by seeing people out on the ice probably doesn’t know how to access it legally. As a result, I think it will encourage one to access it illegally and I don’t want to be responsible for that.

Besides there are too many other great fisheries around Rochester to fish.

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I really don’t know why the joint powers board does not overrule the township on this? The only member on the joint powers board that has worked hard to get this open is Pat Carr – at least that I am aware of. Some DNR employees have also expressed their opinion that this should be open to the public.

Good Fishing,
Mike

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Mike,

It is my understanding that the public access didn’t go through because of some zoning issues controlled by the township. Maybe that is part of the reason the Joint Powerboard couldn’t go ahead with it because they didn’t have the power to change the zoning status. I’m sure there are other issues as well, but this might be one of them.

SBR It, you are correct about the zoning issue. The Board would need a permit to build a parking area and that would be under the jurisdiction of Haverhil Township zoning. Maybe if enough people park along the road and access the lake legally the township will realize the need for a parking area.

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Mike,

It is my understanding that the public access didn’t go through because of some zoning issues controlled by the township. Maybe that is part of the reason the Joint Powerboard couldn’t go ahead with it because they didn’t have the power to change the zoning status. I’m sure there are other issues as well, but this might be one of them.

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That may be the case. I did get the impression that the joint powers board has the power to do what they want, but refuses to overrule the township board.

I have to give Pat Carr some credit. He suggested that maybe the people from that township ought to pay for the right to use the roads and other facilities when they come into Rochester.

It seems to revolve around political games, and maybe I do not have a full grasp on all the issues.

I have decided not to fish there until it is opened to the public. Hopefully that will happen soon.

Good Fishing,

Mike