The” Kid” In All Of Us………

There is a” kid ”in all of us that wants to fish more often, catch more fish, learn new fishing techniques, learn more fishing spots, and have more fun. Now that fall is here the daylight hours are getting shorter which means less fishing time after work/school before it gets dark. Everyday alot of us drive by a small stream, small river, a gravel pit, or a small lake. With limited daylight hours in the evenings, yet still needing that ”fishing fix’, ‘ it is time to take a closer look at those near by waters we pass up most of the time. Everyone has a certain place that they have done some fishing on whether by boat or shore that they could share about. What kind of place [river, stream, pit, lake] do you fish when you only have a short time to wet a line? What techniques do you use on that body of water? What are some of the characteristics of that body of water? What type/kind of equipement works best for you when fishing there? There are alot of different kinds of bodies of water around Rochester and also around where you may live so we all can share about our own bodies of water. Names or spots aren’t important if you don’t want to give ”your spot” away. Just descrbing that kind of spot and how it is fished will do fine. Sharing the different opportunies we have will help to open up new places and ways to fish and help us to all better enjoy our favorite passtime of fishing. Thanks in advance for sharing and helping each of us to be able to enjoy fishing some close by waters during limited hours to fish. Thanks, Bill

The Zumbro River flows through the land east of Hy-Vee North in Rochester and has some nice bends, holes and shallows that can be fished from shore. Casting spinners or jigs and plastics or even jigs and livebait will catch you small mouth bass and stripers. It close, easy to get at, and makes for a fun evening before dark. Thanks, Bill

Thank you for the info on the Zumbro River! I’ll give it try just to the North of Essex Park very soon and let you know how it goes.

Ken

Ok guys, not trying to sound like I fish all these spots on a regular basis, but here is what I remember about some of them:

Good old Silver Lake: you can fish pretty much anywhere and catch bullheads. There are a few spots by the dam and by the stone bridges that hold crappies (once in a while you will get a 2 lb. crappie). There are also northerns in Silver Lake! You can catch them all over, but the bridges and points are the likely spots. There are also both smallmouth and largemouth bass in the likely looking spots as well as along the riprap by the 7th street bridge. Don’t forget about the sunfish. There are monster carp that will test your equipment. Hard to believe, but Silver Lake is really a very good fishery!

The sand pits by Country Club Manor are often overlooked because access is questionable, but you can get to them from the 2nd street area by the Mayo parking lot. There are lots of very nice bass, and good crappie and sunfish.

Chester Woods will produce the next state record bluegill in the next couple of years! It’s full of bluegill, bass, crappie, and catfish. Many of these fish are really big and at times they are easy to catch, so lets remember to use catch & release as much as possible.

The Boy Scout Camp lake has lots of panfish and some very big largemouth bass.

Willow Creek impoundment has lots of panfish and bass.

Foster/Arends Lake is known as a “put and take” trout fishery, but it also has potential state record bass swimming in it, not to mention a very few walleyes and northern. It also has lots of panfish.

Lake Zumbro is one of the best kept secrets around! Lake Zumbro has everything that the Mississippi has except walleye/sauger. It has very large size and numbers of Northern, Musky, Crappie, Sunfish, Catfish, Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Striped Bass, Perch, Carp, Suckers, and a few others. Did you know that a state record sunfish was caught in Lake Zumbro?

Many areas of the rivers and streams that run through and around Rochester hold a variety of species. The Zumbro below the Silver Lake dam has crappie, catfish, bullheads, northern, walleye/sauger, sunfish, carp, and a few others. The Root River south of Rochester has a lot more than trout. It has some deeper pools that hold good populations of sauger. The Zumbro River between the dam and Milville has good population of Musky’s, walleyes/sauger, bass, trout, smalllmouth and many others.

So, who cares to add to this list? Anyone got reports of other areas?

Good Fishing,

Mike

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Foster/Arends Lake is known as a “put and take” trout fishery, but it also has potential state record bass swimming in it, not to mention a very few walleyes and northern.

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that’s interesting mike, i’ve fished foster arends a lot and never heard of anyone ever catching a walleye or northern, but i can see how a few could hide out in the middle of the pit and never be caught

that’s a good list you got going there. there’s definatly no reason you have to drive down to the mississippi to catch big fish. anytime i drive by the zumbro and i’ve got 15-20 mins to spare, i’ll stop and throw in a line. usually a jig or a rap will catch you a smallmouth under any bridge or hole.

lake zumbro is a great fishery if you can’t stand the thought of fishing off shore. you never now what your going to catch in there. there are tons of fish, some very large ones. i know that people claim there are big musky in there, but i’ve never heard of or seen any pictures of one. has anyone else actually seen a photo of a lake zumbro musky?? i know the DNR has stocked it with fingerling musky before because i caught 6 of them this spring. so sooner or later there should be some bigger ones coming out of there.

Hey Jake,

How’s the college life going?
Any walleye or northern in Foster/Arends Lake are very rare, but I did hear of a walleye caught there not very long ago. I think they must be left over from what Mr. Arends put in there or else the product of someone’s midnight stocking program?
I know of a few 40+ inch musky’s caught in Lake Zumbro and several above 40 inches below the dam and on the stretch of river from the dam to Zumbro Falls. Makes me want to go try for them, but I never seem to find the time.

Good Fishing,
Mike

Hey Kenjack, Hy-Vee North is south of there a ways but that area can be good too from what I’ve heard but I don’t know about how flat the land is in that area as you get further north of there. Keep us posted. Thanks, Bill

Hey Jake, Years ago when Foster Arend was privately owned it was stocked with alot of fish including walleyes, bass and northerns. So there are some leftovers in there so to speak that have been returned after being caught and probably some that haven’t been caught yet too. In the winter time there use to be a guy who lives in the Twin Cities [use to live in Rochester] who drives down to Foster Arends on weekends with his ice trap ice house just to catch northerns. Don’t know if he still comes down or not as I haven’t been out there as much as I use to. That lake is so deep that theres a ton of places to roam around in and not get caught. Thanks, Bill

Thanks Mike [alias Rochester Area Waters Guru], Thats alot of info. Word was correct that you have fished these Rochester Area Lakes/Rivers for 40 years. That probably put you in at about 39 huh! You can also catch bass below the dam at Mayowood and along that stretch of river. Just west of the Dog Catcher place you will find the Zumbro River and just north of the bridge at Elton Hills there is a little platform and there is a hole in that area that holds catfish.

If you are lucky enough to know someone who lives at Lake George in Rochester [private lake for homeowners who live there only] there are some really big gils and bass in that lake. Gee Mike, come spring when you have more time [hopefully] you and I are going to have to go do some fishing. There is alot more I’d like to learn about these lakes. One can never know enough you know. Knowledge is the key, along with some good fishing toys like the ones found at your store, and we all need more of both. In fact, speaking of toys from your store, I have been doing some thinking and I’m going to play a little fun/learning game that I’ll share soon. Anyone else care to share? Thanks, Bill

hey mike,

college life’s going good, thanks for askin. i make sure to get my fair share of fishin in.

when you said there were walleye and northern in foster the first thing that came to my mind was “someones midnight stocking program”.

i thought i heard of someone catching a 8# walleye below the silver lake dam one time, but that almost had to be a mississippi transfer fish. it could be just a rumor too.

i’m glad to hear that you’ve heard reports of a few big musky roaming lake zumbro. i always thought it was those darn hammer handle slimmers biting off all my crappie jigs. now i’m sure they were all 40″ muskies . i guess i knew there were a few that roam below the dam………. i’ve had more jigs bitten off in that strech, i was bound to get lucky and hook one in the corner of the mouth at some point

Now I know what your Dad is sending you to college for-Catching fish!!! Figure it out, never saw a pic of you holding big fish til you went to college. Now you are at college and these pics show up of big fish. Do you ever open a text book or is your education ”hands on” learning only? lol. Keep em comin Bud. Thanks, Bill

true true

When I was old enough to drive my buddies and I would grab a couple cans of sweet corn and head to the dam below Lake Zumbro. We would throw out a handful of corn, put about 6 kernels on a size 1 hook with an egg sinker, cast out and lean your pole on a “Y” stick and sit back. May times we would have to run out into the water after our poles with a 5 pound carp on the other end. We always seem to get steady action and would occassionally throw a spinner and catch a smallie, northern, or a walleye as well. When my son was born (quite a few years later) we would carp fish below the dam on father’s day. Those big carp put up a heck of a fight!