New Spot?

For those of you that live in Rochester MN>……My sorces Have told me that they are catching …Bass Crappies…And Get this VERY LARGE NORTHERNS…below the damn at silver lake….DEfinately worth checking out after work….Let me know!!!!

Swany!
Yup a good spot indeed. However, and I am not trying to start anything, but it has always been a good place
to fish. It just doesn’t have the reputation as most. Silver lake itself has good crappie/bass fishing as well. NO ONE
fishes it! I haven’t in years. No motors allowed except for ski shows and boat practices etc. Go figure!???
Canoes are exceptable. I need to revisit the law for Silver Lake. ANyone no what it is as far as
fishing from a boat in a boat etc.? I bet a trolling motor would be legal. People would flip out if they witnessed fisherman on Silver lake fishing from
boats! I grew up a half block from Silver lake, spending almost everyday fishing it. Largemouth, Smallmouth, bluegill, sunfish,crappies, carp, catfish rumors of walleye
and northern. Definitely worth checking into!!!!!!!

Jim W

you got to be kidding me. how in the world could any fish other than a sucker survive in such a poop infested lake. who did you hear this from? are you sure that they are a reliable source or did they just hear it from sombody that heard it from somebody else? the only people that i see fishing out there are either little kids or folks that i don’t think speak english very well. neither of them would be considered reliable.

Below that dam has everything! A few years back I had a hell of a time with the smallies under the broadway bridge. With crappies very visible to the human eye. Also, down stream a bit, a buddie and myself caught some big, big channel cats down there. For norhterns, I would have no idea, but i do know that there are some huge carp down there so for you bow hunters out there get some bowfishing gear because that is a total blast.

Later————-> Lars

Jeeez, You know, I hope you don’t use that thought process when fishing or exploring new waters!?LOL
Have you ever fished Silver Lake “Jake”? Reliable sources? At least, Swany can post where he is
from in his profile?

I am guilty of not fishing Silver lake in a while. I do have a close friend who nailed the crappies, yes in Silver
Lake and landed a 4 pound largemouth this SPring! I have sucumbed to the stigma around fishing Silver Lake as you, but if you gave it a try, you
will be happily surprised. HEck I bet if we got enough interest in the fishing there, maybe the pendulum for the lakes management might swing in favor of fishing, rather
than a home for Canada Geese? I would think the City would benefit more from having it a fishing lake over a, as you refer to it as,
a “poop infested lake”?

Tourism? If I was visiting the Clinic, I probably look at the geese for 5 minutes then wonder, is there any fish in there? Well, yes there are. Again, it’s the stigma, and once I get over that, you’ll
see me down there along with the old people.

Oh well, many places to catch!

Jim W

Don’t forget about big walleye too! Check this out –> Silver Lake Walleye!

Years ago Nate use to fish Silver Lake and caught alot of nice bass and some panfish. There are some nice catfish holes down below the dam too in the area closer to the Dog Pound. Get down by Hy Vee area and you find alot of white bass or stripers and some smallmouth. A few years ago a very large crappie was caught at Silver Lake and it was put in the Fish and Game Finder. There are alot of fishing areas around Rochester that would surprise alot of people.

Dude, Silver Lake Is acually A man made lake, fed by the Zumbro River….Acually, It Is the Zumbro River …Just.DAMED UP!! kinda like the OLE’ MISSISSIPPI..On the Mississippi..not only geese, but ducks poop their too!!…LOL
Back in the ’60s and 70’s We caught all sorts of game fish .from sunnnies and gills to smallies…cats and rough fish..
I guess my focus is not on the lake its self but the water Above and below it…Before the flood control project went throughin the mid 80’s, and REALLY!! changed the coarse and topagraphy of the river that comes through town…Ive only found a few spots that hold the fish..instead of the old runs I I’m use to….And to hear…(And Now I’ve SEEN!!!) Northerns and Some Really Large Cats…Come From A spot In town thats only 10 Min. Away for most…WELL…..I”M EXCITED…….GEEZZ…Drive to the river after work for an hour….or hit the spot in town for my fishing fix……PLUS…ITS fun……GOOSE POOP OR NOT….
Anyway …For A quick fix in short time ..Silver lake…..And yes The Area by HY-VEE North is good….hit the holes….And bends in the Creek…Keep Going Up by Essex park..The Smallies and Crappies and Walleye/Sauger are more prevalent their as the flood control project left this part of the stream in its natural (WILD) State!!!!

Someone in town makes goose poop art..And makes a living doing so….GO FIGURE!!!!!

SWANY

EFN – PRO CHEF

I think Jake might just want to keep the secret to himself ??

your right. i guess you caught me. so much for that secret spot, i guess i’ll have to go find another one.

Really …give it a try….You don’t have to keep EM” Just Catch EM”

OK!!….Suddenly..(or not!)….There have been “alot” Of people fishing the “Spot” Below the damn…nice to see…Almost hard to get in…..So how’s the fishing?

See what happens when you put our seceret spots out for every one to see

anyone see the article in outdoor section of thursday post bulletin. it says they did a net survey of silver lake to determine fish populations. it said black and white crappies were the most abundant but the average size was only 6 inches. they won’t even put up a fight, will they . also said a few bluegills were found and they were between 4 to 6 inches. in the middle of the lake the most common fish were white sucker and redhorse, with a small number of northerns, all less than 20 inches.
those kind of numbers certaintly haven’t convinced me to go try it yet but if someone comes in with a good report from below the dam, who knows, you might see me out there some night.

Granted most crappies etc. in Silver Lake are small, however 1997 survey indicated that there are 15″-19″ crappies in Silver Lake! I,ve fished it a few times this year, caught a few crappies and bass nothing spectacular but I will fish it again.

Yes I caught that article..It also stated that they would also electroshock it this fall to check out the large mouth and smallie populations….But they are only checking it in silver lake “proper”..The largest and most diverse populations of game fish are below the dam….It feeds directly into lake Zumbro..which was also surveyed…and this is what they found in there….Lake Zumbro had northern pike, channel cats,white bass, yellow perch, drum, white suckers, redhorse, bluegills, and black crappies. The blue gill and crappie population appear stable and both species were large. Northen pike numbers have increased. many northerns were loner than 36 inches..I personaly have caught one that measured 46 & 3/4 in…They aslo trapped 5 muskies ranging from 11 to 35 inches…the lake (and river feeding) it from the dam at silver lake also has a healthy population of large and small mouth bass……..As I’m sure they will find out this fall when they do there electro shocking studies….

And only minutes from town…..TOO…COOL!!!!!!

SWANY

I forgot to mention the 4 Lb Walleye my younger bro caught a few years back…….Fishing smallies …some where below the dam…!!!!!

All this talk about fishing in Rochester finally got to me. I went out for about an hour tonight hoping to get into a few bass. But all I caught was about 25 bluegills and crappies. The bluegills were about 4 to 7 inches and the crappies were all about 6 to 9 inches. They were just inhaling my berkley Tournament Strength leach which was about 3 1/2″ to 4″ long. Some of the bluegills didn’t even get hooked. They had chomped down on the bait so hard that they were just holding on to the leach with their mouth. And then even as I tried to get my plastic leach back they still wouldn’t let go. I was fishing the first set of rapids below the dam with a 16th ounce jig and the plastic leach. Just letting it drift and sit on the bottom was the key for me. The bluegills and crappies were either directly in the rapids or just on the outside of the current breaks. All in all it was a good time !!!!!!!!
Jim L

Berkley ; “Fish Bite and won’t let go”!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad to see you had some fun there Jimmy, Try out by Hy-Vee north next time….Just look for the holes and ….hold on…Better yet,I have a short day tommorow…Done around 12…1 pm..You Wana?….

Sounds good buddy !!!! I will send you a pm on going.
Jim L

Yes Jim L and I went out to one of my favorite holes down from Silver Lake,On the Zumbro River. We got into all sorts of smallmouth bass, fishing 1/8 to 1/4 oz. Jigs Tipped with superdoo’s and shad bodies. The shad bodies were fishing a little better than the superdoo’s but both caught us many smallies in the 1/2 to 1 1/2 pound range. Best colors were the ones that mimicked crawfish. On light tackle and slip bobbers tipped with minnows I also landed some average sized crappies,and on a 3 way set up we got into some VERY nice channel cats. All in All it was A VERY FUN TRIP!!! and only 5 minutes from the house.(Maybe 10)

Now I heard from a few of you last night to please NOT post where this fishing is taking place. WHY NOT It is not my intention to give excat hole locations but to let everyone know that there is a very good (Bass,Catfish,Panfish..ECT.) fisherie right here in our backyards..Its called the Zumbro River, If you haven’t fished it for awhile..Or are new to the area check it out.

And last And most importantly Practice Catch And Release Its ok to take some home for a meal now and then but what you release today will be another fishermans thrill tommorow..

It was a great time Swany. Thanks for the trip. Next time though we will have to see if we can’t locate a few eyes to go with the mix bag. I had asked quite a few people whom live in Rochester if there was any fish in the lake or river and most of them said no. But after yesterday I know different now. Thanks Swany for the great time and we will have to hit it again…sometime really soon!!!!
Jim L

finaly got a chance to get down below the damn on sunday evening. i didn’t have my fishing pole so i couldn’t fish but beening that i’ve never been down there i was just seeing what it looked like. it didn’t look like to bad of a spot other than there where quiet a few people fishing. i talked to probably 4 different groups of people to see how they were doing. not a single one had caught a single fish. many were using spinners and cranks and many were using live bait. this news was somewhat dissapointing. what i did see though where a lot of carp and other rough fish. my question is does anybody know if it is legal to bow fish inside the city limits i have the equipment but i have never had the guts to try it. i called the dnr in rochester and they told me to call the main information center in the cities. i did and they told me that it was a county ordinence and to call the county sheriff. so i called the sheriff and they said they didn’t know off the top of their head but they would get back to me yeah right, doubt that’s gonna happen.

if anybody knows if this is legal i think this would be a great spot to try if i won’t go to jail for it.

Glad to see you made the effort to check it out jake! Don’t be discourage though, with the mega rains we got on fri nite/ sat morn. the river was running high and dirty…two bad things for this streach.As for bow fishing it is ILLEGAL to discharge a bow or gun in the city limits.(a ordinance they passed in the 80’s) Even for practice into your own garage or backstop in the yard. They do bow fish carp and other critters below the dam at Lake Zumbro And the dam in Oronoco….Keep the faith..Go farther down stream from the crowds..And you may reap the benifts of the ZUMBRO….BROTHA!!!

ANy one ever get info on the regs for boating Silver Lake? I now these regs are or should be out dated.
Last I knew no gas motors allowed. SO if anyone knows this info or a more direct route(than the one I am about
to pursue)in gathering it, I and others would appreciate it.

Keep the rods bendin’!!! (that’s what it’s all about)

Jim W

NO GAS MOTORS…As for A trolling motor..They don’t even know…(LOL)..ITs best fished with a canoe…Its shallow…8-10 ft…and not very large, so a canoe would be more than enough. if you fish the “lake” start up by the bridge nearest the fire station…Find the channel and follow it out and through the lake…Should be pretty easy…..

Happy rod bending

SWANY

Swany,
There are a ton of spots to fish on SIlver lake. ANy shore run with fallen timber/brush etc. holds crappies
sunnies and bass most of the year. In my youth, I knew every square inch of the shore line fishing it all the
way around. Since the Flood project, things might have changed. There use to be a discharge by the firestation with
outflow from the power plant. That was the most sure fire spot. Also, if you recall, there use to be a dam(no longer)
adjacent to the power plant. That held some good fish as well. SInce that has been removed who knows the sspots on up?
IHave heard great reports from the dam by Econo foods for smallmouth and spots hear and there, but the is a mere reflection of low
fishing pressure.

ANyway as soon as my son can cast, I’ll be getting back to hitting the Upper Zumbro and Silver lake!!!!!

Jim W

anybody been fishing the strech below the dam lately? my sports biology class is taking a canoe/fishing trip down it starting from the rec. center to 75th street next. i think we’re mainly going to be going for smallies but if something else has been bitting on something different i might try it. just wanted to find out what’s been working so i can show up the teacher.

That will be a very good fish for you jake…Pay real close attention to the “holes” you will see on the trip downThere is a lot of “slack water” but as you find the rapids that feed the holes, spend some time fishing those as they are few and far between…As for What kinda fish?…My LIL BRO is President of a local trout unlimited group around these parts. He Has seen all the posting going on about the Northerns around here latley…so he spooled up a reel…and checked it out yesterday
(Wed the 4th)….5 confermed Northerns and enough “bite offs” to make him switch from raps to spinners..(the spinners cost less)…LOL…I warned him but he didn’t belive?..Personaly I have done very well on the smallies with a 1/8 oz. jig and superdoos…Orange / black…and also shad bodies…It’s a big crawfish stream…so using those colors seem to work the best.If you can swing the canoe around and fish these “holes…Well you should see some of what I’ve been posting about…Good luck and Give us a post on how you do

SWANY

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