White Bear

I just moved to MN and live in the Woodbury area, I had this summer to take the boat out a couple times on WBL and the St.Croix and was wondering if either of those places are good locations for trying to catch eyes through the ice? I never caught eyes on WBL this summer with the boat, probably only got out 5 times or so. I heard eyes are in there though. I also heard that there are some spots if you go north of Hudson on the St. Croix in the backwater channels that can potentially produce some eyes as well? If there are better lakes around the area rather than always having to travel up to Mille Lacs or Red that would make my life alot easier.

Appreciate the responses!

I have fished WBL a few times each winter, because it is close. It seems to be a better crappie and northern lake. There are walleyes in there, but i haven’t found anything consistent.

The St. Croix by Bayport is pretty fun to fish in the winter. You have to watch out for ice conditions a little (specially early). I can usually find a few walleyes there, but there is also a good hole for crappies and the sturgeon fishing is supposed to be really good there.

Last winter I started going up to Mille Lacs when ever I had the time, it is about an hour and a half drive for me, and if I have the whole day it is worth it.

copete44 I appreciate the response. Just from talking to other fishermen when I am out on the lakes around the area it sounds like it is tough to find walleyes except for on St. Croix when you hit it right. I may have to take a closer look into the Bayport area this winter once we get some longer snaps of cold weather to make better ice. I am not expecting to catch anything huge or large numbers around the area, but it would be nice to get some walleyes going out in the afternoon for a couple hours.

Yeah, i live in Cottage Grove and was thinking the same thing the last few years. I see people that can catch metro eyes, but it has been a challenge for me to figure it out. It just seems like too much pressure in the metro to find a consistent bite. If you have a whole day to fish, you can drive up to mille lacs and go out of Beachside Resort, it is pretty cheap to use their ice road and they will point you in the right direction. I have found some perch and consistent small walleyes at Bald Eagle around cigar island, and good crappies going out of Bellaire Beach on WBL.

Although I have never actually done it, people on here have posted that the best times to fish walleyes on White Bear is right during the middle of the night (1-4am). I think it has a lot to do with the amount of traffic and noise on the ice during the day.

Metro winter ‘eyes are very finicky. Your best bet to get some is early ice before the vehicle traffic comes out. Put a tip up out with minimalist setup on it (shiner minnow, treble hook, split shot on a fluoro leader).
Sunken rock humps or points at sunset are best.
Don’t go near it, just leave it be. The less noise and disturbance the better.

White Bear lake is super fun to fish in the winter. I call it “fishing the jungle”. You can sight fish crappies and gills in 15ft of water its that clear from being so choked out with weeds.

Copete44, I have driven past bald eagle multiple times and never really thought to stop and check it out. I too seemed to have a challenge when figuring out the walleye bite in the metro area. I crossed the border from Wisco and coming from over there I never really ran into highly pressured areas like I do in the east metro. The past 3 years I have an annual guys trip out of Red Door on the north side of Mille Lacs that has produced decent numbers and a couple of big boys as well. My goal this year is to learn the south side since I have only fished out of the north side of the lake. I will have to check out Beachside resort.

Gimruis, just from going out on WB during the summer and seeing all the boat traffic I can only imagine that the best time to fish walleyes on there would have to be after dark. I am thinking that there might be a few late nights this winter spent out there with some card games and a bottle to sip on!

Matt thanks for the advice, I never seen WB in the winter time yet so I can only imagine that there must be snowmobiles ripping across the lake at all times and fish houses everywhere? I am more of an eye fishermen but don’t mind getting some good action if the crappies are decent. This summer I never caught a crappie when fishing for them, I did run into some pretty big gills however on the northern end of the lake coming out of deep holes