Favorite Metro area lake?

Which lake is your favorite metro area lake? It doesnt have to be the best fishery, or secret honey-hole.. just that lake around or near town you like to spend occassioanal outings on over the course of the year.

Anyone who follows the forums knows that I am the *river* guy. I spend a ton of time on pool 1 and 2 of the Mississippi river chasing catfish, or walleyes in the prime seasons here and there. I dont think I have talked about the metro lakes until the recent Calhoun report.

My favorite metro lake has to be Lake Calhoun overall with lake Harriet coming in for a close 2nd place. Calhoun is a great fishery located very close to home for me, and it always has the capability to produce some decent fish, even from shore on a quick outing. Walking the west and east shoreline throwing a spinnerbait in the morning or afternoon hours usually produces something, often a mixed bag of decent northerns, a musky here and there.. or pesky bass. Walking the shoreline at night tossing rapalas or jigs can put a few walleyes on the end of the line. A lighted bobber with a leech or fathead can be productive on the docks or a couple different shorline locations and a good way to relax in the evening after work for many people. The musky fishing is decent. I have caught plently of big tigers out of there, and some pure strain of all shapes ad sizes…

Fishing potential is always there, and good days do happen. Other days its tough to buy a bite, let alone catch what you are targeting. In a boat, its very easy to get lost in all the endless structure. Calhoun is probably the most challenging lake I know of in the state. Its close to home, its interesting to fish, and the rewards can be high. I dont know of anyone out there who has fished it that doesnt come back.

What are some of your favorite lakes? (you dont have to ramble on like I do )

I don’t get over to the west side of the cities much, so I like to fish Bald Eagle the most of any Metro lake since I’m in the northeast corner. You can catch nice sized pike, muskie, walleyes and bass there. I occasionally ice fish there too for crappies and sunfish. I fish the rivers more than the lakes too, but If I want to go out for couple hours on a lake then Bald Eagle usually fits the urge. I fished Medicine once last summer and was impressed with what we caught there too for my first time on the lake. I might be fishing that lake a few more times in the near future.

Dave — You know which lake I like, although I have not fished there in a while. NOKOMIS. Big small mouth, big tigers and big eyes. My last outing there was in June(pathetic-it’s only 2 blocks from home!!)and if I remember correctly, we hooked up at the dam after. I caught a 24″ eye and 13 smaller ones, not to mention a 4lb smallmouth and a handful of bullheads(bait )-all in an hour and a half-from shore! Not much structure on Nokomis so it’s easy to fish.

Minnetonka!!!!!

Love working all the structure on the lake. There is everything any type of fisherman would want to chase and every method/technique has a home on that water.

I could hammer Minnetonka a full week and not have to hit the same spot twice to find muskies!

TONKA! Mid Summer slob LM, spring smallies, And some Skis that can eat both.

Heck… Take your pick in the winter. Pannies, eye’s, pike. All can be found in good numbers and there’s usually a spot away from the crowds.

The only issue is all the Tuna’s and Jet skis in the summer. IMHO!

Beave, your right on that, Nokomis gets the nod. Of course living near it doesn’t hurt and maybe biased in a way, but it is a nice fishery. If boating it really is a plus when it comes to launching, hard to do it thru three lanes of bikers, skateboarders, walkers, runners, and such at harriet or calhoun.

Living in the south metro, I’ve mainly fished down there, for eyes I’d have to say Bylessby, for panfish I’d Spring or Prior, for cat’s I’d say Cannon river or Bylessby. Shore fishing I’ve had luck shore fishing the Cannon river & the Vermillan river for Trout.

beave & Bob Moore…

I hope to get over to Nokomis very soon and find a good bite to get a report up. I can say for the record… beave can catch a number of really big walleyes in a hurry when they are going on Nokomis on his 5/8 oz, musky size 1986 glow in the dark Jig-A-Whopper!

It used to be fun watching the other ice fishermen walking by as we often sat less than 20′ from shore(in 6′-8′ fow) catching huge walleyes(beave caught most). They wouldnt even look to see if we were catching anything and head out to deeper water for the crappies, and hope for a walleye.

I fish Nokomis a lot in the summer months, most often for bait(bullheads) on the way to the river in the afternoon, some days I catch just as many walleyes ranging from 12″-24″ dragging a leech across the bottom casting from shore. I agree, its a good lake, and a great lake for shore fishermen because the majority of the action is tight to shore. Pulling cranks in the middle of the night can also be productive.

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beave can catch a number of really big walleyes in a hurry when they are going on Nokomis on his 5/8 oz, musky size 1986 glow in the dark Jig-A-Whopper!

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And to this day I swear by those 5/8 oz, Musky sized, 1986 glow in the dark Jig-a-Whoppers.

Coon Lake. For no other reason than, once a large Pike is on the line… those things like to fight. Besides for musky fishing, this is as close as you an get to ocean fishing in MN!

I’m with Gary. Minnetonka has it all when it comes to Metro fishing. Big musky and pike, big bass, big walleyes and if you work at it the biggest panfish around. Plenty of structure and spots to fish. Minnetonka really is a bunch of interconnected lakes all of them different in one way or another and requiring different tactics. Best challenge around and very rewarding to those who spend their time to learn it.

I also have some smaller lakes that I fish a lot but I am not giving up the names

I love to hit the C&R bass lakes. They get little pressure and are a ton of fun.

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And to this day I swear by those 5/8 oz, Musky sized, 1986 glow in the dark Jig-a-Whoppers.

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Beave, I am not sure you have changed your line, or taken that glow Jig-A-Whopper off you ice rod since 1986.. ok, I’m exaggerating(sp?) a bit, but I know you were using it in 1989-1990ish, and were still doing well in the mid 90’s

Bass Lake in the west Metro.

If your willing to put in the effort of walking a small boat in the reward is well worth it.

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I also have some smaller lakes that I fish a lot but I am not giving up the names

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Kinda like a little “un-named” muskie brute pond where videos are taken??????

Maybe you don’t know? I’ll be quiet!!!!!!

I know. There is another lake with no public access that holds some big muskies out here in the west too but I no longer pester those girls. There’s this certain musky that hangs around my dock in the summer that gets all my musky fishing time. Easily the state record. This summer might be the year! If not her there is another over by Crane and then there is the one over by….. well Tonka has enough to keep me busy. Now if you want to chase some toothy critters up on Mille Lacs you might get me off Tonka. I caught a very nice pike fishing with James this fall and we weren’t even trying. Imagine what could happen if you actually went after pike in the fall on the big pond

Ya know, not too far to the “west” of you, is my favorite spot on that whole lake!

You and I got to schedule a full weekday out there this summer!!!!

Let me know when. You’ll feel right at home. I bought Kootys old boat as I totaled mine hitting an object on Pool 4 early one November morning. Dean and Dustin got a kick out of the gaping hole in my bow.

The Chisago lakes area for bass(if you can call that metro), and Bald Eagle and White Bear for Muskies…however, this summer I want to make a point to try and start learning Minnetonka, and the MPLS lakes

KeepCasting!
If you want to do some trip-swapping in regards to muskie fishing this summer, let me know.

I’ve never bothered with Bald Eagle and WBL for ski fishing. Some say I’m missing out, but I keep getting sucked back to Minnetonka.

So, if you would like, I’ll show you Tonka, if you show me WBL and Bald Eagle?

Mark;
I heard you had a “boo-boo” with the Alumnacraft!
Glad to hear you didn’t get hurt!

I could honestly camp out for about 5 hours, all within about 1 mile of your house! You have some serious big muskies in your next of the woods!

Gary, works for me…Bald Eagle is a terrific lake to see a few fish but the fish are on the smaller side (43″ is my best, have seen fish into the 45-46″ range)…White Bear has 50″ers swimming in it but can be VERY tough at times…

Lake Harriet has LOTS of big muskies in it. It’s been seeing a lot of regular pressure over the last 10 years now, but its still a good musky lake. I have a handfull over 50″ out of there, and my largest at 54″. The muskies are getting *educated* in there at the same time. Its still easy to get follows, but harder to connect with the big fish. I connect with more muskies these days trolling shad raps for walleyes.

Lake Calhoun is still the best place for big Tigers even though the population has dropped some(many fish made peoples walls). Every year for many years I seen lots of tigers in the 48″ class caught and released by regulars. In Calhoun the big Pike are coming back also. I have seen several in the last 5 years over 40″, and lots of fish in the 10# class. The size structure has definately imprved in recent years. In the late 70’s, Calhoun was well known for 20# pike here and there, its capable of producing big fish.

I definately owe Gary a trip or 2!

I edited my post.. I later realized I gave credit to te wrong person, but Gary is welcome in my boat any day! This is proof that anyone with blonde hair(me) should drink a substancial amount of coffee in the morning(me) before making too many statements

Right on Dave. Last time I was on Harriet(in the boat) I had my camera with and was trolling the weedline by the launch. I was watching the screen more than paying attention to my line – watching the Musky(s) eating the panfish. There were, at one point, 3 nice skis in sight on the screen!! Any way, I was set up for Walleye trolling a modified spinner/phelps floater with a jumbo leech about 10″ off the bottom when I hit what I thought was Milfoil until it started peeling out line.
I fought that fish with my 6lb test for nearly 20 minutes before I got a look at him WOW.. Back down he went. After another 6-8 minutes I had him next to the boat. He was way to big for my little walleye net,(he would have bitten right through it anyways) so I tried to cradle him-no luck. Fought for a few minutes and got him next to the boat again, Grabbed my line, set the rod down and grabbed that sucker ….All the sudden applause broke out I turned around and about 40-50 people had stopped to watch the battle. I didnt realise how close to the shore I had drifted. So I held the monster over my head briefly so everyone could see it, then measured it the best I could without a tape,(from the top of my ear to an inch below the scar on my knee=49″++)and released it back into the lake. I ended up maxing out on Crappie & Bass
plus that Muskie before I even made it out to my “secret” walleye hole. Harriet is a pretty darn good fishery

PS: If you want musky on Harriet-fish for Walleye, I can’t count the # of times I’ve been bitten off while fishing walleye on that lake

Let’s go!!!!!

There are some really great Metro lakes and I’d probably say Minnetonka is my favorite. But what keeps me leaving town more than anything is jets taking off and landing, horns honking, sirens going off, and the whole urban atmosphere. I’ve been lucky to spend a lot of time in the BWCA and Canada. It kind of spoils you having all that peace and scenery.

dd

If we are talking musky lakes we’ll need to add Indy to the list. Not a big fish lake but you can get multiple musky days with some nice 40″+ fish. Nothing like pulling out a 44″ ski from just outside that camp swimming area and watching the kids in the lake swim for shore

Next time, release the fish right next to them!

The good Lord would have competetion on not being alone for walking on water!!!!

I like Harriet, but Calhoun is a close second. I caught my biggest green carp as Dave likes to call them on Calhoun. This fall I hit Harriet a lot in the morning before work. It’s a nice way to start your day, although I haven’t exactly had a lot of success at the lakes. I know the potential for a big fish is better than a lot of metro lakes though.

I’ve been doing a lot of Scouting this winter at some of the “ponds” around town. I know some of these have to produce decent fish and but fly under the radar.

Of course pool 1, 2 and the Minnesota is where I usually go.

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It kind of spoils you having all that peace and scenery.

dd

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You are right with the jets(some lakes are loud), the sirens a person gets used to coming down lake street(I think some of these are just practice runs?)… now the scenery, its not the same as canada or the bwca, but its not *unpleasent* in the warmest summer months