Anyone ever gone fishing in Minnesota?

[Juniah87]

I remember a friend of mine (The union rep for WDFW hatchery specialist 2's) was in the process of moving her husband from somewhere in the northeast to Oregon, and they stopped to check out a couple of their hatcheries. We were shocked when we saw that their salaries were almost triple what we were making! They had a really cool publication (magazine) that the department put out that had fantastic photography in it. Was just curious, with the apparent amount of money they are funneling into their department of wildlife, is it reflected in their fishery? Are the fish bigger there? More abundant? Just curious because of their decent funding, I bet their fishery is pretty incredible. I'm referring more to lakes, but if you have any fishing experience from the state I'm curious as to what you thought of it.

[Fishin'Daze]

I usually travel back to SD every summer to visit family. My parents live on a border lake (SD-Minn) so I buy a SD and Minn license and fish in both states on various lakes. For starters their non-resident license is much cheaper than WA with no punch cards seems so simple. The lake fishing in Minn seems more exciting than WA because you can catch - in most lakes- walleye, white bass, pike, perch and carp - gives you more of a variety. All but the carp are good eating even the northern pike. I guess some eat the carp but we never do. The white bass, pike and carp usually put up a really fun fight as they are more aggressive and usually are larger. We normally catch 10-15 lb pike with some topping 20lbs - these fish are great fighters and really aggressive biters. The carp average 10, 15 sometimes over 20 lbs and when you hook one they always give you a powerful long battle. When I say hook in reality you usually snag the carp. This happens accidentally because usually we use spoons and with so many carp in the lakes your bound to bump into one.
Other than the great fishing the other attraction is the many lake to choose from and most are out in no-where land with hardly if any homes around and the lack of other fisherman and boats.
I always really look forward to my fishing when back to SD and Minn. Hope this gives you reason to one day experience the great fishing in the mid-west.

[Fishin'Daze]

I forgot to mention the large and small mouth bass fishing. The two lakes in mind are only about 20 min from my parents house. The one lake we primarily fish for large mouth (in the am only) we catch on average 30 to 40 (per fisherman) ranging from 1/2 to 5 or so lbs. Really great fishing it makes it tough to come back to WA and bass fish. In another lake we primarily fish for walleye - after are limits are reached - we head for an area and fish for small mouths. Here we catch and release one after another all averaging about 3-5lbs - no lie it's crazy fishing.
One other thought. Most fishing is done in the morning and/or the evening because of the heat. Unlike WA the sun usually shines and during the day it can get pretty hot. Alot of night fishing during the summers for walleye.

[Juniah87]

That is incredible, I hope I get to experience fishing in these areas some day. I bet it makes fishing in WA kind of disappointing, especially with the premium prices of the licenses! Thanks for the info Fishin'Daze!

P.S. I went to school with a guy from SD, and a dad and son duo from Minnesota that were going through classes at the same time. Didn't get to know them much as we were working different hatcheries while going through school, so it's cool to get some insight on the current state of fisheries in other parts of our country. Thanks!

[YellowBear]

I have family in Stillwater and St. Paul and when I go visit we hit some lakes and rivers in the area. The variety of species is killer. You can catch Burbot ,Pike, Panfish, Bass, Muskie Walleye, Sauger, Whitefish and Trout. The St Croix River even holds Sturgeon. The Panfish Walleye and Bass seem to run a bit smaller than the fish here but more of them and the Pike and Muskie make up for it. Seems like every pit pond and puddle holds fish.