DL area trout?

[Whelen35]

I have not fished for trout since I lived in ID and now again I am getting the bug. My wife and I just purchased a camper and have it in the DL area, and I was wondering if there are any good trout areas that are close by. I have read that there are some, but I don't know of any personally. I keep telling my 8 year old son that trout are great fun to catch, but with my work it is hard to find time in the summer. Any help to get me headed in the right direction would be great, Thanks.

[bucktail]

Whelen
Bad Medicine Lake can be very good for trout. Long Lake in Itasca state park can also be good. As far as stream trout, I am not sure of any rivers around DL that have trout.

[JOSHF]

Try fishn' For trout on Hanson Lake which is about straight east of Cotton by DL. Troll some small rapala like cranks around or small spoons cast or trolled work well also. For kids, A slip bobber with a crawler and a marshmallow work great too. Also Meadow lake has a bunch of Rainbows and browns in it they run much smaller out there than Hanson and are a little bit trickier to catch but are better eating but not as good as the ones out of Bad Medicine.

[Jim W]

Whelen,
Hop over to that forum and throw that question at Paul Rohwellar!!!

Jim W

[Paul Rohweller]

Hi Whelen,
I spend my precious trout time on bad medicine lake. The info joshf handed out is good. We dont have a ton of trout oppertunitys here but good enough to keep it interesting. I mostly pull downriggers with cowbells. Very few "a river runs thru it" type experiences. Also do some bobber fishing but for me the downriggers work best.Feel free to give me a call if you need more! Paul

------------------
Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387
N.P.A.A. 425
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[Guest]

well im doin some fly fishin and have found rainbows on bass lake in maplewood state park, and brown trout up on the straight river.

[Wall Eye]

Hey BBQ Warrior,

I had my first fly fishing experience in Montana last summer and really enjoyed it. I was wondering if there were any places around here to fly fish and then saw your post. Would you share any information about Bass lake in Maplewood? Do you fish from shore with waders? Any special flies that work, etc.? Like I said, I'm a novice at fly fishing, but totally enjoyed the experience, so any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[Guest]

yeah wall eye,
Bass lake is next to beers lake in Maplewood state park (dont get confused Bass Lake = trout and Beers Lake = Bass and Pike)

Maplewood is located about 15 miles east of pelican rapids or about 1.25 hours from Fargo, ND.

Best bet is to use a Float Tube or rent one of the canoes there, I believe a canoe is about $7 for 1/2 day.

Daytime fish a F/ST or a S Line, you can use a Full Floating line with a weighted clouser minnnow. During the day they have been holding a little deeper, and I have had decent luck with a hand tied wooly bugger of sorts on a floating line with about 9 feet of leader and tippet

Evening to sundown try a #20 grey midge, get her out there and after the cast let it sit for about 15 seconds or so, and then just give it a twitch every 15 seconds or so.
also try other dry surface flies. A mayfly or dragonfly impersonator works well in this area.

Also I have a 8 weight setup that I use on beers lake for bass and pike, clouser minnows and dahlberg divers do well, but if your fishin for pik beware it gets expensive, because them toothy critters will destroy a fly in a heartbeat

Shawn

[Wall Eye]

BBQ Warrior

Thanks for the reply and info. I will definitely be giving it a try. I grew up in Fergus and now live in Fargo, so have been to Maplewood a few times over the years. Really enjoy driving around there in the fall when the leaves turn.

Thanks again,
Bruce