up north fishing

[smalliehunter]

I will be heading up to my parents home in emily, mn (north of Brainerd) for 3 days in october. I am planning on hitting Serpent lake in Crosby and clearwater lake by Deer River. I was wonding if anyone has experiance in the area and could give me the names of a few more lakes to fish. We are going to fish 2 lakes per day. Also i was wondering what the mississippi looked like by HWY 6 wondering what the water levels are like since i have a fiberglass boat. any and all info is greatly appreciated.

[Cecil]

I would put in at Half Moon on the river. You can go upstream and down, both good options.

I would also have a hard time not heading more north and fishing Woman and some of those smaller lakes.

PM me if you run out of options (hard to do up there)

[Presco]

I've spent some time on Serpent. Its a great body of water, but its gin clear so fishing can be difficult at times. I've had my best luck working docks near deep breaks, but have honestly never fished the lake in October.

If you are looking for smallies, I'd look somewhere else. They are in there and they grow big, but I've never been able to consistently target them. On the northeast side of the lake, there is a bay with a nice rock hump that extends out into the lake both on the north and south side of the bay. Good spots to try. Lots of nice 17-18"+ largies in there though and they don't get a lot of pressure as its known primarily as a walleye lake.

[thatoneguy]

I would put in at Half Moon on the river. You can go upstream and down, both good options.

+1

[smalliehunter]

Is the water high enough for a19 for ranger?

[Cecil]

thats not a shallow area of the river. There is an area a few miles north that is sketchy (also good fishing) which you will be able to see. Dont go past the pine river unless you know where you are going though. No real hazards south of access...

[Presco]

Was looking through some pics and found this one from a number of years ago. Proof that smallmouth do reside in Serpent. Like I said, they are in there and seem to be large when you find 'em, but hard to target.

[smalliehunter]

Yes that is a toad. I've also caught a few big ones out of serpent. I mainly fish humps on that lake. Any other tips you wanna share? You can pm me if you'd like

[BDawg23]

Nice fish! How big did that one go??

[Presco]

No clue on the size. I knew it was big, but I couldn't even venture a guess back then. I was at my inlaws place and their boat was ill-equiped to handle measuring. No scale, ruler or camera. That pic was actually taken at their dock because I had to plead with my brother-in-law to boat back to the cabin for a quick picture. He had no interest in memorializing a "gutter trout".

As for spots, my previous post provided the spots I've fished smallies. I usually fish docks or the reeds for largies when up there. I've heard people say that there are some good rocky points/humps on the northwest side near Crosby, but never had much luck over there so don't try much.

[smalliehunter]

a big cold front is moving through on thursday. temps go from mid to upper 60s to mid 40s. rain and possible snow. How will this affect the fishing? i have read that a fall cold front will help the bass put on the feed bag. Any truth to that? Also do you think there will be any bass deep?

[CCGinMN]

This is how it typically affects me (although I fish more walleyes in the fall):

Good fishing two days before the front.

Excellent fishing right before the front hits -don't be scared to burn some cranks.

Ok fishing during the first 1/2 day after the front hit.

After that switch to finess worms or 4" senkos because it will be tough. I usually go bowhunting instead, deer like to move after it gets cold.