BEST OVERALL TOWN for fishing....

[Jackpine Rob]

Ely was a great place to be a kid who liked to fish. Within easy walking or biking distance we had walleyes, northerns, brook trout (stream or stocked lake). Someone always knew someone with a boat on any given lake, or we fished off shorelines or bridges. We would hop on the bikes with our backpacks and fishing poles after breakfast, and return at suppertime.

As I got older we got into overnight trips, lake trout, and all manner of good outdoor fun. The town has changed quite a bit since that time, but for me it will always be home, and my favorite area to fish.

[iland99]

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Wave at you by day, break into the garage, or steal anything not bolted down by night... I know better.

But that is not what this thread was started for .. off subject.

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.....As opposed to folks in the cities, who flip you off by day, break into the garage, or steal anything not bolted down by night... I know better too

I'm biased, but my vote goes for the Bemidji area too.

[Rost]

Hey Dave-

You mentioned that you lived in Minneota before. What did you do there? I grew up in Ivanhoe and know quite a few Minneota people.

To answer the "Best Town" question, I'd have to say Devils Lake, ND. Believe it or not, I have never been there. But every one of my friends that have been there say it is top notch fishing and hunting.

[Farley]

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Wave at you by day, break into the garage, or steal anything not bolted down by night... I know better.

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come on Dave, this comming from a guy who lives in Minneapolis?

Pot calling the kettle black if you ask me.

As far as towns that I've been to,

1. Brainerd\Crosslake

2. Grand Rapids

3. Duluth (mostly for the scenery, never fished much around Duluth)

4. Annandale area

[CrappieJohn]

Any town in Minnesota that has water to fish in.

[Redline]

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Maybe our definition of small town is not the same, Hooterville’s population when we moved in was less that a thousand.. We moved out here from Apple Valley 5 years ago and have never encountered any of the problems you speak of. They maybe kept an eye on us when we first got there but they have ALWAYS been friendly from the very start. I have left a lot of stuff laying about over the years and nothing has ever gone missing. In Apple Valley though anything that was not screwed sown was gone in less than a half hour.

I like fishing lakes near small towns, lots of times they are little hole in the wall places but then again there are not near as many folks on them, and those that are will chat with you all day long. Don’t get me wrong, the chat part will happen between fishermen a lot, just look at this page. Have a good one and N Joy the Hunt././Jimbo

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I don't know what neighbor hood you lived in when in Apple Valley, but I have never heard of any of what you are talking about. I grew up in Apple Valley and I think it is a great town.

[Cooter]

For a muskie nut Hayward (Phipps ) or Eagle River would be good bets for WI.

[aaronole]

anything north of the iron range would be my choice. I'm bias coming from the small town of orr, but you can't beat the fishing anywhere around here. granted anywhere in the state is a good choice, but up here is where the action is. this is small town living with a kick. we got vermilion to the south. the border lakes rainy, kab, namakan, sandpoint, crane to the north. to the east we got the bwca. to the west we got action in many smaller lakes along with all the small lakes in the entire area. and not to forget we got pelican in our back yard which al linder was qouted as saying is the best trophy bass fishery in the state. he did a show here a couple weeks ago. and its all within an hour drive from where i'm at. i'd live anywhere there is water to wet a line in. to live in any of the places mentioned would be fine by me (except maybe minneapolis), but i really like it right where i'm at right now.

[Quackaddict9]

anywhere from Bemidji to Waskish to Cass to Walker

[cluelessfisherman]

Definately Bemidji - go North to Red, LOW or Rainy, go East to Cass or Winnie, go a little south to Leech, or stay right in town and fish Bemidji or take a day at one of the other hundred or so lakes within a half hour!!

[jimh874]

being that i live and work in alexandria, im at home as far as lakes go.with more lakes then one could ever dream of fishing, pull out a good detailed map and you will see im in the middle of gods country. with in a 15 min drive i can be on more lakes then most people have ever fished.

otter tail co to the NW and a litle beyond that is detroit lakes. im 10 min from osakis, 30 min from sauk center. and 3 hrs 15 min from red lake. i live right down the road from geneva, i can be on the water in 5 min.

lakes around here have everything one could want to fish for. walleyes to small mouth, muskies to monster panfish. hidden honey holes to pleasure lakes. and the ice fishing is awsome to sat the least.

now if i could just live long enough to fish all these lakes..........

jim

[Northlander]

Anyplace I can catch some fish. Brainerd, Bemidji, Duluth/Superior and Ely areas would be first to mind.

[tjm]

I lived in Mn and Alaska but i'm in washington @ the moment chatch'n monster eyes on the columbia river in washington scratchin my head wonderin what the heck am i doing in minnesota.

When you can catch eyes 4-12lbs every 10 minutes [PoorWordUsage] is wrong with minnesota is the ? i have..A state that grew eyes from some illeagel fishermen transplanting them to the dnr taking over and putting a limit on eyes then charging us fishermen a small amount to catch these fish..I look at minnesota dnr now and think WTFFFFFFFFFFFFF is going on...We have twice the water as washington..twice the fishery but 25 times the amount of fishermen...

so whats the problem??????

[Fishing Junky]

My first pick would be Grand Marais up the shore. My second, would be the ely area. Duluth my third. Hell, they're all good. Junky..

[Mark Christianson]

ksdog

Have we been of any help to narrow down your list????

Aint MN great!!!!!!!!!!

[ksdog]

Thanks, everyone. Definitely gives me a couple of towns to look into from the git go. Question is....how good is good ? Guess it is all relative as to where you live. I mean are we talking good numbers of fish, good size, etc. That I need to determine.

[Ely Lake Expert]

I have to agree with msm and cheffrey that Duluth is a sweet town to live in, but overall I am very partial to the Iron Range. From where I live it is a hour to Duluth and a hour to Ely, how can you go wrong.

Ryan

[marlinfan]

longville mn you have the choice of a small lake or the big one all withen 30 min big crappie and musky and everything else you can think of and its a small town everyone is nice

[dockehr]

The previous posts mention some great towns/areas to live. The Brainerd area has changed population-wise quite a bit since my wife and I moved here from Chicago in 1970. In addition to 465 plus or minus lakes nearby, we have the Mississippi River flowing thru Brainerd which gives us some top drawer muskie and smallmouth bass fishing. We have stream trout fishing as well as lakes and mine pits stocked with trout. Mille Lacs Lake is only 20 miles away (walleye, smallmouth bass, perch, crappie, and muskie). We have Lindy Tackle, In-Fisherman, Lindner's Angling Edge, Babe Winkelman Productions, Mr. Walleye Specialties (Gary Roach), Marv Koep's, Sportland, S&W Bait, Reed's, Mill's Fleet Farm, and Gander Mountain (within three weeks.)

But, there is more: top-notch medical facilities, excellent school system (K thru four year degree), and probably the most important asset for my wife and me ( as our boys, their wives, and our grandchildren live in southern Oklahoma and central Arizona) scheduled airline service from Brainerd!!

Our favorite place to visit is Grand Marais ( as well as the whole North Shore and Duluth). Living in Brainerd we're within 8-9 hours of additional hunting or fishing (Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ontario, Manitoba). The grouse, woodcock and deer hunting is excellent right here. I guided grouse and woodcock hunters from around the world for four years for a friend of mine.

Whew! Having said all of that, remember; beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!!

dockehr

Dr. Roland E. Kehr, Jr.

Lindy Tackle

[smartguy]

I live in the Brainerd area. Don't get me wrong, love it here, but I would recommend Bemidji or Grand Rapids.

The only reason I say this is because the Brainerd area is selling its soul to development. Quite honestly, your hard pressed to find true wilderness up here. Heck, even the river is seeing a housing boom.

As a tie in to the over development, property values (and taxes) have soared. Keep that in mind if you plan to build in the area.

Its a tough spill to swallow, but this area is detroying itself. I sometimes refer to it as St. Cloud Jr.

[Quickstrike]

bluegills, crappies, perch, walleyes, pike, muskie, pout, catfish, smallies, largemouth, sturgeon, rock bass, brook trout, brown trout, loopers, steelhead, coho salmon, king salmon, lake trout, splake along with many others i am forgeting all can be found in Duluth. probally the reason i don't think i'll ever be able to leave this place.

[Quickstrike]

grand marais and the gunflint trail would be a close second in my opinion.

[Matt Breuer]

Quick, you've got a point....

My vote is for Brainerd or Bemidji though, two great places to live and fish!

[wayne123]

I would say pick a small town in the Grand Rapids area. The country is beautiful up there. They call it "God's Country" for a reason. I think it is the nicest area in the state. You have all types of fishing up there. The only argument for Ottertail County is that your summer would be a little longer. Myself I prefer the big woods over a bunch of farms but that is a personal preference. Of course if I moved to the Grand Rapids area I would budget for at least a months vacation some place warm each winter. One more thing I would have a place on a lake not in the small town. At the cabin I get up early just to sit and look out at the lake. It is so peaceful.