Where would you fish?

[MN_MIKE]

Hey everyone. Looking forward to being a part of the Fishing MN family. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute some knowledge...

So a buddy and I are looking to get out on Saturday for a day trip and do some C&R smallmouth fishing. Some of the ideas we had discussed were Green Lake in Spicer, Mille Lacs, Koronis, and the Mississippi. Neither of us have fished any of these bodies of water so we were looking for some insight. Since we're spending the money on gas, we're looking obviously to try and catch a lot of fish and hopefully some larger ones. Based on the time of year and the ease/difficulty of fishing these waters, does anyone have a recommendation on where we should go?

Thanks for any insight!

[Cecil]

I would go to either Green in Spicer or pick a section of the river like Monticello or St. Cloud. I have found Mille Lacs to get pretty tough in the fall for smallmouth.

[Daze Off]

Welcome Mike -

Not sure if you have a boat so would recommend the Mississippi if you do not and want to walk the rocks. If you do have a boat, the Rum River is a nice alternative that is closer. Water temp will be close to ideal by the weekend. My advice would be to focus on the smaller lakes like Koronis or Green because they are more manageable for someone who has not been on any of the waters previously. Mille Lacs is so huge that it would be easy to spend too much time looking around and running from place to place.

Good luck with your trip!

[EBass]

The river is really low right now. Current flow 2600 in Anoka and dropping. Do you have a jet boat? If so it's all good.

[Cecil]

Rum will be decent right now, but needs a few more weeks to get really good. If you stay above the dam you will be ok for a few miles, but expect a lot of competition for an area where you pretty much just fish the bank.

[EBass]

Remember - No Wake on the Rum for a few miles. If you go there.

[luvtofish]

I would probably hit up rainy lake. That lake is awesome this time of year for smallmouth.

[MN_MIKE]

Thanks for your input guys. I think we're leaning towards Green right now.