Mn Or Wi Summer Smallmouth Trip

[Markhat]

Thinking of taking a Summer smallmouth trip to Minn. or Wisc. A place for the boys to fish where the wives can be entertained too. Any suggestions are appreciated. Hard to get a feel for a place through the web. Mark H

[Smallmouth Addict]

I have a summer lake home in Hayward WI. Lots of good smallnouth lakes and rivers. Its a great place for wives to shop and great dining to boot. The fishing hall of fame is there as well. The Flambeau River is close by. It has great smallmoufh and large Musky. I am floating it in May. I fished quite a bit out of Grand Marais Mn. Pm me.

[Goggle-Eyed]

I too am in the planning stages for a trip. I have settled on Mn. (end of June).

I plan to stop in the St. Cloud area hit a few of the rivers there. I ended up choosing the area because it will allow the "women" to go to the Mall of America.

I am also planning to go further up north to the Ottertail River and also a couple of small lakes that I have fished in the past - 18" fish have been more common than 12" fish in the past two years for me while fishing this area....

Anyway, it would be nice to hear what you decide to do.

Joe

[Outside Bend]

Hayward's a good bet- lots of fishing opportunities in the area, lots of shopping and other activities to keep folks busy, plus it's not too far from MPLS/St. Paul if the girls want the big city experience.

Have fun!

[Mitch f]

The upper Mississippi is hard to beat for big smallies, 70 miles north of Minneapolis.

[Markhat]

Thanks for the suggestions. Last Summer we went North of Traverse City MI. Fished Lake Michigan and a smaller lake nearby. Fishing was OK but its hard to beat the Gasconade. We had a nice trip and caught bass up to 17". Like to cool weather up there and a change of scenery once a yr. I prefer river fishing so will settle on a spot that we can stream fish.

[Guest]

Deleted

[jbtiwns30]

Go to leach lake in minnesota. Im from minnesota I fished hayward alot and leach as well but there are alot of bigger fish and alot more fish in leach lake. Plus if you want to explore other lakes you have 5 different lakes within 45 mins of leach.

[Goggle-Eyed]

I am wondering about Leech? The Mn DNR says there are ver few Smallies in Leech, also saw that on a few forums I have read....

My original trip plan included Leech but then I read there are very few Smallies...

From MN. DNR

Leech Lake also provides quality angling opportunities for largemouth bass, black crappie, and sunfish in shallow, vegetated bays. These species are not effectively sampled with gillnets. Anglers also occasionally report catches of smallmouth bass, which have always been present in low numbers.

Is this the making of "Smallie Gate", or are there really very few in the lake???? If there are a ton of Smallies it would be great. I always tell people there are no Smallies in the Niangua!!!

Thanks,

Joe

[jbtiwns30]

Man I dont trust what the dnr says in minnesota about what a lake has or dont to what kind of fish are in it. I know from personal experience that you can go out and spend the whole day on that lake catching some big smallies. My biggest 3 years ago was a bit over 6 lbs. Then caught 30 to 40 smallies from 3 to 5 lbs, in one day. On that lake when you find the smallies, you find the huge walleyes as well. They are normally hanging around with each other. My buddy chases muskie on that lake as well. If you deside to go up there, I can set you up where we were catching them last year. We caught tons of smallies and our limit on walleye just about every weekend we fished that lake. Good luck! Oh the loons can be really mean on that lake.