Anyone having a suggestion for walleye fishing in Iowa or MN?

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SCyclone

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Mar 11, 2014
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Fort Dodge, IA
From what I hear, South Dakota is your best bet. Not a long drive (relatively speaking), and the guys I know that fish there say their success is fairly regular.

Some of the lakes in NE SD are pretty good, too - Webster/Waubay area.
 

mj4cy

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Mar 28, 2006
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I have a couple co workers that will not bring me along but pull in walleye from big creek pretty regularly as well as at brushy creek and below the salorville damn. Key for me is getting out of the house without a kid in tow.

I've seen people pull walleye from there as well but I'm destined for blue gill apparently.
 

clone4life82

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I've seen people pull walleye from there as well but I'm destined for blue gill apparently.

Ive caught walleye at big creek up by where the creeks feed into it there are some rock piles up there but I’ve only caught a bunch of little cigars. My coworker fishes them with rapala type lures and speed trolls areas which I’ve never done but they catch bigger ones there. I’ve only fished below sailorville dam once but only saw people pulling catfish out. I’ve never fished brushy creek.
 
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clone4life82

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Has anyone been to Brushy Creek? My brother had heard good things about it, but has never fished it.

my co workers have and go fairly often. They typically fish for walleye as well. From what I hear, if you do go. It’s not a lake that you go speeding through with your boat as there is a reason they call it brushy creek.
 

sfisher

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Nov 11, 2009
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Has anyone been to Brushy Creek? My brother had heard good things about it, but has never fished it.
Brushy Can be really good for walleyes but you will need to vertical jig, slip bobbers or vertical jigging raps. There is still a ton of trees underwater from when they created the lake. I haven't fished there in several years but the crappies are good size.
 

zarnold56

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Aug 9, 2009
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Ive caught walleye at big creek up by where the creeks feed into it there are some rock piles up there but I’ve only caught a bunch of little cigars. My coworker fishes them with rapala type lures and speed trolls areas which I’ve never done but they catch bigger ones there. I’ve only fished below sailorville dam once but only saw people pulling catfish out. I’ve never fished brushy creek.

Its been a few years since I have fished for walleye at Big Creek, but everything thing we pulled up was like 8 inches. I know they changed the netting down to the spill way to try and keep more fish up in Big Creek so maybe it is better now.
 

VeloClone

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CyCloned

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my co workers have and go fairly often. They typically fish for walleye as well. From what I hear, if you do go. It’s not a lake that you go speeding through with your boat as there is a reason they call it brushy creek.

I fished Lake Suguma earlier in the year, and it was the same way. Just had to creep along as there were tons of stumps, actually broken off trees, just below the surface. The fishing there was not that great, but it sounds like they had someone dump a bunch of gizzard shad in the lake and the DNR came in and poisoned them along with a lot of other desirable stuff.
 
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oldman

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Nov 5, 2009
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A couple buddies and I usually make one trip a year to Mille Lacs Lake and fish on the big charter boat (can't think of the name of the place but its on the west side of the lake.)

They run three 4-hr trips a day. 8-12, 2-6, and 8-Midnight. We've done alright in the past.
 

95CLONE

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I’m in the same boat, no pun intended. Anyone been to Devils lake in ND?
We just spent 3 days fishing out of Mcquoids Outfitters, Devils Lake. It was a good trip and I would recommend it as a solid replacement for A canceled Canadian trip. We caught fish but,had a hard time catching walleye over 15”. Our big fish was a 21”. It’s a wide open lake so, if you are uneasy with rough water you may spend more time on shore than you planned.
 

VeloClone

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A couple buddies and I usually make one trip a year to Mille Lacs Lake and fish on the big charter boat (can't think of the name of the place but its on the west side of the lake.)

They run three 4-hr trips a day. 8-12, 2-6, and 8-Midnight. We've done alright in the past.
Mille Lacs Lake fishing regulations
If regulations change, they will be posted at public accesses and on this web page. Printed and electronic copies of these regulations are available from the DNR Information Center by emailing info.dnr@state.mn.us (link sends email) or by calling 1-888-646-6367

This lake has special fishing regulations that differ from statewide or border water regulations for those species identified below and take precedence. Unless specified below, all general regulations, season dates, limits, possession, transportation and border water regulations apply.

including all tributaries from the mouth upstream to posted boundaries

  • Northern Pike: Beginning May 9, 2020 through March 31, 2021, all northern pike greater than 30 inches must be immediately released. Limit of three. Same regulations for spearing, which concludes Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.
  • Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass: Beginning May 9, 2020 through May 22, 2020, all bass must be immediately released. Beginning May 23, 2020, all bass greater than 17 inches must be immediately released. Limit of three in combination. Smallmouth harvest ends Sunday, Sept. 13. Largemouth harvest ends Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.
  • Tullibee (Cisco): Possession limit 10.
  • Walleye: Beginning May 9, 2020 through June 30, 2020, all walleye must be immediately released. Beginning July 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, walleye may not be targeted. Beginning August 1, 2020 through November 30, 2020, all walleye must be immediately released.
  • No culling or live-well sorting: Fish taken into possession are considered part of an angler's bag limit and cannot be exchanged with another fish. However, when the season for bass is open, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass may be culled following statewide culling rules.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/millelacs.html
 

CyCloned

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Oct 18, 2006
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Robins, Iowa
Mille Lacs Lake fishing regulations
If regulations change, they will be posted at public accesses and on this web page. Printed and electronic copies of these regulations are available from the DNR Information Center by emailing info.dnr@state.mn.us (link sends email) or by calling 1-888-646-6367

This lake has special fishing regulations that differ from statewide or border water regulations for those species identified below and take precedence. Unless specified below, all general regulations, season dates, limits, possession, transportation and border water regulations apply.

including all tributaries from the mouth upstream to posted boundaries

  • Northern Pike: Beginning May 9, 2020 through March 31, 2021, all northern pike greater than 30 inches must be immediately released. Limit of three. Same regulations for spearing, which concludes Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.
  • Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass: Beginning May 9, 2020 through May 22, 2020, all bass must be immediately released. Beginning May 23, 2020, all bass greater than 17 inches must be immediately released. Limit of three in combination. Smallmouth harvest ends Sunday, Sept. 13. Largemouth harvest ends Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.
  • Tullibee (Cisco): Possession limit 10.
  • Walleye: Beginning May 9, 2020 through June 30, 2020, all walleye must be immediately released. Beginning July 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, walleye may not be targeted. Beginning August 1, 2020 through November 30, 2020, all walleye must be immediately released.
  • No culling or live-well sorting: Fish taken into possession are considered part of an angler's bag limit and cannot be exchanged with another fish. However, when the season for bass is open, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass may be culled following statewide culling rules.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/millelacs.html

Wow, that looks like you can't keep Walleyes except for December to May 8th, uless you catch one when not fishing for it????
 

ISUTex

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May 25, 2012
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Looks really unlikely that I will be able to go to Canada to fish this year, so was looking for some place I could go for a few days and have a decent shot at getting some walleyes. Prefer to fish on a lake as the rivers have just been too up and down the last couple years. Thanks.



If you want to travel west a little, Devils Lake in North Dakota is pretty good.
 

cyputz

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Jul 26, 2006
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Red Lake in MN. Ottertail Lake is pretty good too and isn't quite as far north.
Summer spent at Ottertail Lake. This summer has been rough.
I have had nice reports out of Lake Traverse, Mn near SD
Devils Lake has pulled some nice ones.

Good luck either way
 

SCyclone

Well-Known Member
Mar 11, 2014
9,475
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Fort Dodge, IA
my co workers have and go fairly often. They typically fish for walleye as well. From what I hear, if you do go. It’s not a lake that you go speeding through with your boat as there is a reason they call it brushy creek.

It's also no-wake, so there's that..........
 

oldman

Well-Known Member
Nov 5, 2009
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Mille Lacs Lake fishing regulations
If regulations change, they will be posted at public accesses and on this web page. Printed and electronic copies of these regulations are available from the DNR Information Center by emailing info.dnr@state.mn.us (link sends email) or by calling 1-888-646-6367

This lake has special fishing regulations that differ from statewide or border water regulations for those species identified below and take precedence. Unless specified below, all general regulations, season dates, limits, possession, transportation and border water regulations apply.

including all tributaries from the mouth upstream to posted boundaries

  • Northern Pike: Beginning May 9, 2020 through March 31, 2021, all northern pike greater than 30 inches must be immediately released. Limit of three. Same regulations for spearing, which concludes Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.
  • Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass: Beginning May 9, 2020 through May 22, 2020, all bass must be immediately released. Beginning May 23, 2020, all bass greater than 17 inches must be immediately released. Limit of three in combination. Smallmouth harvest ends Sunday, Sept. 13. Largemouth harvest ends Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021.
  • Tullibee (Cisco): Possession limit 10.
  • Walleye: Beginning May 9, 2020 through June 30, 2020, all walleye must be immediately released. Beginning July 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, walleye may not be targeted. Beginning August 1, 2020 through November 30, 2020, all walleye must be immediately released.
  • No culling or live-well sorting: Fish taken into possession are considered part of an angler's bag limit and cannot be exchanged with another fish. However, when the season for bass is open, smallmouth bass and largemouth bass may be culled following statewide culling rules.
https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/millelacs.html
Wow! Wasn't aware of that. They usually had a slot limit, but never immediate release of everything.
 

VeloClone

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Jan 19, 2010
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Brooklyn Park, MN
Wow! Wasn't aware of that. They usually had a slot limit, but never immediate release of everything.
There is an agreement with the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe that allows them to take a big haul of fish from the lake. For the past few years their haul has been right around or more than is replenished annually in the lake so there has been little or none left for the recreational angler.