Thread: Not a crappie! Not a crappie!

There aren't many waters between the Mississippi in downtown west to Waconia that don't have crappies that are caught regularly. Richfield does not allow boats on the waters inside their city limits, but there are a whole lot of other "carry on" waters for a belly boat besides the real well-known bigger crappie waters like Waconia, Minnetonka and Medicine. You probably don't want to try the belly boat in the Mississippi or the mouths of some of the streams that run into it like Minnehaha below the Falls, but there are good crappies all along the river as well as the uncountable Metro lakes and ponds.

For a belly boat check out the smaller city park lakes and ponds. Many of them are sleepers and can be real jewels. My best advice is to pick one that is convenient for you and that looks like it might be suitable for your belly boat and then look it up on the MN DNR Lakefinder website both for lake maps and fish surveys.

There really are very few west Metro waters that do not winterkill that do not have crappies to catch. I assume the same is probably true on the St Paul side, too.

Originally Posted by OLDFISHERMAN

Just joined. .... Bought a belly boat, and looking for some spots to try for crappies in the Twin City area. Prefer Mpls and West.... Any ideas?

My float tube has been looking at me funny during the garage cleanup. And if I listen really closely...I think it's whispering "Let's go!"

Good luck. Even though there were some jet skiers on the lakes Sunday, I'd be looking for my neoprene's before pumpin' up the tube.

That's good to know about Richfield.

THANKS MUCH. Actually, going to try Seton from shore tomorrow, then begin my tubing adventure on Shady Oak or Bryant.

Never been on Seton, I don't normally get that far west, but I have been on Shady Oak and did pretty well on crappies through the ice. Shady Oak also has a pretty good population of pike, producing a lot of them for its size. Crappies on Shady Oak tend to be smallish. I have never been on Bryant either, but have had some luck a little SE of there on Bush.

Bonus fish on Bush might include respectable largemouths, pike and possibly a muskie. There is parking, a ramp and signifiant walking shoreline on the SW of Bush, including two fishing docks - at least they are there during the summer. Access to the north side and the swimming beach area is controlled by the city park system and somewhat restricted. There is no restriction at the SW launch site that I remember. FWIW the MN DNR sampling finds all crappie year classes present on Bush indicating very consistent recruitment. For its size it has a pretty impressive fishery. It is definitely small enough to tube on, and there is both a motor size restriction and speed limits in place; so you don't have to worry as much about big boats and heavy wakes there as on some other waters. I tend to forget about Bush and should be spending more time there.

Play around with the Recreation Compass linked to lake information at the DNR Lakefinder. It shows a whole of of water in the west Metro and you can zoom in on what topo markings there are for a whole lot of them.

With the tube you can get right over the fish and jig to them. This spring we have been experimenting with both the little casting and jigging plugs. Both the Swedish Pimple and the jigging Raps have turned some nice fish this spring in open water when you can get over the fish properly. Chubby Darters would be another possibility for that kind of fishing.

We are just starting to play with that kind of hardware, but it has produced for us pretty well in some situations. Presenting that kind of hardware has gotten us both stronger strikes and larger crappies than other presentations so far this year, but a lot fewer fish in total. The bite on plastics though tending to get better numbers this spring has been very soft. We have had to pay close attention or we miss a lot of takes.

On these Metro lakes watch the consumption advisories, if you plan to eat any fish out of them; some of them carry pretty heavy mercury levels.

Originally Posted by no1son

Crappies on Shady Oak tend to be smallish. I have never been on Bryant either, but have had some luck a little SE of there on Bush.

Thank you for the heads up on Shady, Bryant, and Bush. I may see what kind of trouble the 8 year old and myself can get into over at Bush. I brought him over to Bryant last fall and the area that the fishing pier gave access to seemed pretty weak.

Good tip about using the recreation compass and the DNR netting results can give a pretty good snap shot of what's there.


"A man must believe something-I believe I'll go fishing."

Well written thanks for sharing. Always like reading your posts

Originally Posted by no1son

I tend to forget about Bush and should be spending more time there.

Although it was a gorgeous night...there is a #2 thill float somewhere in the middle of the lake at this time, and a handful of snickering crappies, as we didn't see one personally, or caught by any of the other patrons there tonight.

By time we had worked the SW shore line and ended up at the point, the moon was high and bright, the sunset was whispering its last goodbyes, and my son had created his own minnow holding tank at the very tip of that sandy landmark.



I'm taking him out each night this week when I get home from work since he's on spring break. Tomorrow and Wednesday's destinations are up in the air, but we will hit Tonka on Friday.

"A man must believe something-I believe I'll go fishing."

Fished Seton and Bryant from shore yesterday... Too windy and cold for newby to try a float tube.... Not a bit....Spoke to several folks at Cofee (Seton), and they said no fish yet... Going to try Bush today.... I live right by Shady Oak, and have caught smallish eating-size crappies, and large bass and nice northerns.
Stay tuned.