Hanska and Sleepy Eye Lakes

[SpoonbillSlayer]

Any one been out? How is the ice and any action going on or just Schells bottle bass being caught?
Thanks.

[bpkuehn]

I was on hanska new years eve. 5 inches of ice at that time and a lot of snow that made it hard to pull the sled. Pretty slow on the bites but did manage a few throwbacks.

[Velvet2x10]

how’s the ice on sleepy eye? any wheelhouses out there? I’ve heard there are some on hanska and trucks are driving around. ice is 8-13″

thanks

[SpoonbillSlayer]

I might be in the NU area this weekend and was wondering how the ice conditions were doing?

How about the MN River by NU? I drove by on Tuesday and saw one small perm out there by the main boat landing.

Thanks.

[Velvet2x10]

16″ of ice under my house on sleepy eye lots of vehicles out. Haven’t been to hanska but I know there’s houses all over there as well by Geiger and Godahl. Not sure about the river.

[bpkuehn]

I was on hanska all weekend for the contest (fire department) ice varied from 13-10. Trucks driving everywhere. Found a few smaller eater crappies but otherwise couldn’t manage a good size walleye at all.

[SpoonbillSlayer]

Thanks for the updates. Heard about the contest, but didn’t make it out that way.
A buddy and I hit the river from about 1:30 to 3:30pm on Sat. No bites, but I did mark some fish. I’m guessing evening would be better, but I was limited on time. Still had fun. Suprising how deep it is by those pillars. Had about 24ft there. Ice was 10-13in thick.

[Velvet2x10]

anyone been on sleepy eye in the past couple days? wanted to try tonight. just seeing if you can still walk out by the highway access.

[SpoonbillSlayer]

Good question! I might be in NU this weekend and thought I might check out the lakes a bit also. How about Hanska or Clear(by New Ulm)?

Is there much in Clear these days besides Carp? I know it had some crappies for awhile. I was out there this past fall and I never seen so many carp jumping. They were all smaller 1-2lbers. It was constant carp in the air!!

Oh, were the aerators on at Clear or Sleepy Eye this year?

[Velvet2x10]

I had some buddies who went to the fishing contest on clear. they caught a few nice crappies. 12-13″ and a bunch of small bass. I haven’t fished it this year.

I did make it to sleepy eye last night. there’s thin ice by the access along the highway so be careful walking out if you go. lots of ice on the lake though. 18″ last time i measured but that was before this last warm weekend. I’m sure there’s still a good 15 or so judging by how long it took to drill holes. No keepers but i found a little school of crappies suspended around 8-10ft. fished for a couple hours.

I don’t know about the aerators. normally there’s thin ice signs up. I think in the past it’s been out toweards the center of the lake.

no reports on hanska but there’s still flip-ups going out there.

[SpoonbillSlayer]

Thanks for the info!

Hows the boat launch access on Sleepy Eye, is that ok to get on from? I suppose the one by the road has the culvert by it creating a thin spot.

[SpoonbillSlayer]

I did make it out this weekend, but I went to Hanska instead of Sleepy Eye.

I got a couple crappies, a few perch and some little eyes on Sat. Goofiest eyes I have ever seen, they were all white and silver. Suppose from the dirty water color. Action was not crazy, but at least I caught something. Ice was still 14+ off of the NW landing. Though only about 11-12in if you went in the shallow end. I tried on the SE end Sunday for a bit cause of the crazy wind, but nothing there, so I headed back to the other end. Ice was only a foot down there. I’m sure the lake is done with these warm temps.

Oh, lots of geese flying if you like to bird watch. Even saw several flocks of snows and blues. Maybe even some specklebellys as these had a funny sound to them.

[Velvet2x10]

anyone been out to hanska or sleepy eye shore fishing for crappies or gills? thinking of trying one of them this weekend. Weather doesn’t look like it’s gonna be the best but when the wife says go fish I gotta try to make the most of those opportunities ” title=”” class=”bbcode_smiley” /> thanks!

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