Alexandria Minnesota
Easy To Get To, Hard To Leave
Alexandria is both a popular destination for the avid angler as well as a
wonderful family vacation destination.
This is truly one of those rare locations where an avid angler
can take the family on vacation, fish every day and not feel guilty. The area
has something for everyone. For the shopper there is a charming downtown area,
with antique shops, boutiques, wine bars and specialty stores. There are casual
and formal dining establishments scattered throughout the area. Kids of all ages
will enjoy the indoor water park at Arrowwood Resort. For the golfer, there are
13 courses in the area. The lakes area boasts 3 museums, a winery and fun
festivals every weekend. Carlos State Park, on the north end of Lake Carlos, has
beautiful camping facilities and a great trail system for day hiking or
horseback riding.
The walleye may be Minnesota’s state fish, but it is this area’s spectacular
bass fishing, both for largemouth and smallmouth, that will make every bass
angler stand-up and take notice. Some would say… arguably the best bass fishing
in the upper Midwest.
Situated in west central Minnesota, in Douglas County, Alexandria sits in what
is commonly referred to as the Minnesota Lakes Area. The number of lakes in this
single county is staggering. The landscape is dotted with hundreds upon hundreds
of lakes, ranging in size from small farm ponds to large glacial lakes like
Miltona, which comes in at over 5800 acres in size. Dean Beck is the area
Fisheries Manager for the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). According to
Dean, “ There are over 100 boat ramps on various lakes, managed by the state or
other entities for the public to use.” You can literally launch your boat on 5
different lakes during a day’s fishing and never put over 5 miles on your
vehicle. The area is truly a fishing Mecca. It’s hard to believe than anyone
could get tired of catching bass. However, if you do then there are always
walleye, sunfish, crappie, perch, northern pike and muskies to chase.
The town of Alexandria sits on the Alexandria Chain of Lakes, known locally as
“the chain.” Depending on whom you ask the chain is comprised of 8 to 12 lakes.
It is the 5 main lakes (Darling, Carlos, LeHomme Dieu, Geneva and Victoria) that
attract the interest of most bass anglers and tournament directors. Those lakes
cover approximately 6,268 surface acres and are well known to Minnesota’s
tournament anglers. The Bassmasters Weekend Series along with numerous other
tournament series frequent the chain of lakes each year.
Guiding in the area from ice-out to freeze-up, I have the opportunity to fish
“the chain” regularly with clients. During late June, a 30 fish day is so
common, people don’t even raise an eyebrow over it. It’s hard to think of any
technique that will not work at this time of year. But for shear numbers of fish
and simplicity, it’s hard to beat a drop-shot rig. Fishing deep cabbage weed
lines or coontail covered humps with a Berkley Bungee Leech on a drop-shot rig
is as close to guaranteed fish as you can come. If a person were just coming for
big fish, it would have to be in the fall. My all time favorite pattern starts
to develop in early fall as the water temperatures start to drop. The cooling
water and shorter days trigger a migration of bass from their deep summer haunts
to large weed covered flats. Large concentrations of bass will move up and stage
on flats that are in 6 to 10 feet of water and have a mixture of submergent
vegetation preferably cabbage and coontail. These fish are feeding heavily
before winter sets in and will remain on or around these flats until ice caps
the lakes. Throwing a lipless crank-bait or slow rolling a spinner-bait across
the flats is usually all it takes to have an outstanding day of fishing.
With so many lakes in the region, you’re not limited to just the chain of lakes.
Within a short drive you have Lake Ida, Lake Milton and Lake Minnewaska; all
lakes over 4,000 acres. Each of these lakes are known for their great largemouth
or smallmouth fishing. If you’re looking for solitude on quiet waters, there are
dozens of smaller lakes in the area that you can fish during the week and never
see another angler.
Dana Freese is one of the owners of Christopherson Bait Shop, the largest tackle
store in the area. A number of local fishing guides base out of the store and
Dana does some guiding from the tackle store when time permits. When asked what
were his two favorite times of the year to fish bass, Dana replies, “ Without a
doubt, the best time to catch numbers of fish would have to be mid-July. The
deep weed line is fully developed and the jig-worm bite is going strong. In
July, a 40 fish day is pretty common.” Dana also said the best time for catching
big fish has to be mid-September to mid-October, when the fall bite starts. When
asked about how the bass fishing in this area compares with other places, his
reply was; “ There are other places you can go to catch bigger fish, like
Florida or Mexico, but very few places can compete with the numbers of quality
fish you can catch here in one day of fishing.”
Spending so much time on the water, I’ve always thought that this area had the
potential to produce a record-breaking fish. After speaking with Dean Beck from
Fisheries I’m even more convinced of that. Dean said a survey crew measured and
released a huge smallmouth bass that exceeded the current state record of 8
pounds!
Alexandria Minnesota is an easy 2-hour drive from the Minneapolis/St. Paul
metropolitan area. Driving west on Interstate Highway 94 will deliver you right
to Alexandria’s doorstep. For lodging information the area
Chamber of Commerce can be contacted at 1-800-235-9441. If you’re looking
for local information here are a couple of sites that should help you.
The Minnesota Department of Natural
Resources, 1-888-646-6367; Explore
Minnesota; Christopherson Bait Shop (Dana Freeze) telephone 320-763-3255;
Agape Fishing Guides
Once you’ve experienced the exceptional fishing and easy going, laid-back
atmosphere of this quaint Minnesota town, you will understand why Alexandria has
adopted the slogan; Easy to get to - Hard to leave.
As always stay safe and we hope to see you on the water.
Wayne Ek,
Agape Fishing Guides
classicbass.com Field Staff
Wayne Ek is a fishing guide, tournament
angler and writer in Alexandria, Minnesota.
For more information you can contact Wayne at
www.agapefishingguides.com
