Bait store

Heading north on 169 to Appeldoorn’s tomorrow with my kid, first time out this year.

I assume shiners are no where to be found. Rainbows and fatheads?
We resorted to suckers on the dead stick two years ago and actually did well.

I can’t remember which store in Isle was cheaper and more generous when scooping (Johnson’s or Trailside).
I do remember it was the smaller of the 2 operations.
Or would stopping at Prince’s bait be a better idea on the way up?

Thanks for any responses.
We were basically skunked 4 and 5 years ago on Mille Lacs and it nearly soured my kid on ice fishing.
Hoping for a good trip, one on one time, and hooking him on ice fishing for life.

Prince.

Previous years I found shiners at Jerry’s baitshop in Mora when no one else had any in sight. Not out of the way terribly, maybe call first if you are really after shiners.

I’d suggest getting shiners (if possible), suckers, and fatheads. It’s nice having variety.
I would definitely stop at prince bait on the way up. If they don’t have something you’ll have two other options to find what you need on your way to the lake. I prefer Trailside in Isle over Portside.
Going up mid week I’d guess you have a chance at some shiners, the bait shops are getting some but they don’t last long. By the weekend they’ll be gone. When they’re available, I suck it up and pay the price for them. They were definitely the most productive bait for me last weekend.
From what I heard fishing was very slow out from Appledorn’s last weekend. Hopefully the bite will pick up for you and your son. Good luck and enjoy your time with him, catching fish or not.

Thanks for the responses.
Wed-Fri trip.
Who knows with the pressure dropping, warm temps and snow moving in.

I stopped in at Tutt’s in Garrison today and they had everything including shiners.

I wouldn’t suggest them as they are well out of the way from your destination when I believe most places will have everything being midweek.

I’ve done best with suckers on setlines, but like grubson suggested why not get a variety if you can. Plus the cheap fatheads are what you want to pinch the heads and use for jigging spoons.

Good luck!

mndadandson wrote:

Heading north on 169 to Appeldoorn’s tomorrow with my kid, first time out this year.

I assume shiners are no where to be found. Rainbows and fatheads?
We resorted to suckers on the dead stick two years ago and actually did well.

I can’t remember which store in Isle was cheaper and more generous when scooping (Johnson’s or Trailside).
I do remember it was the smaller of the 2 operations.
Or would stopping at Prince’s bait be a better idea on the way up?

Thanks for any responses.
We were basically skunked 4 and 5 years ago on Mille Lacs and it nearly soured my kid on ice fishing.
Hoping for a good trip, one on one time, and hooking him on ice fishing for life.

You can resort to suckers I prefer them to shiners on Mille Lacs.

Trailside in isle had shiners call them

Whats a dozen a shiners going for around the pond nowadays?
I know I’ve paid up to $16 a dozen before.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Whats a dozen a shiners going for around the pond nowadays?
I know I’ve paid up to $16 a dozen before.

And they die if you look at them wrong too

gimruis wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Eelpoutguy wrote:</div>
Whats a dozen a shiners going for around the pond nowadays?
I know I’ve paid up to $16 a dozen before.

And they die if you look at them wrong too

At least your shiners let you look at them. Mine die as they are being scooped out of the tank.
DT

Trail side bait in Isle,Mn
Great bait, cheap propane fills too.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Trail side bait in Isle,Mn
Great bait, cheap propane fills too.

If I dont stop at fish lake bait then we go to trailside every time

I love Trail side they have a great selection of junk food.

I always stop at Prince’s. Also prefer Suckers, and haven’t bought a shiner in years.

We stopped at 65 bait and tackle and they had shiners and everything else we needed.

Prince bait is the place to be if coming up 169, they have everything and the guys are awesome

Hi – I fished around Doe Island this past weekend and bought suckers and shiners from Trailside. From my experience this past weekend, the dead stick with either a shiner or sucker had zero interest from walleyes. I had a camera down and thus could watch the activity. The only way I could get bit was a jigging spoon with small shiner head on the treble. In case the bite is the same, for this weekend I will also get some flatheads as the shiner heads to me are a little to big for a jigging spoon and also a little expensive.
From what I recall the shiners were like $12.95/doz but were very nice and kept in the garage for three nights. As long as you keep them cold, no problem.

I’ve been up a handful of times so far this year and found that the fish are well fed and a little more picky than in the past few years… BUT they change what they want from day to day. In the 4 or 5 days that I’ve been on the ice the preference has been shiners 2 days, small suckers (3-4″) one day, and bigger suckers (5-8″) 2 days. It absolutely pays off to bring a variety of different types and sizes in front of them.

Will

PS – Our best luck has been keeping tip-ups 50-100′ away from where we are fishing as when they are in a less than aggressive mode they shy away from the activity even of people moving around on the ice.

Thanks for the responses.

Back today from the trip.
Stopped at Prince’s on the way up.
They had everything and the guys were great.

Bit the bullet and bought shiners($16), 5 inch suckers and fatheads.

Camera and graph.
Only activity was a small group of 5 inch perch the entire time.

Not a single fish Wednesday-Friday. No marks.

Tried everything. Rattle lures, glow, dead stick, suckers, shiners and flutter baits and glow demons tipped with minnow head etc. etc.

Nothing, Nothing, Nothing. Guy at the desk acknowledged no one catching any except a lone walleye here and there, last week someone landed 2 nice northerns. Talked to 6 others fishing on their road…1 house had a single eye.

I don’t have an auger so we were limited to the house holes.

At least I wasn’t the only one skunked on that ice road.

But for what it is worth, Appeldoorn’s house was nice and the staff was good.

Welcome to walleye fishing on the Pond.

We were out on mud in SxS. Was way too much traffic close in. Lots of lookers and tullibee. 11 of us fished 3 days and ended up with 6 slot fish, so pretty successful. No big fish, but a lot 19-20.5

Wow, if I was running the ice houses at Appledorns I’d be very embarrassed and ashamed of that story. How deep of water was the house in? Did you keep lines in at night? Three days without a bite tells me they didn’t care about you and your son having a good time. Did they offer to move you? The fish were biting, I know people who were in a private house out of Appledorns and they caught fish all weekend. I think they weren’t willing to do the work for you to put your house on them. Honestly its hard to believe you could fish anywhere on that lake for that long and not catch a fish. It’s unfortunate that a lot of these rental places seem to be dropping houses in a row and collecting cash without actually doing the work it takes to keep the houses on productive water.

grubson wrote:

Wow, if I was running the ice houses at Appledorns I’d be very embarrassed and ashamed of that story. How deep of water was the house in? Did you keep lines in at night? Three days without a bite tells me they didn’t care about you and your son having a good time. Did they offer to move you? The fish were biting, I know people who were in a private house out of Appledorns and they caught fish all weekend. I think they weren’t willing to do the work for you to put your house on them. Honestly its hard to believe you could fish anywhere on that lake for that long and not catch a fish. It’s unfortunate that a lot of these rental places seem to be dropping houses in a row and collecting cash without actually doing the work it takes to keep the houses on productive water.

You make some good points, no doubt. But, in their defense, they really don’t have any where to move the houses too right now.. Dickie’s took over Big point, There is heave keeping them from getting to north side of Hennipen Island, & who ever is running the hand full of house out of the Wharf has taken over Shaws Reef. The weather just hasn’t been cold enough & the ice is extremely rough out there. As of this last Friday (1/15/21) they were still finding spots with 10″ of ice with slush & 2′ of snow on top. Also, they don’t have any good help. They have 1 experienced plow guy out there working 7 days a week, sun up till sundown. Clearing roads & moving as many houses as a guy can in a day.. Yes, some of that does fall on management but with the warmish winter we’ve had, they have no where to go. I guess they could be like some of the resorts north of Big Point & not have any houses out yet, whatsoever. A bad day of fishing is better than any day on the couch.

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

You make some good points, no doubt. But, in their defense, they really don’t have any where to move the houses too right now.. Dickie’s took over Big point, There is heave keeping them from getting to north side of Hennipen Island, & who ever is running the hand full of house out of the Wharf has taken over Shaws Reef. The weather just hasn’t been cold enough & the ice is extremely rough out there. As of this last Friday (1/15/21) they were still finding spots with 10″ of ice with slush & 2′ of snow on top. Also, they don’t have any good help. They have 1 experienced plow guy out there working 7 days a week, sun up till sundown. Clearing roads & moving as many houses as a guy can in a day.. Yes, some of that does fall on management but with the warmish winter we’ve had, they have no where to go. I guess they could be like some of the resorts north of Big Point & not have any houses out yet, whatsoever. A bad day of fishing is better than any day on the couch.

I get that it’s a tough business especially with weather like we’ve had this season. It’s really not a good excuse though. They shouldn’t be renting them out if they can’t get them on good water. It’s their reputation at stake.
I feel bad for their workers being short handed. It’s a lot of work no doubt. Regardless though. It’s up to Appledorn’s to make it an enjoyable experience for their customers and to me it sounds like they took this man’s money and ran.

grubson wrote:

It’s up to Appledorn’s to make it an enjoyable experience for their customers and to me it sounds like they took this man’s money and ran.

I think you’d be surprised how often this happens. Obviously there’s really no way to confirm it but clearly the success at the moment seems to be further out where travel is more treacherous and limited to portables that remain more mobile. Plus that and it sounds like the bite overall is quite slow this winter because of an abundance of forage. I admit that I would be pretty upset too just sitting in a house for days without a bite too.

There’s a reason they call it the Dead Sea.

I think you’d be surprised how often this happens. Obviously there’s really no way to confirm it but clearly the success at the moment seems to be further out where travel is more treacherous and limited to portables that remain more mobile. Plus that and it sounds like the bite overall is quite slow this winter because of an abundance of forage. I admit that I would be pretty upset too just sitting in a house for days without a bite too.
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I agree. Appledorn’s is not the only guilty resort. I’ve heard similar stories from Twin Pines recently also. Im sure they all do it at times.
You definitely don’t need to be miles from shore to catch fish either. I’ve actually heard better reports close to shore areas than from mid lake structure lately. Getting away from the crowds and noise is key. I belive that’s where a lot of these resorts are failing. They drop houses in a line right next to each other, right on the road…. Take the time, spread them out with their own driveways and get on them on fish. They’d make repeat customers for generations if they just went the extra mile. Even if they have to charge more, I know I’d gladly pay the difference if I knew they’d be working to get my house in a good area.
The good rental outfits on Red and Lotw are booked a year in advance without advertising because their customers know they’ll be put on fish consistantly. I realize it’s fishing and nothing is certain. Getting houses moved to fresh ice and fresh fish regularly make a huge difference overall though without a doubt.

How do you know the house wasn’t on a fresh spot?
I think we would all agree Cookie on UPRL works his tail off to move houses and he still gets customers that don’t catch anything from time to time.

Also with ice conditions they way they are this year, aka mostly not safe to drive a truck wherever you want I don’t think resorts can make exstensive road systems yet and also give off the impression that well their are roads all over so I can just drive my truck all over.

Agree bummer he didn’t catch anything but it happens.

Sounds like noise on top of the ice is an enemy