Tried Balsam Lake on Friday and Saturday for crappie. Didn’t find any. Caught 1 small (very small) walleye on a tip up, and a rock bass on Friday. Saturday all I could muster up was a small perch. Tried the steep drops for crappie but didn’t mark any suspended fish at all. Marked fish on the bottom but they were sluggish at best.
Is Balsam seeing a lot of fishing pressure right now? Have never fished it through the ice myself. I know the couple times I have been up there it was getting a lot of pressure from both anglers and pleasure craft.
I haven’t fished it much in the summer, but I’ve heard from some people who have cabins up there that the boat traffic can be pretty hectic, especially on weekends. As far as winter pressure it seems that there’s about 3 spots that everyone gravitates to and that’s it. Personally I try to stay away from the crowds and have done ok in the past, but you need to be mobile so you can find the fish.
Coot,
My brother and I were up there in late June, ’03 and there was what I would call significant rec traffic. Wouldn’t say they were interfering with fishing, though. They stayed away from fishermen. Lots of families out boating, so it seems there was a little respect for us anglers.
Highlight of the trip was pulling into the marina on the south side and us following around the hottie boat girl for a while! What a cutie! Invited her to go fishing with us, but, dad was around…………..
Capn Cat
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