Hi – My brother DanK and 3 other brothers and sister, spouses, and kids/cousins (22 in all!) are attempting a first for us – an all family trip up north. We are staying at Arcadia Lodge on Big Turtle in Itasca county from Friday 7/24 – 7/31 and really excited. Whether this becomes an annual event is tbd – who knows if we get sick of each other by week’s end? However, that ill feeling could actually hinge on how well we put fish on the ends of the kids rods and bass/walleye on the end of the adult rods.
Being an avid and curious fisherman, my planning is not for what we intend to cook for our breakfast or dinner day or even packing of clothes.
It’s about what does the lake have to offer? We’ve never been there so looking some consultation.
So far in my research from the DNR netting reports, smallmouths look off the charts! Largemouths have a decent population too. Clarity of the lake (as I’m sure are for most up there) is ID’d at 15 feet for the sample time. Walleyes average. I have the lakemaster and navionics software on my PC and will be looking at that in the next few days to compare the mapping out there too.
I’m curious if anyone is willing to share info on this large lake – as specific as you care to provide. Where to target Largemouth, Smallmouth, Walleyes? What are general areas of this lake to focus on (it’s 2,000+ acres with some awesome bays and points!), things to look for or even if you care actual spots. Fishing is always about the hunt and exploring and figuring out what they are doing that day, but anything to cut down on some of that leading into the week would be helpful. Any information would be appreciated by us.
PM me if that makes more sense too, thank you for any consideration and happy to report findings to anyone that is interested when we get back for what we learned!
Catchin’