Ice Fishing Report Updated Friday 1/30/04 – Jeff Sundin
Snow, just like the old days! Welcome back to a real winter in Minnesota. It was a little tough getting through the blast of cold weather last week, but once the front blew through, the fish are adjusting and making a comeback. The larger lakes have been plowed and access is fairly good. With all of the wind that came with our snow, open areas on the lakes are still accessible by truck, but watch out for protected areas and some of the back woods roads where drifting could be a problem. Snowmobiler’s are smiling now because there’s plenty of snow and that equals a bunch of nice spots without too much traffic on them.
Perch fishing has become a bit spotty. Some folks are finding great action while others are struggling. There is one key pattern that seems to tip the scale in your favor, find the deepest portion of structure and locate your holes where the humps or bars meet the soft bottom flats. Although there are still plenty of fish chasing schools of minnows in open water, it seems that the fish that locate near these structures are the most active biters. If you get out too far from the structure, you’re spending a lot of time waiting for schools of fish to move through. The average size has been better lately, so there’s a nice trade off if you’re willing to work at it.
Walleyes are continuing to use the tops of the bars and humps and can be seen on the locator throughout the day, many of the fish turn and swim away without biting, but there are some biters mixed in. When you find an area with lots of fish “looking, be sure to get set up in that area for the evening bite. Probably because of the unsettled weather, the Walleyes are more likely to bite slower presentations right now. Bobber-rigs, tip-ups or spoons fished with little or no jigging action are the best producers. Don’t overlook a simple plain hook and live minnow. Some of those less active fish still can’t pass up the easy meal.
Northern Pike are active in the deeper water near the breakline or relating to deeper bars and humps. We’ve had some consistent action setting tip ups with medium size sucker minnows out in deep water. The fish don’t really seem to be following a pattern though, they act more like they’re roaming around looking for good schools of bait. Some of the folks spending time spearing in the shallower water are reporting some good pike too. A friend of mine had great action on nice fish last week, even when the rest of us were suffering a slow down.
Crappie fishing is staying on a slow but steady course. No one is reporting a really hot bite, but it has been common to hear from people who are consistently catching 5 to 8 fish every trip out. Morning action has probably been a little better than the “evening bite” which has been a quick spurt, followed buy a long wait for the after dark bite. The morning bite is starting just before daylight and can drag out for an hour or two before ending. The Crappies are also responding to more natural baits fished slowly. Small blade baits and perch eye imitations with tail hooked minnows have been working well for me.
Trout fishing is about average for this area. If you fish 4-8 hours at a time, you will get a couple of “follows” and maybe one or two bites. Fishing 20 to 30 feet of water, using a Castmaster (or similar jigging spoon) are producing some fish. There are mixed reports about the size of fish being caught, but there are enough nice ones coming in to make it interesting.