Westwinds December Reports

December 2, 2008

The keeps getting thicker and more and more people are trying their luck fishing. We went out to 2.5 miles today and found 9-10 inches of ice. We used ATV’s which is about you best way to travel now. We don’t have any snow cover so a snowmobile won’t work very well yet. The fishing is pretty decent with quite a few keepers being caught. Most people are fishing in 6-8 ft of water just off the last break but a few are trying out deeper with good luck also. We will have a trail marked to the cribs in the next few days which has always been a good early ice hotspot. I would say the ice fishing season is here, Woo Hoo !!! God Luck !!!

Thanks for the report, Wish I could get up there

so what do you suspect the conditions will be like on monday? i dont have a wheeler on snowmobiles and a truck should it be a go or a no go?

im almost positive there not letting even small trucks out yet or they would have reported it-

if you have ice cleats and willing to walk out a quarter to a 1/2 mile you wil be in 7-9 ft of water on the first break- and i would bet if you stop at any bait shop ther you could hire someone to pull you out and bring you back– if you want you can e-mail me and i can give you phone numbers [email protected]

Dec 4We went out and marked a trail to the Lou Rayne beach cribs today and found 10.5″ of ice. There’s not much snow on the ice so it can get a little hard to walk around. Ice cleats are a big help. ATV’s are the vehicles of choice right now. We have been out 2.5 miles so far and the ice looks good. A few areas of rough ice are found but most is fairly smooth and easy to get around. The walleye are still hitting during the day and into the evening. Lots of keeper sized fish are being caught right now, so getting some thing to eat is not to hard. Good Luck.

December 10, 2008

The road is marked and in good shape out 4 miles. There is good ice and great fishing. We have found 12″ to 14″ in most of the areas we have been. We will most likely be letting limited vehicle traffic out on Friday but you should call in advance to find out for sure (218-647-8998). Vehicle traffic will be limited to 1/2 ton pickups and smaller.
Fishing is very productive now with many limits of walleye being caught. And a few crappies too. Evening (4-7pm) and morning (8-10am) are the best times for the walleye. We are fishing in 10-13 ft with very good luck in some areas. Glow red is allways a hot color along with pink and white. Good Luck.

December 18, 2008

Ice conditions right now are real good. 16-18 inches of ice is average and vehicles are allowed on the ice. The road is plowed out 4 miles and is in great shape.
The walleyes are biting pretty good during the day and into the evening. The weather seems to have a large effect on the best times the fish come in and feed but it will happen. On average the best times are from 7-9 am and 3-6 pm, but many anglers have said they get them all day long. A jigging spoon works good the get the fish in and looking but a dead stick with a small hook seems to get most of the action. The walleye are biting very light so you need to feed them line and let them take the bait. Like always the best colors are glow red and pink.
Crappie are still in the lake. This morning there were quite a few in the fish cleaning pails. That’s a good sign this early in the year considering our best crappie fishing is in March. The crappies that have been caught were typical Red Lake 13-15 inches slabs. I love seeing those monsters come through the ice.
I haven’t seen many northerns around yet but they will start to show up on the feeding grounds soon to help tangle some lines.
We still have a few fish houses available on weekends and lots of mid week options too. Good Luck!!

December 27, 2008

The walleye bite has been quite good. Many anglers are finding limits of keeper sized walleye with lots of bigger ones to catch and release. Most of the fishing is taking place from 2-4 miles out in 10-13 ft of water. The morning from 7-9 am and late afternoon from 3-5 pm have been the best times of the day. There’s not much action after dark but keep the rattle reels down just in case you get a run of fish come through. The walleye have been biting very light so you need to give them some line and electronic like a Vexlair or Marcum flasher come in very handy for knowing when the fish are down there. Many times you can see them first and get them to bite with small upward motions. Like always, glow red and white work very well.
Northern action has been picking up big time. I saw two 42″ northerns in the last couple of days with many smaller ones too. Tip ups and sucker minnows seem to work very well. Just set up a couple outside the house while you fish for walleyes inside.
Crappies are still showing up but very scattered. The ones that have been caught were in random areas of the lake while walleye fishing. Right now they are very hard to target. Hopefully later in the year we will see an increase in catch rates.
Ice conditions are in great shape and we are approaching to 2 ft mark in some spots. The road is in great shape as well and runs out the 4 miles before running into some very rough ice. The end of the road is a very popular spot so this week we will try and make some large areas for wheel houses to pull into and fish. Just stop into the bait shop and they will give you the info on where to go. Good Luck!!