Ice Update/Fish Update 1.19.16

What a busy couple of weeks for me up here on Leech Lake. We do have vehicle traffic on all parts of the lake right now. Walker Bay has had half tons out on it, pine point, grand vue also have vehicle traffic and out here at Trappers we have no restrictions right now. We do have two big pressure ridges running off of Pelican island(4 miles out) that will keep most vehicles within those areas, but we have plenty of structure in between here and those cracks to set up your wheel house on. If you have a snowmobile/ATV you can make it over those areas. We are on this side of the lake in the 20’s for ice on some parts, the least amount I saw the other day was 18 where I was at.

The cold front did slow down some of the fishing on this side of the lake the last couple days. The best bite has been out on Walker bay for a lot of people especially if you can get on a hump that has not been hit yet. They are a little deeper out there in 25-40 feet of water, lots of keeper fish out there and lots of smaller fish. I have also heard of some perch going out there and in Traders Bay in 6 to 8 feet of water. Over here on my end of the lake the fishing has slowed down on the shoreline breaks this past weekend but the people that got away from the crowds caught fish in 18-22 feet of water. A little deeper then where they were a week ago. Orange is still the color across the lake and is still the best color for me when I head out. The warm temps should really get the fish going good this weekend. Good luck out there and I will be on the ice the next couple of days so hopefully I will have some really good reports for you by this weekend.

What’s the latest Josh?

Thanks!

I have not been able to get out in the past week out here. I was unfortunately in Chicago for the Chicagoland Fishing, Travel and Outdoor Expo, running the Trappers booth and doing some fishing seminars. It was a fun week but I had to miss some of this awesome January weather. I did however get some second hand from some of the guests in the ice houses and staying on site.

I had some mixed reviews come in from the weekend and did see some on the forum here from the past weekend. It did slow down finally in Walker bay, but the people that are fishing there are a little deeper then most people would like to fish. Most of the fish that came out of walker bay this weekend were in 30-45 feet of water, it did slow down but had one house limit this past weekend. I know you can probably find some shallower up near sand point and those areas. On my end of the lake a good weekend was 4 to 5 fish with them all being in the slot. We did have some people pull a zero, so there is the hit or miss factor going on. I had one friend who really worked hard and caught fish, the people staying in one spot did not fair too well. Orange and Pink was the best color that I heard worked. If you can get away from the high pressured areas you still will find fish, but you have to move a lot. The past two days since I have been back have been very slow. I will have more of an update by this weekend since I will be able to go out all day Thursday.
Ice conditions are very good on our side of the lake with 20-22 inches being reported on and off our roads. Our roads go out to Red Rocks, and over to Uram bay. Plenty of spots to get away from everybody and you can off road. There is still the big crack up near pelican and one that runs south from those islands too. If you do have a snowmobile or ATV bring it up so you can get to those untouched areas and keep mobile. The people moving around are doing much better. Good luck out there.

Attachments:

1. 

   2.1.16c.jpg
   

2. 

   2.1.16d.jpg
   

3. 

   2.1.16a.jpg
   

4. 

   2.1.16b.jpg
   

5. 

   2.1.16.jpg
   

Just a quick update for this upcoming Eel Pout weekend:

We will be open to all sized vehicle traffic for this weekend. We have one ice road built to the clay banks off of Bear Island and the other goes just to the west of rogers point. We do have a large ice heave out on the lake that is where the road to the west ends. Ice thickness is 22-25 inches on our side of the lake.

Walleye fishing was hit or miss over the weekend. I had some good reports and some very poor reports. The people that set up on the rocks did a little better then those that did not. With the lack of snow on the ice the day time bite has been slow and the evenings have been better. I have not fished on walker bay since its been busy but things were slowing down out there to just an evening bite. Lots of big fish being caught on our end. There was not much for moving around this weekend since the big cold front moved in. This upcoming weekend should get some good reports.

Panfish on the local area lakes have been good. Lots of reports of limits of crappie on the local lakes in the deep basins. Most people are finding there fish in the deepest parts of the lakes. Perch on the main lake are still running small with a couple big jumbos being reported but not consistent. Today would be a good day to go with the sun and warm temps. The perch will continue to get better as we move into march and the the over looked little lakes will only get better as well.

Northern are on fire right now around the lake, they love the cold weather. Lots of those were in the fish cleaning area this weekend, and over the last couple days.

Overall fishing has been a little slow on the big lake but anglers willing to keep moving will find their walleye. Who can complain when its supposed to be 40 degrees on saturday last year at this time it was -20 for a high. Only two weekends left to walleye fish and they look awesome. I know I am looking forward to the perch bite which is right around the corner.