Left Minneapolis at 3:45 yesterday morning to get up to Duluth in hopes of finding some first ice walleye.
Why Duluth you ask? The in-laws live there and I’ve become familiar with the area lakes/reservoirs over the past three years. Reports of 5+ inches of ice, a place to stay for free, and the gf got to hang out with her mom.
First stopped at Island Lake at sunrise. No sign of foot travel. Drove to MN power public landing in NE arm of the reservoir. Slowly walked out 100 ft with the spud bar. Drilled the first hole (strikemaster fired up 3rd pull as usual) and found only 2.5 inches of ice. Not enough for my 300+ frame so I left for thicker sheets of ice.
Went to Boulder Lake as the bait shop had initially suggested. Found atv/snowmobile travel was the norm! Justifiably so as I found 8 inches of ice near the landing and never drilled a hole with less than 5 inches the rest of the day.
I never got this lake of my checklist last summer so it was my first time fishing it and I was in the dark as how to fish it. Followed some others tracks, holes, and used the ole handheld with Lakemaster version 7 (before H’bird bought them out) to start the search. Right away I found some willing perch around rock points. 8-9 inch average. Nothing worth keeping or to write home about. Kept searching around points and islands.
If I had to estimate, I’d say I pulled my sled with at least 100 lbs of gear close to 5 miles yesterday. Which is why I’m typing this now and not fishing, my legs are SORE!!
But I was all worth it. Come mid afternoon a group of fellas arrived at spot I had drilled out earlier and found nothing (because it looked like a nice spot on the map and someone had clearly spent some time there the past few days). I went over to talk to them and found out they had done pretty well there the past few nights with walleye and crappie. I decided to start drilling on the other side of a small island they were fishing off because it was closer to the deeper water of the original creek channel. Immediately found some more willing perch (same size as before) and one fatty 27 inch northern gave the drag a good workout.
I spent the next hour drilling and checking holes to get ready for dusk. Caught the first walleye of the season about 50 ft from the first hole and it was a nice 17 inch keeper. Very nice golden color.
Not finding much activity or depth change I decided to set up on the first hole I drilled an hour earlier and caught the northern. It turned out to be a great choice. I pulled in 7 more walleye in the hour before and after sunset. Using an array of slender spoons on the jigging rod and a 1/16th oz jig with fathead on the dead-stick. Silver spoon with either blue or chartreuse tape brought the fish in. 4 of the fish were dinks, but I ended up with two 17 inch keepers and a nice 20ish inch that smacked the dead-stick and nearly took the rod down the hole if I hadn’t been paying attention.
Overal, a great first ice trip. Some things I learned yesterday:
1) drill lots of holes! thats what you bought the nice auger for.
2) when searching a new lake, either follow those that know it or try to fish similar areas as they are
3) change spoons and jigging cadence often if it isn’t working
4) lazy fish can be attracted by the spoon but take the easy minnow on a jig.
5) be safe on early ice. Despite how nerdy it probably looked I still wore a life jacket because I am confident that if I went through the ice I would sink straight to the bottom!
You may already know these things, but it’s a reminder at the very least.
Have fun fishing this early ice and be safe.
