Lake Osakis help

Hello guys,

New to the fishing forum here! I’ve been around just reading but first time posting. Need some direction/tips if anyone would be willing to share! I’m trying to target some panfish but mainly crappie on Osakis this weekend with some friends. I drive from Bismarck, my brother in law comes from Sioux Falls and my other friend takes off from the metro for this once a year weekend meet up in Alexandria. Last year we got stumped almost completely catching only two crappie all weekend. We generally go out of head of lakes resort as my friend who owns the house doesn’t like beating his own path much with the house haha. Any tips on possibly doing better this year? Thanks guys.

Hey Chad, welcome to the group. I’d have to say Osakis is one of my favorite fisheries in the area, so glad to see you and your friends are headed out. Great Crappie and Bluegill lake with most of my success coming in 25-35 feet of water around the bottom of steep transition lines. Download a countour app on your phone and head to the head of the lake. Any small tungsten jig tipped with wax worms or even better yet, plastics, should do the trick. Colors always vary, but was very successful with blue/white earlier on this month.

Thanks Bill! I’ve done some looking on navionics app about where I might find a decent transition. Plastic bait interesting, myself I have never had much luck using fake baits but I will look to pick some up. Thanks for your response!

Yeah, plastics are nice for the brief moments you get on the schools, a lot quicker to drop back down and keep fishing. One thing I should have mentioned is Osakis can be very challenging and different than other panfish lakes. I usually don’t try to chase them down like I would on Ida or Miltona. Often times, as frustrating as it is, it is best to wait for them to come to you. So many deep spots in that lake, that drilling and running around for them often proves futile. Best to just wait it out and wait for the slabs to find you. Take advantage when they do! Best of luck to you guys!

Was out there last sat. and Sun. The bite was good for Osakis. The bite on that lake can be REALLY REALLY tough sometimes. finding fish is never a problem – Getting them to bite sometimes is difficult. If you go out of the head of the lakes you wont need to go Far. The fish on that end of the lake move around ALOT. Area’s that are hot one day can be dead the next. a few tips I have for you – 1. Stay away from the big masses of houses. Fish tend to get rather pressured out there and they simply move to avoid it. 2. Drill lots of holes and don’t even bother fishing one if you don’t mark fish – You cant catch what is not there. 3. Keep moving around to stay on active fish. 4. Be prepared for a EXTREAMLY lite bite. The bite on Osakis is often really light. I would not be without a spring bobber rod – there are days you will not see the bite without one. Good Luck – Hope you get into them.

Thanks! Is there a depth range you would primarily focus on? Bill above said 25-35, I’ve heard people say even out to 40ft and others as shallow as 15. Do the walleye and crappie ever cross paths in your experience out there, or would you need to move to different end of the lake if you were to try for a walleye?

The Depths we did well in last weekend was 18-21 FOW. Mixed catch of crappies and sunfish. The sunfish are a nice average size this year ( Lots of 8″ fish – and some nice 8.5-9.25 mixed in ) The crappies have several different year classes – Lots of 10.5-11″ fish with a few 12+ mixed in as well. Cant help you on the walleyes. I’ve only caught a few while panfish fishing in all the years I’ve fished out there. Never targeted them. All my fishing is daytime hours – I have no clue what the after dark bite is like out there. I always assumed that the overnight fishermen would catch a few here and a few there throughout the night.

The forecast is for warm weather this weekend – you should be able to get out and move around a lot to find fish if you are into the whole run and gun approach. Snow cover is light so no problem moving around in trucks

I’ve been fishing 18-25ft along weed lines. Like Thumper said drill lots of holes and be on the move. Have a very sensitive rod sometimes you lift the jig and the fish is already on. Tungsten jig with plastic has been producing me all my fish. every trip I had there has been very productive for me. Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies. I will be on the move if necessary on Friday afternoon trying different depth ranges. Plan to plant the house in roughly 30-35 ft over by holiday boat landing. Anyone ever fished in that area? Targeting a transition over there and by the looks of navionics I’m sure everyone else has the same idea as I do but will try to get away a bit.