Why is there such a lack of ice fishing reports for here in the metro unless you pay $5 a month for outdoor new. That information used to be free. Since when did ice conditions, roughly depth fish are biting and what on need to cost money. I couldn’t even get anything out of my local bait shop guy.
Because there is no profit in giving away for free and fishermen don’t want to give away their good spots.
People here have lots of info, you have to get things started sometimes though. Bait stores are a gamble, mostly if they are not giving you info its because they do not have it, people are tight lipped at the bait store. I’ve gotten good info at the gas station and from the weed checkers in the summer, those people usually work at several lakes. Let me know what your fishing for and I might be able to help, Good Luck
I know I don’t like giving out my hot bites, especially on line. I don’t get the giving out reports via Facebook or anything. It can destroy a good thing. And the last thing I ever do is give the bait shop any hint of where I’m doing good. Learned my lesson a few years back shooting the crap with a guy at Frankie’s. Just to be posted on outdoors news. Then the area was flooded within 2 days.
It’s easy to get info from people. Just have to tread lightly
There’s legitimately thousands of people that end up seeing these posts on this forum, with most being non-members anyways. Word gets out and the fish disappear. This happened a lot with metro spots over the last two decades, and people have learned their lesson the hard way.
If you don’t believe me, look back on the old Fishing Minnesota forums.
I agree with Bearcat and Brandmoney, be careful about what you disclose and tread lightly.
About 75% of my fishing is in the greater “metro” area and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna start publicly disclosing my spots to thousands of people I don’t know. Especially for species of fish that people intend to keep.
If I’m fishing a bigger lake like Minnetonka I don’t mind telling someone I know the name of the lake. I just don’t like giving out specific details.
I agree with Bearcat and Brandmoney, be careful about what you disclose and tread lightly.
About 75% of my fishing is in the greater “metro” area and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna start publicly disclosing my spots to thousands of people I don’t know. Especially for species of fish that people intend to keep.
If I’m fishing a bigger lake like Minnetonka I don’t mind telling someone I know the name of the lake. I just don’t like giving out specific details.
Here Here, I agree. I only tell a select few where I go, not even the bait shop guy when getting minnows, always say to them when they ask where I am going, “not sure yet”.
When I was married I wouldn’t even tell the wife where I was fishing for hot bites. Good thing too, in the divorce she probably would’ve tried to take those too.
Snitches get stitches in regards to metro fish.
For ice conditions, the ICE REPORT app is pretty useful. You do need to take it with a grain of salt though.
As for metro panfish ‘the’ place to go is ‘tonka, course its not really one lake so to figure out where is tough, every winter I tell myself that when the water opens up I’ll learn some things about ‘tonka but every year I don’t want to deal with the zoo, and go somewhere else. I tend to fish a little outside of the metro.
Anyway I’ll PM you a bay with good #s of crappies.
X100
I agree with beads. I won’t even tell my wife what lake I’m fishing.
I agree with beads. I won’t even tell my wife what lake I’m fishing.
Mine never even asks. 
Outdoor news is garbage anyway. You’re better off reading online reports or watching IDO/Tom Boley etc. for trends and applying them to the body of water you want to fish.
I said this in another thread…..metro fishing is like Fight Club.
You gotta know the first rule….
Just jump on YouTube lol the younger generation posts videos of every trip on there!
I said this in another thread…..metro fishing is like Fight Club.
You gotta know the first rule….
Some will never understand that
Just jump on YouTube lol the younger generation posts videos of every trip on there!
All The EPIC outings
im gonna go in a different direction here and agree with the OP. Hes not asking for spots or patterns or inside information. Hes asking for ice thickness, depth caught and what you caught the fish on.
Providing ice thickness is a safety matter. I think providing ice thickness, with the mandatory preface of saying “no ice is safe”, is helping someone else stay safe.
As far as giving away depth and presentation if i say i was catching walleyes in 24′ of water and they were biting on fatheads we are concerned the word is gonna get out?
I do agree with folks saying dont give away coordinates but thats not what the OP asked for. Providing someone ice thickness, depth caught and on what is fine in my book
When I was married I wouldn’t even tell the wife where I was fishing for hot bites. Good thing too, in the divorce she probably would’ve tried to take those too.
LOLOL 
Here is the Metro fishing report, People driving 50mph on most lakes. Fishing remains spotty with lots of 4″ and 5″ crappie with the occasional 7″ tossed in. Lots of snake northerns.
So true.
To the op, people are gun shy about giving info because it gets out there too easily and can absolutely wreck a local fishery.
If you want good metro intel, check out Crappie Chronicles on YouTube. They give depths and presentation but try to figure out where they are…that takes some sleuthing!
Get to know a few people on the board. I fish with and share info with a handful of guys I here. It’s because I trust they won’t throw something on Facebook and we are reciprocal with info.
Finally, figuring out where, what and when is half the fun. If you figure out a good metro bite it’s super rewarding.
I just figured all the city guys brought their wheelhouse out onto Maple Lake
im gonna go in a different direction here and agree with the OP. Hes not asking for spots or patterns or inside information. Hes asking for ice thickness, depth caught and what you caught the fish on.
Providing ice thickness is a safety matter. I think providing ice thickness, with the mandatory preface of saying “no ice is safe”, is helping someone else stay safe.
As far as giving away depth and presentation if i say i was catching walleyes in 24′ of water and they were biting on fatheads we are concerned the word is gonna get out?
I do agree with folks saying dont give away coordinates but thats not what the OP asked for. Providing someone ice thickness, depth caught and on what is fine in my book
Same info I don’t give the public. Early ice I like to be the only one out. I’d rather not tell Facebook that it’s super safe come on out. The fish are biting in 12 ft. I guess it’s a saftey matter others will have to find out the same way I do. Chisel and hike
I just figured all the city guys brought their wheelhouse out onto Maple Lake
Nah…all the “city guys” are busy working to pay the taxes that support the rest of the state!😁
Nah…all the “city guys” are busy working to pay the taxes that support the rest of the state!😁
Keep dreaming that dream you’re perpetually in…
Also! Agree with most u guys. Don’t give away exact spots online. Do it for your own sake and for everybody else who’s busted their ass figuring it out. A little zipper over the lips goes a long way.
ALSO. Nothing wrong with giving someone general tips like depth, colors, time of day, etc.. But when it comes to specific lakes, especially relatively small ones within the metro, keep it to private messages or to yourself. Especially if you’re sharing exact locations.
Disregard me as some stuck up, selfish a-hole if you want, but also consider my words. Everybody needs a little help or some pointers sometimes, but NOBODY needs exact information, especially on a public forum or social media platform.
True-I used to have a spot that was as big as my living room, old guy who lived on the lake would walk around and check people, while he was there I would stay out of the zone. Never kept any fish from there because the school was always small and the fish always big. Had a walk in lake that had big walleyes, one land owner paid the big bucks to stock the lake, he saw some guys with limits of big fish on the ice, that made him stop stocking.
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