Pelican lake by St. Michael

what’s the deal with this lake, I’ve driven past it a few times – it seems huge with plenty of good habitat for bass, but I never here anything about it from anglers and struggle to even find a map. Any info let me know…

Its a big duck lake, I have hunted it many times, its shallow with alot of rocks, I have never had a depth finder out there so I don’t know what the max depth is but when the waters down you have to be careful.I think they do pretty well on pan fish in the winter and I have seen boats fishing in summer but I think its stickly pan fish.

Gets to 14ft deep in the north end. Some nice pike and bass are in there. Just difficult to fish from a boat as most of the lake is very shallow. Gets more attention during ice season. DNR is planning to draw it down to improve duck habitat.

thanks for the info….

Anybody know the current status of Pelican Lake?
Was it drawn down?
Can you launch boats without damaging your equipment?
How was the BAss fishing this past summer?

Thanks Carroll

I don’t believe it was drawn down to far, if at all. The water still comes right up to the road on the north end anyway. Lots of guys fishing it already. I haven’t been able to make it out yet this year.

Kooty, I might be getting out there on either Sat or Sun so I’ll fish for both of us! I’ve never fished the lake so I guess I’ll have to go where the crowds are?

There are some really good gills and a few decent crappies in the lake. There are several, I mean several, communities out there. I would not fish by them necessarily.

Pelican is for sure run and gun – the crowds are usually not the best place to fish in my experience. Get away from them a bit and you’ll do better.

Not making it out this weekend as the storm is moving in and I still have stuff to do to get my gear ready(and a stupid garage door opener to fix!). Looks like it may be awhile now before I can get out now with the weather pattern coming in.

The lake is very shallow, its hard to find elevan feet. There are some nice gills in there. Used to be more. Seen a few nice crapies come outa there this year, but not as many as there used to be. Ive been out there a few times in the past couple of weeks. caught a some nice gills. I havent really been out there at the right times with the weather but still managed to catch fsh. The bite for me was a hour or so before dark or rite in the morning, but after that the bite gets tough. Get away from the croud a lil bit n youll have better succes.

Drove by the lake today. Guys were on the ice fishing! They must really be die hards!! You could see little pods of houses but not a lot of big groups yet? And even some houses were of by themselves? It looks very intriguing with all the bays and timber around. Usually those lakes will have fish coming into very shallow water in the trees. Anyone know how deep the trees and stumps are? All you need is a couple feet? And a camera. Most fish that shallow will shy away from any disturbance but you can see them on the camera. How clean (water clarity) is the water? Looks like it would take awhile to find a spot as spread out as it is?

No real spots on Pelican – just a big basin and the fish roam constantly. I typically fish away from the crowds most days you get a few nice fish and then there’s the day you just hammer ’em that keeps you going back. I drill a lot of holes and if I can’t get on fish in a half hour it’s time to move.

I’m fairly new to this board and happened to wonder upon this thread. I’ve fished and hunted Pelican a lot over the last few years as I live 10 minutes from it. Last year the ice fishing was really good but this year I’ve struggled to find them. I’ve moved around a lot, tried new areas and still have had difficulty getting on fish. The lake is filled with nice sized crappies and gills, numerous fish over a pound last year. Just a few so far this season. I caught a lot of bigger northerns this summer and wonder if that has had any effect on the pan fishing. I know there are still a bunch of people fishing the lake, any updates from anyone else?

I have yet to mark a fish on this lake this winter. However, I have friends who are doing very well out there. We just gotta keep moving til we find them. Good luck and welcome to IDO!!

Just as an FYI…I fished and area of the backwaters off the Miss yesterday in 4 fow. This was a new area and I wasn’t really sure if there were even fish in it. Found out there was. What gave me confidence was using my camera. I cut a bunch of holes…didn’t see fish..no surprise there…but I put the camera in one hole in my port house and fished (and could see my jig in the other hole). After a while of settling down I could see fish come in. If I wouldn’t have had the camera I may not have stayed and decided there really were no fish in the lake. Also…I noticed that the prime time was just a little after 4pm until a little after 5. Everything came in that time frame. I had gotten there at 1. I didn’t see a fish until about 2:30. Then it was sporadic. But the feed was on at 4pm!! I didn’t use my finder in that shallow of water cuz I could see bottom. Just wanted to say that the camera really helps those hole shy fish and saved the day yesterday where just using a finder may not of?!

Oh..and as just another fyi…in that shallow of water…any walking or or constant moving around on the ice definitely spooks the fish. That’s why it’s best to cut all your holes first off then go back and find the the fish.

Thanks to Cal, Grow and Bowman, I now fish that way too. Drill a bunch of holes then go get the rod and the Marcum. Start moving. Nothing, drill more. Repeat until recipe is successful or you’re too tired to drill more holes. I’ll either be out there this Sunday or I may head to another spot to chase some elusive whiskered fish. Waiting on war dept clearance….

Anyone know where a guy can get bait around Monti or Albertville?

Haven’t been there in a while, but on Broadway near intersection of 25 in Monti there was River’s Edge Outfitters. I live in Elk River and get bait and Ebner’s right on HWY 10 and 171st Ave. Was there last week and they had plenty of selection as far as live bait goes.

Hardware Hank In St Michael has bait or the new bait shop next to the pawn place off of hwy 25 in Monti has bait too.

The baitshop on Broadway is now closed. I use Ebners on Hwy 10 in Elk River.

I found one on 25 just south of The 25 94 bridge about a hlf mile in Monti. It’s next to the pawn shop on the right as you go south. Bait and Tackle store.

Sweet. Didn’t know about that one. Would have saved me a trip to Buffalo one day….

Kooty,

you may already know this but Hardware Hank in St Michael has some bait too….? Handy if you are staying local or heading west a bit.

I didn’t, but thank you for letting us know. I like Ebners selection and friendly service so I don’t mind going out of my way. However, there are times when it would be nice to have other options.

Hey guys new here, I finally got the chance to get up to pelican and managed some nice sunnies on the north end.

What number were you getting on the lake for the day? I was # 6,578.

I was there at 830 am so I would have to guess around 1500 LOL!!!! I expected alot more people from everybody has been saying on here. To me it didnt seem that bad as I chose to fish away from the crowds, unlike Waconia everyone was pretty spread out across the lake.

I bet there weren’t half the people as the previous Sat.