Slick roads on the way up this morning. Not fun watching the boat fish tailing in the rear view mirror but slowed er down and got here in one piece.

Water temps like Charlie said pushing towards 35. We checked a fair amount of spots today and found most spots had fish you just had to work them to get bit. Not surprised with the cold water temps. Water clarity is still good and water levels are on the low side.

Ended the day with 36 walleyes and a 28″ for big fish. Not a great first day on the Rainy but not terrible either.

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grizzly wrote:

if any of you guys are the ones out there fishing already how about a report on the bite and size of jigs needed. Thanks

Will try to do a report tomorrow evening. Made it to the farm tonight north of Mille lacs. Hoping to hit Birchdale by 10 tomorrow. More than excited about this.

Ill be available to discuss this the next two weeks while I’m floating around on the river.

I thought layoff was a job benefit. At NPL our season doesn’t really get going til April 15 so getting two weeks off now was no problem.

You pick the right job. And they are always hiring for utility work.

Looks like some crappy weather moving in for this weekend.

Rivers always do. Shore to shore ice to wide open in a little over a day. Think I’m headed up Sunday morning and staying til the end of the season. Fishing solo next week.

gim wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>crawdaddy wrote:</div>
It used to be a slower progression to the top. In the last 5 years things have really excellerated, as far as a shortening of the learning curve. Modern technology is what has given the young guys a real boost. Both at home learning on a computer and sonar technology on the water.

Yes, agreed.

It’s a technology race now and the results show it. You can’t compete consistently unless you’re a scope wizard, and that’s a generational trend. Everyone else is getting left in the dust.

Think I would give a lot of credit to the High School and College fishing teams. The amount of shared knowledge these guys are exposed to is huge. That scope is only a very small part of it. These guys are taught how to be professional tournament fishermen and its showing.

19 and 22 year olds at the top of Bassmaster. I believe this says a lot for high school fishing teams. Wow.

Yep. Last year was nice. Starting to look like a 30 degree with 20 mph winds and snow type of year this year.

Some one should start up a boat motel up there for these types of years. Over sized stall with heated floor and power to keep the boats in over night. So nice to come out to a thawed out, dried out boat in the morning and be able to clean and re rig gear in warmth.

6 pages and nobody has caught a fish yet.

We use a bit of everything for plastics. Started out with old school white BfishN paddltails at the start of the trip last year. Last day of the trip I was throwing 4.5″ Yum Pulse paddle tails. So basically from very little action to plastics you can see move in your rod tip. Make sure to bring a few scented plastics to and even having some super glue with is not a bad idea.

There is no magic color or style up there.

Saw that. 5 below up there this morning sure isn’t helping much. Sure is nice to get the daily updates from the guys up there. Was looking back through some of last year’s photos and it tough not to get excited about going. So many big fish with a pair of 31s to top the list. Hands taped up like fighters from all the fish cuts. Wrap your arm around the line to hoist the fish in because it’s just another 24 to 25 inches.

Dock is in at Lions. Water looks extremely low for this time of year.

It doesn’t need to be above freezing to thaw either. Sun is strong this time of year and the days keep getting longer. Below zero nights will slow things down but those nights in the upper teens and 20s won’t slow much. That’s my perspective from sunny Ham Lake mn.

I wonder if there won’t be some open water in front of Birchdale tomorrow or Friday.

So open water in front of Birchdale this weekend. Sliding boats in next weekend..

Another great question is what is the biggest boat you have seen dropped on the ramp and then pushed in? I got to see a 20’+ jon slide off a trailer and stop when the motor hit the pavement. What was most amazing was the guys did not miss beat grabbing a jack and getting it back on the trailer almost like they had practiced this drill often.

Sure doesn’t look like it’s going to happen next week. Thinking I might start getting my smaller jon ready for sliding across the ice this year. What’s the biggest boat you guys have seen slid in up there?

bigcrappie wrote:

Moore Lake in Fridley was wide open yesterday

Noticed that this morning. Ham Lake was still holding ice with just a little melted near shore and the dock.

Big variety of plastics for my boat to. White or Pink and white Pulsars are always not to far away. From there bring a few other colors, styles and sizes of plastics. Dont overlook scented plastics to. Think it would be tough to find one they won’t hit.

With that getting them to work can be a more challenging than finding the right plastic. You can very easily over work them. Most of the time hits cone when you are holding the bait still.

Donnie covers colors and techniques is this video a bit.

bigcrappie wrote:

So who do you call to get the red can removed?[/quot

DOGE. They are more of a hazard than anything.

Rivers Bend 5 days ago reported 19″ in front of their resort.

If it wasn’t for Trump Kimball wouldn’t have anything to talk about.

Just drive it down the road and it should come right off. Put my 27 stickers on the other day and with one trip one side is half gone already

Went with Ultimate Bunk Boards on my trailer and been happy with them. Slick enough but not to slick.

I saw that. 2 more 50 degree days later this week is going to mo e things in the right direction. Thought I heard somewhere over the weekend it has 10 miles to go til birchdale.

I agree. But you can catch a mn limit on the lake and bring it in. Makes no sense.

Yep. Mine get washed in the rain also. Just don’t put them wet in a hot truck and lock it up for a few days. That’s a special smell.

Think I’m getting another Frabil Conservation met. Haven’t seen any others I like yet..

I weighed jigs, cleaned and sorted them about a week ago. Got a few plastics to buy and a new landing net. Also reminded work to not expect me around much towards the end of the month and beginning of April.

mark-bruzek wrote:

Devils advocate here…

What are you going to do when your reach into your pocket and grab a dim rechargeable headlamp? Its not like you can put in new AAA batteries and be on your way.

My solution is tape 3 AAA batteries together and keep them in jacket pockets, go-bags and vehicles. If I find un-taped batteries in a pocket or vehicle I know they are dead and to throw them away.

Different strokes for different folks.

There is a charging cord at home and in the truck typically. If I’m going to use the light it goes on the charger while I drive to wherever I’m going. Just like getting any of your other gear ready.