Search bait is fantastic. Have to cast it more like you would a bobber and just push the crawler past the barrel swivel while rigging it and you shouldn’t have any problems.
I could not cast the WNC to save my life. I think it’s just too long or maybe it’s just a me issue but it’s since been removed from the tackle box as the Kalins was superior for me.
I’d like to see it be 2 fish. Everything 22-28 go back. Can keep the 1 trophy fish if that’s your thing.
Won’t hold my breathe but it at least appears things are moving in the right direction. I love fishing the lake and watching the mismanagement the last 10 years has been a shame.
New electronic license system is coming at some point… was supposed to be ready by March 1st then they pushed it back to mid March but looks like the dnr has pushed that back to later in the year now. So not sure what we’re supposed to do for the 2025 fishing license because they initially said nobody can buy licenses until the new system is up. With this new system they’re eliminating the kill site tag for hunters too
People say they are cyclical but I personally can’t help but feel the boom cycle is going to be much shorter.
Maybe but these fish being caught have already had several spawning seasons. Now will the record walleye hatch be able to feed every fish in the lake. Only time will tell. Lake is pretty dang healthy right now.
Which is amazing considering only 10 months ago dnr said there was no forage in the lake
Now that this perchy bite is no longer a secret I have a couple questions:
How did they get so big so fast?
What is the consensus depth to target perch?
I’m guessing there isn’t much C&R going on with these and they are in 30 feet or more. That accurate?
Perch grow fast and live short lives to begin with but we were catching jumbos out there 3 years ago, just kept it pretty quiet. Combine that with 2 poor winters in a row for vehicle and castle traffic they were left alone.
~30ft off the edges of the flats
Mostly accurate. Fishing in 30+ the majority have their stomachs in their mouth anyways. Might as well eat them.
People say they are cyclical but I personally can’t help but feel the boom cycle is going to be much shorter.
I’m going fishing, should be minimal people out there. I couldn’t care less about the teams, the halftime show, or the commercials this year so why sit at home.
Do you fish pinheads naked or are using spikes, minnow heads, or plastics on them?
Always naked for me, just gotta keep the bait moving.
More pinheads as well even though I have plenty. Picked up a Thorne bros rod while I was in there a couple weeks ago and instantly fell in love so took it home with me
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
More pinhead minnows.I looked at them, but haven’t bought any yet, what size are you guys running and what you catching on them?
1/16 95% of the time. But I have had my days where the 1/32 outperforms. I’m only using them to catch crappie and sunfish but pike and bass bite them too.
Did they have auger wars/battles mines better than yours in the gas auger era ? Or is that just an electric auger thing now ? I was around when the propane craze was out but that was about the start of my ice career . Serious question .
A quick search on yt found auger races dating back to 2004. So yes.
The goofy handles are what bother me the most I think, makes it tough in a wheel house. I also remember more than one time people I’ve been with had those clip things come out that hold the bit on. They are super short. Poor battery life, slower than most
You’re entitled to your opinion but every one of these points says you’ve never used or seen the alpha.
That’s amazing! Probably just box it up and ship it home separate.
Fear: mahomes(and the refs), Allen, daniels, hurts(assuming his knee still hurts)
Like to watch: Allen, daniels, hurts, mahomes. I am just so sick of the chiefs in general.
Been out 2x this week and would say the bite was fair one day and great the other. All on a 1/32 pinhead. Much needed bite after a dud of a guys trip up in ottertail last weekend.
Stick a bump board down the hole and hook the lip on the bottom of the ice.
Based on your list looks like next up is either Fort Peck lakers or last mountain lake in sask for giant everything.
The clam boxes with slit pieces of foam are the best I’ve used. I can get maybe 30 spoons in a box and they never tangle or touch eachother. I can get 3 of them in the bottom of my rod box.
This is also what I do. Pinheads in one, kastmaster in another. Everything else in a tangled mess because they don’t get used like the pinheads and kastmasters do.
I can’t speak for your particular unit but on the 106sv + lvs34 setup it’s Menu>sonar setup>layout >reverse range
If we have multiple trucks going we bring a small grill for burger and brats.
Aquatic management area
The lack of showing actual footage of it on the water is an interesting choice. Palaniuk showing actual footage on his Instagram stories, looks much more like lvs32 so a big upgrade from mega live 1. Unless you already have a compatible graph for mega live 2 I’d still be going with a garmin for a dedicated FFS.
So sad. Drove by this lake on Thursday and there were several holes the geese had kept open. Woodbury with two different rescues in one day.
Absolutely amazing how well the lake has rebounded from the spring survey! 
This is great news for the local businesses though as long as they get good ice. I will be making a couple trips up there this winter mostly targeting perch but wouldn’t hate catching a slot fish. Spring and summer, at least for us, the majority of the walleyes boated were 21-23 though.
I was wondering how it compared to last year, seemed to see a lot more outrage last year.
For me:
Walleyes
-jt gold digger: purpledescent rattlemaster
-Elliot rippineyes: jiggin rap
Panfish
-tucr bullwhip:perch pinhead minnow
-2 cheaper noodle rods:gold and wonderbread jigs+plastic
-Elliot paragon: 1” hyper rattle
Have an evolution series 42” noodle too but that just stays in the box these days, much prefer the 36” bullwhip.
In NYC for opener…… Probably skipping it all together this year though. One of those who’s spot is way up north with just the wolves around.
I’ll be duck hunting as even on the slowest of days the pheasant hunters on opener get the birds moving. Might go for a quick walk when we’re done with the ducks since we’re already there and there’s been a good amount of roosters around.
Good luck to everyone.
Surprisingly there was actually a good push of new birds for the “reopener”. No one else seemed to be hunting though so made it tough to keep the birds moving. I got my 6 including a green head, eclipse pintail, 2 blue wings and 2 green wings. This weeks forecast looks awful again… here’s to hoping for cold and north west winds.
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