Heading to red door tomorrow via 494. Is it for my room??

Brian

If it was straight it would have went 22 inches. It still put up a decent fight too.

Carp, golden redhorse sucker.

I wonder how much effect that ice melt off from the Croix and Pool 3 will have on the water temp dropping on pool 4. Last year it was brutal as the water temp dropped 4+ degrees in a day and high fast muddy flood water at the same time made it the toughest fishing I ever had at red wing.

Maybe it will not cause as much of a negative effect on pool 4 this time? At least it won’t be accompanied by high muddy flood water this year.

Any thoughts out there?

Are you netting for lake surveys? If so, I’d be interested to see/hear what the results are. I tried e-mailing the DNR for last years lake surveys in SW MN, but haven’t got an answer yet.

Probably won’t need a boat then huh, just walk from boat to boat and drag a jig accross the river, if I don’t snag a net, or slip on a wing dam.

I can get 6-7 colors on a Daiwa Sealine 27LC. I’ve never needed more on 4. I use Cabelas 18# Leadcore….the best I’ve seen and I’ve turned other brands down for free. It has the best sheath durability IMO.

Numerous ways to tie on your leader, but loop to loop or adding a barrel swivel between lead and leader are quick ways to re-rig in the event you snag up. Tie up back=up leaders ahead of time!!

A Sealine 45LC will easily get 10 colors of 18# on if your looking to fish deeper than 30ft.

26.87 lbs.
BF 9.87

Evert’s Resort on Miss. River/Lake Pepin. Still the best fishing in So. MN. Lot’s of species…Lot’s of water…most consistent bikini trolling I’ve found as well.
TGIF

17.52 LBS BIG FISH 7.2 lbs

Thanks for the quick response!
TGIF

Lenny,
Are there still openings for boaters?

Bill, Yep I’m gettin’ there….I’ve been on Green Bay 20 plus times via Navionics. Can’t wait to run 6 lines for 6-8+ pounders!

Gary….no word from the “creek” yet and no signs of fish being there…need to drop a camera and look under the bridge if it’s the same place I’m thinking of. Water is low in the lake and NW bay…it will be interesting what happens there. Most of the creeks/streams are flowing at a good pace, but lake levels remain low.

A few Crappies have been caught in Albert Lea in the channel, but all were below Fountain Lake. These cold fronts/thunderstorms turn ’em on and off like a light switch….it’s kind of frustrating hitting the “right time”.

Good Luck,
TGIF

Erik,
Give me a call we have a couple things to discuss.
TGIF

Doug, I sent you a pm.
TGIF

“No comment” on your statement “if I could get a decent shot”

Yeah, I did now notice the oil. Also it does have a sticker saying “this side up on ice”, that helps to remind you. It doesn’t solve the oil problem if it falls over in the back of the truck though. I was planning to see how that composite drill did on the 2 stroke power head….it’s -19 degrees right now so it may be a few hours.

Amazing thing from yesterday was that I stepped into water on the ice and slush after a night of -15 degrees…scared the you know what out of me as I was thinking I could go anywhere on the lake walking. 3″ packed snow plus 6 inches of fluff….make darn good insulation. About 8-10″ of ice perhaps more, but I mainly state the least amount of ice thickness I notice…don’t want anyone to follow my tracks and fall into danger. Later, TGIF

I quit fishing on Clear as it was too crowded on the ice for me, but I wouldn’t feel bad if you were keeping crappies from Clear Lake. Actually I would encourage it….when the big die off of crappies occurred in the past the remaining crappies seemed to get bigger. Less competition for food….more food per fish. I think it can be better than it is for size/weight ratio for those crappies and the bluegills have been decent in the past 3 years. There are so many panfish in that lake I would think some are starving….which in the past a 10 inch crappie was so thin you’d look at it and think it was a 10 inch potato chip it was so thin. Just my opinion though…TGIF

There were 2 boats on Elysian that I seen, could have been more. I heard that the water was open to the public access on Cannon, but had not seen it first hand….too much going on in the last couple days for me to get out there.

Don’t know about Mazaska, but lakes to the west have had boats on them. I heard on lake to the west did not have a speck of ice. Fish are being caught by shore fisherman in January…go figure.

TGIF

I used the Marcum 560. The first time was in lowlight and dirty water with sediment suspended. I could maybe see 18 inches horizontally. The second time I was going to use it…no image the camera didn’t work. Never got the chance to try downviewing with it.

This is a $600 camera with all the bells and whistles. Has all the features you would want. The remote may be a waste in my opinion since you can’t actually see the screen from that far away. If it only performed I would have been happy with it.

With Aqua Vu you can’t get all those features in one system. If you wanted a camera to turn you would have to buy additional equipment or always have one hand on the cord. The MAV camera for the boat looks awesome, but it should if the price is $2000.

That’s just my experience.

TGIF

I fished Friday on Tetonka, somewhat slow, a few crappies and one 23″ eye. There was about 3/4 to an inch of water on top of the ice which was 5-6 inches, but had some open cracks. It began to rain as I was leaving and began raining rather hard…maybe looking at receiving close to an inch of additional rain over the weekend. My ice fishing may be on hold for awhile.
TGIF

Fishing has been tough. I was out tonight on Cannon and caught 14 walleyes in a little over an hour. I actually got tired of catching the 9-10″ cigars and packed up and left. There were 2 separate areas of open water. ATV’s were breaking through on the shoreline and planking to the ice to get small houses off the ice.

Not much activity on other Faribault lake that I know of, some walleyes and crappies on Circle, but size is not great.

Elysian was good before 5,000 people from the 5 state region put enough pressure on it to seemingly shut it down…there’s also 3 separate areas of open water. A number of people have fell through walking.

So until there’s a good freeze up making access possible to deeper water or the entire lake….reports and fishing will be limited.

That’s about all I got on the area…go further north until you find better ice!!!

TGIF

Number 37 signed.

The bite hasn’t been that good this winter just not finding the larger schools. My best night was 7 crappies. Most guys were getting 1 or 2 bites a night…granted their nice crappies, but most guys want more action. Once in awhile one house will catch 20-40, but that is not the norm this year. The walleyes keep you busy for awhile, but the season is still closed on them. Thanks, Brian

Roberts-night bite slow for crappies, but haven’t tried during the day. Usually day time is walleye, bluegill, and perch time there. Crappies are usually not active until 4pm or well after dark. Some crappies suspended over hole in Hunt’s as well, but inconsistent.

People are driving on all the lakes in the area. Don’t drive on Elysian though after dark…you’ll be getting a ticket.

Yup, that’s Mazaska. You can do better on one night than another depending which hole you set up on. I catch most of the larger crappies suspended high in the south holes, but not as high in the north hole. Last winter early morning before 8am was better than sitting out there all night, but I haven’t tried it out there in the morning this winter.

Bill,
Clear lake has been the most consistent. Crappies biting off north, south, and east sides in 15-17′ after 4pm. Daytime bite is perch and some bluegills up to 9-10″ in 12-18 ft. Tip-up fishing for gators and ‘eye has been slow.

Mazaska and French are slow on crappies, but I’ve pulled some nice 13-14″ fish out of them. Both lakes look to 30′ or deeper. Daytime on French and Night on Mazaska.

Some real nice crappies 14+ inches on Cannon, but like most of the fish on Cannon this winter they aren’t easy to find (active).

Only fished German once this winter, but caught crappies suspended over deep hole at 35 ft. Smaller crappies than other lakes though.

I haven’t heard about Tetonka, but I gotta believe there would be a school of crappies off Best Point.
Brian

I have been out 4 times on 3 different lakes…sometimes my ice measurements are off. But the ice is not coming along as well as I expected it to. On nearly all area lakes there is 3-4 inches of ice from shore to 20-30 yards out then it turns to 2 inches of ice an 5 inches of snow (INSULATION) over WARM WATER in my opinion or guess. It may be before it is safe to walk without a spud bar perhaps more. Most anglers are kind scratchin’ their heads after 4-5 nights of 5-10 below temps and a minimal amount of ice. Shields has anglers on 2 inches I hear, but the bite is not happening from what I’ve heard….nothing for crappies….or what you would expect from the usual early ice area. I have not gotten into much of a bite yet…few here few there…so where I’ve been is not of help to anglers and I really don’t advise going where I have been!! All I’m willing to say is I have targeted lakes with max depths of less than 10 feet of water and under 500 acres. Till then….inventory your ice tackle…tune your auger…or kick yourself for putting your boat away. Monday 35+ degrees …I would rather be in a boat anyway!! Hope for the snow on the lakes to somehow disappear before the next cold snap. TGIF Brian