First, off I need to give credit where credit is due. Thanks Jeff and crew for the awesome accomodations. Andy Craig, Marshal Yanda, and I made it up to Tamarack in one piece- However a drive that normally takes eight hours took us around 12 because a storm cell followed us the entire way. With much anticipation of getting out on the ice, I went to fire up my sled, and it would not start.
Well, what happened was with all the slush and storm mix we had been driving in, my sled was drenched with slush that froze on everything, and it would not start. If it weren’t for Jeff allowing me to use his his heated garage to thaw out my sled, I would not have caught a fish all weekend long. Thanks Jeff- you are a stand up guy!
So as most of you know, there was an un-official get together at Tamarack lodge this weekend. And we had a great time! The weather was down right nasty on friday, but we did manage to catch some good perch.
We concentrated our efforts in 20-30 FOW water, using jigging spoons and minnow heads. The perch were very active the entire weekend, but it took staying outside of the shack hole hopping the entire time to land the nicer perch. There were only a couple of us brave souls that would face the elements and stay outside. As you can tell from some of the pictures, maybe we are crazy? I have never witnessed fresh holes fill up in ten seconds to the top with snow.
Finally though, the snow stopped, and we only had to fight the wind.
Saturday we were greeted with a much nicer weather forecast. Calmer winds and no snow. Today, the hole punching machine, Matt Grow was in the caravan. We all decided the prior night to head up to Zoomers, which is about seven miles from Tamarack Lodge. We had quite the caravan trekking across the ice.
Matt, Bob, and I began punching holes in search of active perch. After Matt was half way through a tank of gas- he found some extremely nice perch, and they were bunched up. In short order, the whole crew from IDO was on the spot and catching perch. Matt continued to search for more perch, but it seemed like his first find was the best spot. The majority of us fished there the entire day.
I again want to thank Jeff at Tamarack for all he did for us during the weekend. I would highly recommend planning a vacation to Tamarack- Jeff is currently building two new “cabins”- They are going to be slick units, and they will book fast. Jeff took a couple of us into them…pine everywhere, gas fireplace- plasma tv- and an AMAZING view. If you want a chance to stay in these new rentals, I would highly recommend calling now. They will BOOK fast!
I also want to thank Matt Grow- He is a hole drilling machine- If you want to catch perch on Winnie, or anywhere for that matter- give Matt a call. He will get you on perch, or run his auger out of gas many times over finding them.
And Thankyou to John for organizing the event, it was a great time meeting everybody, and putting names to faces. I shook a lot of hands this weekend and I was thankful to meet everybody that I met!
I can’t wait for next year. Stay safe, and we’ll see you on the hard water!
A couple of more photos…
Great report
Good to see you guys worked through the tough conditions.
Those were some nice perch you nailed down,obviously your group earned every bite
Finally got Yanda to put on some warm clothes.
Good report Luke
That wind wind looks nasty
Nice report!
Nice Report, thanks Luke!
Did anyone forget a pair of size 14 boots in the duplex? We were the last ones to leave the duplex and the boots found their way into truck and made it back to Minneapolis.
Shoot me a PM with a description if you’d like them back.
It was great to meet all you guys who came to the GTG at Tamarack. Nice report Luke. I hope you guys had a good trip home. At least better that your trip across the lake on Saturday.
Francis, it was great sharing half the duplex with you guys. Don’t know who left the boots though.
I think I am going to drive up for a day for the Sturgeon Excursion. It sounds like too much fun to miss, even if it’s just for the day.
Arnie
how thick was the ice, and was driving out to zoomers good enough by truck if on roads? Great report, too bad the weather didn’t behave.
Driving out to Zoomers(sp?) is easy enough. Plenty of plowed roads and the ice is 30+ inches thick. If you head off the road, be sure to keep your foot on the gas. The snow is right at that threshold where you can get stuck on a regular basis.
We made the baja run looking for an adventure.
Great report Luke and congrats guys on finding some quality perch in tough conditions!
I was out there on Saturday also. I talked to Jeff at the resort and he told me you guys were out on the main lake. We spotted a pack of portables and some SnoSuits that I figured was you guys, but I wasn’t sure. Anyway, we fished on the West side of the lake in 26-28 feet of water. I drilled a bunch of holes and we hole hopped and picked off the bigger fish. We ended up keeping a dozen or so and a couple tulibees for the smoker. I buried my truck twice, but with a little shoveling we got it out both times.
Thanks to everyone for coming on the trip. The weather wasn’t the best at first but I think everyone had a good time and caught a few fish. I would like to personally thank Scott Steil for the trip on Saturday to one of his spots, he didn’t even blindfold me on the way in
.
For those of you interested, as Luke has reported, Jeff is the best host we could ever ask for and has spent BIG BUCKS on 2 new cabins. They are unreal. We have them both reserved for our GTG next year and have room for 24 guys. We are going later again next year the 13th of March to the 15th. Book your spots quick as these Winni cabins will sell out fast, there are no better accomidations on the entire lake.
Thanks again Jeff and let me know if I owe you anything else, you and you family are great hosts.
John
Nice report Luke…but the background in the photos makes me think you were really at Green Lake…
I’m going to be in for next year….Someone has to give Matt the HDM some support and encouragement!
Haha- Yep Brian, with all the work Matt did, I thought about paying/tipping him. Seriously, if anybody wants to get on the perch bites give Matt Grow a call- He is an excellent guide!!
Thanks to Jeff at Tamarack for putting us up and pointing us in the right direction. It was a great weekend of fishing despite the nasty wind and snow on friday.
Did you guys try Cutfoot at all for the crappies and sunfish? I thought you guys got in to them last year up there. Maybe it’s not late enough in the year for that yet
I don’t know where they caught fish last year, as I was not up there…but Andy, Marshall, Bob, and I made the trek up to what I believe is cutfoot, and only caught crappies that were on the small side, and not many of them.
I think it was around 5-6 miles one way on my gps from Jeff’s lodge.
Thanks for the info. Luke!! You guys still caught some dandy perch and had fun…that’s all that matters!!
Last yar we did not get out on the main lake nor up to Cutfoot. We stayed just around the corner from the resort in a bay there…..Not sure what the name was though.
Green Lake……..
It was Green Lake
!