Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Recommended Posts

We are going up to grave for the opener. Does anyone know anything about rice lake connected to sand lake or nearby nature lake? We have another spot north of there but need some adventure. Haven't been able to scout much this year. We will scout some the day before on Friday crazy.gif I could bring 2 duck boats if someone with knowledge of the area wants to go.

Jason you have any knowledge on duck hunting the area? I'm not sure if you duck hunt or not.

e-mail for privacy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I heard that Natures can be pretty good. That's a little bit of a drive if you are on Graves.....Lots of good habitat, wild rice, etc.

Looking forward to it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Both rice and natures are non motorized lakes so bring the paddles. Rice I think would be a little more manageable then natures because its smaller. I dont know how hard either lake gets hit because i have never hunted either but me and my 2 friends are thing about hitting rice on the oppener. Haven't gotten to do alot of scouting in the area but last year there were lots of ring bills, and a few teal around sounds like the same this year.

Good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ron, rice and nature are very good duck lakes, I hunted natures(squaw) last year and had a blast. Both lakes are low right now which means lots of rice, scout early, find a pocket in the rice and you should be in good shape. Natures has a few hunting camps on it, so there is some pressure, but it has lots of good spots, so it isn't usually an issue. good gunnin'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had heard there is one guy that goes into the rice and thins out little landing spots in there for hunting...he's got a permit and everything.

Didn't know there were a lot of hunters up there though...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

Didn't know there were a lot of hunters up there though...


There will be for the first few weekends...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be going there over MEA. Oct 16-21. I am looking forward to it. Because of extenuating circumstances we had to hunt around here. Did really well but its not the same as going "Up North" to hunt/fish. Thanks for the information guys. wink.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It'll be interesting to see what happens to the ducks with this warmer weather this weekend. Sure hope it gets a little colder. I'll be up weekend after this one....A year ago when I came up at the same time it snowed 4" and the smaller lakes got some good ice. It got really cold that weekend, and then the next weekend it was like 70's. Typical Minnesota, right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was up there at that time also. It was fun hunting in the falling snow. The ringers went nuts that day!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We pounded some true Canadian geese, big boys but didn't see many ducks. Flushed a few grouse too. Might bring up the bow if things are slow on the upland and waterfowl fronts, but how likely is that.

What are the temps up there? Any snow flurries?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are heading out of here next Tuesday at 10:00am. Our plan is to head straight to Rice for the evening hunt.I have a couple questions if someone could help out.

1. What is the easiest way to get on the lake? It looks like there is 2 accesses to the lake. I will be in a 12ft row boat. I will have time to scope things out.

2. Instead of driving to Grave lake that evening we are thinking of staying the night near there. We will have the conversion van so a camping spot would be good enough.

Any help would be appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look into Barneys on the Bowstring. It is across the road from Anchor Inn, the prices are lower, the accomodations are nicer, and the people as nice as can be. You will not be disappointed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Talked to the guy at Barneys. He didn't have a camping spot(seasonal only). Wanted $100 for a night in the cabin. Since we will only be there sleeping about 6 hours seems a little high, but I understand. We will stay at the other place for $20 and grab something to eat at Barneys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Holy crud. There was nothing, I mean nothing up there. I hunted near Bigfork and we didn't see a single duck that was killable. Sure we saw a few flocks 1/2 mile up, but there was nothing like what was reported around Grand Rapids, Hill City, northern Itasca county.

Ran into a friend of mine while filling up gas in Garrison. He said after the big north winds on Wednesday he didn't see any ducks Th, Fri, Sat, or today. Guess I was a few days late, because earlier in the week he was cleaning up on all sorts of ducks.

I'll be back up next weekend, sure hope things turn around frown.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saturday we hunted near Marcell and saw a lot of birds (over 100), mostly ringbills and ended up getting 4. We didn't shoot very well, but there was steady action. It was some of the better action I've seen up there in a while. Saw a lot of groups and they really worked the decoys. Only really saw ringbills though. No woodies, no mallards. But when we went out this morning, it sucked. We got 1 ringbill on 1 shot and that was it. We saw 1 little group after than and nothing else. Totally different than saturday.

Also, I caught and released a 12 pound northern saturday afternoon (among many others) so that was cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad somebody got some action Coach Dog. Email me if you want to compare notes, if you don't that's fine.

I was looking at everything down 38 and didn't see any birds on the water. Found a little slough that looked promising though.

I'm waiting to hear from a friend that was down by Wabana on a rice lake to see if he did any good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were out on a rice lake East of Wabana.

Dead calm with NO ducks flying. We saw two geese that didn't want anything to do with us. We decided to go grouse hunting and only saw one, no shot taken.

Sunday morning was the same.

Did get alot done around the shack though. tongue.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh boy frown.gif... Not good reports. We have a secret spot. grin.gifHope its not so secret that the ducks don't know about it! confused.gifLast year we hunted a lake on 38 on Saturday with winds out of the east and snow. Flock after flock of ringers flew over our dekes. Next day wind changed and not one flock mad.gif We will be doing alot of scouting Wed. afternoon. Maybe I will bring the laptop and post when we are in marcell since they have wireless there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

South winds are not good, and neither are hot temps. I wish like heck I could wait 2 weeks instead of 1 before I go back up. Might as well bring my bow and try and get my deer...When is the first BIG cold front coming?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anybody having any luck? Sounds like other parts of the state are seeing birds. Didn't make it up to your parts this weekend but apparently the rain pushed a few birds around from what others are saying (SW MN, Aitkin Co, Bigstone area)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

last week. We seen lots of birds west of marcell.

hunted once north of marcell.

Wed. Morning shoot

grandrapids001-2.jpg

Thursday morn. shoot.

grandrapids002-1.jpg

Shot 1 ringie north of marcell

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • jparrucci
      Very low, probably 2 feet lower than last year at ice out.
    • mbeyer
      what do they look like this spring?
    • SkunkedAgain
      I might have missed a guess, but here are the ones that I noted:   JerkinLips – March 27th, then April 7th Brianf. – March 28th Bobberwatcher – April…. MikeG3Boat – April 10th SkunkedAgain – early April, then April 21st   Definitely a tough year for guesses, as it seemed to be a no-brainer early ice out. Then it got cold and snowed again.
    • mbeyer
      MN DNR posted April 13 as Ice out date for Vermilion
    • Brianf.
      ^^^45 in the morning and 47 in the evening
    • CigarGuy
      👍. What was the water temp in Black Bay? Thanks....
    • Brianf.
      No, that wasn't me.  I drive a 621 Ranger. 
    • CigarGuy
      So, that was you in the camo lund? I'm bummed, I have to head back to the cities tomorrow for a few days, then back up for at least a few weeks. Got the dock in and fired up to get out chasing some crappies till opener!
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Lots of ice on the main basin, but it is definitely deteriorating.  Some anglers have been fishing the open water at the mouth of the Rainy River in front of the Lighthouse Gap.  The rest of the basin is still iced over. Pike enthusiasts caught some big pike earlier last week tip up fishing in pre-spawn areas adjacent to traditional spawning areas.  8 - 14' of water using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring has been the ticket.  Ice fishing for all practical purposes is done for the year. The focus for the basin moving forward will be pike transitioning into back bays to spawn,  This is open water fishing and an opportunity available as the pike season is open year round on Lake of the Woods. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. With both the ice fishing and spring fishing on the Rainy River being so good, many are looking forward to the MN Fishing Opener on Saturday, May 11th.  It should be epic. On the Rainy River...  An absolutely incredible week of walleye and sturgeon fishing on the Rain Rainy River.     Walleye anglers, as a rule, caught good numbers of fish and lots of big fish.  This spring was one for the books.   To follow that up, the sturgeon season is currently underway and although every day can be different, many boats have caught 30 - 40 sturgeon in a day!  We have heard of fish measuring into the low 70 inch range.  Lots in the 60 - 70 inch range as well.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  Open water is continuing to expand in areas with current.  The sight of open water simply is wetting the pallet of those eager for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th.   A few locals were on the ice this week, targeting pike.  Some big slimers were iced along with some muskies as well.  If you like fishing for predators, LOW is healthy!  
    • Brianf.
      Early bird gets the worm some say...   I have it on good authority that this very special angler caught no walleyes or muskies and that any panfish caught were released unharmed.        
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.