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Heard rumors of some Walleyes coming out of Wita. Noticed about 20 vehicles at the landing and a small village on the lake when I drove by this afternoon. Anyone know anything about this?

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Shhhhhhhh! Yes there are. Although I'm kind of disappointed as I have seen this lake get better and better working for the guy sometimes who lives next to the lake. I hope this increased pressure doesn't ruin it..

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I usually take a rod out there during early goose. Its too bad word got out. My buddy called me today and said the word is out, but then again, these lakes have boom years every once and awhile. See ya out there.

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No longer a rumor. Won't play "bumper boats" and won't play "bumper house" either. smile.gif

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Isn't Wita a walleye rearing pond/lake for the DNR? For some reason I've always thought that it is but could be completely misinformed. Same for Eagle?

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This isn't the first time they have gone nuts out there, but why post?

I am with Otter on this one. The "groupers" can have this lake. 80 rigs there one day this weekend. Give me a break. That is not even fishing, it is called hoarding.

The lake will be fished out, which is fine because they will come back once it dies and is restocked, but now that word is out, the crowds that didn't know a thing about it before will be back. It's too bad, but what do ya do?

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If people want a good chance to catch fish then why not. It is your choice to not fish on that lake but to ridicule people that are is nonsense. Alot of people do not have the time to scout and fish multiple days. With the schedule of kids and activities if I had a chance to go I would go were the best bite is for sure and not waste a day looking for possibly nothing. Get off your high horse and let people enjoy the resoucre which could very easily freeze out this year. It is a rearing pond and the DNR would love to have the bigger predetors out of the lake to bring it back to being a productive rearing pond. Look at it this way, the other lakes have a lot less pressure on them.

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Have at em. That is why I said it doesn't really matter because it is a rearing pond and will die out this year with the cold and snow on the ice anyway.

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Well I was one of the guys out there this weekend. I fished Friday night from 7pm-midnight. And Saturday from 11am-5am. All I caught was a 23 incher, a huge sunny, a small perch, and about a dozen bullheads. Everyone had a slow weekend from who I talked to....which might end up being good for the lake. I think it was because it got soooo cold, it turned the bite off. I have a buddy that is going to fish it Tuesday. I will let you know what he turns up then.

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Spent 5 hours out there on Sunday. 2 really big perch and no walleyes. It was really hit or miss with a lot of luck mixed in for everyone. I stayed mobile and noticed it was the usual weekend anglers because nobody was hiding their catches. Talked with three or four different groups who each had 1 or 2 in the bucket after a long morning. A few big sunnies were also caught.

How do those walleyes not die off in that shallow lake? Anyone? One fish was a good 26". Bigger than I would keep to eat, but I guess that's none of my business. Do they have aerators on the lake? They must have something for those fish to make it 5 or 6 years. I will try again on Wed and Thur to see if it picks up at all. Maybe Scotch will produce once again if it's not cleaned out as well.

Good luck out there!

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Why would anyone care if a duck slough like that is getting pounded with fisherman? Its great too have something other than Washington, Francis, Madison, and Elysian producing some action. The more bodies of water that are producing the more the pressure gets spread out and that is a good thing in southern MN. 80 rigs in the parking lot that would have been elsewhere. And i can guarantee with all that pressure that there were less walleyes caught and kept out there than if only 15 rigs would have been there. I can guarantee it because i was sucked in by it all and gave it a whirl. I never talked too anyone who caught a walleye. And it was very clear with all the pressure in one general area that the bite wasnt going to be real great with only 5' of water. Not too say if you got away from the crowd that you wouldnt catch fish but i really didnt see anyone do that. If you think that you can keep something like secret for very long in southern MN than you have too be quite naive.

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There was a similar post last year titled "Wormy Walleyes are Hungry". grin.gif It's neither here nor there on whether or not a person should or should not go this particular body of water. If you want to try your shot at some 'eyes, by all means, get after 'em. For me, I get a lot more satisfaction out of searching out a bite that not everyone would try and occassionally being rewarded. grin.gif

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There hasn't been many folks out there for the last 4-5 years and it produced, now it won't. Elysian got mainly cleaned out the last few years too, so did Scotch. You like that? Not me.

I don't give a hoot if it is locals out poundin away at em, but just like last year, you see trucks from a few hours away coming to rape and pillage. That's what gets me.

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Wow, people really get out of hand about posting about a bite. Wita has produced this time of year almost every year I have lived in the Mankato area. Every year for opener and first ice it does this. No there are no areators on that lake, but somehow it keeps enough oxygen in the water to support a good population of big fish.

Elysian fished out? Not likely, a near 2000 acre lake does not get fished out from fishing one end.

Just because a few people want to hoard all the fish for themselvs doesn't mean it should be kept a secret from the general public. Everyone deserves the same chance to grab a fish or two whether they are from Minneota or Mankato. Sorry this post went sour. Not my intention, but thats the way it goes. confused.gif

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Willy i guess you don't travel and fish anywhere beyond the local waters? You or I or anyone of the millions of people that travel too Winnie, Mille Lacs, Minnetonka, or any one of the tens of thousands of lakes in MN is no different than someone from the metro traveling too a southern MN lake too fish. I guess being from Rochester i shouldnt be allowed on those lakes in the Mankato area because i'm not local?? Locals dont "own" any body of water in the mankato area and no one has any right too have a problem with non-locals fishing your local waters. Do i like seeing people posting about how they hammered the walleyes on these small southern MN lakes? No i don't, and i wouldnt do it personally. But its my guess that if your seeing people come from 2 hours away too fish a lake its not because they read something on a website. My guess is they have a connection that filled them in on whats going on. There were 80 rigs in that parking lot this weekend and that was before anything showed up on this website about it. And if you are worried about little lakes being fished out, its not the people driving 2 hours that are doing the damage. Locals that sit on the hot bite day after day and take limit after limit are the culprit.

One more thing. Is there no one here that hears about the walleyes biting here or the crappies biting there and goes and checks it out? I'll admit it, i went up for the day saturday and checked it out before i headed too the other lake i wanted too fish. Its like everyone on this post is slamming people for checking the situation out, like its something that no one in the fishing world has ever done. I mean lets be real, we've all done it. We'll all do it again. Or i suppose 2 years ago everyone on this website who visited Elysian discovered it on their own. Everyone went out there on a whim. Everyone just knew how nice the walleyes were. Everyone here with their keen fishing senses just knew the walleyes should be biting on the north end. Everone has checked out fishing reports they've heard and everyone here as done more than just fish the local lakes.

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James Walley,

Well stated.

I know a guy that lives in Federal Dam and thinks he owns all of the muskies in Leech Lake. Even with catch and release he get mad. His last forty years, of fishing Leech, must have been pretty agonizing and miserable.

Life way too short to get so bent.

Enjoy the outdoors and your friends.

tweed

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People will check out a "report" whether it's from the Internet or word of mouth. It's important to not "single out" anyone on here and keep it to a discussion. There has been a lot of good information and opinions shared to this point. Let's not let it "go the other way". Thank you.

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Nope. I don't go running to fish sloughs 2 hours away. I fish all over the state but if I get on a bite on a lake less than 100 acres, I will keep it tight lipped as most guys would.

And yep, most locals here have know Elysian, Scotch, etc are boom and bust fishing for quite a few years.

Like I said, who cares. Have at em.

You can say whatever you want, I could care less if you came over and fished, everyone knows city boys don't catch nothin anyways. wink.gif(kidding)

But, you won't ever change my mind about lake raping, no matter who does it locals or non.

PS I guarantee we are more on the same page than you think.

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I'm sure we are. But i am someone driving 2 hours too fish your local lakes. I'm not singling anyone out. Simply trying too say that a guy driving from the metro too fish Elysian or Wita or lake you name it is no different than any of use who drive up north too fish a lake. As far as info on this website, there is a ton of good stuff. And i'm like you willy in the sense that im very careful about what i say reguarding these little lakes on here. That being said, Wita was packed before anything was mentioned on a website. Word of mouth is stronger than anything a report on this website can do. I found out from my uncle about it. He was heading over there and i found that out as i was on my way over there. I figured it cant hurt so i went and joined him for a couple hours. We didnt catch jack but what the heck, if we would have it would have been great. After that I headed over too the lake I had intended too fish and managed too see my bobber plunge plenty of times. So it all worked out. Tried something new, learned a few things about a new body of water, and hit the old standby and caught some fish.

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Kind of stinks to hear the good report. I tried this lake 2 years ago with no luck. Had a tip from a guy I worked with that walleyes were in there. Tried to find them, but it was very cold, no lantern and heater ran out of gas. ended up leaving after a couple hours with no fished marked and never went back. live and learn

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personally I think it's great to have these types of lakes in our area. one if makes it more of a challenge when choosing which lake to target. I have my favorites but when lakes like this produce for a year or two people remember and get curious about when the next big bite will occur. myself I can't stand to fish the crowds. last year I was on scotch alone while the majority of everyone in the state was targeting elysian. believe me scotch or elysian or witka or any other lake that starts producing like these have. is not due to the internet. people talk and watch. I'm always looking and noting what's going on with this lake or that. hmm that house has been there everynight for the past week. my guess is he's catching something. in fact I had three different people talk to me as I came off the landing at scotch last year noting that they had seen me fish the same spot for the past four days. did I reveal that the bite was spectacular. no I do always note that if I catch fish that I picked up a few. the other thing I like about these lakes is that they take an enourmous amount of pressure off of other lakes. normally the lake I am fishing would have about 30 houses on it by know. well to say the least if theirs a handfull out here that would be overkill. I'm catching better quality fish than most due to this. I actually heard about the eyes early this fall from some duck hunters who saw them swimming. so it was no surprise to me to hear about the bite. myself I won't be out there. I'm a loner and when the crowds gather I move onto the next spot as do most fish

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Ya gotta keep the top flipped over and stealth land those waldos. Keep away from the tip ups too...

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Was able to get out Friday and Saturday. Friday had some action. Had tow eyes on the ice and both went back. Had one sunnie iced also. What a monster! Those sunnies look like piranha's. Couldn't believe my eyes yesterday though. Went out after lunch and saw a bunch of sunnies laying on the ice?!! Kind of frustrating. Very slow day ysetsterday.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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