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Well it's been awhile since I actually posted so here's what I've been up to, this past week I spent targeting Big Jefferson to see what I could get to hit, for the past five years this lake has had numerous amounts of small perch that one could say were a little bothersome at times, well low and behold last weekend I couldn't believe my eyes, these things are growing, I happen to run into a school of these that were ranging from 9-10 inches, although not all were, I did do quite a bit of sorting, but if you looking for a quick bite or have kids that need to be on constant action this is definately worth checking into, so heres the scoop, I found most of the larger fish in 12-15 fow on a sand break, seems that this is where the larger ones have been holding as I drilled out deeper and shallower and the quality was just not there. From 9-11 am it was as fast as you could get the bait to em, the setup was even simpler, plain red hook with a medium to large sized fathead, nothing more. I did try jigging but they really wanted the set line, after 11 I noticed the fish were still there but a little more picky so I switched it up to a small teardrop and waxie and wammo right back into it, I ended keeping a limit all measuring 9-10 inches and although there still not the Mille Lacs jumbos these babies definately made a meal. Heres a few pics to enjoy,

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Well I had such a blast catching these guys that I thought I would go out and try to target some slabs, know I'm no crappie slayer by any means and personnally am not a fan of fishing for them other than a few times a year, for a different change of pace, Since the perch were in shallower I figured the crappies must be close by as well, I setup in a little softer bottom in 25-30 fow for the evening, guess what they were there, I iced a nice limit ranging from 10-12 inches and marked alot more, the fish were a little more finicky then what I was used to and it took awhile to get the hang of these things again, but after a day of perchin and an eve of crappies I'm back searching the area for the eyes.

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Oh ya not to forget I want to thank Reel Fishing and Tackle, I stopped in for a scoop of minnows and thought I would check out a new pannie rod, wow did they have a great buy, I ended up purchasing a med light Rapala rod for 9.99 on sale, used it for all the crappies and must say I'll be going back to grab a new jiggin stick for the eyes, these rods are alot of bang for the buck. Good Luck out there.

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Looks like a good day Bigeye! Give me a call, Iowa eyes and gills are biting.

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Why does he need to drive to Iowa? Forget to look at the pictures? Ha!

Good report Ryan. I knew you were saving up information and waiting to post during the biggest cold front of the year.

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No kidding Bill, hmm keep me posted for the late ice, the budget isn't allowing any travel right know. Hey we have to devise a plan for the spring trip as MN changed their opener. I was a little bummed as it was nice fishing the two of them, but I see the points and understand.

Ya Jamison the cold snap forced me off the lake, I was out there for a bit and setup in a new spot that should produce but the wind kept hollowing and I figured for once it may be wise to get off before something happens. These kinda temps and winds can wear a person down in no time if something were to happen, so I went fishing on the computer last night for a change, good to catch up with everyone.

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T Claffey and Frederick are on there way down on Monday morning. I'll keep you posted.

Are you sure they changed the MN opener? Has it passed the through the legislature yet? Living down on the end of the earth here news from the capitol travels slow!!!! If they do move it up the border water opener(Little Spirit) is like the last weekend in April.

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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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