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Snow cover and Ice up the North Arm


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Just checking in on all you who live in Paradise!! Planing on making it up there begining of March. Anyone been way up the north arm lately. Looks like its been plenty cold for the ice, but how much snow? Last year we had perfect conditions during this time period and will hopefully be the same. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the hard water fishing... Take care, SB

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Hey SB,

Haven't been fishing up there, but our ice is starting to look pretty good here on the US side. Fair amount of snow on the ice, and still some extended slush pockets to be found though. Sleds or track units are a must as far as I'm concerned.

RD

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SuperBlack,

How've you been? Can't say that I have been up to the north arm, but I have spent time in Redgut all the way to Parry Straits, Northwest Bay and out as far as the Shelter Islands, and of course on the American side a little. The cold weather down here in Duluth has froze up most of the slush...so hopefully it has done the same up there. Last time I was up in Northwest we were sitting on about 14-16" of good ice with only a few stretches of slush...nothing to get too shook up about. I am sure conditions are only going to get better from here on out.

Take Care!!

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Been good Bill, Really busy with the new venture in South Dakota and lovin it. We've been doing great on the walleye's out here, that Oahe is some kind of body of water. Its finally starting to warm up after a 2 solid weeks of subzero temps. In fact, planning on taking some guy's out this weekend to pound a few! I'll be coming up to the cabin on the 26th of Feb and staying into the first couple of day's in March. Let me know if you'll have any free time so maybe we can hook up..

Take care, SB

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Fished the North Arm the last three days. At least a foot of ice everywhere I drilled holes. A crew was working under the Causeway and parking their trucks under the Causeway bridge (NOT the railroad bridge which has open water under it) from the little island in the middle of Causeway.

They plowed off the whole island so lots of room to park. The road went out from there but only to the bridge. I was able to get several miles north on my ATV so snow not too bad.

Fish were biting and got a mixed bag. I kept one perch & one walleye which is all I need for a couple meals. 28-35 feet best but did get some pike on shallow on top of point at 17 feet.

I expect to see trucks driving out soon. COurse you slways have to worry about thinner ice in current areas.

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Check out http://www.sonofagunranch.com

I've been waiting for years to move out to the promise land and it finally came last spring..

Captn, How far north did you go, I have to travel about 20 miles? Any heaves out there anywhere??

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Only went a few miles and no ice heaves. Looked clear all the way to Crowe Island. But with all the wind the last two days I would not be surprised to find some new ones.

Give me a hollar when you get up here.

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HEY S.B.,

HOW YOU DOING???... ALL THE COLD WEATHER WE HAVE HAD. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO TRAVEL ANYWHERE BY SLED, MAYBE WHERE THERE IS CURRENT, I WOULD BE CAREFUL, OTHERWISE I'M SURE YOU WILL BE WORRY FREE. HOPE YOU GET INTO THEM LIKE YOU DID LAST YEAR, I KNOW YOU LOOK FORWARD TO THIS TRIP & WOULD LIKE TO LIVE HERE...I CAN HONESTLY SAY, I TREASURE EVERYDAY.

SINCERELY,

FISHMEISTER

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Been good Fishmeister, Very busy and looking forward to getting up there. Have you been fishing those crappies at all? We plan on taking a day to go fish them big slabs! Thanks for the lake info. I kinda figured the ice would be pretty good by then, hopefully the snow will be at a minimum for us also. Is there much snow on the lake as of now? We have absolutely no snow here in south dakota, but know the fellas in wisconsin have plenty.. I plan on arriving in I falls the night before the other guy's get in since its a 10 hour drive now instead of 5. So I may have a little time to stop in and say hi.

Captn, I'll give you a shout when I get up there so maybe we can hook up also..

Sincerely, SB

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SB, you read my mind. Was wondering if TL or RD had been chasing slabs. I suspect maybe not since I remember last year from their excellent advice that may be harder to find this time of year?? It's highly likely that I would come back and go for those slabs in March if I go anywhere.

Also, so far it looks like there will be a great carryover of birds in SD/ND based on winter conditions thus far. what's the SD bird report where you are at?

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Gentelmen,

You know me and my Slabs! When I have been up there I have been chasing them and doing well too, however I have not been up as much as I was last year. You know school and work gets in the way of the whole haveing fun ordeal.

I have found some interesting things though.

1.) The fish have'nt been schooled up in certain areas like they were in previous years.

2.) There is an abundance of forage out there that I believe attributes to this. In my opinion the crappies are moving in independent "little packs" actively feeding on these small perch because they are easy prey.

I would like to give it a try to see if a few weeks have eliminated some forage base and the schools are concentrating again...just to test out my theory.

Here's some food for thought...Last time we were fishing some slabs I pulled a 14" out for my sister and 4 minnows shot out of its mouth. I examined the minnows and they were all small perch ranging 1/2" to slighly over 2". So I switched up to a larger grub style tube to "match the hatch" and did well and ended up with some nice fish on this lure. That night in every crappie we filleted there were perch minnows. What surprised me is even in the smaller 11"-12" fish there were these larger minnows. I guess the moral of the story is sometimes the fish aren't always eating small things and big baits can be effective.

I will post some pictures up here tomorrow of some of the fishing action so far.

Take Care All and Good Luck Fishing!

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Tearin,

Last year when we did catch those crappies, all came on medium size walleye tackle. I really couldn't believe my eye's when those crappies tackled a 2 inch jigging rap.

Are you going to be up in the area when we are there?

Uguide, Birds are still plentiful. Should see a banner year for pheasants again..!

Take care, SB

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TL, I love the details in the data. You might make a good analyst you know. I would love to go on a run and gun with you sometime. In any case the earliest I would be up there is in March.

Thanks for the extra "Tidbits from TL" grin.gif

SB, I'm looking forward to any post trip reports you might be able to share.

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SB and UGuide,

I will probably be up there sometime in the beginning of March. Our spring break runs March 8-16...so I just need to figure out the days that I will be up there.

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We went out with a 4x4 pickup truck & ATV on North Arm today. Managed to find the one spot where there was 18 inches of snow and got stuck for awhile. Guess I am going to have to break down and buy a snowmobile. My ATV is just have a hard time this winter. Any more snow and will need a plow to take trucks out.

There was a little water coming up through the ice. Not much but the first damp spots I have seen in weeks. Maybe the lake level came up an inch or two.

Got a few walleyes and some perch but purrty slow.

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Gettin harder to git around in my ATV. Might have to break down and buy a Rhino with tracks or a Snowmobile. Anybody know of any good deals on either of those?

Rainy2008-02-04.jpg

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SB, Send me an email when you get a chance. Maybe we can get together before the ice is gone.

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That jigging shad rap in bronzys mouth has been one of my favorite winter lures, for all species.

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I promised them so here are a few. I am sorry I forgot that I took some with my 35mm to on a day where my digital did'nt work so I don't have pics of a couple that ran 15.5"+, but I figured this would do.

My Roommate with a couple decent ones

2008_0118goesithere0070.jpg

My GF with one just a hair bigger than 12"

2008_0118goesithere0072.jpg

Me with a couple that you won't hear me complain about. The one on the left was successfully released after the pic.

2008_0118goesithere0056.jpg

And one from last season!

The one on the left was released after the pic.

DSCN4897.jpg

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Saw a Suburban and an SUV coming from the north along the west shore of North Arm. The SUV stopped and said there is a semi-plowed road head north along that shore.

Very slow bite all day until last hour then walleyes turned on.

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Hey Captn, Did they mention anything about how far the road went up? There usually is a road plowed up to Northwest bay that sometimes splits and heads over east towards the 3 sisters... I'll give you a hollar when I'm heading up that way.

Bill, those are freakin huge!! I couldn't believe last year when my buddy radioed and said he just caught a 16 inch crappie.. You guy's have it way to good!

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No, he didn't say. My guess is somebody just plowed out to their cabin but I have not been on it. With all the wind today, there is probably not much "road" left. I did hear that the loggers are going to put in a good ice road that will use on a regular basis but nothing yet.

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Likely that the road will be erased after the hurricane on ice we're experiencing now. Was out in sand bay with a group earlier today, and opted for a safety heading in. Near white out conditions, and only expecting to get worse. Oh well I'd prefer just sled travel here anyway. Keeps the football games on ice, and brats to a minimum. Ha! Not that I have anything against BRATS!

RD

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SB, 16" are huge but I heard a guy could get 17" and 18". I have yet to see any photos. My wife and I came up and 15.5" was best we could do (pretty good but....). I am will to hunt but are 17-18 fiction?

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HI U-GUIDE,

THOU 18" CRAPPIES ARE NOT COMMON IN RAINY, THEY ARE THERE. I HAVE A BUDDY WHO HAS A CRAPPIE ON THE WALL THAT IS 18+, 3 LBS.+ CAUGHT AT PERRY STRAIGHTS. HE & I ALSO PULLED 15 CRAPPIES OUT OF A BAY ON THE CANADIAN SIDE THAT WERE 2.4 TO 2.10 SOME OF THOSE FISH MEASURED CLOSE TO THE 18" MARK. I GET A KICK OUT OF SOME FOLKS BRAGGING ABOUT THE 2 LB. CRAPPIES THEY CATCH ON RED LAKE, DON'T GET ME WRONG THEY HAVE NICE CRAPPIES AND MUCH LARGER THE MOST MINNESOTA LAKES, BUT THE TRUE TEST IS WHEN YOU CAN LAY THAT FISH ON A MEAT SCALE & IT READS 2 LBS. THERE ARE CERTIAN BAYS IN RAINY THAT IS LOADED WITH HELGAMITES(SPELLING) SOME THE LOCALS CALL THEM FRESH WATER SHRIMP, SO LOADED THAT WHEN IT BECOMES ABOUT 4 P.M. ON ANY GIVEN DAY YOUR VEX WILL TURN TOTALLY RED FROM THESE LITTLE BUGS RISING UP FROM THE BOTTOM. I BELIEVE THESE LITTLE BUGS ARE LIKE STEROIDS & MAKES THESE FISH GROW MASSIVE., SO IF YOU KNOW A BAY THAT HAS THESE BUGS, BY ALL MEANS TRY CRAPPIE FISHING...YOU MAY GET A TRUE SLABBER!!!

SINCERELY,

FISHMEISTER

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
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