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Waterfowl Reports


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Black ducks.  They appear to be hen mallards, look incredibly similar, even the males look like susies.  Use to get a few in a local slough in the Duluth area back in the 90"s.

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  • 11 months later...

Was out scouting a couple smaller ponds in the Zimmerman area. Not much moving today kicked up 3 wood ducks but they would have been too far of a shot. Walked a small river a bit too see if anything was back there nothing. The ducks are sure loaded in all the metro ponds I drove by on the way up though :mad:

 

Need some cold weather to get some birds moving

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

The woodies are in little ponds in the woods :)

You might even get a bonus grouse

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  • 2 weeks later...

This site has really tanked, and I haven't been on here for about a year, but I felt compelled to fill some of my old duck blind buddies in on the latest happenings in NW Minnesota.

From what I can see we've really hit that Late October lull time.  The vast majority of our local birds pulled out with that big full moon, and the cool clear nights last week.  I've been back and forth across the countryside quite a bit, and I'm seeing very few migratory waterfowl in the area.

With temps being what they are, and now that everything has dried out quite a bit up here, the majority of our farm fields have been cultivated and turned up black.  Pretty balmy now for this time of year.  I wouldn't expect any kind of big migration over the next week or so, but I'd imagine a few will start trickling down out of Canada here and there.

I hear things are going pretty well out in the Dakotas.  Prolly smart to head over there if you really wanna get into birds.  Just not much to speak of at all right now in Northwest Minnesota.

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Canopy Sam glad to have you back we missed you. Keep the reports coming. We were all waiting for you to start getting the band back together again.

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Got out for the first time this year last weekend. Opening morning got my two roosters and then started scouting. I didnt see much for birds all day until in the evening when I saw about 40-50 redheads on one pond. Set up there the next morning with my old man and we got 3 reds, 3 gwt, and a woodie and mallard drake. Next day saw more ducks on that pond as well and ended up setting up there as well the next morning. We shot 5 bluebills and 2 bonus geese that morning. Then shot a nice fat rooster that day and headed home. Im off the next 6 days after today so we'll see what kind of trouble I can get myself into. I will post pics on the other thread when i get a chance.

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  • 6 months later...

About the the biggest news I can come up with on this years bird info is that significantly more hooded mergs than usual have been seen in central - western MN.

 

Id like to get a nice one.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

I have been seeing gadwalls my dads pond has a pair and 3 other ponds have them to 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

 Lots of mallards, geese, and swans around

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  • 9 months later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

The swans are thick. Geese are showing up in numbers and same with the cranes!

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Seeing a bunch of full plumage divers, swans and geese on the sauk river near Rockville. Spring is always excitieing for a waterfowler. Put a few wood duck houses out last week and checked on the ones already in place!

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  • 1 year later...

March 21 - saw my first goldeneyes of the spring migration tonight.  They were cruising south so I imagine they were scouting further north but didn’t find the water they were looking for.

 

There are spots open on the river but not much around Little Falls yet.  Judging by the looks of the ice though I’ll be seeing open water by Sunday.  

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March 26 I got a text from a neighbor that he saw a half dozen woodies.  Gotta take his word for it since he knows ducks but I still wanna see em with my own eyes.

 

March 27 and they’re at my place along with some hoodeds.  And we’ve only seen a few goldeneyes so far I’m calling them early birds and won’t doubt my sanity next year when the early ones show up again.

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  • 5 months later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Time to fire this baby up again...any early goose pics and/or reports?

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Well I seen a few groups of mallards this morning and two big flicks of teal. The geese are flying high and early or late in the day

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Just settling in for a 4 hour nap before launching the boat on LOW - provided we’re not in the middle of a T-storm.  South winds so that helps.  Rain doesn’t bother me but the chance of lightning does.

 

Good luck tomorrow.

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No doubt @papadarv!  They’re really good at it too.  The small family flocks have joined together where I’ve been seeing geese and now number 50+ typically.

 

We saw some geese and a few ducks today but didn’t shoot any.  We didn’t find anything worth setting up on.  Pretty amazing how slim the duck population is up here.  The biggest flock I’ve seen, including the drive up, numbered 5 birds.  It’s been mostly random singles and pairs.

 

The flooding up here has been amazing too.  Something like 10 inches in 25 hours.  Roads are flooded and the ditches are raging rivers.  The downstream sides of the bigger culverts look like power plant discharges.

 

We’re considering other options for tomorrow.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders

Well I did not get up this morning had a good time at the wedding!! I sneaked down to my dads pond at noon and bingo. A triple yep this bad shot sniped one off a log and knocked the other two out of the air. Finn was on them ducks like flies on poop. One hen woodie dove on Finn and he tried to find her. I waited an hour and half for that hen woodie to pop up but it never happened.

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Those hen woodies can be some tough customers!

 

Since I had half the state to cover on the way home I swung through a spot I wanted to hunt last year but was shut out by a storm - go figure.  I had just the last 2 hours to paddle it and see what was up.  Started pushing up birds right away; mallards and ringers.  Didn't try shooting anything till I got back in it a bit.  Found a nice 40 yard wide hole in cover and a lone mallard came by.  One shot, one dead bird.  Stuck around for the last 45 minutes, got buzzed by some teal, then time was up.  More birds showed up while I picked up.  Good chance I'll be back.

Edited by Wanderer
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I told myself I was done hunting Minnesota..... 57$ later out of the budget I'll be living off if ham sandwiches the next two weeks and one pintail and one goose..... I'm a sucker ?

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Hookmaster
      The DNR uses the 90% rule. Declare ice out when the lake is 90% ice free. The Freshwater Society uses a different rule.  "Ice-out is observed when a boat is able to safely navigate from any shore to any other shore, through any channel, and around any island without being stopped by hard ice." The ice in Smith's Bay yesterday afternoon must not have been "hard". I didn't go up to it to check. It stretched from Big Island to Brackett's Point. Saw a fishing boat almost enter it up on plane. This ice was in Brown's Bay on Monday and blew in to Smith's with the NE wind.
    • PSU
      Minnetonka officially went out yesterday
    • smurfy
      I hear ya, but been to that one 4-5 times. Haven't seen much that's different . And o got about 2 of everything. 👍
    • monstermoose78
      But it’s fun to get something new or look
    • SkunkedAgain
      Luckily we have no rules.    It doesn't look like any significant melting will occur until at least the last week of March, assuming that it gets warm again. Therefore I think that your revised guess is prudent.  
    • smurfy
      man looking at the webcams.......that ice got trashed the last couple days!!!!!!
    • smurfy
      thinking about going.....not sure though...........i really dont need anything!!!!!!!
    • monstermoose78
      I went to the little falls one and bought this beauty!
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Ice fishing continues strong for some resorts and the bite is excellent.  Other resorts decided to pull fish houses off for the year.  There is still ice fishing happening and available.  Fish houses are available at some resorts.  At other resorts, they are allowing guests to bring collapsible fish houses only.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics.   Daytime temps this week in the 40's with overnight temps in the high 20's.  Next week's forecast shows thirties during the day and teens at night.  That will hold ice on many areas of the lake for those who don't want to be finished ice fishing quite yet.   The bite this past week was excellent.  Great reports across the south shore.  Walleyes and saugers in good numbers with mixed in jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon in the mix.   The majority of ice fishing for walleyes and saugers is still taking place in 20 - 28 feet of water.  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.       Small jigging spoons tipped with a piece of minnow or a small lipless crankbait such as a Rippin Rap are working well for walleyes and saugers.  On the deadstick, a small jig head or a plain hook with the minnow hooked in the dorsal fin have both been effective.   The big pike have the feedbag on!  Great reports of pike up to the mid 40 inch variety being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   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.   The outlook for the May 11th MN Fishing Opener along the south shore looks very optimistic. On the Rainy River...  The river has opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale.  As of Monday, some anglers were pushing small boats over shore ice.  It is anticipated that in the next day or so the boat ramp will be cleared of ice and ready for trailers with boats.  Watch the Lake of the Woods Tourism Facebook page for updates.   There is also a good stretch of open water already down the middle of the river in front of the Frontier boat ramp, which is about 8 miles downstream from Birchdale.  The river is opening up quickly.   The Rainy River opens up from the east moving west.  The order in which boat ramps open up...   1.  Nelson Park in Birchdale, MN, 26.4 miles east of Baudette 2.  Frontier Boat Ramp, 18.9 miles east of Baudette, MN 3.  Vidas Boat Ramp, 9.8 miles east of Baudette, MN 4.  Timber Mill Park in Baudette, MN 5.  Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp, 12 miles north of Baudette Up at the NW Angle...  Another good week of ice fishing up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, eelpout, pike and some big crappies in the mix again this week.   Jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is the way to go.  The general theme is picking away at them during the day and normally a very productive evening bite.    Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Truck traffic is winding down in favor of smaller vehicles, side by sides, snowmobiles, etc.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • Hookmaster
      Was on Tonka yesterday. Bays open that I saw were Stubbs, Maxwell, North Arm, Crystal, Smiths and LaFayette. Carmens was open from what I could see from county road 19. Browns was locked up which also stopped the water patrol on their ice out excursion. I tried a few shallow channel areas and didn’t find any panfish in them yet. Saw ~5 hammer handles and a fungus covered carp that looked like a ghost and could go belly up at any moment. Panfish still deep and less cooperative than last Thursday. Only boated 1. I did mark some in 10-15 ft off some weeds but they wouldn’t bite either. Yard work today and I’ll give it another try tomorrow. Tonka main bays were 44 up 3 degrees from last Thursday. Shallows varied between 45 and 47, up from 42 last Thursday.
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