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They're biting!


Stick in Mud

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The fish are definitely active....I marked 15 fish today, fishing sunrise 'til 9 and then 3:30 til dark, and I caught every one of them (well, I did miss one, only to have it peel off and hit the deadstick).   A few big fish, a few dinks, and most under the slot by a few inches.   No keepers, alas.  I'm doing nothing special, just walking out to the first shoreline break, drilling two holes, and hunkering down. 

 

There's about 6'' of ice, with lots of people pulling out small houses on snowmobiles and four-wheelers. Most of the snow last night seems to have blown off the lake, too, which is good.  It's looking like it'll be another great year on the Pond. 

 

 

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Stick in mud mud mind sharing what side of Lake you were on. thinking of going up on Monday and walking out of garrison  access haven't ice fished west side much usually fish on East side in winter but always fish west side in summer need to switch it up.

Edited by PLfisherman
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I walked out of the public access north of Garrison Bay.   There are a few cracks but nothing to worry about (that might change, of course).  You could also walk to Garrison Reef out of the public access in Garrison or to the reefs out of Myr Mar.   Others are having success right out of Garrison itself, just fishing the first break.  You'll see the line of fish houses. 

 

Good luck and let us know how you do!!! I'd be up there fishing and wouldn't mind teaming up to find them, but for some dumb reason I'm going to Red this week. 

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Well, it's too late.  I honestly don't know why I go to Red, especially when Mille Lacs is as hot as it is.   I suspect after this cold snap that we'd even be able to get out little wheelhouse out with the four-wheeler.

 

I'll have a fun time regardless, and we'll be back at Mille Lacs on Thursday, so I'm not sacrificing *too* much. ;)

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Thanks for the update Stick in the Mud.  We are ignoring Red and LOW this year, headed that way in a couple weeks for 3 full days on the pond.  We will be sure to post updates... 

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No reason that time period should not be as good or better than the sunset period, which has been excellent. My experience has been that moving deeper late morning or mid day will keep you on fish. There are a few jumbos being caught also. You can get around to most spots now on an ATV, or snowmobile, but use caution around any cracks, or visibly wet areas. East side resorts are out actively staking roads, so it won't be long until the skid houses start to come out. 

Good luck !! Be safe.

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well my computer can't capitalize any letters, so i apologize ahead of time.  time for a new one.

 

anyways, red lake was fun...but i should've fished mille lacs.  my buddies kept texting me good reports, and while we caught some decent fish up there, we got outfished by my friends on the pond.  i stopped by mille lacs on my way home thursday evening, and....couldn't find them.  i'm still just walking out, so i'm a bit limited in where i am willing to pull a 150 lb sled, but suffice it to say, i wasn't on them.  my friends were out, and they all caught between 6 and 10 walleyes.  me, i got two little ones.  can't get them every time. 

ah, just saw your question, bassthumb.

 

as sculpin says, the hour or two before sunset can be good, even in very shallow water.  i like to be fishing by 3 p.m. at the latest.  but that's if i'm shallow.  you can catch them mid-day on the flats without much problem, especially if you're willing to work hard and punch some holes.

19 hours ago, BassThumb. said:

Are people having any luck in the hour or two before sunrise?

 

yes, if i actually get up that early.   if i'm sleeping on the ice, i don't set an alarm...i just let the rattle wheel wake me up, and then i start jigging.  

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was out Thursday from 9til 6 caught 13 walleyes 5 pretty nice perch during the daytime hours. 1 walleye at 10am and the rest came between 4-6.  clacking raps  or rattling flying spoon, kastmastster spoon did well.  2 guys all fish caught jigging through 1 hole. needless to say my buddy didn't catch a walleye. lost several others at the ice.   8inches of ice

Edited by BlackLabsMatter
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Nice report, BLM.  That's not a bad day of fishing...for you. :) 

 

I've also started hearing reports of some nice perch.  That's never a bad thing. 

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quick report...i jumped on a buddy's four-wheeler and headed out about 3;30.  ended up catching 9 fish, all from 430 through 6. one big one, one keeper, and the rest were under the slot.  there's a big crack and a heave out of myr mar, so the flats are tough to get to unless you go up by red door.  we just stayed near the reefs in 20 ft of water.  maybe 10 inches of ice now.

 

my father in law is coming up this afternoon, so we'll be fishing morning and evenings now through saturday.  i'll post reports to keep y'all up to date. 

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Cool, looking forward to the reports, I dont have a wheeler or sled so I'm either walking out this weekend from somewhere or waiting till I can drive the SUV with the portable out. 

Hopefully I will have a report to share in a week or so.

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Planning on heading over Saturday. Sounds like it mostly an evening bite? Will be walking out with a pop-up/sled. I plan on heading out of Red Door or the Garrison public access and hitting the first break. 

 

Keep the updates coming & I'll give one Saturday when I'm back! 

 

 

 

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I think a good retirement job would be an Uber service on early ice. Have a side by side or ATV with sled, slight kick back to the resort. I know I would pay $20-30 for a lift instead of walking, but my doctor would say I need the walking.

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the bite is still nuts. 

 

wednesday i went out to the flats with my father in law. got 12 in about two hours, and missed about half that many with one very nice 20 inch keeper. 

 

thursday we stayed closer to shore, just fishing the reefs out of my mar.  got 16 with probably 10 missed fish. no keepers yesterday. 

 

we're starting about 3 or 330 and stopping by about 530.  probably could catch fish later than that if you were especially angry at them. 

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for some reason, my crappy computer doesn't let me post a long report. so here's a bit more.

 

our best spoons by far have been BIG gold and silver pimples, vinglas, or buckshot.  doesn't seem to matter if they have rattles, but the bigger, the better.  i think the pimples were size 5 or 6....they're the same ones i use for lake trout in quetico and the boundary waters.  i don't know the size of the buckshot, but it's, oh, 3 inches long or so and weighs, i dunno, half an ounce/.   most fish come on the spoon, but about a third of them peel off and hit the bobber rig in the house.  only a few have come on the tip up outside the house.

i hear the bite on the flats is crazy good if you're willing to drill some holes and cover some water.  not me...i'm using a hand auger, so i can't vouch for the reports.  but if the primetime bite is anything like the day bite, the fish are hungry and willing to eat. 

 

in the best news of the week, my dad is up fishing lake of the woods, and i've caught more fish thus far this week than he has.  of course, he's kept more, but then he has to clean them.  ;0

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Made the trip down yesterday fished the shoreline break out from Red Door in 17ft and it was a bust, marked 2 fish caught both...So I ran out to the flats and ended up with 15 fish 22"er was probably the biggest. They would come in groups of two and they both would hit. Always fun doubling up when your solo haha... Glow goldfish Tingler was my best bait. I'm sure I would have caught a lot more if hole hopping were possible,but that wind was pretty nuts... I'm loving Mille lacs this year :)

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On 12/29/2016 at 10:21 AM, knowsnothing said:

I think a good retirement job would be an Uber service on early ice. Have a side by side or ATV with sled, slight kick back to the resort. I know I would pay $20-30 for a lift instead of walking, but my doctor would say I need the walking.

Do not know where I saw on some forum, that somebody stole you idea.  They pull you along with few other people and then pick you after noonish.  Was around the $20 mark.  Not bad for sled with a bunch of stuff

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Fishing out on Shaws Reef as I type. 14-15" of ice out of Wharfs. Arrived at 5. In 18-19 FOW. Very sandy bottom with no structure from what the camera showed. 2 14-16" eyes, 1 20"ish I lost at the hole due to my Marcum cord, and one 25" on the rattle reel. I'm happy with the trip so far!
 

 

Posted on: Today 22:58:08
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I'm back home now....our last day was our best. My father in law had to leave by 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening, so we were out fishing early and never did make it back to shore for lunch. All told, we caught almost 30 walleyes on Friday, fishing from about 7 feet down to 26.  I did manage to get my wheelhouse out on Saturday, parked amid the mass of humanity out of Garrison.  Got skunked, alas.  Still it was an incredible week of fishing, and I can't wait to get up again next week. 

 

I'm hearing similar reports from pretty much everyone fishing the lake, though like always some people are finding more and some less.  I'm really, really hoping the upcoming cold weather means access to the flats will be easier.  They're biting out there. :)

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Well this Mille Lacs rookie didnt fair well on our first trip Saturday . Took my 6 year old son out of the north end and headed to the mud. Set-up on deeper edge in 29ft. Marked fish right away. No takers for a while. Then finally got one to follow up and hit. It was a tullibee. Still exciting but not what we were hoping for. Caught 3 more tulibees before deciding to move . Spot two had lookers but no takers at all. Tried lots of different jigs and bait combos. No walleyes for us out of that big lake yet. Well, thats fishing. Hoping to maybe try again next weekend.  I want him to hook into those fish we see pictures of. Good luck to all.

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I got skunked on Saturday morning, too. Keep in touch the next time you head up there, and I'll share some specifics via PM if I'm on them.  

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On 12/30/2016 at 10:04 PM, bowhuntermitch said:
Fishing out on Shaws Reef as I type. 14-15" of ice out of Wharfs. Arrived at 5. In 18-19 FOW. Very sandy bottom with no structure from what the camera showed. 2 14-16" eyes, 1 20"ish I lost at the hole due to my Marcum cord, and one 25" on the rattle reel. I'm happy with the trip so far!
 

Ended up doing fairly Friday night through Saturday. Shaws Reef, out of Wharfs. Biggest was a 24-25" off the rattle reel. Saw TONS of fish on the camera, but only 1/10 out bite. Others wanted nothing to do with my bait. 

 

Caught 15 or so Saturday morning, until they completly shut off @ 9am. The plow trucks really seems to have an effect on the fish. 

Posted on: Today 22:58:08

 

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Went up for a day trip yesterday.  Got there around 10 and stayed til 7.  From everyone I talked to Saturday was the good day of the weekend.  Went out of the public access at Garrison and hit the reef straight out from there.  It was slow.  The few fish we marked were quite aggressive which was nice.  Caught 5 total eyes 4 in the 16-18 inch range and one 9 incher.  I missed two decent feeling fish but had them come off.  When I reeled up my lure both times one of the hooks on my trebles had broken off.  Both brand new VMC spoons.  Not the first time I've had that happen.  Love the action on their spoons but their hooks have been killing me.  Fun to get up there even though it was a little slow.

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Made it out Sunday late afternoon and setup on a small rock hump on the NE side. Ended up with only two dinks and missed a couple. Decided to go out of Red Door and head to the flats yesterday. Only got to fish until about 12:30 and me and a buddy ended up with 5. The biggest was a 24" and a 23". The 24" crushed a rippin rap and the 23" came on a tip-up an shiner. Marked fish most of the morning and a lot of the of the marks were good ones that would come up and look at it and then disappear. Wish I would have had more time out there to get a few more. Had another buddy that went out with us as well and hit different flats than us. He did well and caught over 20 fish but most were dinks. He did get one at 23"

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
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    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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    • CigarGuy
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    • PSU
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    • Mike89
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    • Hookmaster
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