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Almost a week in to the fishing season and this place is quiet as a morgue.  Most recent posts were from back in March?!?  What the heck happened??? 

Edited by zelek
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I agree.  Opener was good, not great.  Weather was great.  Have not been out since Sunday so I can't add much.  Hope to get out tomorrow before the rain.

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Well...maybe after this cold rainy weekend we can get this forum fired up a little.  It used to be kind of fun to come on here way back when fisherdog was moderating as there was good participation from a number of folks with lots of topics being discussed.  I'm on vacation the week after next so I should have a few reports to offer then.  The site looks a lot different now so I might have to relearn a few things.  :) 

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Sorry...been posting a few pics in the Panfish section...I've been out a lot chasing crappies, started 10 days after ice out. I did the eye opener and we did good real shallow 4-6ft with jig and shiner but that one eye outing is it for me unless I go out late fall for them again.  Crappies bite has been real good...just not in normal spots...not many spawned in the shallow reeds but beds we deeper 5-7 ft in many lakes. I've been as far North as Little Bemidji to as far South as S. Lida and many lakes in between. Went out Saturday morning early and found them in 12.5ft suspended real high; used the smallest rap they make and just fan casted all around the boat and they were aggressive.  Cabbage is coming up and healthy in most lakes and they will be moving into the cabbage when it warms up. Water clarity has been unbelievable in every lake I've been on so far. Another yo-yo weather pattern makes it more challenging for sure....but search and you will find.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I made it out a few times this past weekend. Been super busy with end of school activities, dance recitals, graduations.. Even though the weather was not the best, the crappies were pretty aggressive. Limits of nice eaters came fairly easy with simple jigs/plastics along the emerging weed beds. 6-10'. have heard good reports of walleyes being caught on area lakes on both shiners and leeches. Will concentrate on eyes my next outing. Hopefully very soon.....

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Made it out last Thursday with my son Crappie fishing. It a little bit to find them but when we did it was fast and furious catching. Pretty much every cast into 10-12 feet produced a nice slab. Friday Morning I took my BIL walleye fishing. He is a newbie so I took a simple approach of pulling spinners and minnows along shoreline weeds. Doing that usually produces good multi species action and this proved to be the case. We caught just about everything in that lake. Very nice walleyes, bass, crappies, sunnies, numerous pike and a bullhead. Very fun!

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I've been out crappie fishing quite a bit....only got them shallow twice this year...males fanning beds....but now getting them in 8-10ft in cabbage and found them deeper in one lake in 14ft in clean water about 5yds outside the cabbage edge and that was fun...they were bigger 11-14 inchers.  Overall it has been steady, windy days put a damper on things but always can find some decent spot out of the wind.  Now I will move to the Big Water and strictly fish deeper cabbage for the rest of the summer/fall...plenty of big Water in the area that have good crappie populations.

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Only made it out last Friday morning for a quick trip before work. Watching the sunrise on the lake is always a special treat. Caught a nice 20" eye right away but could not find another one. Marked a few fish in 20', caught a few sunnies but it was surprisingly slow on this well known walleye lake. Hoping to get out somewhere this evening....

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Hit Lida late yesterday (Sunday)....found crappies in deep cabbage13-15ft...caught them on 3" Gulp Minnow shad color and I always split the tail more than it comes out of the package to give it a little more tail movement; 1/16 oz VMC jig/orange...I love the VMC jigs cuz their hooks are so stout and I use plastics and VMC has the Wire Keeper plus the jig eylelets are always clean so no need to use another hook to clean them out.  Lake was packed with boats but so spread out, such a big lake, no one crowding another...beautiful evening to be on the water.

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Made it out to a smaller lake last night. Usually do really well this time of year on eyes there. Struggled, could only manage 2 nice eaters. 16,17". Caught on spinner, leech. Did catch a bunch of sunnies, bass, northerns and a 12" crappie. Pretty sure that was the first time I ever caught a crappie on a spinner, leech combo. Good thing I got that dumb thing out of the lake. With the fairly strong NE wind it was almost chilly out after sunset...

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Finally managed to get out yesterday for the first time since opener and of course it's when a big cold front is rolling through. Still managed to find some walleyes but it was less than ideal conditions. Ended up with 6 for 2 guys. They were split between leeches and crawlers. The crawlers caught more sunfish and perch and the leeches caught more bass and northerns. Most were caught in 17-20 feet. Water temp is right around 70. 

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Went Crappie fishing Friday...first time I've ever seen this.  Horse was tied up in the woods not far away....did not see him on the lake so he must have rowed back into a reed area.  Homemade trailer with pipe and wood spoke wheels with metal rims like the carriage.  We caught plenty of nice crappies pic of a couple down below Amish pic.

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I was out super early Saturday Morning. Did really well on eyes. Lindy,crawlers in 20'. Later in the afternoon took my son and neighbor boy out for crappies. They were not super aggressive but they had a blast catching a couple limits. Had an amazing fish fry with the neighbors that night. Catch and release right into the grease!

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I was kind of restless last night so since it was a bit windy I decided to go for a quick trip to a nearby small lake that I rarely go to. Tried lindy rigging leeches but the sunfish were on the chomp! I eventually went to a shallow weed point and marked a bunch of fish. Started pitching small jigs/plastics and absolutely pounded the crappies. I have never in my life caught so many small ones. Lots of 5-7" with the occasional big one 13-14" mixed in... I did not feel like cleaning fish so tossed all back. Should be a phenomenal crappie lake in a couple years...

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  • 4 weeks later...

Made it out for a short venture Saturday Morning. Took a church buddy that rarely gets out. The crappies are still hungry. Limited out in about an hour.... Only ones on the water until a few guys were just going out as we were loading up..

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  • 2 weeks later...

Made it out last night. Beautiful night. Caught a bunch of Crappies, sunnies, a norsky and a few walleyes. All CR. Amazing how quiet the lake was. I was the only boat out for the most part. First boat in parking lot at 5:30 and no AI inspector this time. Have not seen them for quite awhile now.... Water temp was 78. Panfish were caught on simple Jig/plastic in about 12 feet along shoreline weeds. Walleyes on spinner/crawlers in 17-20 on midlake structure.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • jparrucci
      Very low, probably 2 feet lower than last year at ice out.
    • mbeyer
      what do they look like this spring?
    • SkunkedAgain
      I might have missed a guess, but here are the ones that I noted:   JerkinLips – March 27th, then April 7th Brianf. – March 28th Bobberwatcher – April…. MikeG3Boat – April 10th SkunkedAgain – early April, then April 21st   Definitely a tough year for guesses, as it seemed to be a no-brainer early ice out. Then it got cold and snowed again.
    • mbeyer
      MN DNR posted April 13 as Ice out date for Vermilion
    • Brianf.
      ^^^45 in the morning and 47 in the evening
    • CigarGuy
      👍. What was the water temp in Black Bay? Thanks....
    • Brianf.
      No, that wasn't me.  I drive a 621 Ranger. 
    • CigarGuy
      So, that was you in the camo lund? I'm bummed, I have to head back to the cities tomorrow for a few days, then back up for at least a few weeks. Got the dock in and fired up to get out chasing some crappies till opener!
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Lots of ice on the main basin, but it is definitely deteriorating.  Some anglers have been fishing the open water at the mouth of the Rainy River in front of the Lighthouse Gap.  The rest of the basin is still iced over. Pike enthusiasts caught some big pike earlier last week tip up fishing in pre-spawn areas adjacent to traditional spawning areas.  8 - 14' of water using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring has been the ticket.  Ice fishing for all practical purposes is done for the year. The focus for the basin moving forward will be pike transitioning into back bays to spawn,  This is open water fishing and an opportunity available as the pike season is open year round on Lake of the Woods. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. With both the ice fishing and spring fishing on the Rainy River being so good, many are looking forward to the MN Fishing Opener on Saturday, May 11th.  It should be epic. On the Rainy River...  An absolutely incredible week of walleye and sturgeon fishing on the Rain Rainy River.     Walleye anglers, as a rule, caught good numbers of fish and lots of big fish.  This spring was one for the books.   To follow that up, the sturgeon season is currently underway and although every day can be different, many boats have caught 30 - 40 sturgeon in a day!  We have heard of fish measuring into the low 70 inch range.  Lots in the 60 - 70 inch range as well.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  Open water is continuing to expand in areas with current.  The sight of open water simply is wetting the pallet of those eager for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th.   A few locals were on the ice this week, targeting pike.  Some big slimers were iced along with some muskies as well.  If you like fishing for predators, LOW is healthy!  
    • Brianf.
      Early bird gets the worm some say...   I have it on good authority that this very special angler caught no walleyes or muskies and that any panfish caught were released unharmed.        
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