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I will be heading up to for the weekend of the 24th, with Dad and Brother. I have only been ice fishing for two years, a total of about 15 times, and my Dad and Brother have only ice fished a few times in their lives. We are very avid summer fishermen, but now Dad has cabin in the area and wants to pick up some winter hobbies. We have fished the Bowstring area in the summer quite alot, but would also like to try some other areas. I know crappie holes are a tight lipped subject, but any pointers would be welcome. I am just trying to find some fish for them, esp. since Dad was up two weekends ago (without us) and didn't ice a fish. Willing to try most anything, trout, walleye, perch, and crappie. Thought about giving Winne a shot, but never been there. Any ideas for some newbies? Fast action not necessary since we are seasoned fishermen, but would like to catch a few, drink a few, and just have some fun. Any and all suggestions would be welcome.

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little winne almost always produces some nice perch, and is not real big. If you dont mind the drive you will probably never experianc crappie fishing like it is on red.

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Well, where to start. It seems the bite on Winnie is starting to get a little sporadic, but it is always a good choice to get a good map and check out the humps in the middle of the lake first. A early morning bite for perch and walleyes in 19 to 28 feet, you have to move to keep up with the perch as they follow the breaks on the humps down as the day progresses until about noon. Then take a nap until 3 or so and set up on the same humps in 21 feet on the break for the walleyes. Shiners and jigging spoons (insert favorite here)seem to work well for me. I also set a tip up out in front of me with a whole shiner on it,so as to check when the bite moves. It works pretty well. I only use one line in my hand because if you can keep up to the moving school of perch (and other tasty fish species) you can not operate two! I hope this helps! On Winnie anyway. Oh ya, just a shiner head for the jiggin spoon smile.gif

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I cant give you exact names but get a map of the lake in that bowstring and talmon area hundreds of little crappie lake and not alot of pressure. from the landscape you can ussualy find some deep water check the depth and find some crappies suspended and you will have a blast. you get to explore new areas and catch some decent fish
if try this good luck it is one of my favorite things to do
Jason

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fishing fever guide service
fishingminnesota.com/fishingfever/
phone 218-327-2191
e-mail [email protected]

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If you really are hankering to ice some fish,Go to Red lake and concentrate on Big Pike for most of the daytime hours.They have been hitting very well.See URL Forum here as an example.
Set up for crappies around 4:30.bring a mix of small crappie minnows to large chubs for the crappies along with Glo jigs(remember your lazer light to get them glowing)
Stop at the bait shop just west of deer river for a ton of helpful information and good prices on bait.Good Luck!!

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Thanks for the replies! We may try URL one day, and bowstring also. Otherwise we may try some smaller lakes too. I will post some results in a little over a week to let you know how we did. Sister and brother-in-law were up in the bowstring area and iced a few decent northerns, and headed to URL, no crappies but they caught (and returned obviously) quite a few of those nice walleyes everyone has been talking about, as well as a few small northerns. Can't wait to make a long weekend of it. Thanks again!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well we had a great weekend in the area. Wow was it cold over night. Fished bowstring a few times and found a few crappies, couple perch, and some snakes. Pretty accurate with the local report in outdoor news, 22 to 23 feet of water, just up off the bottom, and nothing fast and furious. We stayed about 100 yds. away from all the houses. Unfortunately had a couple trucks (one a diesle they kept running) park about 50 ft. from us the first time on the lake. Didn't affect the fishing, just thought a little more space would have been nice (it is a big lake). My first time fishing with a vexilar, what a blast!! I have a question for those of you experienced at this. We drilled holes across the breakline, put the vex down them, marked fish in a couple holes, and started fishing in the hole with the most fish. All three times we were on the lake we had fish on the vex, got set up, caught a couple and then it shut down. Any ideas what may have been happening. Maybe we were too loud? But in 22 ft. of water?? Good luck to all, happy fishing and let some go for the kids!

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Also, my dad stopped in at the bait store in Deer River, and had nothing but great things to say about the place. Someone from the family is up almost weekly and we will be shopping here more often. Shiners stayed alive from Tursday into Monday, crappie minnows were going strong, with a little TLC in a non-aerated minnow bucket. Would have to say this is good bait!

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hampster, that happens sometimes where you will have fish on the screen and only the active ones bite. My advice is to keep moving go from hole to hole. In Jan the fish sometimes become more inactive. Sometims you also can go to a smaller or bigger presentation and get a couple more scraglers too. I will also agree with you on Freds they always have great bait
Jason

------------------
fishing fever guide service
fishingminnesota.com/fishingfever/
phone 218-327-2191
e-mail [email protected]

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As Jason said, try "hole-hopping". You'll catch the aggressive fish first, then you get a lot of "lookers". Move. Maybe a matter of a few feet to the next hole will make the differance. Catch the "biters", then move to the next. Winni has never shut me down. I've always caught perch regardless of the many factors which effect fishing. Dont settle on catching small perch there. Move till you find the jumbos. Drill a couple holes, if you catch small ones move 50 yards and try again. When you find the big ones, punch several holes and jump around catching the biters. After a short time you'll see which are the better holes. Punch a couple more around those.

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http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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