DANGEROUS CRACK ON OTTERTAIL!!

[fishermatt]

Be VERY careful if driving on Ottertail lake if you go west from either the Hwy 78 access or Riveria Ranch access. There's a BAD crack that runs almost all the way across the lake. I drove across it going west last night, and I dropped about a foot when I went over it. There's no way a truck could get back over it going east without damage or getting wet! I had to follow it almost to the south shore before I could get around it. If you go on at the Hwy 78 access, then follow close to shore going south, you can go around it and be safe. There's still quite a bit of ice, but be careful!!

[Paul Rohweller]

Thanks for the heads up Matt! nothing worse than having to join the polar bear club by accident...

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Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[Gissert]

Yikes! I bet that ratcheted up the 'ol pucker factor.

How is the gerneral condition/thickness of the ice? Gonna hit the west end tomorrow.

[fishermatt]

Gissert,
I'd say the ice is still at least 18-20" thick, and looks pretty good. It's really slippery though, especially when it's warm enough for there to be a little water on top.
good luck!

[fishermatt]

Hey Gissert,
How did you do Saturday? We had a good time on Saturday, 8 of us made it out, we kept 4 walleyes, threw back a few dinky ones, and kept about 15 perch. What a beautiful day to end the walleye season! We kept clear of that big crack to minimize the "pucker factor" and have a relaxing day!

[Gissert]

fishermatt -

We really got into the perch, but they were running small again. Covered a couple spots, fishing from 10 feet down to 45. Fish were at all depths, but I spent the most time in about 22 feet. We kept nine, and released a bunch more in the six inch range. No walleyes at all, which is odd.

It was a great day to be out on the ice on Saturday, I bet it was a real joy out there yesterday in that wind.

There is a pretty good crack right off shore at Graystone, but we paralleled the beach for a hundred yards, and then turned out. Ice still looked great on Saturday, 20 inches everywhere we went. Lots of permanant shacks coming off, and nobody came within a half mile of us.

I hope this weather cools off again so I can get at some of the late perch action.

[fishermatt]

Thanks for the reply Gissert,
We tried 3 different spots for perch, and didn't get very many on any of them. Were you on steep breaks? I tried to find more gradual breaks, but maybe that's not the plan for perch. We fished on 2 humps and 1 shoreline spot, but didn't get much for numbers, even small.

[Gissert]

fishermatt -

We were on the second circular hump out from Graystone. (about 1 1/2 miles or so)the map shows it is 19 feet on top, but is actually about 10 feet. It breaks to the south and to the west into 40 feet fairly gradually. We had fish there, but they were sporadic. That is usually a good spot for me for perch with walleyes mixed in.

We moved to a spot about .4 miles north of there, and started fishing off the end of a shallow flat. Again the map shows it topping out at 10 feet, but it is actualy closer to 5. There is a point on the north side of that that drops from 15 to 50 feet in about 75 yards. We fished that break the rest of the day, and that is where our numbers came from. The break is so steep in the 22 foot spot I was on that my jig would disappear on my vex three feet before it actually hit bottom. I worked the heck out of that area three weeks ago and caught many perch then, but they were small.

[fishermatt]

Gissert,
Thanks again for the info. You're brave to be so specific!! Be careful or you'll have half the twin cities following you around ;-)
Don't know if I'll get back out to OT this winter, I'm dying for a sunfish sandwich, so I'll probably be hitting Star, West Lost, or Dead to try and get into some panfish.
Good Luck!!

[Gissert]

fishermatt -

LOL! I did not give away my favorite spots that are not on the map! That flat is a big one, and has many points and turns that are un marked. I just wish I had more time to do some exploring.

[fishermatt]

That's good Gissert!
Those spots that aren't on the map are the best anyway!! I hear you on the time for exploring. A guy needs to take part of a trip sometimes and just commit to exploring. You never know what you'll stumble into. It seems like the more you stumble around on the lake the better things you stumble into!!

[Paul Rohweller]

I've done the just go exploring thing on ottertail more than once! I find it to be an eye opener. Some things arent the way you always pictured or like any map, most of the good spots arent on any maps. They just dont show the details.. If you really want to mess with your mind get the lakemaster software and get that straightened out. I was so mad at it last season I didnt look at it for a couple months. Looking back its probably more right than I was. lolol Paul

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Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[Gissert]

Paul -

I have the Lakemaster software. I like it a lot. It gets me close to where I want to be, and then I can go from there. it saves a lot of time. I have only used it on the west end so far.

Sure beats the old way I used to use. I had a Fishing Hot Spots map that I drew lat/lon grids on. That was pretty tough to do, as there is only one reference spot on the map. I had to start there, and then make some conversions off of a USGS 1:24000 scale topo map. After I had the grids drawn, I could place a spot in my GPS. It worked quite well, but was time consuming and tedious. The Lakemaster software makes it a lot easier.

[fishermatt]

I've got Lakemaster also, and it's gotten me on some spots and got me confused on others. The whole GPS thing is good and bad if you ask me. When there was no GPS, it was a lot harder for the average guy to figure out how to get back on a spot (his or mine!!). But now with GPS, the whole lake is up for grabs. There's no more lining up someone's boat house with the Pine tree in their yard, or the TV tower over a yellow house with the brick chimney. That's when it took real skill to find the spots! GPS makes it a lot easier to remember a lot more spots though, so it's good for a guy like me. I have a great memory, it's just really short! You either have to embrace the new technology and learn to use it to your advantage, or fall behind.

[Paul Rohweller]

When they tore down the tower on amor point it screwed up alot of people , myself included. I was just making the conversion from landmarking to gps. Now with the gps I have my old haunts and I dont have to hunt until the fog clears. problem is now I've got too many places to remember, I just cant fish them all in a day or a week. I will probably use the lakemaster more to see where I've been instead of where I'm going.. Paul

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Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie