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I'm thinking of fishing west battle for the first time this weekend and wondering what depths and kinds of bottoms i should be looking for to catch some crappies...what times is the bite best out there i would geuss dusk but could be different out there?

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I haven't fished it for a few years, but I know for a fact that crappies are prevelant on the west side of the lake, straight out from the Shoreline cafe a few hundred yards or so. Well, a bit north of that, but there should be some shacks out there now. My Grandpa used to own a resort on the west side there, and we always had decent luck on crappies out there.

Most of my crappie outings in the past 5 to 10 years have been in March and April out there, but Gramps always had a house out in that area when I was a kid.

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WEll i've heard tht the bite on west battle is going really good..some big eyes being caught also as i saw to 10 pounders in teh paper tht "said they wree caught on west battle" but still looking for some good tips what to look for for crappies because as i drive by i see that the houses arent in any pattern they jsut kidna every where?

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I usually do not fish crappies until late ice. That's when they pick up steam IMO. The later the better. smile.gif That's the only tip I can give besides saying get out and give it a try. grin.gif

Every single report from my local friends say that the bite is the worst they have seen. Some get a fish here and there, but I'll tell ya this last week of high pressure and cold temps has really killed the bite.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My brother and I are going to try to make it out this weekend. How is access to the lake (by the Shoreline) for getting out on? Can you drive around pretty much everywhere in a pick up or not? Any other tidbits welcome?

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I have not used or driven by the access, this season as I use other access points. I don't think it's an issue at the public access north of town, it usually never is since so many people use it.

Ice is good to go. There is a breaker between South and North points, so be careful there. That's about it. Good luck!

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Thanks ChuckN

Any advise to offer on the presentation of choice? Curious to know if my LOW set ups will work down there as well. Are Angel Eye's and Chubby Darters popular?

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Dude you live in Warroad and you are making an effort to fish West Battle instead of LOW? You have obviously lost your mind. I would stick with a perch colored jigging spoon w/just a fathead head. Caught most of my eyes on Battle on this set-up. Like Chuck mentioned there is one bad ridge out there and some spots that have some flow by them as well, so if you will be driving a truck be careful. Chuck what is the snow condition out on the ice? Will be up this weekend for a little walleye and perchin'. You gonna be out?

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Yep, lost my mind! No, actually I grew up on WBL - Grandpa has a cabin on the south side. All those years and I don't remember once ice fishing it.

It just worked out that this weekend worked out for my brother and I so we thought we'd give it a try...just so we can say we did.

Thanks by the way. We'll be out Saturday. Either Blue Chevy pick up or White F-150.

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Yes West Battle is a good lake to grow up on for sure. If you go, get out a little earlier than you normally would, my biggest fish this year have come between 1:00 and 3:30. Make sure you fish deep enough too.

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Do you not recommend getting out there right away at first light then? Waste of time? We'll be fishing a portable and would assume some moving around thru out the day. Shallow early and late, deeper at midday.

We'll have a 45 min drive from Wahp.

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Morning is good too. You need to be there at first light though, and it is about an hour from Wahp, so I don't know if it is worth it if you will be out there the whole day anyway. The eyes will be deep early and late too. Haven't caught any along the weedline all winter, just runt pike and perch.

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Snow is not really an issue. You can drive practically anywhere except for that ridge I mentioned. I've talked to people who fish shallow and had success and my trusty weedline approach has been slow. Deep this time of year works, probably has all year. smile.gif

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Thanks guys. The weather is not sounding too good for the area today - tomorrow is it???

We'll just have to wait for another time to get out. Maybe March...Crappies should be snapping by then too hopefully.

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Well, how has the walleye bite been the last couple weeks? I plan on going up there this weekend to fish walleyes, any information would be great. Thanks

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bigfish,

Reports are mixed, but mainly a poor bite for walleyes.

Hey jerk'n, did you make it out? I didn't fish.

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I'm going to try and get down there this weekend. The weather halted my plans last Friday. How do things look down there? Did you get a lot of snow? Will driving on the ice be an issue? One good thing that came from that weather down there is that I spent both days fishing LOW and it was some of the best fishing this year. (not trying to rub it in). Any reports throughout the week would be appreciated.

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Driving on the lake doesn't appear to be a problem. Still vehicles everywhere on the west end. There are usually a few roads plowed as well. There is a radar run right off the access the 1st weekend in Feb. so I'm sure they will be clearing a lot of snow around the access soon.

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Yes we got out Sunday and Monday night. Interesting drive even w/four wheel drive. Had to keep the speed up on Sunday. My 2 year olds first trip out on the ice. I will e-mail you a picture you may like. (The girls always get the big ones!)(Kate has a pretty good story too.)

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jerkin'm,

I am coming up this friday and staying on the ice for the weekend. Just wondering what kind of depths you have been fishing for walleyes in? and if you know what depths the crappies have been bitting in? would like to setup close to both if possible. any info would help. Thanks

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Haven't fished crappies at all, and it sounds like it has been pretty dismal from the reports I have heard. Walleyes have been between the edge of the weeds for some, to the deep basin for others. Generally a tough bite as well. Chuck is really the walleye "expert" maybe you should ask him too. wink.gif

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Yeah right jerkn'm!! grin.gif

It's been tough fishing for me. I've been fishing in 20' and 26' and my spots have not been too great this year. I'm thinking of going deeper, but honestly I haven't fished around here in awhile. Been swamped with "home" work.

It seems weather really plays with the bite. This weekend's weather is favorable and you should have some luck IMO. I should wet a line this weekend. Good luck!

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Anybody fish clitherall lately? Got a cabin on that piece & finally can make it up for some fishing. Been fishing that lake for 20 years. Good times ahead for the next week.

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Just got in from W. Battle. I have spent the past week with the house out on the West side of the North point in the "hole" of 25 feet. We fished in 21 feet of water and had very few bites in 3 days of fishing. Not a fish was caught. A lot of weeds, but no fish. So today we moved the house to the break just east of the Access and set up. We jigged tonight from 5-8 and never caught a fish. The walleyes just don't seem to be biting in our usual spots. We were in 24 feet tonight, and again jigged up a lot of weeds.

I pulled the house and it is off to find crappies tomorrow. I am thinking of trying either Norway (which has been filled with houses) or One of the lakes off #3, maybe Anderson. It's time to start focusing on crappies since these darn walleyes just aren't cooperating with me. Anyone trying deeper water on W. Battle? My only hope there would be to move to 35-40 ft. Seems the guys I talked to just arent' finding fish where we normally do. I will keep you updated once we find something worth fishing!

The guys on Ottertail are either very tight lipped or they aren't finding much under 30ft of water. Just wanted to post a report, and see if anyone has any ideas for Battle! It should be a great place to catch eyes this time of year, but no luck for this fisherman....keep moving I guess!

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Sounds like everything is a go. Fishing WBL tomorrow. Any last minute reports out there? I would guess we're just going out of the access, straight out from the Shoreline. I'd like to get out from our cabin (South side) but we won't have the equipment for getting there if snow is too bad.

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Saturday's Fishing Report:

Got to the lake around 9:30. Fished out from the shoreline for an hour - nothing. So we moved around drilling holes all over. Found some 40' water and set our house up here - nothing. It was a nice day so I just drilled holes ranging from the 40' water to 10' (pretty good drop off). My brother and I just went hole to hole trying to find them. Finally the hole in 26' I nailed a couple 12" eye's. This was about 5:30. By 5:45 I had my first 30" walleye laying on the ice. She came across my vexi 13' down and nailed my jig. I assumed at first a Tulibee, then a northern after line started peeling off my reel. It was a pleasant surprise to see a head of a walleye come busting out of the slush filled hole. Shocked, I dropped to my knees and grabbed the only thing I could...the lower lip and pulled it out onto the ice. We took a few pictures and measured it...30" long and 16" girth. No scale but we're figuring 10 pounds. I decided to let it go thinking I'll just get a replica one day.

We couldn't find any crappies - just perch. I'm excited to see that those big fish exist in the lake. I've summer fished the lake all my life - never ice fished.

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We stopped at Ben's and picked up some Crappie Minnows. The jig I used was a Forage Minnow (red) from Northland tackle. it's the smallest one they have with the treble hook. I was using just the head of the minnow.

I didn't have to work the big one like I did the smaller ones. The smaller ones needed to be coaxed a little more...jigging a foot off the bottom to get them in, then slowly raising it away from them as they came off the bottom.

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Nice to see someone else throwing the big ones back down the hole. I was wondering if anyone throws them back anymore with some of the bait shop pictures up there. Those are the baby makers and need releasing. Congrats.

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Thank you

Yeah, it was a tough decision to make in those couple minutes that you have but I thought it'd be best. We took pictures and it's nice to have the graphite replica option. It's a little more to spend but I guess they are supposed to last a lot longer.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
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    • LakeofthewoodsMN
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    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
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