Our Picks

Went and checked a small lake last night on my way home. They’ve been driving out there for a few days and wanted to see how much ice there was. Found 10” up to just under 12” with 1-2” being froze slush. There was SUVs, jeeps, 1/2 tons, 1/2 tons with wheel houses and a 3/4 ton, and 3/4 ton with wheel house. I would HIGHLY recommend not driving out. We all just need to be patient there’s a lot of area with way less ice. I think for most of us fisherman a little walk won’t hurt. Plus now with little to no snow and slush froze up walking is is a breeze. Used the clam drill plate rig and got 25 holes through 12” ice average and still had a full charge on my battery. Loving that setup with the 6” lazer bit and 5ah dewalt battery’s. 

Fun day and an unexpected find😉  
Buddy sent me a pic of them getting cooked already...lol, he didn't waste much time😊

Personal records are meant to be broken and last night it was smashed. Fished all over Becker and Ottertail Counties trying to find big panfish with Jesse Thalmann with Thalmann's Guide Service. At dark I had a huge mark come in and inhale my 4 mm Panfish Pirates Wonder Glow with a Bubble Gum Ripper plastic. It put one heck of a workout on my 32" Yogi Rods LLC Power Noodle. If your looking for a fun trip hit up Jesse and book a trip. If interested in plastics use CHILL5 for discount, get some before your buddy does.

Found some tasty perch today. Fun time. 

Hit an are lake today with Mr Eyeguy, surprised at how much ice and little snow was on the lake.  Had 10-12 inches of ice and minimal slush. Bite was pretty good just off structure (16-20ft of water). 4 and 5mm tungsten jigs tipped with impulse mayflies turned most of the fish. 

I was fishing up there and this is what I found. IMO conditions are pretty good up there better than I expected .  The ice thickness is 10-12 inches with some slush pockets mostly on the S SE shoreline. A few crazys with vehicles on there but I definitely would not advise that. There are quite a few wheel houses and people but this is the Norm for the lake in the winter. Good luck if you go!

Took the owners of Baby Beaver Baits and my boss Brian out fishing in the wind and  caught a few fish. All gills over 9 went back and all crappies over 12 were released. Best bait was 3 mm jig with a mayfly plastic. 

Well it was a great weekend. We went out with an outfitter on the far southwest side. Couldn't be happier with the fish house or service. My buddy and I had 4 kids with us. His 7 & 5 yr old daughters and my 5 yr old son and 6 yr old daughter.  Ice was a solid 16" and by Sunday it looked like pretty much everybody was being let on. With this cold weather i presume it will be open to everybody this next weekend.  Snow cover seemed minimal, so , but with the cold weather and little kids we didn't venture out too much. The fishing was supposedly pretty slow for everybody else. I guess we were the hot house. Ended up with 28 walleyes and 1 crappie. Went home with 20 walleyes. Crappie was 13", largest walleye was 23". Only caught 1 walleye that was too small to keep. Fish were VERY neutral. Couldn't get one to take a jigged presentation to save our lives. So dead stick it was. No real evening/morning rush. Just a slow trickle all day. Nights were good. Friday night we caught 10 and missed 5-6. Saturday night we caught 5 and missed 3. No particular lure was the "hot" line. Caught them on orange or yellow hooks. pink or green demons or  pink/green/blue cyclops. Basically we would see fish on the depth finders, but could never get them to commit, so we quit that technique.
Also, it was too murky for our cameras. We've had fun with them up there before, but couldn't see worth a darn this time. The kids had a blast and all of them were upset when it was time to go! 

The current warm temps are not helping travel conditions. Only got down to 22 last night. Someone stuck there truck on the plowed road last night but were able to get it out this morning. Hope there was no damage. My house is now sitting in 5" of water. This creates a problem when releasing fish. Twice now I have released a small walleye only to have them begin to swim in this 5" water. Fortunately I was able to get them back down the hole eventually. If they didn't go back down the hole are they considered in my possession? 

We had an incredible trip last year in the BWCA. Smallmouth action was the best I've seen it. The best that time of year were poppers, jerk baits, and wacky worms. Here's a video I put together of the trip!