Forest Lake

[Fishhawk150]

I'm not looking for spots but has anyone been getting into any pike and skies on Forest? I'm going on Saturday for skies/pike and know that it's a good lake for both. The pike numbers are there and just wanted some info if anyone is seeing or catching any fish there. We are going to try to hit some skies but if we get into some pike then great. What's the news out there? We can find spots just looking for the latest report if any one is seeing fish or even sticking a few?

Thanks.

[fishermusk]

The water clarity is very poor now,and there is alot of floating weeds from the heavy boat traffic on the fourth. I was out last nite and had one 30" muskie fallow. I fish the lake a few times a week and I think that there are very few legal muskies left in the lake. Five years ago the lake was full of big muskies and now most of the fish I have raised and caught this year have been 32" and less. I have heard of and seen a few large muskies this year, a friend, in my boat got a 46.5 June 20 I know of a 51" that was caught was weeks ago so there are some large fish still in there, I just think there arn't near as many as there used to be. As for pike I have only caught a few. Anybody else who fishes Forest have any comments about this? Also with eurasion milfoil as a new weed in this lake I think this lake is going to pot.

Good luck,

Dave

[ole matty]

From what I think there r plenty of 30s muskie and few lower 40s and more upper 40s to 50s than lower 40s.. I lost mayb lower to mid 40s 5 feet from boat and caught my first muskie 32 inches.. try look out on any bar on lake 3 and 1 and weedline on 2, also try rock piles on 1 u may get or raise some muskie. As for northern I caught few of them along weedline in 15 fow have no much luck with northern shallower than 15 fow.. I think flake had eursion weed whatever that spelled for few years now.. Good luck..

[Fishhawk150]

Thanks for info. We are going out tomorrow at about 3:00 and will fish til dark. It's going to be hot and I hope to see a few fish.

I'll post and let you know how we did.

Thanks.

[Fishhawk150]

We got on the water about 4:00 and fished until about 9:00. Didn't even see a fish. It was hot and there were lots of boats but we fished from 3 fow to 23 fow and nothing.

It's the first time I've been skunked on Forest so next time should be better.

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

I was out on flake yesterday, nice day to be on the water that was for sure. As for fish, I got nothing. I tried the weed island on the south part of lake 2 with nothing. Then trolling over to lake three just east of the willow I had a hit but never got a hook in it. Then I went and did some casting around the north side of lake three along the weed and lilly pad areas.

Am I in the wrong area for bass or northerns? what is everyone using?

BTW i have seen pictures and heard of MONSTER crappies coming out of this lake. Any hot spots for those things? I am trying to get the girlfriend on some fish just for fun, not looking to keep any.

[ole matty]

i heard lake1 is better chance of catchin those slabs than lake 2 n 3.. i caught a few slabs last winter but havent fish for them during open water..

as for northern i had my luck in 15 ft water mayb few yards away from weeds on west side of lake 3... havent catch them shallower than 15

[elusivecrappiecatcher]

Quote:

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i heard lake1 is better chance of catchin those slabs than lake 2 n 3.. i caught a few slabs last winter but havent fish for them during open water..

as for northern i had my luck in 15 ft water mayb few yards away from weeds on west side of lake 3... havent catch them shallower than 15

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Thanks for the input OM.

[tunrevir]

Pike are active both shallow and deep right now. Was out today on the lake and picked up fish in 5' and on the deeper edges in 15-16'. The crappies are harder to come by right now but you can find some fish suspended out over the basin areas 3-7' ft off bottom with the transition from sand to muck being better. The slabs are out there and can be caught more often in the winter and early spring. Think 12-17' for most of the larger fish and fish with walleye type setups alongside a crappie rig. Most of the bigger slabs I have caught on walleye setups when fishing early evening or small raps and jig/minnow combos come spring. All three basins hold slabs but they are a one fish here and one there type of bite. If you catch one each time out you are doing well. The other thing is they shy away from the smaller fish and can be found off away from the schools of little fish so once you locate some smaller fish prospect the area and you might well be rewarded with a wallhanger.

Tunrevir~

[ole matty]

ah i forgot to mention i was using muskie size lure so that probably why i didnt catch any pike shallower than 15 ft? turnrevir did u throwin the bass size lures for those northern?

[tunrevir]

1/2 oz rattlerap, no. 7 shadraps, firetiger and shad seemed to work equally as well.

Tunrevir~

[waterhog]

is the walleye fishing decent this time of year??

[tunrevir]

It is slow but not unworthy of a try. Stick to the early morning and towards sunset. You will have a hard time with live bait rigs as the perch, rockbass and sunfish will drive you nuts. I like the deeper side of the weeds say 15' and deeper this time of year. You can get some reaction strikes along the weedlines with the afforementioned baits.

Tunrevir~

[Sandmannd]

Any size to the perch at all out there?

[tunrevir]

Nope, clouds of three to five inchers but they never get much bigger.

Tunrevir~

[so haaad]

Anyone been on FL this week?

Anyone else see the three horses swimming out in front of lakeside park/launch last week???

Tunrevir, you have any free time next week to hit the water(after work)?

[blarkey]

Was there Saturday morning caught a few pike nothing to brag about.

[tunrevir]

SoHaad, I was out there this past weekend and again the past couple days. The muskie bite has picked up with many follows and a few fish willing, the pike are there as well. The bass are also hitting with the better fish being taken on the deeper edges of the weeds. I will be in Algoma again this weekend but I would be open to an evening bite this next week. Mon&Tues are out but the rest of the week I could probably get out. Fly me an e-mail and I'll let you know what would work!

Tunrevir~

[so haaad]

Steph and I got out for about an hour and a half last night. Found some crappies and of course the sunfish were also biting, but nothing with any size. The storm finally chased us off. Tunrevir, I'll shoot you an email. Let's plan on hitting the water later on next week.

[tunrevir]

I'll plan on it my friend. There has been a bit of a bite over near where we were ice fishing this winter for ski's. A few wayward eyes towards dark and some nicer bass on the deeper breaks.

Tunrevir~

[ole matty]

so its kinda of good muskie bites in deeper water? shoot me a email if u dotn want to talk abt it on fm.com

thanks.

[Deitz Dittrich]

I've been prefishign for a bass tournament that I have on wed... the bass seem a bit(ok, not so much a bit.. a LOT) turned off.. the muskies however have been hungry!... Caught 2 yesterday, and the smaller one was 42"... both caught on a rapala flatside DT3 over coontail clumps. The bigger one was pushing 46" but was alone in the boat, nobody to snap a pict and I wanted to get both back in the water as soon as possible..Neither fish left the water.

[LwnmwnMan2]

Did anyone see the two muskies in the Forest Lake times this week???

One was a 14 year old, and the other was an older gentleman.

It said both were released. However, before I tell you what's wrong with the picture, I'd like to see if anyone else can tell me what's wrong with what I see???

[Luck e 1]

I swear the kid is holding the thing by the eyes. If it is the same pic that I remember seeing I even told my brother about it. We now have a huge blind muskie roaming around the lake.

If that was it do I win a prize?

[LwnmwnMan2]

Well, the one with the kid had about a 1/2 rope run through the gill and out the mouth.

The older gentleman had the fish on a stringer.

Either someone was hoping that the fish had been released, or the two didn't want fallout that the fish were kept.

If they weren't kept, I can't imagine that they were released immediately.

[drjoe]

I fished FL for 6 hours Sunday morning and got 1 bite, a15 inch Bass. I fished everything from 25' to 6" and hauled alot of water.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Dr. Dont feelbad.. that lake is just plain off right now!

[tunrevir]

The fish are there and willing but depending on your quarry you might want to go elsewhere just because of the boat traffic. Yes, it is a shame about the muskies that could have been. Every year the times has to publish photoes of people with muskies that could still be swimming, course I also realize that many of these fish are "trophy" status for those that caught them but I guess that happens on many lakes around here and up north as well. The water temps are quite warm right now so if you are after ski's and looking to CPR, keep them in the water as long as you can, go out with your camera ready to shoot on a moments notice and try to handle them as little as possible, get them back in as soon as possible. Sorry for the rant, good luck out there people!

Tunrevir~

[Luck e 1]

Speaking of the FL papers...did you guys see the local paper that ran the stories about the local people who were on/near the bridge when it collapsed? The one guy was taking his family to the twins game and was next in line to go over according to the article. He said he backed his car out of there in a hurry (I can imagine so). But the weird part was that he still went to the Twins game. That seems way off to me...something like that happens right in fron of you, and you find an alternate route to the game??? What if people needed help? He even said it felt weird sitting in the game. Ahhh...Yeah...

Am I looking to deep into this???

[clam up]

Boy I am really noticing the drop in water levels around. Seems like everytime I head out from the 3rd lake landing I tend to feel a "bump & grind" on the bottom that I had not experienced before. Let's go with some rain already.....