Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

New To Area!!


bassNspear

Recommended Posts

Hey All,

I just purchaced a new home in Chann by HWY5, and looking for great lakes to go to this winter. I know the summer is getting close to the end, but looking for spearing lakes in the Chann area, along with nice pan fish.

Anyhelp would be great. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bavaria and Piersons. Bavaria has really high catches of pike and Piersons you'll have to be careful on since it has tiger muskies. I know a guy that saw the same tiger musky every day he went for about two weeks. But we have faith in you more than anyone to not spear one of those.

Steiger has good size structure, but is C&R only so no spearing. Riley is another little lake with really high #s. There is one good point I've done well on tip ups for them.

Good luck. Maybe we can join up some time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the neighborhood now grin.gifMinnewashta especially the south bay. Need a snowmobile or ATV to get there most winters so not many bother. Very nice pike. Hard to beat Tonka once you get to know it. Give me shout when ice time is finally here and I can help you out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Bassnspear--heck we're probably neighbors--I live off of 5 in Chan. Lot of good lakes around here. Other than Minnetonka or Waconia, I think Riley may be a real sleeper. I've had some very decent action out there before--pike and panfish. You might want to look into Minnewashta--I've never fished it, but I've heard its jam packed full of pike and panfish.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Mark. Ill do that forsure.

Carp, i will be living on the north of five. By Prince's Land.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about these lakes?

Ann----Lucy----Lotus-----Riley-----Susan------Christmas----Rice Marsh------Mitchell Lake-----Silver Lake

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

What about these lakes?

Ann----Lucy----Lotus-----Riley-----Susan------Christmas----Rice Marsh------Mitchell Lake-----Silver Lake


Ann- This is a much overlooked Pike fishery. Not only are they numerous, but pretty decent year classes from snakes to bigger fish. It's got easy weedlines too.

Lucy- Haven't fished it =(

Lotus- Not much of a pike lake, decent walters though.

Riley- I agree with whats been said by others, it can be pretty decent for pike in shallow weeds, and a sleeper eye lake.

Susan- I spent one day out there, got skunked.

Christmas- IMO the most fun lake to spear on, many spearshacks are out there each year. You can see 20' down and some pike grow large from eating trout. But their numbers are low.

Rice Marsh/Silver- No experience

Mitchell- Haven't been out there this year since the winterkill- but I think it suffered a bit from what I've heard.

Others not listed worth mentioning are

Bavaria- good crappie lake and pikers.

Hydes - same as Bavaria

Parley - good panfish/pike.

Zumbra - great bass lake -- shhhh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So i take it that Christmas Lake is the clearest of them all. Are there others that are clear as well, or mostly dirty?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are there any restrictions on which lakes you can spear on in the metro area? (other than the catch and release lake mentioned)

Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

that was going to be my next question.

I sent a email to the DNR to check if there is anything new coming out, along with lakes that you can not spear on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Christmas is by far the clearest, The rest are about 10ft in the winter. For spearing pike you really are looking at Riley, Bavaria, Christmas,Minnewashta, Tonka and Ann. The rest of your list are no fish at all (Rice Marsh and Silver) or very small pike populations size and numbers. Waconia is also a possibility.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know how the winterkill affected the pike population in Mitchell Lake. It did have some big fat pike in there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ill check them both out this winter. I want to get the boat out this fall to check out the lakes on how clear they are before i cut holes through the ice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I second Little Long, hard to beat the clarity, some good size panfish if you can find them, and good numbers of pike, including a few monsters due to the amazing depth of the lake and trout to feed on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

if you dont mind a 3 hour drive go up to Woman Lake in Cass County one of teh clearest lakes in the state, and many many pike(lots of people spear in the winter here)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some years more than others. The last year with great ice, what five years ago, trucks were driving across the lake. That don't normally happen. Both Xmas and lil long are deep lakes that don't freeze all that well most years. The limited vehicle access will limit spearers/fishers.

Most the spearhouses will set up straight out from the landing early season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

do alot of people spear on this little long.


I went out there last spring before ice out and there wasn't much evidence of anybody icefishing out there. I would have to agree with others about the clarity of this lake though as I have a cheap-o underwater camera that if the water is even a little bit cloudy, I can't see a thing. I dropped the camera down last winter and could see for what looked like 100 yards. It was pretty cool also, I saw a dock under the water straight out from the launch in 15 ft of water and there was a toilet sitting upright on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote:

if you dont mind a 3 hour drive go up to Woman Lake in Cass County one of teh clearest lakes in the state, and many many pike(lots of people spear in the winter here)


Bass N Spear and Myself will be up spearing in the Cass Lake area some time after x-mas. We will have to go an check that lake out. Thanks for the Info 12345

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got a good spot for us to try on Minnetonka. I've cleaned up out there on tip ups. It's a great spot for a hooky day or when you take 1/2 day off. Not a far walk or anything. Can't spear it (Minnetonka's banned), but can do well on tip ups or could sight fish them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dude, this time of year, in the boat business, i can take any day off i want.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

100 yards out from the access on Xmas, where everybody else sets up there spear houses. There is portable drag marks out to the area already. The ice ain't safe if you go out to deep, so take it slow and check the ice!

Good Luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • 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
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • 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
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.