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The Change of Season...


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...only in MN! I was in the Brainerd area fishing Gull Friday late afternoon through this morning and I think we saw everything but a snow flake but I just wonder if someone didn't. confused.gif

The conditions on the lake were tough Friday and I couldn't necessarily fish where I wanted to but we made due and things really came together for us near dusk. Saturday was a near-perfect fall day on the water but the fish were difficult to locate but when you did locate a school, get the net ready. And this morning, well, just as bad as Friday afternoon other than maybe the wind was a little less but the rain was coming down harder. Again, only in MN right?

Presentation didn't vary much from my trip in September but location certainly did. We caught all our fish, with the biggest going 18", riggin' and jiggin' in 21 - 27' of water off the cover on hard bottom areas. We fished, in total, 17 spots and only 1 produced in ~100' section. Not sure what this means but perhaps a good discussion will come of it. The schools of fish were so tight and easily spooked which really made for some interesting challenges; but when you located a school, be prepared for chaos. An example of this was yesterday during my guide trip. We had fished for ~3 hours at 7 different spots and had not caught a fish or had a bite. We moved to the general area that produced on Friday evening and in less than 30 minutes we had 8 fish in the 'well with equally as many released. While the quantity remained good, the quality was definitely down from the September trip. This was a bit disappointing but the action made up for it.

I forgot my camera up there, so no photos yet, but I'll get some up once I get the camera back. It's coming over-night tomorrow. crazy.gif

It's time for Mille Lacs. Tuesday through Friday it is. grin.gif

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Great report Jamison, There were some pretty decent reports over the weekend. The weather was up and down but Saturday was about as good as it gets. That bite you are experiencing at dusk is pretty common later in the fall. It is similar to what we find during the winter. The fish are tightly schooled and feed in shorter preiods of time. Good luck over on Mille Lacs. I'm switching gears, heading to the dakotas for a couple of days chasing roosters.

Jason Erlandson

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Hopefully it's more shooting and less chasing. You shouldn't have any trouble over there.

I'm stoked for Mille Lacs. Tomorrow afternoon can't come soon enough. smirk.gif

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These 12 - 14"ers provide a lot of action

gull002va0.jpg

And these 16 - 18" fish make for a nice meal

gull001hz1.jpg

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Jamison - Do you have a dark Ranger by chance? I think I may have seen you and the family off of Sandy Beach on Gull. I was in a Blue and white Charger with my wife. I agree, Saturday couldn't have been any better of a day for fishing.

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  • 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.
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    • 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
      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
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