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Medicine lake


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Ya, quite a bit of open water. I would guess that the bays will be ok by next week but if we get all the snow they are saying we will I wouldn't count on it. Honostly, Im hoping it stays open till the snow is done, we will get much better ice without the snow on it and it will form faster.

STAY SAFE!!!

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Well the wind is 0 tonight so things will freeze up but the snow on Saturday will screw things up anyhow till the slush freezes.

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Saw a portable on the west side yesterday. No idea of ice thickness, but a lot of areas with visible slush. I'll wait a bit!

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There is a full size permanent house out on the North end by the park. I must be from a local house in the area cause I didn't see any sign of one being pushed out.

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Is Medicine Lake a good fishing lake? I live like two minutes away. The few times I went out there last year, all I caught were small crappies and sunnies. Is there any waldos in there????

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I have ice fished Medicine for years and found it to be a good pike and bluegill lake. If you are looking for walleye..there are a few in the lake but there are much better lakes in the area for walleyes.

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Quote:

I have ice fished Medicine for years and found it to be a good pike and bluegill lake. If you are looking for walleye..there are a few in the lake but there are much better lakes in the area for walleyes.


I appreciate the post Yammer. What you said is what I have heard in the past. What about the crappies??? I hear you can get on some in the 40' holes out there...but what sort of size???

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The deep holes will produce crappie and there are some very nice size 10-14" white crappie. I find the black crappies are for the most part in the 8" class but I have got into 10-12" fish as well.

I like fishing the claw area of the lake in the deeper holes for crappie and around the land structure 8-12 feet for perch (there are some nice jumbo's in this lake for some reason, I got a couple 12-13ers that I thought at first were small walleye) sunfish, walleye and pike. The walleye I have caught have all been 16 inches or smaller. There are some monster pike in Medicine lake. I have got a few 30-35 inch pike that I would guess in the 10-12lb range on jigging spoons. Talk about a blast. Having a willow stick for an rod, mini reel with 4lb test mono and pike that size under an ice hole.

Medicine is a fun very fishable ice lake. I usually only fish it later in the year when you can get to the spots via sled or vehicle. Early and mid-ice I have other haunts that demand my attention.

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Headed out to medicine on the north side, plenty of good, solid ice. I'd say there was a solid 6-8' of clear ice with very little slush. Caught a ton of little crappies and one pike that was about 5-6 lbs on a waxie and 3 lb test. Man, do I love my symetre 750! That bugger had the drag ziiiiiiiiinging! I don't think I'd recommend this, but one guy did have a perminent out in the northern arm.

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I was just out there testing the ice. I was on the north end and found 3-8 inches of ice. It was highly variable depending on where you were at. I was able to walk out across the bay, but I had a couple spots that were a single chop through with the chisel. I had to detour a couple of times. There were a couple guys in houses up in the far north end of the bay, as well as some snowmobile tracks. But, whoever was on the sled is crazy, I saw a spot where the track broke through the ice (NO BUENO!!!) I think that by the middle of next week it should be ok but with how crazy the differences in the thickness of ice was, I would suggest that people stay off.

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From the looks of it, Medicine still produces fish just as it did 25-30 years ago.The first time I ice fished there was in 1977.I was on a deep flat in 32 ft. of water,straight out from the Mission Farms.I caught 11 inch perch all day, that particular day.Mind you, this was before the days of the Vexilar/Marcum flashers, handheld GPS, Aqua Vu cameras, and portable houses.In 1980-81, a guy speared a 23 lb. northern pike in the NW bay.The point of all this is not to bore anyone with my trip down nostalgia lane, but to say that this lake is a very consistent fish producer, and has been for many years.When the milfoil came in 1986,it changed things a bit, but it must have been for the better,because it sounds like it still produces good fishing.It has been a long time since I have fished there,but the memories from fishing there as a teenage angler are all good.

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Can you folks tell me,is there still the proverbial pressure ridge/heave problem through the center of the lake, running north to south, as there always used to be?It seemed it was inevitable that every winter a heave would develop over the deeper flats (35+ feet),and sure enough somebody would dump a car, or two in.Just curious how it has been the past few winters.

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That guy in the sled messed around in the bay for a bit then pinned it across the middle of the lake. What a weirdo.

Where can a guy get a scoop of fatheads in the cities? Hardy's is not open yet and I have not a clue where to go. Any ideas?

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I went there yesterday evening around 2-7pm. Found alot of 4-6inch ice but I found a part (I was standing on) that is only 1-2 inches the most and it scared the heck out of me. Yes, there was a snowmobile driving around us, man that guy is crazy went pretty far too. Guys be carful as the ice is not that safe yet, be very caution. I got skunk yesterday, alot of lookers but no takers. I will be back out there sometime next week to give it another try.

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Were you in the eskimo or the guide or neither? Just curious. I found about 6 inches of good ice but I was rather close to shore. Pretty consistent in the places I drilled.

Any ideas on how one would obtain a scoop of fatheads and more importantly....where?

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Were any of you guys out from the west, park area? Just wondering how the ice is on that side. I should be out there this afternoon/evening. If you see a blue Shappell DX3000, feel free to say hi.

BTW - For bait, I'll hit Harty's on the east side of Medicine, or there's Johnson's bait off of Bass Lake Road a little north of there.

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I headed out there tonight to see if anything was biting. The bays by the west side park were kind of a zoo. I found the slushy spots have really froze up good.

I was wondering if anyone has been to Harty's and if he has bait yet. Its a lot shorter of a drive than out to Vados especailly when im working 2 miles from the lake.

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Take 169 north, left on bass lake rd. just past the golf course on the right is a bait shop. I think i'll be out today with the wife and kid.

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There is a bait shop off of Penn and 394 in the Brwn-Mar area go North on Penn about 2 blocks on the right hand side. Have a very good selection of all baits, been going there for years. During the the summer they were open until 10, during the winter probably 9pm. There is also the Shell station on 36th and 169 there bait selection is okay when the stay on top of it. Also the Holiday right by the lake on 55 has a small selection of bait, have minnows in the bag. Last one bait shop out on 394 and carlson parkway, does trade ins with your auger blades, hope all this helps?

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I have found that Wayzata Baitshop west on 394 just past 494 is the closest. All highway and takes about 15 minutes to go get minnows and get back. Harty's can be annoying because they are only open when they want to be. Had a bad experience there this summer.

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10-11" perch? I've never seen a polly out there bigger than my index finger! Musta been a thing of the past!

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Fishuhalik,

I've caught plenty of nice Perch out on Medicine. You won't necessarily catch Jumbo's out there. But catching 8-10" Perch isn't hard if you know where to look.

Here are a few picks of some of the Perch I've caught out there:

Perch1.jpg

Merch.jpg

Merch1.jpg

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How has the ice been out there? I was going to try to get out soon and was wondering if its good ice all over or just in select areas? Also anyone been catching much out there lately?

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The ice on the west side was at 8" on monday night, lots of guys out fishing! Everyone that we talked to said the bite was slow. Has anyone been out to the east side yet to check the ice??? Hopefully with this cold will be able to venture the lake this weekend!!! Good luck to all, hopefully I'll get out there this afternoon.

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Are they spreading out across the entire south bay or is everyone congregating right out in front of the park. I'm planning to make a trip out there tomorrow.

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