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Gull Lake Reports!


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The ice conditions are improving by the day. We are now starting to venture out on some of the bigger lakes like Gull, Pelican, and North Long Lake. Some of the slushy pockets are starting to freeze up so travel is becoming a bit easier. Ice depths are ranging from 5-10 inches in most areas. I would still advise using caution out there since it is a little inconsistent yet. The fishing has been pretty good now that we are starting to reach some of the honey holes. On Gull the best bite has been on jigging spoons tipped with a minnow head in 16-24 feet of water. Most anglers have been fishing the north end of the lake but some nice fish have been caught on the south end as well. The crappies are biting well too on the smaller lakes like Upper Gull, Roy, Margaret, and the bays of Pelican. Crappie minnows on small glow jigs have worked for some nice slab crappies in the evenings. We haven’t heard a whole lot on the pike action but that should all change as more anglers start getting out on the lakes. Merry Christmas from everyone here at Dave’s Sportland Bait, and Nisswa Guide Service.

Jason Erlandson

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Fished the north end of Gull tonight. Two of us caught five between 4:30pm and 5pm, lost a few more. Then no bites til' 6:30, caught seven more til 9:30. We were in 15' fow on the weedline. Bobber lines with shiners and fatheads produced. Jigging the setlines with the Vex worked better than just letting it sit there.

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Nice report Traxx! Glad to see the minnows worked out for you guys. Sounds like the bite is going pretty decent out there.

Jason Erlandson

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Went out on Gull again last night. After hearing a few reports from some of guides I just had to get out there. They had been really pounding on some nice fish, but last night was a little slower. I managed a few perch one smaller walleye and a couple of 15 inchers. The fish seemed real finicky last night. I think it was just an off night. The bite has been great out there though. Limits have been fairly common in the morning or evening. The best bite has been along the weedlines or near the top edge of the dropoff. 13-16 feet seems to be the magic numbers this week. The ice conditions have improved dramatically. Most of the snow has dropped down so atv travel is pretty easy now. It should be a great weekend for puting out houses and doing a little fishing. 6-7 inches of ice was the norm out where I was. I would still check as you go. We just got in a new shipment of the Lindy Rattling Flyers. I've tried them out and they are deadly. Good luck this weekend!

Jason Erlandson

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Thanks for the report Jason... Glad you were able to get out...

I was also out yesterday from 3:30 until 5... Ran out of propane for my lantern so I had to quit early (no light)... Really dumb.. I did pick up 5 nice fish from 17" to 20". Also a number of smaller ones.. 16 ft of water on a weed line.. Monday evening I caught 4 with three of them being 19"... Really nice eating size fish.. Size seems to be better this year! Last year lots of small fish.. Pink jigging spoon is really working for me...

Hopefully this bite will continue for awhile...

Still need to be careful on the ice although it is improving.

Any reports on the ice conditions at the Government Landing near the dam? Is is safe to go out from there with an ATV? Thinking about pulling my house out soon...

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I walked out of Government Landing last weekend and there were plenty of wheelers running around by the landing. I walked out about a half mile towards Clumps Point. Surprised at the lack of snow but made pulling the house a lot easier. Lots of bare spots with only a couple inches in some areas. Ran into a little slushy area when walking back, but able to walk around. Saw two wheelers go south of me from the point towards the landing on Saturday along with some snowmobiles going around the area.

About 7" or so of ice where I set up. Caught them between 4:00 and 5:00, but could not pick up any nice ones. Saturday deadstick or jigging didn't matter, but on Sunday preferred jigging.

Does the north end look about the same as far as snow cover? Want to venture to some spots up there and have to pull the house and would like to not have to drag through the snow. Thanks in advance.

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I set up last night near one of the rental fish houses and I had about 2-4 inches of snow on top of about 7 inches of ice. I think most of the snow has absorbed the water and froze. So the top layer is now pretty solid. I have not been to the south end of the lake but I am guessing that it is not too far behind. But it is still ice, you just never can be positive. Keep up the good fishing!

Jason Erlandson

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I missed going out last night but did get out at prime time this evening.... Pretty slow... one small eye and one 17" decent fish.. Only saw one other on the graph that would not bite.. Light rain and freezing rain...the weather change may be the reason for the slow bite..

May try early tomorrow morning since I have not tried a morning yet...

The cold weather coming next week should really help the ice conditions.. I hope to get my fish house out sometime next week if the ice is ok...

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I made out on the south end yesterday morning. My first trip this winter to that end of the lake. It was more of an exploratory trip than anything. I tried three new spots and one really seemed to be a winner. I set up before sunrise on the edge of a rock point that has a history of producing some nice walleyes. Within ten minutes I had some activity on the Vexilar. I started my jigging sequence right above the nice red marks. Tap and miss, I quickly baited up again for another tap and miss. Third time's a charm, wouldn't you know it a nice crappie. Certainly not what I was expecting. I realized that all I had with me was my walleye gear so I continued to catch a couple of more dandy crappies with jigging spoons and minnow heads. By about 8:15 the crappies were all gone. I started hole hopping looking for more active fish. About 8:30 I ended up back in my original hole when moments later a nice red mark showed up. It didn't take long and the battle was on. After ripping my drag numerous times I got her started up the hole. It was a beautiful golden 25 inch walleye. I was thrilled, after admiring it for a few seconds she swam away to get a little bigger. I ended the day with a couple of nice perch. Although I was hoping for a little more walleye action I can't complain. I think that it'll be a tremendous evening spot for me. Staying close to the weed edges has been the key to success thus far this season. That could change as more traffic hits the lakes. I had between 5-7 inches of ice on the south end of the lake. Most of the snow has dropped down. At most about 4 inches of snow cover, travel is getting pretty easy out there. I would still use much caution if using an atv or snowmobile. Fishing has been pretty good all week but the last couple of days the bite has been a little spotty. Should be a great Christmas break. If you would like to get out there and give it a try give us a call. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Jason Erlandson

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The ice conditions are improving. Areas along the shorelines have about 7-10 inches but there are still some areas that are much less, just be careful out there. The bite has continued to be pretty good on Gull. Some days they want the jigs and some they want set lines and shiner minnows. All the accesses are good to go for sleds or atvs.

Jason Erlandson

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Anybody catching anything after 5pm? We have been out the last three nights, in two totally different spots, and havn't marked but one pout, between 5pm & 7pm.

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I have experienced the same thing.... Dead after 5 pm.. I may try a bit shalower after 5 pm... Currently fishing in 18 - 22 ft.. May go up to around 15 ft on the weedline after dark just to see if it helps.. Also jigging with a fat head head is working better than the dead stick with a shiner... at least 4 - 1.

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We've been up in 14 fow on the weedline. I think it has something to do with the increased traffic & moon phase. Tonight I had a kid, on a snowmobile, doing laps past the fishhouse at primetime. Didn't see any fish when that was going on. Caught a couple nice ones right at 5pm with a

spoon & minnowhead.

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Yea Traxxx, I know what you mean.

We had that a couple of nights ago. The bites was good the day before. I always have to remember what it was like to be a kid. I would have done the same if I had the chance. Somedays I wish I was 12 again!

We caught two little ones tonight. We are on the south side of the lake. The bite has been OK. We are in about 18' right off the weed line.

What part of the lake are you on Traxxx? I heard the north end near Cobins has been good.

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We are up on the north end by the resort. Just talked to a buddy whos out there right now. They are in 19' fow and still getting them. Quiet spot. wink.gifIce is 7" to 8"

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I had the same situation tonight between 3:30 pm and 5 pm... A kid on a snowmobile going back and forth. First evening so far where I did not catch at least one good size walleye..

Being quiet is really key.... Hopefully when school is back in session it will quiet down a bit..

Maybe early mornings will be better since the kiddies are not out on the lake....

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It has been crazy busy around the bait shop this weekend. It is the same out on Gull. Should quiet down out there this week. It'll be a little colder and school will start up soon. The reports were exceptional pretty much all over the last few days. Hopefully it keeps going.

Jason Erlandson

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They will go back soon and all will be quiet once again.

I have a 10 year old and he LOVES to ride that stupid snowmobile. I would sell them both in a heartbeat and get a four wheeler if he did not enjoy it so much. This would allow me to get a bigger fish house too.

I remember when I dad bought me a Scorpion Whip when I was a kid. I rode that thing all the time. He gave me 5 gallons of gas a week. I remember hooking the syphon hose to the car gas tank to add to my 5 gallons when the riding was good and the gas was short.

The days of being a kid! Young, in shape and no cares.....now I'm out of shape, have a sore back and have too much responsibility!

My kid has been one of those who drives around the lake in the past. If he has pissed anybody off, I apologize!

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Was out Sat. afternoon til 7 two of us missed 5 landed 3 I had a 21,and 14 brother had a nice one bump off at the hole. North end of the lake seemed pretty busy, had lots of snowmobiles running around but not to close to us. Stopped in at Sportland on the way to the lake, best bait shop around. Thanks for your advise.

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Gull has been good for me as well. c/r a 28,26,25,24,& 22 inch this past week. plus caught a 15.25 inch Crappie on a 3 inch shiner. That Crappie is goin on the wall...dang that thing was thick. Got all those wally's on set lines with shiners in 25'. Nobody else around me. Oh, got all fish well after dark. Good luck all and Happy New Year!!!!

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Yep they're all still swimmin'...the 28" had like warts on it in a few spots and I didn't know if I should of kept it or not but I still put it back. Any ideas on what these might be? Oh another ? 2 of these fish swallowed the bait all the way and were gut hooked so I just cut the line and let them go. I have heard that this is the best thing to do...I hope this is true. Do they really dissolve the hooks?

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Interesting.... I had a 23 inch fish last week with a big wart on its side... Looked like a Northern had hit it some time ago... Was pretty nasty looking. I also let it go..

Hooks should disolve and not hurt the fish... At least that's what I have been told in the past..

Hopefully this good bite will last for awhile.

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Hey, as long as we're discussing catch and release... say you pull up a good sized fish from around 30 ft. and it's air bladder(or guts or whattever it is) is up in it's mouth, what do you do? If released will it live?

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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.
      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
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