Lake Minnewaska Fishing Reports - Ice Conditions

[jigginjerk]

Hey Landdr, is the lake pretty much open to get around with a half ton pickup and a 8X16 castle? Also which landings are the ones to stay away from with a big house? Thinking of coming up for the weekend. I know the snow and wind can change that in hurry, but just wondering up to this point.

[jigginjerk]

Oh! has there been any reports from the Starbuck end on the break out from the marina?

[LandDr]

When I am there...it is open. When I am not there...I am fishing.

Weekdays usually 8am til dark. Weekends 7am til dark. If you need something earlier, call or email and I can accomodate. The bait shop is a hobby and not my living...just fun.

You can pretty much go anywhere...but my disclaimer is that it is a big lake and none of us know what is always going on everywhere on the lake...so still check things out, ask and be aware. Like they say...no ice is safe ice.

Just for example, an 8 by 24 +- ice castle just moved in not far from one of my houses. That thing is HUGE! There are big trucks pulling houses in many locations. I don't know of any access with any concerns at this time. Let me know where you are going on the lake and I can give you an access to consider and check out.

I have no reports for the Starbuck end. Maybe Mike from Cedar Inn can post some if he gets this thread. From what I have heard thou, all the fish swam down to the Glenwood end of the lake last week.

Wife gave me permission to go fishing...so I am heading out! She must have a boyfriend...I hope he has a nice boat.

Fish On!

[jigginjerk]

Will stop and see you on the way out. I know the lake pretty well, we had a cabin on the lake for 35years. Thanks for the help.

[terrible_fisherman]

Is the water still pretty clear out there? I was planning to spear this upcoming weekend around the shallow side of bottle bay or out near the bar. Curious if the water is as clear as it was over Xmas. Also, are people seeing any pike during the day cruising when they are fishing over there for pannies?? Thanks much.

[Mellonhead]

I've never speared before and I'm curious about if it's easy to tell the difference between a musky and a pike. I would expect when spearing you may have to be quick and I wonder if muskies get speared from time to time.

[LandDr]

I took a drive around on some of the roads this morning to check for drifting, etc. Roads are in great shape with very little drifting from what I seen. The wind is blowing but we did not get much snow at all...looks like it stayed south of us. 5F temp so not too bad of a day out except for a little windy.

Water is still clear...I don't think it has changed much.

Spearing has been pretty good in Bottle Bay area with several people coming in reporting good luck. A group from Padua got a 38, 36 and 28 over the last few days and seen soome bigger ones that hovered outside spearing range. I have been getting a pike in about every 10 to 15 minutes on the camera while panfishing...sometimes they take the shinner that I have down and sometimes they just play with it. Had a big pike yesterday that took the head of the shinner in twice and then spit it back out to later swim away. Fat and full. He was actually more interested in my camera since it looks like a sunfish. I would think one of those "quad" cameras with a nice big sunfish camera would be a great decoy for spearing!

Pike have spots and musky have strips...from what I have heard it is pretty easy to tell the difference.

Fish On!

[merkman]

I've never speared before and I'm curious about if it's easy to tell the difference between a musky and a pike. I would expect when spearing you may have to be quick and I wonder if muskies get speared from time to time.

Take the time to cut a hole do some sight fishing and see for yourself.

Muskies have dark markings (normally stipes) on a light background.

Pike have light dots on a dark background.

It is easy to tell the difference, but check for yourself then you will know.

[WallyGader]

Heading up tommorrow to chase some eyes and gills if I can talk the guys out of mille lacs. Not sure yet when were leaving exactly but we will be stopping by your store landdr, maybe we will see you there.

[terrible_fisherman]

Thanks for the report. I am sure you will see me stopping by for bait at some point over the weekend.

[tsande00]

I'm probably going to head up tomorrow. I have an event during the day to attend to but am going to try fishing the late afternoon/evening hours.

Any general spots that are good to try for a guy who'd never fished this side of the lake? Looking at a map it seems like the NE corner of the lake just S of town between the 24' hole and the shoreline may have a decent slope...anybody try fishing there?

I'll probably swing in and pick up some bait from Landdr, say Hi and hit the lake.

Are people driving big trucks out yet? I'll be in a 3/4 ton Suburban. Don't want to be the biggest guy on the lake :-)

[LandDr]

tsande00...welcome to Waska if you do happen to get here! That is an interesting hole and is fished a lot during the summer...but rarely see a house out there in the winter. So you would have all the fish there to yourself! I started one house out along the south edge of that area in about 15 ft. trying for crappies during the day and walleyes in the evening. Did not see a sunny or crappie and had only one bite during the evening...so I moved. I was thinking the same thing you are and based on the fish we catch there during the summer, I thought it would be good enough to check out. Ya never know, you could hit a spot...but I don't think I would go there.

We have been seeing more crappies on the camera across Crappie Town and I would say that you could get your limit of nice 11 to 12 inchers if you hung out there all day with a couple of crappie minnows down. I would rate it as a crappie every 15 minutes or so on the camera that would make its way by. Nice thing is they were pretty aggressive when they did come by.

A LOT OF PIKE! About every 5 to 10 minutes there was another pike on the camera...even had two on the camera once. They are also pretty aggressive as long as you have an active shinner or chub down. They would have nothing to do with a less active shinner. They seemed to be fat and happy but would take another bite if it was active bait. Great fish for pickling or fish cakes. It would be nice to get some of these mid sized pike out so they leave the sunfish alone.

The occassional walleye happens by during the day as well. Always good to keep a shinner down just in case. Still have reports of 2 to 4 walleyes each evening out from the Beach, Lakeside, Crappie Town, out from Bottle Bay but the best reports are still coming in from around School Point and School Bar. We have only been able to pick up a couple here and there but one nice 20 incher the other night and a 17 a little earlier in the evening. Not a lot of walleyes but when you catch fish like that you only need a couple.

Spearing has been pretty good. Seems everyone is getting a few nice fish and most are "seeing" some even bigger fish. Water clarity appears to be good and they are having some success.

Panfish...as reported earlier, move around until you find them and once you get into them you can pick through until you have some really nice sunfish with a few crappie bonuses. Bottle Bay and out from there seems to be the best to start with. A lot of pike in that area as well so they keep the panfish moving around. Most are using the red or white larva...I was using the red but I have switched to the white as it seems to really glow on the camera and the fish have been responding well to it. Personal preference I guess.

All accesses are in great shape as noted before. Lake is solid...I have not seen any slush spots when I have been out there but you can see tracks from a week or so ago where there was slush. It "looks" bad but it is all frozen up now. It can be rough in some spots when you get off the roads due to the thawing and freezing again and tire tracks. Many vehicles on the lake including 1/2 tons and even a few bigger ones...several suburbans so you won't be the "big guy" on the lake. Most are 1/2 ton or smaller though. We have been seeing ice thickness from 14 inches to 17 now and it is very good hard ice. I have had several people comment on how hard the ice is compared to lakes around where they came from...takes longer to drill a hole. My new ELL 8 sure slides through it nice though...what a smooth quite auger!

Fish On!

[tsande00]

Thanks for the great info Landdr! I'll be stopping by around 3:00-4:00 today...assuming I can find a ride home for my wife from another family member.

[KNIGHT]

Landdr,

I will be heading up this afternoon. Have you heard any reports on other lakes in the area? Anything on the Starbuck end?

Thanks

[LandDr]

The report I heard was all the fish swam to the Glenwood end last week. Other than that I have not heard anything...maybe Mike from Cedar Inn can post something??

Pretty consistently the report for sunfish is 16 to 18 feet out from the houses in Bottle Bay. If you find the fish, it is 30 minutes to an hour and you have your limit of nice sunnies. The theory is these fish are out deeper feeding on zooplankton. Not the usual place to fish sunfish on Waska but I guess ya gotta go where the fish are.

Fish On!

[terrible_fisherman]

Thanks for all the info Landdr. I will be out tomorrow and will hopefully be taking out some of those hammer handle pike for pickling.

[black dog]

planning on headin up tommorro. are there any one ton dulleys on the ice yet? Im pullin a 14 ft ice castle. i heard the ice was really good with no water commin up the holes

[LandDr]

You don't have anything smaller that you can pull that up with?

There are 14 to 17 inches of ice depending on where you are at and the water has not been coming up any holes that I have drilled...but that has a lot to do with weight on the ice rather than ice thickness. I have personally not seen any 1 ton trucks out on the ice...not that there has not been. But I would say that you are traveling at your own risk. I don't think anyone can give you advice...it has to be your call. If you do, maybe pull it out on your own and go back for others after you unhook. Not to scare you, but hindsight is 20/20 and always be on the safe side. I would rather see everyone have a safe and fun time on Waska rather than a tragedy.

There are a couple of 24 ft. ice castles on the lake but I don't think they pulled them with one tons.

Fish On!

[black dog]

yea i will probly pull it up there with her yukon, i just like drivin the truck so i can put the generator, auger, gas and batteries in the box. just wandering if anyone else was out with that big of a truck

[spearman]

What's the difference an extra 10 ft of house or a bigger pickup not to much of a weight diff is there.

[LandDr]

Much better choice...there are several suburban type vehicles out there.

Put some plastic down in the back and throw it all in...she will be fine.

See ya on the lake!

Fish On!

[black dog]

yea but once u find out there is a difference its too late

[firefish_12]

Landr--what time are yuo in the bait shop on sun--would like to stop and say hi

we'll see yah on sunday

[LandDr]

Exactly!

I think the truck is going to leave a heavier foot print than the house but that depends on several variables as well of course. That one ton has to be a much larger foot print though...just my guess.

I may work Sunday morning and then spend the rest of Sunday with the family...Becky will be in after that. Hopefully the family will want to go fishing () but a movie would be ok as well. Sunday thru most of the next week is going to be great weather! Stop in if you get a chance.

Fish On!

[fishduck]

Anyone having luck on Le Homme Dieu?

[josh_c]

coming on sunday with my daughter looking for some panfish

any hints on depth would be appreciated

also wondering on bait are the sunnies hitting minnows, waxies, or fake bait

thanks for any tips

[LandDr]

Bottle Bay is a popular location and get out to 16 to 18 fow. It is a big area out there so plenty of room to move around. Larva or waxies. There are some crappies in the area as well so a tip up or rattle is good to have for some extra excitement...pike are VERY active.

Reports yesterday from people that came back in said there where fish all over the cameras or flashers but had to work them to get them to bite. Between 30 fish caught they would keep around 10 that were really nice sized.

I think as the fish eat the zooplankton down, the bite will get even better and the fish will probably keep moving towards the weed lines. Putting the camera down I can still see a lot of waterfleas bouncing around so there is a lot of food out there for them.

Few walleyes yesterday and last night. I am still waiting to hear how the over-nighters did.

Fish On!

[BEEFEATER]

Nice report, thinkin bout comming up for some eyes. maybe hit a few smaller lakes further north aswell. Id be happy with a few smaller eyes for eating.

[LandDr]

I would say the average size has been 15 to 16.5 with some smaller and some bigger. Best bites have been School Point and School Bars and some action at the end of Crappie Town as well. I think a person could just head out past all the panfishing and jig around and pick some eyes up as well. It is not a fast bite but some fish are being caught.

Fish On!

[fishinbum]

I would have to agree with Landdr's post. We had our camera down yesterday in Bottle Bay and there were a lot of nice sized sunnies and crappies but very tough bite. Lots of pike roaming as well. I think the cold snap may have turned them off for a short time but with this weeks warmup, that should turn things around.

Good luck.