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Lake Minnewaska Fishing Reports - Ice Conditions


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Landrr.....you can almost count on me stopping in to fish some of those spots for ya!! Was planning on possibly making a trip up there on saturday to catch some crappies or eyes! Spend alot of time up there in the summer as we have a cabin on linka! anyways......i might be stoppin by to say "HI"!

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Went out in front of the starbuck beach again last night and caught some dandy crappies around sunset. Been having good luck there.

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Landdr - the crew from Delano should be up there any minute now. I'm stuck here at work and will be joining them late this evening. Point them in the right direction and don't take any guff from them!

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Thanks for the warning! smile

I'm stuck here working as well. Friend of mine just brought in a pail of sunnies, one bass and two walleyes from this mornings catch. That seems to be a little rubbing it in my face! smile

Oh well...Fish On!

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Dubleaa

Well...they are heading out to Bottle Bay. Probably a fitting location since their next stop is the liqour store!

They said you were a [improper word usage]. And these guys are your friends? smile

Fish On!

ps. They said you should bring more beer.

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Sure, I go through all the trouble of researching a good destination, establishing contact with a knowledgeable source in the area...everything short of driving out there, dropping the house, drilling holes and catching the fish for them! And that's the treatment I receive crazy

They are going to be mighty thirsty tonight without any beer.

Thanks for the help!

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I know...I know.

They probably expect you to clean the fish too.

It will be pretty funny seeing them try to skewer those little shrimp for the grill though! They do know that those shrimp are for fishing and not for eating don't they?

Maybe shrimp poppers at midnight!

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If you are coming out this way this weekend...

The best crappie and sunny bite seems to be out in Bottle Bay at this time. I think there are three different accesses of State Hwy 29 that are in good shape and roads go out to the different spots. Try for 13.5 to 14 feet. Everyone in so far has reported nice sunnies and crappies.

Reno is still very good for sunnies and especially crappies. I have not heard recently on the ice conditions and how it is to get around on Reno.

No bad weather to speak of in the forcast. The forcast for today's high just keeps going up. Earlier this week it was forcasted as a high of 8 and now it is up to 16 with mild breeze out of the south. Tomorrow is a high of 20 with a mild breeze out of the west. Nice weekend!

Fish On!

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Fished the Glenwood end between the DNR and the Creek. Didn't find much structure. Tried 3 location 13-15'. Didn't catch anything. Was marking fish, but no biters except perch.

I may try the Big O for Gills tomorrow.

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Thanks for trying that spot Mellonhead. LAst year when we tried that "trough", it was like an aquarium of sunfish and crappies down there. I might still check it out today for myself.

Crappie Town was slooooooooow yesterday. There are not even half the houses out there than usual but just slow.

I have had several reports of good sunfish and some crappies out in Bottle Bay...that is a big area so planty of room. I checked the Sherif's Landing access this morning and it is in really good shape and is a FREE access. You can take that out to Bottle Bay, Foster's Point and School Bar. There is a really good sunfish bite out around School Bar in 14 ft.

Also had some in that just went out on their own away from everyone else and set up in 13 to 14 feet and had all of the nice sunfish they wanted...and a few crappies. That might be a plan as well...just find a nice spot away from everyone in those depths...fish are usually there. I am going to try that as well.

Reno crappie bite is still strong. I encourage everyone to through the crappies under 10 inches back. Sort through them...you will get your bigger ones. That will help make sure there are fish there for the future. Not a bad idea to through the really big ones back as well as the breeders.

Already 15 degrees! Gonna be a nice day! Should be a real stress-free day as well since we don't have to watch the Vikings.

Fish On!

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I doubt that I found the trough. My guess I too far west at first, then to far east and probably too far south. Its not that you can't get around, but with out knowing where you are going off the beaten path, It can be tough going.

The landing to School Pt by the A Frame has No Trespassing Signs. That stopped me.

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It has had no trespassing signs since I was a kid in HS here. It is known as Sherif's Landing from the old days and to my knowledge the signs are for summer to keep the access closed for anyone that thinks they are going to try to put a boat in there. For winter, it has always been used by the public without any issue...that's over 25 years of experience.

I will check the court house this week to see if I can find out if there is an owner ship to it or if it is considered in the Ordinary High Water mark/navigatable waters.

Good luck today!

Fish On!

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Landdr.... Talked to ya on friday (red sweatshirt white hat) and hit the spot we had talked about. We ended up with 5 eyes and a crappie on friday ( 2-14's,16,19, & 20 with the crappie runnin' just over 11). Just one eye on sat about 17".

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Nice catch!

This week is COLD...but this weekend is looking really nice! Probably one of the nicest weekends we have had...I hope the weather report holds out!

Thanks for the report!

Fish On!

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The school point access is privately owned by the gentleman with the A-frame right across from it. Landrr is correct. The trepassing signs are meant for the summer. Winter access is ok. The guy that owns it is a class act.

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I can't wait for the weekend as well!! Minus 26.1 at my office window right now! Burrrrr! Weekend forcast still looks great...almost a 60 degree turn around...only in Minnesota you get that kind of fun.

Last night was much better on the walleyes...kept a 15 and 20. I don't like to keep anything over 18...but I am hungry! The bite was not as furious as last night but I actually got the fish up the hole this time. (bird in hand versus 5 in the bush) I only missed one this time so not too bad. Going out again tonight. 18 ft. of water on shiners. Suckers work too. Pretty much any of the edges on Waska I think will produce this.

I am heading out again tonight...just too much fun!

Had a few people out in Bottle Bay yesterday and they called back to tell me they could not keep the sunnies off the hook. They said "really nice size picking through them". I would expect that it will be great on the ice this weekend with the temps getting to 20s and almost 30s.

Fish On!

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Landdr, I'm thinking of coming up this weekend. Any info on where to start. Will be looking for pannies in the afternoon then shifting to walleye towards evening.

Just looking for general areas to try.

gbchamp1@livedotcom

Thanks, ole

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I would start in Bottle Bay in 14 to 16 ft. of water for the panfish...maybe just out from everyone else. Then move out to one of the edges around 3pm to set up for walleys. If you have the 1 ft. contour map, there are several edges and bars just out from Bottle Bay.

A local tells me that he always hammers the crappies in Crappie Town starting the last half of January every year. I gotta see it to believe it as Crappie town has been really slow for the past couple weeks and crappies really never have gotten going. I need to get out to my house in Crappie Town and check that out too...but hard to do that when we are catching nice eyes out from Bottle Bay. Just not enough time in a day.

Fish On!...and on...and on...and on!

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I don't have mine next to me but I believe it is on my Hotmaps chip which is in my handheld H2O.

There are hardcopy maps that you can get as well but of course that will not tell you where you are at on the lake.

The other option is to look at the houses that are already on the lake...the ones out from Bottle Bay are already set up on the contour. I have a 5 ft. contour map (free) at Fish On that will help you with what direction those contrours run as well.

However, there are many many 18 ft. contours on Waska that have no houses on them at this time...it is a big lake. The houses out from Lakeside are on the 16 to 18 ft. contour running north and south. The houses west of Priest Point are running east and west on the 16 to 18 ft. contour. Some examples.

Fish On!

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Had a few people out in Bottle Bay yesterday and they called back to tell me they could not keep the sunnies off the hook. They said "really nice size picking through them". !

Landdr, I realize not every house out there is out there doing this, but it's the message that comes through most days here. I wish the Selective Harvest message that's sometimes mentioned with walleyes, but not often practiced, would be considered for the crappies and sunfish. "Picking through them" and keeping only the largest ones probably isn't a good deal, esp. the crappies. Selective Harvest protects the largest fish of a given fishery. Read elsewhere throughout the state, esp here in the metro regarding this, and you'll start to realize how panfish fisheries can be fished down. I caught more "darn" big sunnies (instead of walleyes) this summer fishing walleyes than ever, and would hate to see them fished back down.

Reports of good fish bites today ought (IMO) to be given with a reminder of Selective Harvest, esp. one from someone who might be profitting from them. We need to remember the future too. I may be preaching to the choir, but Selective Harvest doesn't get mentioned round here much. More "it's a big lake" and "7 miles of unfished cabbage beds on the southside" and the message that waska is an under-utilized fishery. It could stand more boats and houses maybe, as long as we protect the limited resource we have. I'd really like waska to stick out for it's quality fish, that it has now, and for that fact to remain true into the future. I appreciate your hard work, wisdom, insights, ect, and think you could reach / teach alot of fisherman about SH and have a great bait shop at the same time.

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I read an article somewhere once that said it takes a sunfish an average of six to eight years to reach adult 8 to 9 inch size and if there arent enough adult size fish in the system the younger ones will stop growing to the bigger size thus the whole "stunted fish" syndrome.

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goose89

I understand your point and I certainly am behind these goals...whether is be fishing or deer hunting.

I had a fella stop in a week or so ago with a pail of sunnies from Reno that he wanted to show me. In the pail was one that must have been 10 inches or more...it was big. I mentioned to him that it would have been nice to throw that one back and just keep the other regular sizes. Really don't need that big one anyway. I could tell he already felt he should have thrown it back and my talking to him confirmed it.

It is not much different than passing on the small bucks and trying to manage for the 10 pt. plus bucks. If you want meat...shoot a doe (if your area allows for you to have a tag that is...different discussion). Leave the small bucks to become the potential trophies.

Similar analogy with fish...let the small walleyes, sunnies and crappies become the slot sizes to eat and release the larger ones for the breeding or even to become a trophy.

People are starting to understand this with deer management, but we have a long ways to go with the fish.

I will see if I have a little room on my fishing map that I give people to add a little info on SH.

Fish On!

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Thanks Landrr. I've witnessed alot of benefit from the voluntary walleye slot. Just don't want to forget the panfish / crappies. Yes, they have the potential to rebound a bit quicker, but why let it get to a point where it has to rebound. (stepping of my tiny podium). Thanks for your cooperation and input. Good luck.

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Sad to say I think SH is really hard for the majority of people to practice. Especially when it comes to sunfish and crappies. It seems that too many anglers have the mentality of bigger is better for keeping sunfish. A 7.5 inch bluegill is perfect for eating. If only anglers would throw those 9 inchers back. Just think how fun it would be if you had a good chance of hooking into a 10-11 incher out there. It just won't happen very often if everyone is keeping those bigger sunfish. I think the same goes for any lake in the state. I am surprised at how Minnewaska has kept up with the amount of pressure it receives from the masses that hit the lake each winter chasing those nice bluegills. It sure is a great multi species lake. I wish we had a lake like that up here.

Jason Erlandson

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Fish On is just south of the stop lights on the east side.

Jason...I am also amazed how well this lake maintains itself. With the conservation efforts that I have mentioned in posts earlier, it seems to be one of the lakes that is actually getting better. I wish we had more lakes like this across the state. With having a degree in Aquatics as well as my professional experience, I personally think we can get more lakes up to this standard...but it will take a big effort in how people view land uses within the watershed of the lake. Just like "you are what you eat"...a lake is a byproduct of its watershed. It is pretty depressing how most watersheds are being managed and taken care of. It is more or an "out of side out of mind" mentality.

It is a HUGE challenge to get people to throw the BIG sunnies and crappies back. HUGE! But, instead of throwing up my hands and giving up...I'll raise a hand to volunteer to start. If everyone that reads these posts can do the same and maybe recruit another two or three and have them pass on the objective...maybe we can get the message out.

A 10 or 11 inch sunny would be something to catch through the ice! It would be even more rewarding to watch it go back down the hole for someone else to have the same experience.

Fish On!

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Sad to say I think SH is really hard for the majority of people to practice. Especially when it comes to sunfish and crappies. It seems that too many anglers have the mentality of bigger is better for keeping sunfish.

Jason Erlandson

Thanks for chiming in Jason. I think your right. It is really hard to practive for the majority, but it was the same way with walleyes, northerns, and even muskies back in our parents/ grandparents/greatgrandparents day (very few people keep a large, or any size musky today, unlike in the past.

SH seems to be catching on with a few, and why not get at least those fisherman, who see and understand the pro's of SH, on board with applying it to panfish also?? Hopefully it will catch on with a few more as time goes by. Not everyone is gonna go for it, I realize that.

I'm fortunate to fish waska quite a bit, and am also surprised that the fishery is doing well, but it also has had alot of help from an active lake association (MLA) ,that's stocked walleyes and has gotten the word out & put up signs suggesting a 15" minimum walleye size to keep. It's not a true slot, that would promote real SH, but it's a start and seems to be helping. Suggestions / Word of Mouth, I believe, can be as effect as laws.

ps - Didn't mean for this to become a Selective Harvest thread, but do believe it relates, and is relavent to "Waska panfish?". Hope we have these panfish to report on in the future. Great read and others examples of other FMers SH practices on Crappies - Sunfish Forum.

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