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Cattin' the Chain


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Well I know my fiance will be having her own GTG on that day...it'll be her bridal shower...so escaping to the ice will be my only sanctuary.

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How are the driving conditions out to the meth hole area? I would like to come up with my 8 yr old son and try for a few cats this weekend. I have never fished the horseshoe chain in the winter but I have been fishing it once a year in the spring for about 10 years or so. So I am familiar with the lake but not the ice.

Would it be possible to get to that area safely with a wheelhouse and 4 wheel drive truck? Or is there an area that is easier to get to? Is there a lot of permanent houses out there? How much snow is there?

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Ice is fine out to the Meth hole. There is good trail out there and yes you will be able to pull out a wheel house. Not alot of Perms out there but a couple portables.

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Does the DNR mark the actual thin ice spots by the "Meth Hole"? I've heard or read that it can go from 2' of ice to 2" of ice, in a couple of feet there.

Nels

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Gas bubbles up from the lake bottom, keeping one particular spot on Horseshoe from freezing solid in some years, and other years it barely freezes. It's northwest of the main community cat spot. During early ice out there you can see lots of bubbles under the ice. Most years it is not marked. This year it is not.

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I was out there all day saturday drove right to the meth hole looked like about 18 inches of ice where we where caught 4 small cats 1 crappie marked lots of fish. They didnt seem to want to bite thou.

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Was out from noon to seven last night. Had three in the house and only one of us was able to catch fish. It wasnt me. My one buddie got seven and missed a few others. I did get one small one. 1/8 buckshot with head of fathead was hot bait. Got a few bonus crappies and one small walleye. Marked lots of fish but not much action. Gona wait till wed to try again out there.

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It was tough this weekend for sure, didn't expect much different with the weather. Hmmmmm, seems high pressure doesn't affect the rock bass like it does those other fish. Did hook into one solid cat finally but a little user error assured a quick and premature release.

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How was the ice in the river where you guys filmed that show and where do you park to get to that spot. I grew up on the lake and I know that is not a very safe place to venture on the ice.

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If you are getting rock bass, you might try going deeper.

Got one in 32 fow the other day, deep as I care to go for cats.

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

binsfieldnick-The ice varies in the river alot as I'm sure you know. They usally park out in the bay down from Gilly Steils old house. I think you know the area because I think I know your dad and where you grew up.

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We parked right at the winter access off of 22 and took a sled from there.

Yes, the ice does vary in those sections, be careful.

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Anybody have any predictions on what this weekends nice weather might do for the fishing on Horseshoe? I haven't been out in a week or so, and it was pretty slow last time I was out. Hoping I'll be able to ice some cats.

Also, has the liver still been working pretty well out there?

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I was out both today and yesterday and they were very active yesterday most of the day and into the evening. Did well on bigger spoon and half of a sucker min. Today was pretty tough only got three fish all day and they all hit on the dead stick with a frostee spoon with a crappie minnow head. I am beting the weather will make the fish bite well on sat. I will be on the lake most of the day sat and sun. Might even try for some walleyes on sat in the evening.

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riverfishingmiss

wow from reading your posts i wish i was able to spend the amount of time you spend on the ice. I too believe the weather will be perfect for a hot cat bite on saturday. For that reason i delayed a trip to pokagama on saturday to chase cats. Two weeks ago when the weather warmed for a few days the bite was equal if not better than early ice. I am betting on a large number of cat fans to be on the ice saturday. Good luck and see ya on the ice

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riverfish - what depths where you running on wed when the fish were active? I didn't find one active fish from 6-8:30pm at least where I was. Maybe it was the time but it was slow going. I had fish moving through but no takers. Tried many lures and presentations and got one rockbass. Started at 30 and got the rockbass at 27. Searched 25-40.

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Well I was wrong about the warm weather helping the bite out today. I was out from 11am to 11 pm. and between four people we only got around twenty cats with half or more running 12-14in. a few crappies and two small walleyes. Tryed a number of spots and found plenty of fish but couldnt get them to go. There were quite a few people on the lakes today and most every one I talked to also was having poor luck. Oh well as nice as it was today I am glad I chose to spend the day on the ice with good friends.

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I also was wrong about the weather helping the bite. I was on the water from 6:30 AM to about 1 PM and graphed a ton of fish that where not interested in having some fun. I tried 4 different spots with all having the same outcome. Alot of fish with not many takers.. Oh well, the day was perfect. Going to spend the today recovering from sunburn.

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My buddie said the bite is going better today so Im heading out there to see for myself. I will post how I did when I return.

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Well the bite was better than yesterday but still a bit slow. Got to the lake around ten am. Set up off the end of a sand bar that tops out at eight feet. Most of the fish came from 17-22ft. The fish bit the best from 2-5:30 and then went kinda dead. Pink frostee spoon with half a fathead was what worked for me today. I did get a couple on a 1/8 buckshot but the frostee was working better. I also got a couple small walleyes and a few crappies to round out my day. P.s. Please take everything back off the lake you brought on. As myself and two buddies colected a whole garbage bag full of empty 1lb cylinders, beer and pop cans and bottles and lots of other garbage that shouldnt have been left on the lake.

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Good point riverfishinmiss. If anyone sees another angler "leaving" their garbage on the ice don't be afraid to call #TIP on your cell phone to report it. Please try to get as much offender info as possible (without putting youself at risk) to assist the warden.

Google "MN TIP" if you want more info.

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Thanks for being a responsible angler and picking up after the one's that aren't!

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I want to head up to the chain today for some fun. Where can I start? Any tips?

Want to leave around 1230 this after noon. If you have some info, please give me a call. 218-280-0442 All the lakes around here are pretty slow and not worth trying lately... sigh..

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Wiskers

If you are familiar with koetter and have a sled, i would start there. But be carefull when fishing this lake. Ice is very unpredictable. Graphed a ton of fish there this weekend but the bite was slow. If the bite has turned on you will be in for a real treat. Good luck

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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
      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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