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Cattin' the Chain


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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Who?!? grin

I don't know who that Borch character is. That Harvey Lee though... well he can even catch cats sleeping on the ice. laugh

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Was on long today...not only did I not catch a fish, but I didn't even mark a single fish on the vex. I fished to the left of the houses in 9 to 34 ft and nothing! Not a very good way to be introduced to the chain frown Will try cedar island tomorrow, wish me luck.

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JB. Horseshoe is a good option. Krons bay is where I sat for a good chunk of the year. By the group of houses but shallower has been good for me. The point across from the meth hole is also a good area to try. Dont get me wrong cedar is a great lake but the shoe has been far better for me this year.

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Was out yesterday afternoon and well into the evening. Drilled holes, until I marked fish. Started out very slow and about the start of the fourth quarter of the Vikes game, the LX-5 lit up from top to bottom. Cats on the bottom and crappies 5-8 under the ice. The bite was very steady until about 9:30-10:00 when I packed up and went home. The fish pretty much went away or would not bite anymore.

1/8 Lindy Rattlin Flyer spoon and crappie minnow body (no head or tail) was what they wanted last night. Threw cut (fresh) sucker small chunks, cut frozen bull head, cut shiner, cut shad and all they wanted was cut crappie minnow crazygrin. I tried all kinds of spoons and jigs, from big to small, but the LRF was all they wanted.

I was jigging about 2-4 feet off the bottom, when bottom chatter would start on the LX-5. After a couple seconds of slight to moderate jigging, I would stop and hold still, then you could see the red bar come pretty quickly off the bottom and boom, the rod tip would bend. Set the hook and make sure your drag is set or in my case last night on a new reel (SC), make sure the drag evens works wink. Back reel'in was my only friend last night.

For the crappies I would just drop down a glow jig (Ratzo) about 5-8' under the ice and dead stick with spring bobber, tipped with a crappie minow for some action. @25' of water, with over a 30' hole to my back and 4' not to far away to my front. Like Borch said grin

Good luck and have fun!

I had got some video from this trip way back when, so the above info applies. It was so foggy and the heater was loud. The footage was so poor, I gave it a Fear and Loathing feel grin! Jusy using/playing with some software I have and put this together. Figure I would throw it up.

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If I had a vehicle to get on the ice with I probably would've hit horseshoe yesterday (and today), but those access points sure didn't look car friendly. And with nowhere to park on the road I'm kinda' S.O.L.'d frown

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I drove to the access at cedar island today...NOBODY there! That always gives me an uneasy feeling. I walked out about 50 yards and seen what looked like a hole in the ice where a vehicle fell through...I asked a CO about that, but he hadn't heard anything. Does anyone know about this? Needless to say, I passed on that spot, headed over to north brown's instead. Not 1 single fish! None marked either! What's the deal? 2 days in a row of not marking any fish! I can handle getting skunked, but not even seeing fish?!?! Come on!

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Jb there is a lesser known access that is privatly owned off co rd 43 that is a bit more car friendly. Also mud can be good and its a easy one to fish ( only 1 deep hole there) as is becker. I have never done real well for the kittys on browns. They are in there but can be tough to locate.

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I wasn't fishing for cats today, was looking for numbers of pannies and a pike or 2 (DNR lakefinder made it look like a spiffy lake). Anyway, the CO that checked my license today was showing me all the access points on his map, I bet the one your talking about is the one he specified. Will have a truck available in 2 weeks grin so I'll give it a go then.

Speaking of pike, browns looked to be quite the popular place for spearing, lot's of ice blocks and hole markers near the access, so if you drive out there, keep your eyes open.

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Schnieder and becker have been good to me this year for panfish and so has the area right off 22. I dont know to much about the northerns out on the chain I never realy get that many even fishing tip ups for walleyes.

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riverfishingmiss - Do you think I could get a big Ice Castle fishouse up and down that access off of Fruitwood Rd into Krons Bay? Or is there a better way to get there? I want to try and get to that area near the meth hole, where you had your house about a month ago. My buddy has a big Ice castle fishouse and he pulls it with a 3/4 ton diesel truck, so I'm a little paranoid about driving around on Horseshoe. Can you get there from the access off 22 down near the island (not DNR access)? Are there any other good places to try for cats that would be easier to get too?

Thanks,

Nels

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Nells we had a 24ft dule axel out there last week and got it on the 22 winter access. The other one off 43 is a bit steep for a big house. Travel is very easy out there right now with no snow on the lake u can get anywhere you want. The bite on the shoe has been a bit slow as of late but it gota pick up soon. Yes the meth hole would be a good option this time of year. There are roughly a dozen places on hshoe alone that I have gotten cats this winter so dont be afraid to explore. Best depth last two weeks has been 17-25ft.

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Bring the ice cleats if you have them. The ice is very slick without any snow cover. On Tuesday, I walked around carefully all day but did wipe out loading up the truck.

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That's especially true if you're gonna try punchin your holes with a hand auger. lol. I've been out the last few days and if it isnt hard enough drilling through 2.5 feet of ice with a hand auger, you can add dizziness by the end cause you've spun around the hole 10 times cause you have no traction and you just spin wiht your auger. haha.

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Thanks river I was just looking for some current ice conditions as I planned on heading up today and wanted to know about driving around.

We just played it by ear and found the conditions very good. We were able to drive anywhere we wanted (except the river of course).

We were out there most of the afternoon and evening tonight. We tried depths from 9ft to 76ft. The only action we had was on a very sharp break from 10-35ft in about 20ft.

Slow day, but it was fun because I got to try about 4 new spots.

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I'm giving horseshoe a shot on saturday...being that the pike/walleye season will be closed, would it be frowned upon if I used a tip up for cats as my 2nd line? I'd of course take the quick strike rig off and bait it with cut bait. Or should I just play it safe and deadstick for crappies with my 2nd line?

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It's pretty tough to catch cats consistently on tip-ups. They usually end up dropping it before you can get there. Go for crappies or try a different bait on your second line. Or raise it up 5-8 feet above your other lure and still go after cats.

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I've tried tip-ups with cut bait a few times out there. I've had a few flags pop but they always dropped the bait before I could get to it, like So Haad mentions above. It wouldn't hurt to try it though, especially if you hole hop as much as I did the other day. Maybe you'll pick up a bonus fish, like one of those pesky rock bass!

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Can't complain about the panfishing on the chain but it's been super slow for cats in my clam lately. Anybody making any adjustments to the plan of attack?

Sucks to see them frozen on top of the ice now that some of the perms are being pulled.

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That's especially true if you're gonna try punchin your holes with a hand auger. lol. I've been out the last few days and if it isnt hard enough drilling through 2.5 feet of ice with a hand auger, you can add dizziness by the end cause you've spun around the hole 10 times cause you have no traction and you just spin wiht your auger. haha.

OMG! Next time you head out let me know, I will lend you my power auger for the day! Cutting through 25 inches of ice with a hand auger sounds like a workout. You must get out on the lake about 7 am....maybe fishing in time for the night bite? If I ever saw someone attempting to cut a hole through 25 in of ice w a hand auger, I would gladly come over and cut a few holes for you!

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Cutting through 25 inches of ice with a hand auger sounds like a workout. You must get out on the lake about 7 am....maybe fishing in time for the night bite? If I ever saw someone attempting to cut a hole through 25 in of ice w a hand auger, I would gladly come over and cut a few holes for you!

LoL! I punch 5-10 per trip with my hand auger. Lets just say i don't need the heater until after i've been fishing for half hour or so :-)

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Made it out last night in the snow. Was pretty slow. Again Graphed a ton of fish but they still have lockjaw as far as the cats go (mixed bag 3 cats, 5 crappies, 2 eyes). All catch and release. I have been out a handfull times in the last month chasing cats and its seems these fish are negative and no weather patern is going to pull them out. WHAT WILL IT TAKE!! Maybe a cool cats party will put the fish in a better mood.

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What's the snow situation on horseshoe? I just got into cloud town and might go there tomorrow? I'm hoping that a trail will be made by then to get on the ice.

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tomorrow is cool cats so you should be able to get out or hitch a ride from someone. This is a fun event and you can learn alot of new stuff about fishing for cats. Hope to see you out there.

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is anyone going out catfishing on the chain on wednesday or thursday morning? I am and was wondering if anyone wanted to join and give me some tips. let me know

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How is the ice up there? Looking to bring the wheel-house up Saturday? Will I need an auger extension?

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There was plenty of ice at the gathering. I measured 28" in one spot. Guess it all depends on where on the chain and which lake. My extension was in the sled of my shack, but wasn't needed.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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