Conclusion of my trip to Arnesens at Rocky Point

[hmw8066]

In the last couple of weeks I was asking you all questions about LOTW because I was going on at trip to Rocky Point. Anyway, I hope this helps someone

Two of my buddies and I stayed in a sleeper at Arnesens at Rocky Point. It was a blast!! We fished Jan 2 & 3. We had no clue what to do (except for what you all told me, which was very good advice). We ended up keeping close to our limits on both days. The fishing turned on at about 8:00am and shut down at 5:00pm. It was also really streaky. We would catch 3 eyes or saugers then go an hour with nothing. But this went on all day so it kept things interesting for us.

The two guides we had both reccomended "Buckshots" for jigging. One guide was big on gold and one was big on glow-red. Both worked pretty good. On our deadsticks, dead minnow halves worked best on a JB Tackle jig. I don't know what kind, but it was a big jig head (the size and shape of a quarter) in gold coler with a red glow eye.

All of the fish we caught were within 6 inches of the bottom. Anything above that would catch nothing.

We didn't get any real big fish. 17 inches was the biggest. We heard they were doing good on plain glow hooks too.

All in all, we had a good time and took home a lot of fish. We are not trophy fishermen, so it was good. The guides said to stay at the lodge and get a moveable shack to stay on fish and get bigger ones. They said we would not have had so much dead time.

Anyway, I would reccomend Arnesens to anyone. It was definitely a first class operation and we are going back next year. My buddies are from Illinois so they will wait till next year, but I may make it up for late ice season. If anyone going up has any questions, just let me know. Good luck.

Henry

[snoozebutton]

Nice report Henry and good to hear you had some success. I've fished Zipple Bay, NW Angle, and out of Sportsmans shacks with pretty good success but always want to try Arnesons. Definitely have to give them a try in the near future.

[123fish]

Did you get any perch?

[bturck]

HMW: Welcome to the site. Thanks for your report. Nice to hear to got into some fish and had a good time. I went through the same thing 10 years ago and have been hooked ever since on LOW. Sure beats a day at work doesn't it? Bill

[Swanny2]

HMW: Glad to hear you had a great time! My 14yr old son and I will be making our 5th annual trip to Arnesens on the 16th. I too wish we could get some reports out of the area to wet the appetite a bit. Hope you get back up there before ice-out!

I will report when we get back.

[Lakers]

That sounds great. I'm heading up to Zippel Bay Resort in about 40 minutes from now from the Cities. The JB Lures you are talking about are either the Gem-n-eye (single hook) or the Jig Eye (treble hook). I used a gold Jig Eye with glow red eye during the day and a pink glow Jig Eye at night last year and absolutely hammered them during the day with the gold and faired ok with several bonus fish at night (I'm talking anywyere from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.) with the glow red. Plan on using them again this year if this "Stop Sign" lure everyone is talking about that I bought a bunch of doesn't pan out.

Anyway, hopefully your luck spreads to those of us heading up here this weekend. I will definitely post how my group did when I get back on the 13th.

Eric

[JBMasterAngler]

Good to hear a report like that from a first timer...I'm gonna be first timer looking to rent a sleeper out of arneson's at about this time next year.

[rcatcherman]

My wife LouAnn,Daughter Emily, Father and Law will be up there for our 23rd Year at Arnesens from the 18th to the 24th of January. Can't wait. My wife has spent more of her birthdays there than anywhere else. They run a 1st Rate place and we were there when they had got there 1st Dodge Track Van. Boy do I feel old. Now they have nothing but a State of the Art Resort with the Best Family Run Buisness in the Industry. If you have never been there, DON'T GO you will get HOOKED!!!! Rick is the name and Fishing is My Middle Name.

[hmw8066]

123Fish

Yes, we did get one "bonus" perch. It was a nice big fat one too. But that was the only one we caught. They said the perch are few and far between this year, but if you get one it will be a nice one. They were right.

Like I said, we used that gold JB lure with one hook on our dead stick then a gold or glow-red buckshot for jigging. I know this is contrary to what everyone says, but we had better luck on the deadsticks with minnow halves (dead minnows cut in half instead of live minnows).

They said to bounce the buckshot off the bottom, then jig for about a minute, then let it sit still for a few minutes. They said not to get your jig any more than 6 inches off the bottom. There were several times I had bites on my jigging rod when I left it about 4 inches of the bottom. This was when I left it still while I was cooking or taking a leak!

The guide told us we were in a shack that had sat there for a while and they were going to move it after we left. He said our place was kind of "fished out".

All I can say is...if that is fished out then I would love to be on one that is fresh. You would be a busy person.

Good luck to everyone heading up. I am going to Devil's Lake on 18 Jan. Just new to the area and I am going to try everything I can while I am here. Good luck fellas

Henry

[Swanny2]

rcatcherman: I couldn't agree with you more about the resort or those who work there. The first thing that jumped at me was how pleasant they are to the kids. Want to get a kid hooked on ice fishing the big pond? Take them there. Always friendly and the fish cooperate. Used to do the portys but with service and solid results, and a few more years, it sure is nice to meet at the landing to hop on the bomber! Good Luck!!!