Burntside Fishing/Conditions Report...(updated-3/30/09)

[Mike Stark]

yep thats the old man...nice edit to the title...makes sense

[Rymann]

Hey guys!

It;s been awhile since I have last posted as to me being in St. Cloud for spring break, I did manage to get out lastWed. thurs. and Fri. lots of activity, never did ice any but lost a monster (what I think was a monster)at the hole! I was bummed, would have been the first laker for me. I am super glad you guys did well, and Jim excellent fish. i will be nack up in ely for school Sunday, plan on heading out Monday after class and really hitting it hard till the season closes. Well good luck and safe travels everyone.

[Mike Stark]

went out yesterday from 11am to 6:30pm. 3 lookers. each looker was on a different piece of structure. no takers. could not get them to commit. stayed very mobile. went through 3/4 tank of gas in my auger. would have kept moving but ran the auger dry. i must have upset the burntside lakers gods. only 2 lakers on burntside so far this winter.

only 2 other folks out off the van vac. one guy by brownell island and another fishing right off the van vac. the road heading east off the van vac is plowed..im not sure about the one heading west. i got stuck twice. had to dig out the tires and then was good to go. i fished out of the back of my explorer so was constently stopping and going in and out of snow driffs. im glad i had a big shovel to move snow around. my track going across the lake in the morning was completly blown over by the time i left in the evening.

burntside was more peaceful than the last time I was on Trout. pretty much had the lake to myself.

[pauljpollock]

I haven't seen many week days where it's been real busy out there. Weekends are another story obviously, but I've seen only 3 or 4 snowmobiles on many week days.

Trout Lake has seen a lot more pressure this season.....busier than I've ever seen it. When you think about the part of the lake that is fished by most people, probably 1/3 or less of the available water, it's noticeable.

By no means is it being pounded to death though...There's still a ton of water that is never being touched.

Paul.

[Mike Stark]

yeah im thinking the next time i go out to trout im may put in for the long haul to get to some untouched water.

[Steve Foss]

Today was a good day. Way lots of wind, but that's life in the North Country in March.

I caught five fish today. Friday the 13th indeed. Mostly eaters, but with one fish just under 29 inches that we estimated weighed 9 lbs before we put her back in the water. All the eaters had clipped fins. The 9-lber did not. Last fish, a fin-clipped football of a 3-lber, came as the sun dropped behind the trees at 7 p.m. All fish came in on big lures. Only the 9 ended up hitting the big lure.

Buddy Jim caught one small fish, but those laker gods rarely smile at the same guy twice in a row (Jim's 11-lber last weekend).

Travel was absolutely no problem for vehicles. My medium-sized 4x4 SUV made it easy. The snow has been knocked down even since I was out on Wednesday, mostly by the wind. Tomorrow through next week we're looking at a lot of melt, so it will get a bit sloppy but will still be fine.

There was a lot of fishing traffic today. We saw a number of vehicles, snowmobiles and wheelers out hauling fishing gear.

Here's pic of the 9-lber. No, you don't recognize the far shore. I altered it.

[Lisa Almquist]

That is a nice fish Steve Foss! Well, I'm glad our pal Jim didn't get skunked either.

[Steve Foss]

Lisa, Jim's fish was the smallest laker I've ever seen. I think it was stocked last spring as a yearling. Don't tell him I told you.

I'm sure he'll do better tomorrow. Like today, we'll be breaking in some more spots totally new to both of us. And with 40 degrees, sun and almost no wind in the forecast, avoiding sunburn will be a big challenge as we hole hop the day away.

[Lisa Almquist]

I suppose he didn't get a photo of it either did he?

Even if he doesn't do better tomorrow, it really doesn't matter. He's having a blast!

Break a fin tomorrow fellas (can't jinx ya with good luck ya know)!

[Steve Foss]

I offered to take a photo of him with it, but he declined. No telling WHERE such a photo might turn up.

[Lee Lane]

Last year I messed up my eyes horrible from the sun ..between the pain every time i opened or closed my eyes and the stress of wondering if id ever see beyond legally blind status wasnt very fun. I never needed sunglasses ice-fishing till I started fishing burntside , but I can tell ya I never forget them now.

[218RIDERZ]

NICE FISH MAN ! SAY A FEW OF US ARE HEADED UP TO BURNTSIDE IN THE MORNING TO GET SOME LAKER FISHIN IN. LAST TIME WE CAME UP WE GOT LOST AND COULDN'T GET TO A SPOT THAT SOMEONE TOLD US ABOUT? CAN ANYONE LEAD US TO A GOOD AREA TO CATCH SOME MONSTERS ? DON'T REALLY KNOW MUCH ABOUT BURNTSIDE. THAT WOULD BE AWESOME !!

[bmc]

2 of us are planning on heading up to Burntside on March 25th w/ our ATV's. Looking forward to fishing Burntside for the first time. Steve, what does that day look like for you? Anyone else that will be out that day let me know here, I know it's a ways out yet, but I'm pumped!

Brian

[KG243]

How has travel been around the lake with the warm temps? Also do you think it would be a good idea to leave our portable at home. THe reason we may do this is because then we can fit the wheeler in the back of the truck. We dont have a trailor, so this is why we are thuinking of this. Are trucks still going every where?

[Mike Stark]

as of yesterday trucks were going everywhere. i bet it is sloppy after today but if you have 4wheel drive you should be fine. there is still lots of ice on the lake. if its going to be warm and sunny there is not need for a portable. it also makes it much easier to move around if you dont set up a shelter. i was not out today but im sure there will be some reports about what the lake is like.

i drove down to duluth today and some of the lakes off 53 had snow on them when i passed them in the morning and when going past them in the evening had NONE. standing water on the ice. im thinking that with the forcast for the next 10days being above freezing and mostly sunny we might get to that point soon. especially if we get some rain mixed in there.

what is driving around on glare ice like???

[Wanderer]

Here's pic of the 9-lber. No, you don't recognize the far shore. I altered it.

Yeah, and we knew Blueberry Island so well.

Nice job!

Hope to be fishing Friday through Sunday. Let me know how things shape for you.

[Steve Foss]

Yesterday was an intersting day. Buddy jmalm iced one nice 3-lber up on the North Arm in the morning, and all I got was a 5-lb whitefish. Smoker! Yummy!

But that was it. We fished there until 2:30, and he hit the road and I hit a spot I'd had success on during open water but never got around to ice fishing before (lots of those spots.)

I had six fish hooked between 3 and 7 p.m., landing three. Twin 5-lbers and a 3.5-lber hit the ice. None of the other three hooked felt very big. A ton of action though, on a gorgeous afternoon. The last one hit right at 7 p.m. as the sun went behind the trees, and came unhooked 10 seconds later.

There was slush everywhere, with already quite a few pools of standing water, when I drove off the ice at 7;15. The ice itself had not detriorated at all. More warm weather today and maybe tomorrow are going to make it even more sloppy and could hurt the top of the ice a bit. It's supposed to get colder mid-week, which would be a good thing.

We'll see how it shapes up. I've got a very busy non-fishing week this week, but I'll try to get out there after it cools back down to give a report later in the week for you weekenders. Otherwise, no doubt there are other folks here going out daily, so post your ice condition reports right in here.

Here's a shot of the whitefish and the laker I kept for the table. The other two lakers went right back into the water. None of the three fish had clipped fins.

[Jim Almquist]

Steve good to hear that things picked up with the move to the new spot. I did not want to go home with the great weather and all but a boy has to go home sooner or later.

[Steve Foss]

I did not want to go home with the great weather and all but a boy has to go home sooner or later.

If a fella moved up here, home would be only 15 minutes away.

[Jim Almquist]

If a fella moved up here, home would be only 15 minutes away.

You will have to talk Lisa into it but wait till she gets done with school first

[Mike Stark]

this is a picture of the van vac landing around 3pm today. and yes that is water you see. 2-3 inches in places. not really any snow left. lots of water draining down the hole....18-20inches of ice left...top layer was fine today....no fish...i think i scare the lake trout away when i pull up in my explorer. maybe its time to go crappie fishing.

[Steve Foss]

It's an open question how long the ice will be driveable. Some lows below freezing are forecast later in the week, but highs are still expected to be 50 tomorrow and in the 30s and 40s after that, so we'll see.

Kinda too bad the first year we get two extra weeks of inland laker season and we get this kind of melt. On the other hand, it's been a darn long winter, and if vehicles aren't practical after the next few days, it would be a sacrifice I could live with.

[Mike Stark]

yeah it wont be the end of the world if we cant drive out there. just have to go back to packin light and walkin across the lake. on the bright side if the water on top freezes it will make for easy pulling.

[Murdock26]

Thank you Mr. Foss for the daily updates on B-side. I look forward to seeing what the conditions are as things can change qiuckly with the warm weather.

[Great Outdoors]

I was on Burntside today with my truck, but will be using an ATV from now on unless a cold snap hits.

The ice seemed to be deteriorating rapidly with all the water on top, and the snow should be gone by tomorrow afternoon.

Looks like the snowmobile is done for the year unless some very dramatic changes occur. (which can easily happen in March)

One 8 lb trout, and three other chasers.

[KG243]

My brother and I will be leaving tomorrow early afternoon for Ely, I am so excited to be fishing for some lakers. We will be up there Wednesday and all day Thursday I hope we hook into some!

[Musky2727]

How is the ice in the Ely area? I am heading up there this weekend and just wondering what the ice conditions will be like. My cabin is next to Burntside Lodge. I don't really have a set up to fish for lakers, any other recomendations for that area.

[218RIDERZ]

WE MADE IT UP ON SUNDAY. WE WERE UNABLE TO GET TIPS ON THE SPOTS SO WE JUST WORKED THE MAP. WOULD OF BEEN NICE IF SOMEONE COULD OF LEAD US TO THE RIGHT DIRECTION

BUT WE ICED SOME FISH !

WERE PLANNING ON COMING UP AGAIN DURING THE WEEK NEXT WEEK, DO YOU THINK SNOWBANK WOULD PRODUCE ? OR DOES ANYONE WANNA LEAD ME TO THE MONSTER'S ON BURNTSIDE? PLEASE !!!

[Northlander]

Looks like you guys did fine on your own. Try the deep edges off the deep hole in the bay going into the dead river. I always seem to be able to get fish back there. 40-65' of water if I remember correctly now.

I like jigging raps and shad, power or gulp shiners, JR's flasher spoons, Slender Spoons and Tinglers, buckshots and blade baits.

Or a golden shiner/smelt on a #2 glow hook on a tip up outside the house about 10-20' away.

[218RIDERZ]

AWESOME ! WE WILL HAVE TO TRY HER OUT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH