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

[KG243]

Looks like you guys did fine on your own. Try the deep edges off of dead river. I always seem to be able to get fish back there. 60-80'

Where is the dead river??

[caseymcq]

Where is the dead river??

On the north side of the lake slighly east. It is just about due north of Lockhart Island. It comes in from Twin Lakes. It is pretty easy to locate on a map.

[caseymcq]

DOES ANYONE WANNA LEAD ME TO THE MONSTER'S ON BURNTSIDE? PLEASE !!!

The guys I know that have iced good sized fish have put some serious time in. Look for steep structure. If you have a underwater camera bring it and look for rocky/bouldery structure. Fish anywhere from 30 - 50 feet and work the column from 10' all the way to the bottom. Put a tip-up out with either a ciscoe or a big live sucker. If you have some panfish tackle bring that. If you are using a flasher and it lights up like a X-mas tree it is likely smelt. Use the panfish gear to catch a few smelt and stick those on a tip-up. If and when the smelt are running through use a flashy spoon or a Jigin' Rap because there is the possibility that the lake trout could be following the school.

As far as putting my finger on the map and pointing to an exact spot to get a monster, that would be a real cr@p shoot. Those fish could be just about anywhere. I could give you a spot I caught fish in today and you could get blanked tomorrow. The rocky / bouldery structure is about the best info I could give you.

[Finns]

If a person was to put in at the Passi Road Ramp, head west a couple hundred (?) yards and then bear right (north) into the Dead River.

[caseymcq]

I haven't seen it myself but I have heard that the Passi Road Landing has a rather large plow pile / berm. Do you know if that is the case or not?

[Steve Foss]

I haven't been up to the Passi Landing since opener. But folks probably shouldn't expect to get out in 4x4s any more. If you do, you are risking things. It was really a ton of water on top of the ice today, and it'll continue to get worse, although the temps are going to be cooling just a bit for a few days.

To be safe, it should be wheelers or on foot from now on unless Jack Frost returns. There were small whitecaps on the standing water as we made our way back in the SUV to the Van Vac landing after sundown.

At any rate, even if the ice is still OK for trucks, Passi would be a bad landing to try to drive off. It got socked with heavy snow early on in the sheltered bay and was slushy. I doubt there's any thick ice until you get toward the open end of the bay.

FYI, if you want to take wheelers or walk off Passi to fish near the Dead, take a left off the landing and follow the land out to the open part of the lake. Then at the tip of the point on your left (the Dead River enters a quarter/half mile to your right) take another left and you'll be facing a big section of lake. Head toward the big lake for a couple hundred yards and then start drilling. The middle of the trough in there is about 55 feet, with shallower water on either side of it and LOTS of structure.

Surface Tension and I were out all day today, and we had the hottest 1.5 hours of action I've ever had on Bside, followed by more fish coming in all day long. I'll post a report when some pics are downloaded and processed so I can add them.

Suffice to say this St. Patrick's Day was a FINE day for an Irishman to be out on the Bside ice!

[Steve Foss]

St. Patrick's Day is meant for the Irish, which no doubt is why the Great Outdoors (a Finn) had nothing but excuses to offer the Great Irishman when he shuffled up to me late this afternoon.

Surface Tension (Frank) and I had already put five lakers on the ice by 11 a.m. G.O., as is his wont, barely woke up by 11 a.m. and never hit the ice until after 3 p.m.

So he missed the amazing action that happened this morning when a front blew through. Frank and I had lines in the water by 9 a.m., and I had a 9-lber (a bit over 28 inches, pictured below) on the ice 20 minutes later. That kicked things off. Moments after that warm, sunny, calm period, a front blew through, pushing dark low clouds in front of 20-25 mph winds across for the next hour and a half. And in that time, we had multiple lookers, and I ended up pulling three more fish through the ice by 10:45, with Frank landing a 6-lber (also pictured below) a bit before 11 a.m. Also in that time, I lost a fish as big as the 9-lber at the hole when the hook popped out just as I was getting ready to reach down for the fish.

That was to be the end of the lakers iced for the day, though we stayed until after sundown. All the five lakers we caught were 4-9 lbs, and all were very aggressive but still needed to be teased up the water column a bit.

We had many, many more lookers after the front moved through. It cleared off and was mostly sunny the rest of the day, but the winds continued their brutality. I had another 4-lber shake the hook at at the hole late in the afternoon, again just as I was reaching for it, but by and large the lookers we had (and there were many of them after noon), were not hot, and no matter what we threw at them they would not go. We had some more lookers, a couple quite aggressive, at sundown, but we'd apparently exhausted our mojo in the morning. (Or after landing four, I was trying too hard to ice my 40th laker of this winter season, and that P.O.'d the laker gods.)

Wind or not, it was simply a beautiful day to be on the ice, and the fish didn't suck, either.

Frank's 6-lber

Steve's 9-lber

Frank's pout

And a couple Great Outdoors sightings (included appropriately after the pout photo). I think he bought the wheeler just so he could be the Big Boss.

[Neighbor_guy]

Look out Burntside Lakers!!!!! Here comes the Neighbor_guy!!!!

With the worst 4 Wheeler ever to grace the ice!!!!!!!!!

It is a 1984 Yamaha Moto 4 200 I am not sure, but I think I out weigh the thing. The last time I had it on ice it tried to kill me, literaly. Dropped it threw the ice on Milacs in January of 04. Do you think putting her back on the ice is a bad idea? Or should I go for it? (2 wheel drive, no suspension)

It is a bit of a step down from the sled, but I dont like driving trucks on the ice, so if no sled, then it is wheeler time. I guess we will see.

Wanderer and I are heading up on Friday for the last big icefishing hara, look out. (just hope the ice holds out till the weekend)

[Steve Foss]

There will be a weekend, and there will be ice for the weekend. Will Neighbor Guy survive the ice and the weekend? More importantly, will Neighbor Guy survive the creaking archaic excuse for an ATV he's bringing up? N.G., why is your ATV in a pigsty?

Stay tuned. Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.

Given those circumstances, whether he ices a laker or not is clearly of secondary importance.

You know I'm just goofin with ya, N.G. In the current conditions it should work fine, 4x4 or not. It's like a parking lot with a few inches of water on it out there right now.

[Great Outdoors]

Yeah, yeah, I saw the Irishman and his pile of nice lakers tonight!

What he isn't telling you, is the fact he followed my plowed road to my fishing spot.

When I accused him of using the same hole I drilled last Saturday, he pointed out that his was almost 6 feet away, and therefore, legally not guilty!

PS-Since I personally did not witness Steve landing anything,I think Surface Tension caught all those fish!

[fishnhuntnboy]

Steve that is halarious.

[Big A]

Neighbor_Guy,

I would seriously question myself if I had any brain cells in my head that were thinking of taking that fourwheeler anywhere other then the front yard..

With that in mind. You could still invite me to go and I have access to several clean, shiny, fancy, reliable, dependable, insured, ETC.. Fourwheelers.

OR ... I am sure I could get you one to use without me should you dread the thought that I would catch more fish then You and Wanderer.. while being overly indulged with.. well.. you know.. it comes in cans and bottles!

[Surface Tension]

When I got dresses early St Patties Day morning I inadvertently picked out a green turtleneck and sweatshirt. On my drive to B-Side I heard on the radio if your not Irish and your wearing green you'll get pinched.

Onto the lake.

The wheels of the 4x4 broke the 1" of ice sending the chips dancing to the side as we slowly but deliberately made our way out onto the lake. Under that crust was 3' of slush then 19" of solid ice.

The spot looked like it had potential. Travel area, pinch points, step walls for hunting Laker to trap smelt, and on top of that, Steve mentioned Jim Maki fished there too.

We started out with no jackets or bids on. The early morning sky was clear, wind was clam. The warmth of the March sun could be felt. What you'd dream of for late season Lake Trout fishing.

Steve drilled his two holes, I noticed he was using a cluster of 3 holes, a clover leaf? I went for the more is better, drilling a lot of holes to hop around.

Wasn't long and Steve was fighting the first laker of the day on a copper Slender spoon. Not a bad start of the day for sure.

Not long after that first trout the skies clouded and the wind kicked up. The way the morning started out I thought I be shedding layers, instead I put on the Arctic Armor.

Steve had the hot hole for the next hour or so as I happily lifted trout out of the water and took pictures. No trout under me and it was time to make use of those other holes. Eventually I got in the game.

We did see a lot of lookers after the bite slowed which was promising but the morning hot action didn't repeat itself.

A washed a lot of "go to" lures, eventually settling with a 1/4 Go Devil in white/pink.

Even with the wind it was a great Late Season Trout Day and I didn't get pinched for wearing green. I might drill a clover leaf next St Patties Day though.

How long will the ice hold up.

Each day the ice will deteriorate its just a matter of how fast it'll happen. Expect large drain holes to open.

Depending on temps and sun, once that slush on top is gone the old frozen layer of slush will go fast and that 19" of ice will honey comb shortly after. ATV travel only will happen soon.

[Steve Foss]

Sure was a great day, Frank.

G.O., I've hit that spot already (mostly open water but also on ice) a bunch of times with good success. It's a pretty good spot, and it looks it when a fella is poring over the big map. As the melt progressed yesterday, there were a bunch of old auger holes bigger than your 8-inch cuts that emerged, so I reckon we're not the ONLY two who know that area is decent. I figure that, because you've been fishing the lake since the last ice age retreated, every spot on the lake is your spot. Now wherever I go, I can just cock my thumb at each location and say: Yeah, that's Maki's spot, and he plowed a road right to it.

We didn't use your road to the spot, BTW, but jmalm and I were happy you plowed a road a couple days earlier up to the entrance of the North Arm. We were heading farther up the arm, and that little road made it smooth sailing for a lot of the way.

I think every good laker spot on Bside caught fire when that front blew through. There just weren't very many people on the lake at the time.

When you fish a lake trout lake for 50 years, can you actually BECOME one of the lake trout gods? I dunno, I'd have a hard time praying to Maki. Much more fun to rib him for not having the luck of the Irish.

[Northlander]

Man Frank thats some serious straight arming on that laker. ;)Trying to make it a 12#er or what? Thats one skinny pout man.

Good pics Steve where are your fish.

[Steve Foss]

Steve, I only asked Frank to take a pic of the 9 lber. The rest were 4- and 5-lbers, and since I had a witness, I didn't need pics for proof. Not to mention I didn't feel like putting up four pics of me in one thread.

The biggest ones went back in the lake. We kept a couple to eat.

I shot the pic of Frank's laker with an ultra wide-angle lens about a foot away from the fish to make it look even BIGGER! Notice how the fish is taller than Frank's head, and his hands are bigger than his head? Those wide angle lenses can do silly stuff.

[Neighbor_guy]

Steve,

That brown area at the bottom of the picture is what the ground looks like when the snow melts. I know in Ely it is white for 8 months of the year. So just wait, yours is comming. Now I realize that it is not the best picture in the world. It was a long day, and I am Irish, and I did get into the moose head a bit after I ran over my best ultra light reel and busted the thing in half, so my judgement may have been altered.... a little... and it is just a camera phone.

A-

It is old, 25 years, and it is a pile-o- but to say I have no brain cells and the machine shouldnt leave the yard, well now.... That almost sounds like a chalange to me. If what I recently found out about 25 year old atv's not needing licencing is true, I may just go for it. Besides Wanderer has a winch.

[Surface Tension]

Believe it or not that laker was 6 lbs. Real nice camera work Steve'o. Why didn't we use extra wide angle on your fish?

[Steve Foss]

Why didn't we use extra wide angle on your fish?

Because my fish didn't need it.

We could seriously have goofed with people's minds if you'd done a vertical hold with your holding hand out of sight and your other hand at your side. Then the fish would have looked that big and your body would have been proportional.

[Lee Lane]

My 3 days at burntside were pretty slow...lots of small fish but no giant red and yellow pulsating bricks on my flasher all weekend , wich is not typical of my laketrout fishing on b-side. Usually it isnt too big of a problem to find bigger fish but getting them to eat is a different story. I think i fished every bait i brought with me all over the water column and NOTHING....tried quite a few new spots and did manage to catch one fat 29.5 incher that put up a good fight on sunday afternoon. Monday and Tuesday were even slower yet, some smaller fish but thats it except for one bigger band on my electronics right at dark on Monday evening. Tuesday we fished all new spots and only one 3 lb fish so we left early so we would get home in time to watch the Minnesota Wild. I never have got a chance to fish lakers this late so I dont know what to expect when the warmer water starts swirling down holes like flushing toilets .

[caseymcq]

I never saw a temp about 29 today. Has anyone been out to see what the conditions are like on the lake?

The forecast I saw was calling for single digits tonight high 20's for Thursday's highs and low's in the teens Then warming up for Friday and Saturday.

...Might still be able to get around and fish for a little while.

[Mike Stark]

i was out on tofte today....mostly glare ice...some spots had a layer of skim ice and some water underneath. after tonight i would assume that it will all freeze up.

my guess is that burntside will be one big sheet of ice by tomorrow.

[Lee Lane]

that would be sweet i could walk to many good fishing spots on b-side

[Steve Foss]

I just talked to a couple guys who were out late this afternoon. They said it was ice far and wide, with just a few spots their pickup (Toyota Tundra) cracked through the recently frozen water sitting on top the main ice. Still some snow/frozen slush in spots, but not much of that left in open areas.

Considering the temps tonight and tomorrow, I think it's going to be refrozen solid by morning and I expect it'll stay that way for a day or two, with more melt coming this weekend, but supposed to be in the 30s and 40s, not 50s.

Looks like the weather gods are giving us another several days of lazy transportation

Lee, as for late season lakers, March has been darn good to me over the years, this March being no exception so far. I didn't find any water getting sucked down holes when I was out on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and yesterday, but the fish were very cooperative, and I was lucky enough to land 12 fish in that time period, with two 9-lbers being the biggest, including a five-fish day Friday and a four-fish day yesterday.

Because the weather tends to be so nice and the laker fishing seems to pick up later in the winter season, March is my favorite time to be lakering. I'm planning to be out a bunch more times in the next coupla weeks.

[Big A]

A-

It is old, 25 years, and it is a pile-o- but to say I have no brain cells and the machine shouldnt leave the yard, well now...

No No.. your getting me all wrong. I didnt imply that you have NO brain cells.. simply was implying that I would not listen to the ones that are telling you that is a good idea !

You already had a trip sullied by issues with machines on the lake.. I just think your risking another one.

Seriously, I can get you a fourwheeler by tomorrow afternoon if you want to use one that is not as likely to implode at the thought of excersise!

Im just sayin...

[Steve Foss]

Hey N.G., you or Tracy should shoot me an e-mail.

[Lee Lane]

Steve, i seen your pictures ....nice job ! I like the one where the guys holding the little one out so it looks bigger. I wish I could afford the quality camera that you use , I browsed through your photo album ...very nice pictures!!! All the big lakers ive ever caught came in early march except for my biggest wich came on a very warm mid january morning. When me and my brother were out monday and tuesday we seen water swirling down many holes like giant drain holes...I was wondering the effect this would have on laker fishing because ive never fished lakers under those conditions. Infact its easier for me to get good muskie info than it is to get on lakers. All of the things that seem to hold true for me in laker fishing doesnt seem to be what everyone else is doing, even the ones catching fish......go figure!

[Steve Foss]

Thanks Lee!

There's been so much more written about muskies than about lakers, and there are so many more people fishing muskies, that it's no surprise there's just not a lot of laker info out there. I've written and had published one fishing book so far (a multi-species fishing guide to Lake Vermilion), and I'd love to write one on laker fishing but no publisher seems to think there's a big enough market to make money on it. I agree with them. Obsessed as some of us are with them, and growing in popularity though they are, there just aren't tons of people fishing them.

That's fine. More fun for us!

I've been told that fishing a hole with the water swirling down it is good because the downsurge of icewater into the lake stirs things up and attracts fish much like a creek or spring flowing in. But then, a fair amount of things I've been told about Burntside turned out later to be hogwash, so who knows?

I've never tried it myself. Just haven't been out there in those conditions. Sunday we were out in the open but had none of the flushing effect where we were, and Tuesday we were in a more sheltered area without an awful lot of standing water, and the standing water there was stayed put when we drilled our holes, or at the very most trickled slowly toward the holes.

I bet you're not fishing lakers too differently than a decent number of Bside vets. And the fact that they can be caught using different methods, different lures and in a wide variety of depths/locations is a mighty nice thing! In this last stretch of days, I caught lakers fishing as shallow as 18 feet of water and as deep as about 70 feet using lures ranging from Angel Eye Jr. spoons up to 5-inch tubes. Friday's 9-lber was caught on a No. 11 Jigging Rap, yesterday's 9 on a Slender spoon. They just wouldn't go on the big lures. Though I was targeting large fish and I had them coming in left and right on the tube jig and other big lures, they wouldn't commit (except for a 5-lber on the tube) until I threw something smaller down the hole.

[DTro]

Looks like I'm going to be in the area this weekend, I might have to see if I can make it out there if the conditions hold.

[Great Outdoors]

The ice seemed much softer today, and cutting a hole was a lot faster than yesterday.

I wouldn't recommend taking a truck out anymore this winter with the weather we had, and have coming this weekend.

I had trouble with my 6x6 getting through some areas that had 4-5 inches of water yesterday and iced over last night because I kept breaking through.

A 2 wheel drive 4 wheeler would not have made it through some areas today.