Blackduck area Fishing Reports

[Drake]

Try a troll with a lindy tipped with a fathead or pulling a crank, if you are staying here we'll try to find the latest hot spots after this weekend fishing crew heads out!  Good luck to you!

[Drake]

Fall is in the air, cooler temps (for a couple of days-70's in the weekend, 80 on Tuesday-no rain in the 5 day), starting to see spots of color and now seeing some nice walleye coming thru the fish cleaning room; with several hitting Island and Blackduck Lakes  bringing back walleye the last couple of days and the panfish are producing at the smaller lakes in the area as well (few perch from the Duck using plastics off the side of the boat).  Look along the cabbage lines for some of those walleyes as well as some jumbo sunfish.  Smaller lakes producing panfish, many are using night crawlers, but a few are using plastics for the sunfish, crappies and perch, while others are only having luck on waxworms searching out in the 10 to 12' depths .   Get ready..the best time of the year in the area is upon us, fall fishing, hunting and the colors-doesn't get much better than that. 

[james_walleye]

Hey Drake I have a friend coming up to blackduck this weekend. Any reports coming in? He's looking for eyes and crappies. 

[Drake]

While the fall colors have actually already peaked, in our area it is still an amazing place with the fall colors, the eagles soaring, the deer moving around..and best the fishing and hunting have been doing well.   Best  time of the year for a little land/water activity with our guests doing a little hunting in the morning and some then fishing in the afternoon.  Our grouse hunters are finding the coverage is starting to thin out and finding good numbers of grouse, some near the roads and some deep in the woods, even the few that have been up without dogs have managed to shoot a few but the ones with the dogs are getting a lot more flushes (yesterday one hunter had 17 flushes shooting 3 grouse and said there were more flushes of woodcock; another had over a dozen flushes).  The duck hunting is also going very well.   For walleye fishing minnows continue to be the best bite producing bait; a few are finding them in the more shallow 8 to 12' depths, but the majority are in the deeper 15-20' as well as reeling in some nice size panfish in the deeper depths.    Looks like an unusually warmer weekend with temps pushing 80, hope you can make it out to enjoy the great outdoors!

[Drake]

A drive to Bemidji today looking at the trees on the side of the road had me realizing just how lucky we are to live in this area; although a lot of leaves are down, the ones that are still on the trees are the most brilliant I have seen them all season. I spoke to a few of our grouse hunters today, they said that the wind & rain Monday made a difference in the woods, less coverage, and with the frost coming the next couple of nights that should also get more leaves down. T...he grouse numbers for the 5 that I talked to said they think the numbers are as good as they were last year and the grouse and woodcock are easy to find along the trails and near the timber even the fallen, they don't seem to be hugging the thicker popple coverage making it easier. The 90 degree temps are gone and now the forecast is showing daytime highs in the 40's & 50's (Monday 60) so much better for the hunting dogs. Fishing continues to fare well although the strong winds on Monday did stir things up on Tuesday & the docks are still out...hope everyone enjoys the great weekend (and a long one for those coming up for MEA!) Have a great weekend!

[Drake]

We're at that transition time of the year, I think we had the last of our open water anglers in a couple of days ago & now people are calling for reservations for ice fishing (some dates are filling up fast, so if you haven't already give us a call) . Although, the ones up fishing are finding the panfish in the deeper waters (20' plus) on the smaller lakes and walleyes on Blackduck and Island Lakes in the 8-12' depths-still a good time of year to be fishing, but the docks are pulled so that has deterred some & others are gearing up for hunting or just waiting for ice. We still have a few grouse hunters here but the majority left last week in order to get ready to do some deer hunting-Opener is Full, but the 2nd weekend has a couple rooms that opened up, so give a call if you are looking for a room.
A HUGE thank you  to our hunters that were up here the last couple of months, especially our regulars who were back for 3 to 5 weeks, it was great to see you all!. Grouse hunting not only varied from hunter to hunter but day to day; One hunter would go out one morning for 4 hours and have 17 flushes & the next would only have 2, the next 15. But October has been a fairly good month for the hunters in general, even ones without the dogs have managed to bring some birds back, and weather has played a part-the very windy days the numbers of grouse & woodcock were down. Have a great weekend, watch for the Trick or Treaters!

[theharvester]

Ice is bad .its scarey out there .

[Drake]

Finally, colder temps.  What a crazy winter.  We've got a couple nights of 0 temps about to hit, and that's a good thing, hopefully make a couple more inches of ice.  We've got a full house of folks this weekend that are planning on hitting the smaller lakes in the area for panfish and some wanting walleyes & perch from Blackduck as well as walleye from Upper Red.  The smaller lakes are varying from 4 to 6" of ice.  Going to go check out Blackduck tomorrow.  Everyone playing on the safe side still walking out.  On Upper Red a couple anglers went out of Morts on the southside, going a little less than 1/2 mile to 8' depths and found 6" and said there were wheelers and snowmobiles going out.  Sounded like Hillmans was out working on their road today!  Play it safe, check with the access owners to see what they recommend. 

[Weathertite]

Hey Drake , How did the Full house go ? Everyone able to survive I hope. How did the fish cooperate for your group ? Did you guys fish any of the smaller lakes and were you able to locate any good Panfish ?  Thanks for your time,  Mike

[Drake]

Everyone had a good time this weekend hitting the lakes, although the wind had quite the bite to it on Friday..between that and the sub 0 temps folks did not move around, where they drilled they stayed.  Both Friday and Saturday the fishing was alright, with folks bringing back fish, but not the limits...panfish and Upper Red Lake walleye.  Everyone was attributing that to the drastic drop in temperatures, which I would concur as today the temps raised (now it's 23 with a feel like 15 vs. the below 0).  This afternoon I've already chatted with folks out in the fish cleaning room, which by 3:00 there have been limits of sunfish and a few crappies.  Upper Red lake walleye fishing  has also improved today with the warmer temps.  The colder temps made an improvement on the ice (one angler said he was out on Friday afternoon on one of the smaller lakes & when he went out Saturday morning the thickness had increased 1.5").  Folks are reporting Blackduck and the area lakes have been 8 to 10" plus, on Upper Red 6 to 9" as of today.  Good luck everyone, be safe!

[Weathertite]

Thank you for taking the time to let us know how it went. Fish well and stay safe my Friend.   Mike

[Drake]

Very lucky up here in the northern part of the state; we're not to get the snow like the majority of the state!  We do have the colder temps, with highs in the teens and lows in the single digits, so that's a good thing.  Folks are doing great, playing it smart & safe by using wheelers with the ice ranging from 7 to 11, depending on the lake, and where on the lakes.  Most of our folks last week were up visiting for Christmas, but now that Christmas is over it's busy with anglers.  We have had company, so I have not been able to talk to everyone here, but have talked to the majority of our guests, and they have been starting their trips up on Upper Red Lake and have brought back limits of walleyes and the proof has been in the fish cleaning room.  I do have several out today going for panfish (which varied from group to group yesterday-with some anglers fishing on the same lakes & actually seeing our other guests out there, some would come back with limits of sunfish, others did better on crappies with a few sunnies and others would bring back a few pike and no panfish, but with the cold temps most folks said where they set up they stayed.

[Drake]

The cold snap had slowed down the fishing earlier in the week, but Thursday things started kicking back into gear and has gone good for the majority of our folks throughout the weekend. Not just the walleye bite on Upper Red Lake, but we also had several going for the panfish and while the crappie bite was fair, the sunfish bite was strong with many large (8 to 10") sunnies coming through the fish cleaning room.  Those looking for pike were also able to reel in what they were looking for.  The ice continues to vary from lake to lake, with the ice averaging 14-18" per our guests out the last couple of days.  We had approximately 4" of snow late last week but our anglers have said that they had no problems getting around on the lakes, and the sub 0 temps continue so hopefully will the development of new ice. 

[Drake]

Little quieter here at the Drake the last week ice fishing people wise; the folks who've been up have been general travelers or out checking out the snowmobile trails the Trailhead is right next door-with a couple more inches of fresh powder yesterday the snowmobile trails are looking nice.  The ice on the lakes depends on the lake, with an average from 12-18", and fishing varies as well. On Upper Red the last couple of days the bite has been better in the later afternoon/sunset time, and the panfish bite earlier in the week varied from group to group (and they would be fishing the same lake!) on the smaller lakes in the area, and the pike bite has kept anglers busy.  Temps have been warmer the last couple of days-yesterday was the mid 30's, looks like a gorgeous weekend in store (so hopefully some folks will be back up to hit the ice) and then cool back down next week into the teens for highs and 0 lows to make some more ice!

[Drake]

The change in the pressure as the cold front moved in had an effect on the fishing this weekend. The majority of the anglers headed to Upper Red Lake, which the past couple of weeks has been a tougher bite, with the best fishing in the 13-14 mud flats or a little shallower (8 to 10 feet around the gravel earlier in the day, but this weekend there were some fish that came off Red but just not large numbers as before.  Blackduck Lake has been producing some walleye in the 14-18' depths, as well as seeing occasional crappie and a few perch in the mix, with the best bite on Blackduck, as well as Gull and Pimusche during sunset.    The northern end of Lake Bemidji (hitting the lake just down 71 near the Cattails Restaurant) has been doing well in these same sunset periods in the 10-12" and deeper depths during the day, and had a couple reports coming off of Turtle with some eyes in the 16 to 20' depths, and reporting shiners are working well.  Round Lake has been an on and off bite the past couple weeks for walleye as well as perch, with most attributing the slowdown over last weekend to the change in the temps.  We went from a 37 degree high, to strong winds, rain/sleet, and a major drop in temps to a single digit high & below 0 lows.  Panfish reports over the weekend varied from lake to lake, again, many contributing it to the storm that came in, but the panfish that came through the cleaning room were definitely nice, with 9-10" sunfish, 10-12" perch, and a few crappies in the mix, but again, most of our anglers were walleye fishing last weekend and not out targeting panfish..hopefully this weekend!

[Drake]

s  Steady temps for several days has made for a good start to the weekend for those who decided to do some panfishing.  A little quieter mid week up here due to the sub 0 temps, but anglers started hitting the lakes on Thursday and getting limits, and yesterday was a pretty decent start for the majority of our anglers.  The smaller area lakes the last two days have been producing strong numbers of quality panfish, with crappies being reeled through the ice in the 11-12" size range; sunfish are not as numerous, but the perch bite it also picking up. The temps yesterday were still below 0 so not a lot of moving around on the lake, which makes it a little harder as one group  had 2 catching just shy of their limits of crappies and their friends in their portable several yards away only catching a limit between two.  Look for  Perch not only on the smaller area lakes, but on Blackduck Lake as well, where  an occasional crappie & sunnie will be in the mix, but walleyes especially during the sunset, low light periods . 

[Drake]

• Lots of calls from folks asking how the ice conditions are up in our area as they say down in the cities it's not so good. Up here in the Blackduck are the ice conditions are good, no problems at the accesses and trucks driving all over. We've had a couple below 0 nights lately and today the high is 25 & tonight low 11. We still have a lot of snow coverage on the ground, I'd say a good 95%, with just spots of grass starting to show around by the trees, so there are still folks out snowmobiling . Upcoming forecast:  Friday high 35/ low 18; Saturday the high is to be 35, the low 27 so another great weekend in store weather wise..hopefully the panfish bite will continue to be fantastic.  We did manage to get a few photo last weekend of some of our guests with their fish (pretty impressive with all the sunfish, crappies & perch-and that was After they cleaned some up for a fish fry) as well as some photos added to the page of buckets of jumbo perch, sunnies & crappies.  Enjoy the weekend!!

[Drake]

We have been very lucky not to have the warm weather like they are experiencing in the cities..(we just saw on the news, the Twin Cities had 70 while we were at 39!  Tonights low is 26.  We are loosing our snow coverage, we do have some snow left but not like we've had; 2 days ago there was 100%snow coverage-big difference from the cities.  So snowmobiling is over, unless we get more although not in the forecast. 

   The fishing has been fantastic up in the area and we have added several pictures of nice size slab crappies (in the 11-13" range)sunfish up to 10.5"  and perch to our fb website to show that folks actually Are doing great up here, with not only quantity (limits) but also quality fish.  Travel on the ice as of today is still no problems with the full size trucks.

[Drake]

While yesterday the vehicle traffic on the lakes was pretty much all trucks, today we started seeing more four wheelers hitting the ice, and our guests who came in today for the next couple of days brought their four wheelers with which is the best bet.  The forecast is showing a low tonight of 38 and tomorrow a high of 45 to 50 with a 50% chance of rain, here's hoping that that rain & wind stays away as we have cooler lows coming back on Wednesday (in the 20's), but we'll just have to see what happens.  But the Fishing today continued to be pretty great for our guests that we talked to, several different lakes were accessed and they have been busy cleaning good quanitiy as well as quality perch, sunfish & crappies.

[Drake]

What a difference a week has made on the ice in the lakes in the Blackduck area.  Up till Saturday trucks were all over on the ice, then it switched to four wheelers and now walking.  Spoke to a couple guests who said that's the way they feel is the safest (one said Winnie had changed drastically overnight) and the bait shop said on Blackduck Lake there are a couple of spots out in the center not so great but they think people will be walking out this weekend, and I know some folks are wanting to walk down the shoreline to walk out on Big Lake this weekend.  

 I don't know about walking out then, we are suppose to have temps that drop in the 20's tonight, tomorrow high in the mid 30's & low of 17, and the next several days much of the same which is good BUT we are also getting a light snow right now (so far it's about 1/4") but they aren't sure how much snow...one site says 1 to 3" another says 4 to 7" so we'll see; too much snow you're not going to be able to see what the ice is looking like.  

[DLD24]

Thanks for the updates drake I'm hoping to be coming up north this weekend for one last trip...

[theharvester]

10 to 12 inches honeyconed ice . According to resort on lake. Openholes in middle of the lake. It is really dangerous out there be careful

[Drake]

Not seeing anyone on Blackduck Lake today, but they are walking out of some of the other  lakes, and just went to Island to check (as guests said they were taking four wheelers out there still) and there were wheeelers out on that lake.  I would definitely check each lake before heading out.   Our guests got in this afternoon to check out the lakes and then will see in the morning if they can walk out, telling everyone to play it safe, check out the lakes.   Temp is 27 with a w/chill of 19 and tonights low 23; tomorrow high mid 30's low 19. 

[Drake]

Friday at 4:30...Just had four guests that came off Blackduck Lake where they accessed via four wheelers at Beaver Creek (they ran into the owner of this pay access who they said showed them the best way to get out on the ice out of his access on wheelers); they caught 30 perch and said that the ice was getting iffy for four wheelers over there. Another  group of four just came in from being on Big Lake where they accessed via four wheelers & saw many others out on wheelers. Four wheelers are also on Island Lake this afternoon. Folks are heading to Gull Lake this afternoon to see if that is walking or four wheeling. Currently, mostly cloudy temp is 33, tonight's low is forecasted 21 5mph east wind; Saturday (NE Wind 4 mph/partly cloudy) & Sunday (NW 9mph/mostly cloudy) are currently forecasted highs of 39/low 23.  Folks are being very careful checking the ice as they head out, be cautious of the late season ice.

[Drake]

Wednesday morning: This week our guests have not been those who are up fishing (visiting or working); so I contacted the bait shop & a local friend who has been going out fishing to find out the latest scoop. Basically, I was told there is no real change since last week-and with the upcoming forecast they do not anticipate a change in the ice conditions..See Forecast Below. Gull, Big, Island & some of the other lakes in the area folks are still heading out on fourwheelers ...(one of the local guides hit the lake last night);Blackduck Lake has had folks out on it every day this week during the day-I would use CAUTION on the Duck as you can see the holes in the ice when the water went down, so eveeryone is fishing it in the daylight to see. Upcoming Forecast: Today it is currently 27 (windchill 18), high 35/low 15. Thursday High 40, 5 mph wind'Low mid 20's; Firday High low 40's/low 21; Saturday High 33 low 18; Sunday High 41/low 26

[Drake]

Now that Fishing Opener is over, the temps have warmed up & the winds have calmed down (through the weekend the temps are to be in the mid to upper 70's & winds less than 10mph). But Opener still ended up being pretty good, although the winds made it a bit chilly! The main lakes that was hit by our anglers for walleye was Blackduck and Upper Red. Blackduck Lake pumped out good number of walleyes for those fishing in the 12-15' depths- while anchored and jigging the walleye ...bite just wasn't happening, but trolling the bars produced good numbers of quality fish. Upper Red also produced limits of walleye for our guests, with the opposite presentation than Blackduck..moving seemed to scare the walleye but anchored and slip bobber fishing produced very good quantities of fish. On Red most of our guests were starting out in the 6' depths and found that slower, but moving to the 10' depths produced the limits.

[fivebucks]

Picked up enough for a fish fry on Saturday on Island.  Going to head up again this Saturday to see if they may be snapping a little better.

[fivebucks]

They were biting worse than on opener this past weekend.  Fished 7 hours for one walleye to eat with only one other released.  Found a decent bite after sunset to pick up a few more so it was still a good day on the water.  I think it was too nice on Saturday.

[Rick]

Blackduck fishing reports, anyone been out? Any luck?

[Slough Shark]

Was out on Blackduck last night for a few hours. Only caught one hammer handle pike. Saw others catch a few Walleye but it was pretty slow. Beautiful night though.