Blackduck area Fishing Reports

[Drake]

Another busy weekend in the fish cleaning shack! The sleet/rain that came down yesterday morning made for some slow go on the roads and a few spin outs were seen along 71, fortunately no more of that is in the extended forecast..but after temps hitting in the 20's the next couple of days, our lows will get back to the 0 mark and get back to making more ice. The thickness varies on which lake you are at. The majority of our guests who fished on Blackduck Lake said they averaged 9-11" (fishing that first bar in 10-12' of water, jig tipped with a minnow produced some very nice walleye) and there was no problems with travel off the public access. The smaller lakes in the area are varying in thickness, with 8" on some and 12" on others-Please remember on early ice to check it out, not all lakes have the same thickness. The smaller lakes were producing some dandy 11-12" crappies and had some anglers surprised to reel in some jumbo sunnies (ranging in size from 9-13", as well as the sunnies. For our folks that went to Upper Red they were reporting 13-14" of ice and reeling in limits of eyes in the 7 to 10' depths, jig tipped with a minnow, and the most activity going around 2 to 5pm. If the temps go as predicted you will be seeing vehicles out on the lake next weekend, but as always be safe & check with the access owners.

[Drake]

Folks are really gearing up for some ice fishing after the Christmas festivities are over as I have received several emails the last couple of days asking about the different lakes in the area, some starting spots, where to get bait, local guides, day house rentals etc.

Different lakes in the area: There are so many lakes around us that this truly is a prime fishing area. It just depends on the type of fish you want to catch, etc. But with us hitting the lakes and our guests sharing the information we try to point folks in the right direction when they get here, a spot that may have been hot yesterday may not be so today, but we try to get our folks at least a starting spot. Obviously Blackduck Lake for the walleye, pike and the jumbo perch keep everyone busy in the winter. There are numeous other smaller lakes in the area-Gilstad, North & South Twin, Pimusche, Big, Moose, Rabideau, Gull, Kitchi (very nice 12" crappies out of there on Saturday), Three Island, Turtle River, Island are just a few, as well as Bemidji, Winnie (3rd River is great for spearing right now) and of course Upper Red. And with minimal snow coverage right now access on the lakes is going very good.

Bait-Right across the street is Timberline, gas station/c-store and a good selection of bait and tackle. And as most people know, also where Carl (one of the local guides) works, so folks get some minnows and some more starting spots.

Guides-We are asked if we do guiding, and we do not (although it is pretty normal for us to go open water or ice fishing and have many of our guests out there with us) so aside from Carl, we also refer to Matt of North Country Guides quite a bit as Matt likes to hit a lot of the local lakes & folks are really pleased, Jonny of Outdoors with Jonny P. grew up on Upper Red so he's a wizard there.

Day house rentals-Most of our anglers are bringing up their portables to be mobile on the lakes, but some just want to hit the lake and rent a house for a few hours, and we do have folks that we work with that folks have been really pleased with the day houses; just give us a shout and we'll get you connected.

[Matt Breuer]

Thanks for the update, Diane!

I was north of Turtle River on Friday on a little spring fed duck pond... We found 5-6" of clean ice, with very little snow cover. Almost all lakes are accessible with sleds and/or ATV's at this point. If you're not familiar with a lake, or the current conditions, please use caution, and foot-traffic is much safer.

Fishing was great with a nice mix of big bluegills and slab crappies!

[Drake]

Thanks Matt, have seen some of your recent fishing pics! Good reminder to folks again, use caution, as we have said, not all lakes have the same amount of ice on them. In the ten day, only a 30% chance of snow tonight, and after tomorrow highs for the next ten will only be in the teens and lows in the single digits to 0, so more ice! Just be safe.

[Drake]

Most of our anglers the last few days have been heading to Upper Red Lake for the walleye fishing; with folks saying they are having better luck fishing out of the southside of the lake fishing in 9 to 12 f.o.w., plain hooks or a jig tipped with a minnow, and finding ice in the 14" range. On Blackduck a couple local buds emailed to say that they have been hitting around the bars in the 8 to 18' depths and finding the walleye and perch, and pulling a few walleye through the ice on Island with the ice thickness running 11-12". Some of the smaller panfish lakes yesterday were measuring approx 8" of ice. Hopefully with these cooler temps we can get the ice thicker-Some below zero nights, and Christmas is to get to -7!

Also, we want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas! Many are hitting the roads to head to their families house to celebrate the holidays, safe travels, & have a wonderful weekend!!

[Drake]

Now that Christmas is over folks are heading up and we're all filled up the next few days with anglers trying out their new fishing gear. The last couple of days there's not been many folks out on the ice (our guests have been visiting and the lake looked pretty quiet), but that is definitely changing this weekend! The anglers we have had have been heading to Upper Red for the walleye bite which continues to be going very good, best with a jig tipped with a minnow and a dead stick. Ice has been measuring 16-20".

Last report of Blackduck was 12" of ice..REMEMBER, DNR guidelines is 8 to 12" of solid ice for cars and Light weight trucks and 12 to 15" of solid ice is recommended for Medium weight trucks, so play it safe! Some of the smaller lakes in the area were measuring as little as 10" a couple of days ago, so please play it safe! Snow coverage is approximately 2", so travel on the lakes is no problem. It got up to 18 today, (11 tonight) and the extended is showing near 20 the next couple of days and lows in the single digits with below 0 for the weekend.

[Drake]

Hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Years holiday & got to spend some time on the ice. Things were pretty busy around here, and have a few pictures to add of walleye & some really nice crappies & gills from around the Blackduck area. On Blackduck Lake the ice is running 14 to 16"; trucks are popping up on the lake, but as a local guide & I were talking this morning smaller & medium weight trucks should be no problem, but still be cautious and measure the ice. For walleyes the bite has been decent, not huge limits, and the best time of day is between 4:30 & 5 pm. The majority of the eyes are being caught in the 15' to 20' depths along the bar off the main access, but also anglers are picking them up in the 10' depths, with the stained water some walleye are hanging in the 10' depths. Island Lake you are looking at the same 10 to 20' depths. Perch & pike are also biting on Blackduck Lake.

For walleye action, the majority of our anglers are heading to Upper Red Lake where the walleye bite continues to go strong. Ice on Upper Red is running 20"+ and with little snow coverage off road travel is easy. The best bet is the normal get away from the crowds. We've had guests doing CPR and saying they lost track after 30 eyes, I just spoke to two anglers who limited out in 20 minutes, while others have had to work a little to get their limits. Best bet again is the quiet, remote spot. Those jigging are having the best results on a forage minnow, with the majority with a dead stick, or a jig or hook tipped with a minnow. We did have one group of anglers that went to Lake of the Woods for a day trip and they didn't have much luck, so Upper Red is the place to go.

For sunnies and crappies there are so many lakes in the Blackduck area to choose from, and there have been some really nice ones (10" sunfish; 12" crappies) coming through the fish cleaning room for the anglers going after those instead of walleye. Ice on the smaller lakes is running 15 to 17", with the the 20' depths for the huge crappies. Remember, Gull Lake, Pimusche & Blackduck do have a 5 fish limit on sunfish.

We've had some 10 and 15 below nights, but looks like the extended forecast is showing this weekend in into next week as some fantastic weather to hit the ice-highs in the 20's (lows in the single digits), how perfect are those days to hit the ice and do some hole hopping!

[walleyvoyager]

Fhishing was slow on Blackduck today. Tried 7-26 fOW, managed to get 10 perch all ranging from 5-8 inches. Had one walleye in the middle of the day in 24 feet. One pout came around the sametime, 6 foot of the bottom in 22'. Sun up had some perch, sundown had only one perch for me.

It was a tough bite today. I marked fish in all depths. Lots of lookers.

Fishing should improve with the weather over the next few days.

[Drake]

Thanks Walleyvoyager; like you said, with the warmer temps and sunny days hopefully the walleye bite will kick in better, plus getting rid of that snowy freezy drizzle yesterday-and warmer temps are much easier to go hole hopping for perch. Did you fish the bars? Thanks for your report!

[walleyvoyager]

Fished a few of the mid lake humps and the and a few spots along the north and east.

This was my first day on Blackduck. Lots of options.

[walleyvoyager]

Fishing did improve over Friday and Saturday. We hit a spot on Friday, you couldn't put your jig in the water and hit the bottom. A perch would hit it every time. Sorted through and managed to get 20 decent keepers out of the bunch. Also in the same area we had 4 northerns, 3 we landed all in the mid 20's and the biggest of the bunch snapped the line at the hole. Had one walleye in the middle of the day in 17 fow. Though we were going to be on the spot for the night bite with that one in the middle of the day, but he was the only eye.

Saturday we fished another area, same shoreline type breaks. Ended up with 12 more keeper sized perch. Between 10am and 3pm.

All in all all I thought it was a good weekend on the water. Being my first time on Blackduck, I look forward to going back. Lots of good spots to try.

[Drake]

Thanks for your report walleyvoyager! Blackduck Lake Does have a lot of structure and great spots to fish; we've been here 11 years and are still adding spots/structure to our maps that aren't on them. Glad you got into the perch, there sure are some nice lil footballs in there-can't beat a 12-13" perch, and they are clean, not wormy. That's what one of my guide friends was saying about the walleye, mostly a late afternoon bite. See what happens with the change in the weather pattern this week.

This weekend our folks that were after the walleye were still heading up to Upper Red for the walleye bite, which was still going pretty strong for our folks. Basically the weekend's report is the same as the report I posted late last week, with a couple more inches of ice added to the thickness, but the depths & presentations still worked and the fish cleaning room was busy. Travel on the lakes continues to be easy going. (FYI, calls have been coming in about the motel & fish cleaning room, deep freeze to store fish & the internet-there are 10 standard rooms with 2 beds; 2 kitchenettes and 1 large unit (5 beds & full kitchen) and the heated fish cleaning room, freezer,gas grill & internet are provided for our guests.)

This week the weather is doing some changing. Today was beautiful, with a high of 33, and through Friday temps are to be in the 20's/30's (60% chance of snow showers tomorrow) ; with Friday night the cold front coming back through with highs for the weekend & next week in the single digits and lows with that minus sign in front of the number! So a pretty nice week to be fishing, and some more ice to be made.

[Drake]

Wow, yesterday was a fantastic day to be outside, the temps were in the upper 40's, which melted a lot of snow and you can now see spots of ground, so travel on the lakes is going well without snow needing to be plowed down, but it is slick out there so until more snow falls cleats are a good thing. Last night we did get rain followed by temps hitting down to 14 so the roads & our lot was pretty slick this morning. The snow that was to hit this morning so far hasn't, but they are still predicting 2 to 4" of snow between 8 tonight and noon tomorrow-so travel safe. Today its 33 and that's the end of the warm weather, the next ten show highs in the low teens to low single digits and plenty of nights below zero.

The majority of our anglers are still heading to Upper Red Lake for a very strong walleye bite. 11 to 13 fow with a pretty steady bite throughout the day, red glow jig or forrage tipped with a minnow has been a good presentation for not only the walleye but a few pike also. As nightfall hits they are finding the walleye moving into the shallower 7 to 10' depths.

Blackduck Lake has been producing some perch in the daylight hours with a walleye bite more towards evening in the 14 to 20' depths. Reports from Gull Lake just down the road are the panfish in the deper 15 to 20' depths, and the same depths for many of the smaller lakes in the area for the slab crappies (12-14") and bull sunnies (8-10")

[Drake]

This week the majority of the anglers have continued to head up to Upper Red Lake for the walleye bite, which continues to go very well, with a jig or a plain hook and a minnow as a good presentation, and as always, being away from the crowds & quieter working well.

We just had some anglers who gave Blackduck a whirl this afternoon that are heading to the fish cleaning room to clean perch. Fishing in 18 fow they were able to reel in pike as well as the perch, but unfortunately no walleye for them, but happy with the perch. As night falls, give the shallower 10-14' depths for those eyes. The ice today measured at 16" of ice.

Temps up and down the next few days, so we'll see how the change in the temps & pressure affects the fishing (leveling out in the 0 range come Monday. Have a great weekend!

[Drake]

What a great, but COLD, weekend up here in the Blackduck area. I just finished adding a few pictures from our AFNG guys annual fishing trip on our site. The cold, and the temps got down to -15 and lower (at one point the windchill was -40) didn't stop the guys from heading to the lakes and fishing. The guys spread out to several different lakes in the area. For those wanting walleye, Upper Red Lake was where they headed and fishing in 12 to 14 depths during the day and as the sun went down moving in to 8-10' depths were the most productive. A couple wanted perch and headed to Blackduck in 18'; and numerous lakes were hit for sunnies and crappies and they were still biting in yesterdays extreme cold, seeing crappies measuring up to 15 and sunfish 8 to 10, with the largest 10 1/4". When asked yesterday about the ice thickness on a couple of the lakes the guys said pushing 2'. Travel on the lakes was pretty good, a couple of spots with drifts, but some good fishing. Temps are going to be heading back more towards norm (which is 15 highs & -5 lows) with this weekend highs in the mid teens to low 20's so a pretty nice one in store!

[Drake]

Let the weekend begin, and a warmer one at that! The past week the temps have continued to be subzero so not many have been up here fishing, but that is changing today. Our anglers yesterday were all out panfishing and we saw some nice crappies coming through the fish cleaning room from a couple of the smaller lakes in the area.

We had a couple inches of snow, with some winds and drifting but they said they still had no problems driving around on the lakes going out of the public accesses; measured 2' of ice and the crappies were in the deeper 20' depths fishing anywhere from the bottom to 7' up. Today everyone is already out on the various lakes, some are at Upper Red where the walleye bite continues to go well, and others spreading out at the various smaller lakes in the area. This weekend temps are going to inch up to the 20's, with Sunday pushing 30 and in the 20's through Tuesday. So get out and enjoy this "warm" weather!

[fishnut2]

Fished late afternoon for crappies because we could not get away any earlier in 30 feet of water and found crappies suspended any where from 8 to 10 feet off bottom. We wound up catching 8 fish from 10-13 inches and saw tons on the graph. A little finicky bite but a good time none the less. Four other locals on the lake were there before us and they all left around 4:30. Don't know if they were done or not as they were there before us.

[Drake]

Thanks fishnut for the report! Fishing this weekend was still pretty good, just not the high number of limits that everyone has been reeling in; with everyone attributing it to the change in temps and pressure-seeing plenty of fish down there with the cameras. After the subzero days we got up to 33, quite a change. The anglers reported good numbers of fish, just not as many limits, and quality fish (sunnies in the 10" and crappies in the 12" range); and as Fishnut said many were getting them in the 10' from the bottom and a some were also caught hugging the bottom. Last night we did get snow, posted a pic with the ruler showing it measured at 6.5"; today the temps are to be in the mid 20's, then tonight the cooldown with highs through Friday at the 0 mark, and starting to warm up on Saturday back to the teen and low 20's for next week.

[Drake]

Another burst of winter has hit, with temps today only to hit -4 and winds coming out of the nw at 15 to 25 mph giving us winchills of -30, so bundle up and be safe out there! (Average this time of year is highs in teh high teens/lows around -5) Tonight is suppose to drop to -28 with WNW winds at 10-20 mph. For those heading up this weekend, tomorrow will get up to -3 and the winds will be dying down to out of the sw at 5-10, then the warming trend hitting for the weekend in the low around 10 and then heading back towards normal and next week looking pretty great with balmy days in the 20's.

True winter sportsman area, we have a large group up snowmobiling and enjoying the 6.5" of fresh powder and hitting the numerous trails around us (the trailhead is in the park next door), yesterday hitting the trails in the Bemidji area, today hitting the trails north towards Baudette.

Our anglers the last few days are all heading to Upper Red for walleye, perch and the occassional crappie, which when those come through the fish cleaning room folks start reminiscing of the great crappie days when we first moved up here. The crappies are spotty, not schools, but the few that have been reeled in have been the true 14 to 15" slabs. With the colder weather the wallye aren't doing a fast & furious bite, and seem to be more skittish. A dead stick and away from the crowds in a quieter area has been the ticket. The morning bite has been fairly slow, and a mmore steadier bite has been kicking in around 4pm; with some doing well in the 12-13' depths and as the sun is setting many are moving to the 8 to 10' depths. A red or green glow (constantly lit) jig or spoon tipped with a minnow has been the best producer. More and more perch are starting to show up each week, especially for those fishing where the bottom changes (mud-rocky). So bundle up, but next week some pretty great weather is heading our way and with temps being consistant for several days we should be in for some pretty great fishing!

[Drake]

This week we've had a few up for fishing and bringing walleye, crappies and some perch in from Upper Red, Blackduck, Round & several numerous lakes in the area. Although quality size fish, not huge number of limits, they are saying they are having the camera's down there and seeing the fish coming in to check them out but not all are biting, and attributing it to the change in the weather (warming up) & the pressure. Now that it's becoming steadier we'll see what happens this weekend with a full house of ice fishermen. Yesterday one of our anglers said that they had hit several lakes in the area and travel was pretty decent on Blackduck and Upper Red, easier to get around in the trucks, and they hit one smaller lake with four wheelers and said with drifts that was a little more difficult, their pickup or snowmobile would've been easier. Most all of our anglers are here and have already headed to Upper Red for the afternoon, where the walleye fishing has continued to do well, away from the crowds, 12'+ during daylight, 8 to 10' in the evening, a red glow jig or spoon tipped with a minnow & a dead stick outproducing jigging.

Now to see what happens with the possible snow fall, we have a winter storm watch for Sunday "* TIMING... SNOW IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE SUNDAY MORNING AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY MORNING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... 6 TO 10 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE.

* WINDS... NORTH WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 10 TO 25 MPH SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY MORNING. VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED TO UNDER A MILE IN OPEN AREAS WITH BLOWING SNOW."

-we've had it where it turns into a warning and times where it has turned into no snow..we'll see!

[Drake]

So far at 1:30 we have approx 2" of new snow on the ground, and the weather forecast is showing "Next 6 hours. Light to moderate snow will develop around 2pm. Cloudy and windy. Temperatures steady or falling to near 26F. Winds NE at 20 to 25 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Additional snowfall of 2 to 3 inches through 7:00pm." at times the snow stops, then turns on to light flurries, but the wind is kicking in with 13 mph out of the northeast and gusts to 20. The forecast for tonight keeps changing as to how much additional overnight, but the winds will be increasing. Traffic going up & down 71 has been going at a good clip all day, but now with the winds picking up the visibility is decreasing-drive safe! We have a couple folks on Upper Red fishing and like we told them, check with your access owner to see what they have to say about travel out on the lake today.

[Drake]

Sorry for the delay in posting-busy day yesterday moving snow around. The big question is how much did we actually get, and it's pretty hard to tell with the drifting from the strong winds. Some have said 8", while the news said 12".

Snow mobilers are loving it (tons of groomed trails with the trailhead right next door to us). But one thing is the fishing has been doing pretty well, I did add a couple of pics to the site of the walleye that have been caught at Upper Red Lake where the fishing has continued to be good for most of our guests and are finding that there are some keeper perch in the mix. A local friend is the only one that I talked to that has his Blackduck Lake the last couple of days (Sunday) and he limited out on crappies-crappies and sunnies on Blackduck are very nice if you can get into them-pretty hard to find. There are numerous lakes in the Blackduck area that offer not only good walleye fishing, but also crappie, sunnies and perch and it's nice to see folks really spreading out and trying different lakes in the area.

[Drake]

What a Perfect day to be out on the ice! It's 19, with just a light wind out of the sw and the sun is shining so it's feeling pretty good out. A full house and all our guests and Mike are out on the ice fishing, and I am seeing a lot of local friends zipping down the snowmobile trails (trailhead in the park right next door) so a great day in the Blackduck area. It was a big caravan of folks heading to Upper Red Lake this morning, some folks are heading out of the eastside and others are going out of the southshore. Yesterday the fishing on Upper Red was really good, with a lot of walleye-good numbers of catch and release walleye, as well as some brought back for a fresh fish dinner (no one keeping their limits-just wanting to keep some for dinner last night so they could go back today), and good numbers of perch. One nice surprise was getting to take a pic of two anglers who brought three 14" slab crappies which was posted to the site; which got everyone reminiscing about the crappie boom days.

On Blackduck Lake, the public access isn't plowed out yet (it should be plowed later this week gearing up for the ice fishing derby next weekend); but on the south shore our anglers are accessing via Beaver Creek where not only perch fishing in towards the shallows has been going good, but also a crappie bite of some 12-14" crappies, haven't seen any gills coming out of there, but perch & crappie bite has been going good there the last week. For gills a couple of local friends have been doing good on Gull Lake (remember limit is 5 on gull) and there is a plowed pay access on there.

This weeks temps is temps in the mid to upper 20's the next few days, then Tuesday & Wed. in the single digits before warming back up in the 20's later next week.

[Drake]

Last weekend of walleye, so have to switch over to panfish soon. Most everyone has been heading to Upper Red to get in on the walleye action which has continued to do very well this week. I think this is one of the best years of consistantly good walleye fishing in awhile, we've seen so many limits coming back, as well as a being able to head up there to get some for a fresh walleye dinner. We, and our guests, have done well at all the different accesses, so give it a whirl while there still is time. Blackduck Lake some have been doing perch fishing, hitting the plowed access out of the south-right out front of the access, but have been doing some weeding-throwing the lil 9-10"ers back and keeping the bigger 12-13" and a few crappies.

The public access on Blackduck is cleared out and they are getting it all set up for this Saturday's 4th Annual Blackduck Fireman's Relief Fishing Derby which is from Noon till 4pm. As always, the cost is only $10, and gives out some pretty nice top 10 prizes (auger, vexlar, $500 cash, etc). Lots of door prizes (top door prize is an Aquaview); prizes & goody bags for kids 12 & under. There's a polar plunge & concessions. All proceeds go to the Blackduck Firemans Relief Association!

We did have a last minute opening for this weekend, so if you want to come up and join us for some fishing (and temps pushing 30) give us a call. Good luck to all hitting the Derby!

[battleriver1]

Fished rabadue Tuesday from about noon to 530. Lots of slush! Drilled holes from about 17 ft out to 34 ft. Marked fish suspended in 26 out to 34. No takers though. Caught a dozen perch and 2 pike. Perch we're dinks. Beautiful day though!

[theharvester]

probably freezing out again like it did in 96

[battleriver1]

I remember whewhen it froze out. I don't think that's the case now. I would like to hit it again in a week or so. Might try cass or gull this weekend! Island lake is on the hit list as well.

[Storm]

Besides from slush how much snow was out there? Able to drive a truck at all?

[Drake]

Hey Storm, Last weekend they plowed open the public for the fishing derby so there is a pretty good size spot plowed open where the derby was; also have some folks that are getting on the lake from the southside resort where there they have plowed some roads out going along the shore and near the island. Gull Lake has a plowed resort access, and some of the smaller lakes in the area the accesses have been plowed out by local folks that are enabling our anglers to get out on the lake, I have folks out right now hitting different lakes in the area, and we are about to head out to go check a few other lakes to see what public accesses have been plowed out. The sunshine the last few days has helped to melt the snow, it is going down (looking at the park next door under the trees you can see the dirt, but there's still up to a foot in some spots), so those in vehicles are pretty much going out on the plowed roads. The nighttime lows have been in the single digits, so our guests the last few days are saying they aren't getting into a sloppy mess cause it's freezing back up hard at night. The seven day forecast is showing temps in the mid 20's to low 30's for highs, & single digits to mid teens for lows-so right around average for this time of year.

[Drake]

This past weekend the fishing was actually pretty decent-i did manage to get one picture for our website that shows one group of two with their nice size sunnies, crappies and perch-great catch of the day. Last night we got more snow, approx 6 to 8", depending on where i measured it at. We had a couple of anglers who headed over to Blackduck this morning to scope things out after the snow, heading to Beaver Creek to access the lake, and by 11 this morning they called back to tell the rest of the guys in their group to get geared up and get out there as they were getting into some nice size (12-14") crappies. Note, they do not have snowmobiles or wheelers so were sticking close to the plowed roads.