2020 Detroit Lakes-Pelican Rapids Fishing Reports - Lake Conditions

[SlickyMHDMN]

No problem I hope you guys get on some fish.

[SlickyMHDMN]

I have a heavy permanent house and we want to put it out on lake Ida by the roadhouse. I dont know if its safe or even do-able. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated thanks.

[Tadpoletodd]

I commute by Ida every day. I have no idea of specific ice conditions but can tell you there have been pickups with perms out to the middle of the lake for about a week or more.

[fisheye]

Here is a report from Saturday morning - 12/28 - before the big wind:

Little Corm - people driving, some flooding, areas of deeper snow.

Leif - tons of people fishing, trucks all over the place

Big C - nobody driving on north end, looks like major flooding, west side a couple of trucks on the ice - also looked flooded.

Middle C - nobody driving anywhere, looked like large areas of flooding.

Ida - trucks on the north end by the access but could see that it was flooding in areas.

[Tadpoletodd]

Got to Franklin Friday mid-day and nobody out on ice with vehicles that I could see. All trucks in parking lot. Talked to a guy parking in access lot and he said there was 2" crust over slush/water in spots and decided to walk out and not risk it with his truck.

I ended up going to Lida as plan B with my Phoenician siblings and had no problem driving out there - about 14-15" everywhere we checked. Fished until 8:00p with one walleye and 3 missed fish. Really slow for us.

Absolutely kicking myself for not just running up to URL with them being it was so nice out. Oh well.

[Double A]

Fished Leif today. Was surprised by the occasional 4" of slush under a crust of snow. Not too difficult to get around.

1 small Walleye for the effort.

[eyehunter]

Curious as to what ice thicknesses you came across on Leif Double A? Also, how far on the lake did you venture out from the access and where you found the slush? Thanks.

[SlickyMHDMN]

Got the house out on Ida on friday eavning. Had a lot of standing water and slush. The truck had no problem getting around on the lake we found that there was 16" of solid ice under the snow and slush. I was out there last night 12/30/13 and everything is frozen solid no more slush or water wich was nice. The fishing has been real slow out there. Im hoping that its just from the cold snap were having. Thanks Tadpoletodd for the info. about Ida much appreciated.

[Tadpoletodd]

Glad it worked out for ya getting out there on Ida. I was hoping to hear a report like yours stating no more slush and water. Hope that's happening all over. Figured the warm day Friday would settle snow and lock it up a little bit with cold afterwards. Might get a truck out on Big C at some point after all.

[Double A]

Curious as to what ice thicknesses you came across on Leif Double A? Also, how far on the lake did you venture out from the access and where you found the slush? Thanks.

Ice was a consistent 17". I was out on the West side of the sunken island in 12 FOW.

[eyehunter]

17"? Wow, I wouldn't have guessed it would be that thick. Thanks Double A.

[SlickyMHDMN]

Went out to Ida again yesterday 01/01/14. We didn't even catch a fish, marked a few but no takers. Is it slow everywhere because of the weather or are some of you guys having some luck?? We drove by Big C and there was a bunch of trucks out off the west access infact a friend of mine was out there too. He had his under water camera down and said he caught a few perch and a northern but the walleyes that would come in weren't biting. So they are driving out on Big Cormorant for sure now.

[Tadpoletodd]

Good to know about Big C...I'll swing by there tonight on way home to check it out. Planning to go out of west access tomorrow afternoon. Any chance of any ice thickness reports from there?

Love the fish house by the way!

[SlickyMHDMN]

I talked to my buddy that was out on Big Cormorant out in front of the west access and he said there was a good 12"-14" of ice and that they were driving out there with full size trucks.

Thanks for the compliment on the Gopher House we like it too.

[SlickyMHDMN]

I wish we could get a break from this horrific weather, I dont know how much fishing Im gonna get done this weekend.

[Tadpoletodd]

Thanks for the updates on Big C!

If I can get my pickup out there then I'll give it a go this afternoon. I don't think my portable can handle this much wind without some sort of wind break. I'm hoping for a slight lull in the gail-force winds before this evenings blizzard. It was a near whiteout driving to Fargo this morning. Gonna get worse tonight I imagine!

[Kilo]

I drove out from the west side on big c on new years day in my Tahoe with no problems. Didn't stray from the previously broken trail and maybe only about 1/2 out by some permanent houses. At least 14in of good ice where I fished. Other full sized trucks out there but nobody strayed to far. Fishing was slow. Two northern ND a small walleye between 2p and 6p

[perch_destroyer]

How about ice thickness from the access on Detroit near the pavilion?

[paceman]

How about ice thickness from the access on Detroit near the pavilion?

The last time I was out there almost 2 weeks ago it was 20". probably over 2 feet by now.....

[Guest]

Reached my goal of that 16" crappie after hunting hard for 3+ yrs, putting in lots of time and fishing small ponds in the woods. Got this monster yesterday E of DL and North a bit in the woods. Plus 7 more over 14"...a day to remember; got stuck early before getting to the lake luckily about an hour later two guys came down the trail and pushed me out. Took a while to get dialed in then found the spot on the spot, conditions were perfect, warmer temps falling barometer and the big boys were feeding for a change. Pic below, thing looked like a freak coming out of the hole, measured then released to swim another day. Most fish on bobber set, plain hook and very large fatheads but did get a couple 14's jigging with a white Northland plastic impulse on a pink jig head jigging very aggressively.

[bak2MN]

Congrats!! Still have yet to be out fishing! Working down south again! Glad to see some nice fish being caught. I am jealous as heck!!

[driverjugs]

WTG!

[slick2526]

Nice fish BB!

My old man got this one Friday night. Has to be the Fattest 26" fish I have ever seen

[lawnbuilder]

Had a good time on DL today catching perch all day then some nice eater walleyes as evening moved in.

[DeathFromAbove]

Nice fish BB!!!

[rudabaux]

Fished Little Detroit this past Saturday. Fished 15' and got into a school of crappies. Only kept 2. Fished Leaf on Sunday. Set up shop a little too deep, 18-19 feet, and only kept 1 crappie and 1 gill. Caught some smaller fish, but it was pretty slow. Kept changing up lure profiles and bait and couldn't dial in. Lots of fish on the flasher. Will try shallower this weekend.

[MNSlaunch]

"Don't be self-conscious about that large forehead, it's beautiful!"

Snuck out for a little bit of panfish action. After checking several different areas on the lake, we ended up setting up on the tip of a point that extended out off of a large weed flat. My buddy Steve just "had this feeling" that was where we needed to be. Even while we were checking other areas I could see him gazing over to that section of the lake as if it was drawing him over! When I see that kind of look in someone's eye, there's no questioning it... You just gotta go! We drilled a series of holes ranging from 10 to 13 feet along the edge; fish of all species were sliding up and down feeding on the baitfish and small perch we were marking on the Vex.

We caught a good number of largemouth bass (fun on the light gear with 2-3lb test), a couple of northerns, perch, lots of bluegills and some crappies. The crappies came through in small schools of 3-4 periodically. These were the toughest ones to coax into biting, but they were all above average fish and worth the time spent trying to convince them to eat. The super sensitive tip of that Al Dente Noodle was crucial in detecting the "up bite"; then burying into them with the backbone that's needed on these "mules"!

We used a variety of jigs trying to adapt to the fish's attitude. A couple of the best producers were the Clam Pro Tackle Duckbill jigs, and 1/100th oz hair jigs below a split shot, all were tipped with just a single waxworm. Thanks for a fun day Steve!

-Brett McComas

[Guest]

Great job and good info..keep up the great work and thank you for sharing!

[DeathFromAbove]

Nice pictures MN. Looks like you are having fun and that's what it's all about!!!

[MNSlaunch]

Thanks guys but I owe it all to Steve (Cubby). My crappie up above was 1lb 5+oz, the one below that's held by the panfish mastermind "Cubby" was a tank and dwarfed my fish! Wish we would have been able to measure/weigh it, but always good to know you made a perfect release on a giant like that so someone else can catch it next time! When the man talks about fishing I shut my mouth and open my ears!