Annandale-Buffalo-Hutchinson fishing reports

[Rick G]

Was on one of the smaller lakes in the area and found crappies tight to a good weed edge in 3-5 ft of water. Water temp was 74-77

[Faner50]

SKUNKED on Walleye/Pike 4 straight days, Thursday - Sunday. Actually not even a bite. {{{Caught quite a few small Bass (C&R)on Saturday though.}}} Baited up using all the reqular baits, even ran cranks at night. Electronics showed fish suspending off the shoulders/drops in 15 feet. Tried floating jig heads to suspend bait up off the bottom but....you know the rest.

GLTA

Faner

[Avid Angler]

Hi everyone!

I was out quite a bit this weekend, but fishing was mediocre at best. The biggest eye was 22 inches and we must have caught 30 eyes under 12 inches.

I also caught a few pike in the 24 inch range. It was a tough bite for us. I did hear some good reports in the area and am hoping to get out and try them.

Avid

[macks n nerd]

hi everyone am going camping by or on belle lake for fathers day was wondering if there is access to fish from shore and if the bite is any good????????????? just wondering cause have never fished here before thanks

[LMITOUT]

Macks,

There is a fishing pier at the park that you can fish from.

[LMITOUT]

Went to Collinwood this morning for only the second time this year but didn't do very well. Wind was gusting out of the west with cloudy skies and the fish were not cooperating at all. Hooked up with a perch and a pike and that was it. It was nice to have some westerly winds for a change and I didn't mind it being choppy, but apparently the fish don't agree. Oh well. It was nice to get out since it's been a while for me. With the fronts moving through one after another this week I figured it would be tough and it didn't disappoint.

[Avid Angler]

Good morning!

I was out Saturday morning from 6:00 am to 12:30 pm. The bite surprised me. We targeted crappies and we found them in about a half hour of fishing. They were on a breakline in 10 ft of water in front of a flowing creek. We had about 35 crappies from 9.5 inches to 11.5 inches. We kept 14 under 10 inches and released everything over 10 inches. We also caught some walleyes. We had 3 eyes. A 15, 17 and a 23 inch. We also had pike and catfish. We found all of the active fish in front of the creek. We tried a couple other spots and had no success.

Our weapon of choice was jigs and minnows trolling at .75 mph.

It was a great morning. So next time you go out to your favorite lake, look for inlets with flowing water. Try to find the breakline and work it. You might be surprised at what you find.

Avid

[Farley]

Hey Limit, lidy rigging\jigging\trolling raps?? How deep did you try?? I Got a fridge full of leeches and crawlers, might have to get out there this week to start using them up. I'll try whatever you didnt.

We did o.k. out there a few weeks ago, but that was a few weeks ago.

[LMITOUT]

I did a little of everything except jigs. Seem to be graphing more fish in the 10-14' range.

[hydro]

Took my daughter out yesterday for a multi species trip. We launched at Maple Lake and tried casting for pike. No luck at that, and Ms. electronics proceeded to break out the Nintendo. Moved to the north end and tried sunfish, caught some but they were tiny and present in the thousands, so I decided to move. Went back to the main lake to a promising looking bar and anchored. Right away we had fish under the boat and some nice ones as well. Nintendo was put away as there were more interesting things to do. Had a great time catching fish, then we went for a drive back to the landing and I let her drive (10 yrs old, slow speed just to get the hang of it). We managed to come home with about 20 fish and had a great sunfish sandwich dinner! (froze a couple of bags of fillets for later as well!)

[pike doctor]

Tried swan yesterday. What a pathetic waste of time. Fished for three hours without a bite. The water looked like chocolate milk. Tried everything everywhere and nothing was goin. The carp have all the underwater vegetation gone. They were sloppin EVERYWHERE. To bad the stupid pelicans and cormorants cant eat those things.

They also paved the gravel road on the north side all the way to the north landing. They put a fairly steep bank with no shoulder so most of the shore fishing opportunity is gone from there, and they made sure that when they salt the road all the runoff will go straight into the lake. Sure could have found something better to do with all that money. That road was just fine, but I guess when you have such a huge budget surplus projects like that become real important.

[LMITOUT]

Glad to hear they paved that road. That ramp is much better than the primitive access on the south side and obviously has more room in the parking lot. Too bad that the fishing wasn't better for you though.

[rugbymn]

Are there any muskie lakes in the area?

[BucksnDucks]

No

[Avid Angler]

Good morning!

I finally got to go fishing around here again. It had been a couple weeks. My goal was to find some big bluegills and I went out to Lake Minnebelle. I thought I had a chance to find some along the deep weedline.

I fished hard from 5:30am - 9:30am and only caught 4 bluegills worth keeping. I couldn't believe all the little ones. I went through 3 dozen leeches. The bass were very agressive. I had fun setting the hook on them. I bet I caught 20 bass. Most were in the 1 pound range. There was plenty of action, but was disappointed with the bluegill size.

Avid

[Avid Angler]

Good morning!

I had a chance to make it out on Saturday morning and it was a good one.

I started fishing about 5:30am and was trolling for crappies. I didn't have any success early, but I noticed that the crappies were feeding on the surface. I was trolling too deep so I made a change and started to smack them. They were only about 1 to 5 feet below the surface. I slow trolled with a dropper rig. I used a trout fly with a waxie. They seemed to like that. Before I knew I had a limit of nice eater crappies. 8.75-10 inches.

I switched to fishing eyes and caught six of them. Biggest was 16.75 inches. The others were small. I did get a 28.5 inch pike. For the eyes, I was using an 1/8 oz orange fireball jig tipped with a minnow. I was in about 7-9 foot.

I then chose to see if I could find some bluegills. I worked a 3-4 foot deep area of rubble outside some pencil reeds and hit the jackpot. I caught probably close to 30 bluegills. I kept a few females and immature males, but released all the mature males. They averaged 6-8 inches.

It was a great morning. The best part of it all was that no one was out there until 9:00 am. Even then there was only one boat and he left before I did.

I find it amusing that quite a few of my fishing buddies quit fishing this time of year. A lot them say that the walleyes don't bite or have some type of excuse.

The fish are there and they are feeding. You just have to go out there and figure them out. The big key for me is to find those gravel and rocky areas that drop into deep water fast. Deep water is all relative to the lake you are fishing. If the max depth is 15 feet, I consider that deep.

Have a great day and good luck fishing.

Avid

[Faner50]

WOW...this guy is good. So far on this thread he's caught....

5/17...30 walleyes

6/1....30 walleyes

6/21...35 crappies 3 walleyes

7/12...20 bass

7/19... limit of crappies 6 walleyes 30 bluegills

So when does the book come out? ""Secrets of the Avid Angler."" Hopefully there is a chapter on "How to's" when fishing cormorant infested, millfoil infested, alge infested, phosphate infested, prairie lakes.

If not a book, how about a seminar at the Litch bandstand ?

[Avid Angler]

Hey Faner I sense a little sarcasm, but hey it's all good.

It is funny that you mentioned that I should write a book. I would love you too and might just do that.

I would call myself a very astute student of the fishing game. I read alot of articles and books about fishing. When it comes to fishing, I read, listen to other anglers and do a lot of lake research before I hit the water.

Unfortunately, a lot of the walleyes around here that I have been catching are the little guys, but I do catch some decent eaters mixed in.

Probably my most valuable tools that I use when fishing is my GPS, depth finder and my jigging rod. I am constantly watching them and learning every trip on the water. Once you find a honey hole and mark it with the GPS, I can go back to it every time. I like to get a half dozen spots on each lake if available. It is amazing how much time it saves you when you hit the water. You can eliminate a lot of dead water and hit the prime areas.

My favorite fish to go after is the walleye, crappie and bluegill. I read a lot about these species and where to find them year around.

One of the big things about fishing is paying attention to detail. Some times all it takes to trigger fish is a different color bead on a lindy rig.

I am not bragging when I post my results. I am giving a fishing report like this forum is for and if you notice, I do give out hints of how to locate and what I am using. So best of luck out there and you can be the first to buy my book. Just kidding!

Avid

[rattleL]

nice report avid

[B@ssDoctor]

Quote

It is funny that you mentioned that I should write a book. I would love you too and might just do that.

Please don't get this website mixed up with MATCH.com........Glad to see you guys are getting along though......

[Avid Angler]

I see my grammar was lacking this morning.

Oops!

Faner, I forgot too mention that I did get a 31 inch walleye in June that I am putting on the wall, but I caught that one up north. I thought you would like to know.

Avid

[LMITOUT]

Keep doing what you're doing. Sounds like you're having a great season and thanks for the updates.

[Faner50]

My biggest walter is 33" last year on Lake Mille Lacs which I have fished winter and summer for almost 30 years. I did not mount it. We have done really well this year also, nothing over 28 but some nice fish from 24- 27".

I don't much read the fishing mags anymore. My wife asked me to dump the pile but before I did it was fun to look at those old issues from the 60's on up. There is not much more you can say about walleye habitat anymore but for the youngsters, they will eat up all of todays articles and learning the how-tos.

I grew up fishing without electonics until about the 70's when I started fishing on Mille lacs. Had an original Tom Mann Super 60 flasher. I learned to "trust" what I was seeing and fishing improved a bunch. Now running higher end GPS (with Minn chip) and Lowrance electronics.

Back in the day I also experimented quite abit. I made my own floating jigs at about the time LindyLittle Joe came out with the pill shaped floaters. I also experimented with wire and rubber core sinkers. Slide the sinker up the wire and you have what they market today as bottom bouncers.

Today, I buy most of my fishing needs from JRs near my home in Mpls. It is owned by Jim Betker. A mud/gravel flat on the west side of Mille Lacs still holds his name (Betker flat). Its fun to go into his shop and jabber with the guy. Tons of stories about the big lake and the launch he ran when he was younger.

As far as the Hutch area, my family has owned property on one of the "Alge Chain" of lakes (Washington, Stella, Manuella) for the last 50 years. I used to autumn fish on the south shore of Stella just off the old gravel road which is no longer there, with my grandfather. Lanterns, bait casters, steel rods with the old black nylon line. Frogs baby and a big sinker. Wade out as far as you could, cast it out, wade back and wait for that reel to start clicking. Fished the same way on the south side of Manuella near where that big tin shed sits. Grandpa got some pallets to stand on and cast. Some nights it was incredible, some nights skunked. I continue to fish those lakes today both winter and summer. This year, well, I've had fun on Mille Lacs but the "alge chain" has been tuff. Probably be up at the lake this weekend or the next and try em' out again.

Continued go luck to you Avid !

Faner (who drank too much coffee tonight)

PS..Old Jim Betker quote "Bass fishing is the only FAIR sport because the I.Q. of a Bass and a Bass fisherman are about the same.

[Avid Angler]

Wow Faner!

It sounds like you have put some miles on and have many years of experience. It is guys like your self that I like to learn from and fish with from time to time. My dad and grandpas got me into fishing, but were not walleye guys. I give 90% of the credit to a college friend of mine that got me into walleyes. Thanks Jessie!! Now I have become a fishing addict and can't get enough. I think the big kick for me is to fish a new lake every time and put together patterns that work.

I give you my respect for the 33 inch walleye. That is a nice fish and I think it is cool that you released her. I don't plan on ever mounting another walleye.

Mille Lacs is a great lake, but I very rarely get out there. It has been probably four years. I have never fished the Algae chain of lakes on open water. I concentrate on a couple of other areas that don't seem to have the pressure.

Faner I wish you the best of luck and hope you can bag them up.

Avid

[Faner50]

Avid...try this technique if fishing deep water gravel where snags can be a problem. This is my standard walleye rig on when fishing Mille Lacs or the Mississippi River in the spring.

Its basically a standard lindy rig set up. Only difference is I slide a "guick change" spinner blade clevis up the line. I then attach a bell sinker to the plastic clevis. I then use a standard swivel, 8 ft 6 pound Vanish leader and a small circle hook. When I get snagged, I pull hard on the line, the clevis will then bend and the bell sinker will pop off. I only loose the sinker and not the whole rig. Snap on a new sinker and your good to go in seconds rather than having to tie those knots again. The bell sinker comes with a wire loop at the top as well as some lindy style sinkers also manufactured with wire loop at top rather than the type with the hole drilled through the lead. This works for me and its easy to change sinker weight due to wind or depth change.

For the 'Alge Chain' I just use a standard bullet sinker when fishing the milfoil edges and hey, hit those garage sales. There are always necklesses for sale for a quarter or fifty cents full of multi colored beads for spinner or lindy rigs.

Later bud,

Faner

[Avid Angler]

Thanks for the tip.

I will have to add that to my arsenal of tricks.

I hope to get out tomorrow and Sunday. I will report next week.

Avid

[Hester]

BassDoc, I think we have made a connection.

[Avid Angler]

Good morning!

I have two reports from over the weekend.

First report:

Friday night, my good friend Jessie and I hit up Lake Koronis. I had never fished with red tail minnows before and he wanted me to experience the fun of it. These minnows are huge. They were from 4-7 inches long and ready to fight.

We were working a deep edge of a big flat in about 18 to 26 feet of water. We both hooked up a 5 foot snell with a #4 octopus gami hook. We hooked the red tail through the nostril and sent her down into the abyss.

Jessie told me to get ready. He was seeing alot of fish in about 23 feet. The big kick for me is when the red tail minnow starts to go nuts, get ready because you are about to get smacked. Sure enough, the minnow started going crazy and all of sudden I got whapped!! I gave the fish about 15 feet of line and then gave her the gusto.

After about a 5 minute fight I landed a 37 inch pike. This was my personal best in Minnesota. She was a beauty. After a quick photo, she went back. We trolled this break and caught two more pike. A 33 inch and a 28 inch. We also had a couple smallmouth that were 15-17 inches.

We then decided to get supper and went after some bluegills. We rigged up some four foot snells with small Gami hooks and a small leech. We trolled the weedline and ended up with 16 gills in the 7.5 inch to 9 inch range. It was a successful night.

Report # 2

I went out locally yesterday. I started fishing about 11:45am and went til about 4:30pm. I hadn't fished this lake before, so I started trolling along the breakline with my little rattle trap and picked up only 4 crappies in the first hour, but I did find an area that seemed to hold quite a few fish. I made a mental note and kept going because I wanted to explore the lake a little bit. This lake supposedly doesn't have many walleyes, but I ended up getting a 16.75 inch eye to hit the rattle. I was pleasantly surprised. After about another hour or so I couldn't really dial the crappies in. I had even worked the area that I thought the fish were at, but had worked it with the rattle not the jig. I decided to make one last pass over the area of interest with a jig and minnow. Bingo!! I found a large concentration of crappies along the break in 9-12 feet. In the last hour I probably caught 20 crappies. They were not very big though. They averaged between 8-9 inches with the two biggest being 9.5 inches.

I was happy with how the day ended. It took a little effort, but got the job done.

Avid

[Avid Angler]

I went out last night with my four year old son for a couple of hours.

What a nice night for fishing. We had about two hours to get after it. My son has the patience for about two minutes of fishing, but I usually bring some matchbox cars and trucks and a cooler full of snacks to keep him occupied. He enjoys that.

I checked out a couple of deeper sunken trees for crappies. The first spot yielded 5 crappies in no time until I got snagged and scared them out of the area. I then went to spot number 2 and got one and the third did not produce. We then trolled a rapala for the last half hour and picked up a couple of small 11 inch walleyes and a decent perch. In all I had gotten 6 crappies, 7 little walleyes and a perch. The crappies were about 9 inches.

Those sunken trees are money spots. I found them trolling rapalas and getting snagged on them. Most people would get mad and not think about what to do next. I slowly went back to the snagg and watched the depth finder. I could tell it was decent sized tree. I marked it with the GPS and got the rapala. Those spots are now my first spots I try when I go out. They yield almost every time.

Happy fishing!

Avid

[Matt S.]

I went out last night with my four year old son for a couple of hours.

What a nice night for fishing. We had about two hours to get after it. My son has the patience for about two minutes of fishing, but I usually bring some matchbox cars and trucks and a cooler full of snacks to keep him occupied. He enjoys that.

I checked out a couple of deeper sunken trees for crappies. The first spot yielded 5 crappies in no time until I got snagged and scared them out of the area. I then went to spot number 2 and got one and the third did not produce. We then trolled a rapala for the last half hour and picked up a couple of small 11 inch walleyes and a decent perch. In all I had gotten 6 crappies, 7 little walleyes and a perch. The crappies were about 9 inches.

Those sunken trees are money spots. I found them trolling rapalas and getting snagged on them. Most people would get mad and not think about what to do next. I slowly went back to the snagg and watched the depth finder. I could tell it was decent sized tree. I marked it with the GPS and got the rapala. Those spots are now my first spots I try when I go out. They yield almost every time.

Happy fishing!

Avid

Sunken trees?

I think I know where you were, but I've only fished one lake out there.