Annandale-Buffalo-Hutchinson fishing reports

[aroep]

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[bigfisher1]

has anybody been out on belle? any luck? and how much ice?

[Willard_J]

yes, Sunday. No luck. 11-12 inches, coming off NE landing to north rock bars. Pretty good heave to drive around by the landing.

[walleyes4me]

Geez, settle down its Christamas. Ho, ho ho!!

[WildCountry]

i actually think them 12" walleyes taste the best........hahaha

[Hayes033]

Hey All,

I am a realitivly new ice fisherman, and have never experienced a blizzard like this before, and was wondering what should I expect this storm to do to the ice around our local lakes? I have been taking a snowmobile out pretty much everywhere, is it still safe to take a sled out? Is it even safe to walk on the ice anymore? I really have no idea what this heavy snow does to the take so any imput would be appericated!

Thanks.

[hbomb49]

Same here this is only my second year ice fishing and don't know what to expect from a snow storm like this.

[hydro]

Guys, The ice will still be pretty safe as it was about a foot thick before the storm and won't really soften up as long as temps stay cold. It will make truck travel rather treacherous as there was barely enough ice to support that kind of weight before the storm and the snow will insulate the ice for a while. As far as sled/ATV travel goes, you should be OK but you will have to deal with slush under the snow. Try not to get stuck.

The slush makes it sloppy and difficult to move about, to setup, and worst of all, to keep your feet dry. Eventually, most of the slush will freeze up and add to the total ice thickness, but we will need some cold weather to make that happen.

[outdoor guy]

Its to bad the aerator does not get put out. Why stick all this money in lakes if they are going to freeze out every few years.

Does anyone know how clear preston is this year?

[Eelpout08]

Preston is not clear from what i've seen. its too bad that it is getting so much pressure, not gonna be much left, not that there was much to start with. it would be nice if people didnt set up right on top of each other also. there is only 7-8 ft of water, doesnt take much to move the few fish out of the area! not sure i would eat too much out that lake anyway. its all run-off from the fields around it. MMMMM, Phosporus!

[FlyingFisherman]

out on Lake Jennie yesterday....10 inches of ice.....3 northerns and 3 perch......no walleyes.....anyone have any suggestions to find the walleyes out on lake jennie? (FYI I do have a vexilar)

[rattlem'up]

do you know if the water clarity is getting any better at Jennie? I was out spearing on the north end and didn't have any luck with northerns and it was really cloudy.

[FlyingFisherman]

water clarity on Lake Jennie yesterday on the south end---visibility was at least 3-4 feet

[Stradic]

Drove around yesterday. Seems few are trying to get out and fish. No one on Minnie Belle, Belle or Willie and a couple ports on Greenleaf.

[theR00ster]

Has anyone been out on Buffalo this week yet? Planning on hitting the ice Thursday and maybe again Saturday.

What about Pulaski? It LOOKS promising for 'eyes, but last year people were saying that they couldn't get 'em.

[mrklean]

guy i work with was out there dead sea pulaski dont know if there is very much ice out there yet

[usmtsrocks]

Is there any vehicle traffic on Preston after the storm? I usually get there early, but havent ventured out there at all yet. Looking to get my Dodge Dakota out there and chase some eyes, hoping there wont be many out with the snow. Any reports?

[jigginjim]

I was there just before snow hit. 5 hours, no hits. Talked with 6 other guys, they had 1 - 13" eye for 6hrs of fishing. Not so great. There was only 5 1/2" of ice before we got the 12" of snow. Be Darn careful!!!!!!!!!!

[Tomcat41]

Any news from Big or Mitchell? Seeing a few portables out there, but is anyone having any luck? Got a buddy coming up New Years and thought we would try local lakes first. Would we be better off going to Pelican or Buffalo?

[BOUNCED]

Any news from Big or Mitchell?

I haven't been out there yet. My neighbor went out to Mitchell yesterday scouting with the wheeler and turned around before he got stuck. It's a sloppy mess.

[LetsGoFishing]

Havent been out to Big in a couple days due to the last snowfall. Had been getting a few walleyes here and there with zillions of small perch mixed in.

[Avid Angler]

Buddy of mine tried Preston last night and had no bites. It is tough to get around. Slush everywhere!

I was out today on a lake and caught a limit of crappies. Most were 9.5 to 10 inches. They curled up nice when they hit the hot oil.

I had my fish by 1:00 this afternoon. They bit slow. I had to jump hole to hole to find the active fish. I graphed a lot, but most were just lookers. I was using a dropper rig and maggots.

Avid

[jcpmn82]

(Big)Eagle Lake, the one just north of Big Lake. Anyone ice fishing it? Reports...

[Josh22]

any big news about crappies on buffalo? any one know how much ice is out there? i am planning on hitting it up new years day.

[FishSystem]

Sure hope that slush hardens up nice over the holiday. Lookin to hit the South access Monday or Tuesday. Takin a 4dr Dodge Dakota, hope to drive out. That or go back to x lake.

[Josh22]

ya i hope it hardens also. nice enough ice to drive on. i am waitin to drive my car out on the ice. i am betin that the ice has harden because of the info that i have been hearing from around there.

[FishSystem]

ya i hope it hardens also. nice enough ice to drive on. i am waitin to drive my car out on the ice. i am betin that the ice has harden because of the info that i have been hearing from around there.

Well, maybe see ya out there. Going to try my spot on south side, and see what the bite is like for this year. Usually a good spot for that mid/late winter finniky bite. Monday or Tuesday night (which ever is warmer) I think. Good luck.

[EagleS]

Was out on Tuesday getting my fish house up on some logs to keep it out of the slush so it won't freeze down. Still breaking through the crust and into the slush with my ATV. How many days of this cold will it take to freeze that slush underneath?

[jmg]

Happy New Year everybody!

Just wondering if anyone has ventured onto beautiful Lake Collinwood yet this winter season?

My brother and I were thinking of puttting on the old "woolies" and heading out there sometime within the next few days. We generally start on the north side, but haven't done too well the last couple times we were out there. Any ideas?

Stay warm!!!

[Avid Angler]

Hey JMG,

A friend of mine was on Collinwood on Thursday morning and it was a slushy mess he said. He fished the north side and he said there was about 6 inches of slush, 7 inches of good ice and 6 inches of snow on top of that. They tried getting around with the four wheeler, but had to walk by the four wheeler side because it would break through with them on it. I guess it was a mess. He said the lake is really dirty and fishing was slow. They had one small walleye.

Maybe this extreme cold will freeze up this slush and we can all get around better when it warms up again. I will have extreme cabin fever after this weekend and next week. I will be ictching to rip some lips.

Be safe in this weather! This is down right dangerous to be trying to fish in.

Avid