Forest Lake Fishing Reports

[ynnhoj]

Ya it is a mystery, I've never seen the lake this dirty. That stretch of hot weather is my guess. Looks like some rain is comming, that will slow down the wake boarders hopefully, and calm the lake, I'm hoping this little cold snap will be the dinner bell we all need for saturday.

[DWBPUN]

Witch lake do you think holds the most muskies? 1,2 or 3?

[tunrevir]

I say it is a tossup between 1&3. Good news is water temps are way down after the rain. Caught some decent pike tonight in 8' with the largest going a touch over 6#'s. For those fishing the ski tourney tomorrow, good luck! Top waters and loud baits are gonna get you noticed. There has been alot of surface activity over the weeds this week.

Tunrevir~

[FLnick87]

How did everyone fair in the tourney? We caught nothing, had two follows, saw another tail come out of the water as one missed a bait, and saw a big one crusin the shallows. 7 legals were caught, one boat had 2 low 40's, two 47's were caught, 441/2, 44, and a 43... fun day on the water with a fun get together afterwards at the legion.

[DWBPUN]

we caught nothing and seen nothing. had something hit trolling a cowgirl she tugged on it for about 5 sec then she was gone. felt nice but its hard to tell with the extra weight of trolling. i did have to let go of the wheel and grab the pole with both hands. still counts as nothing lol the guys that did catch them, said they caught them near the docks in 2 feet of water with cowgirls/bucktails. i dont know how they can? its all weeds. even in 10 to 15 fow im dragging in alot of weeds. how do they do it? must be a shallow shore thats weedless i dont know about? the legion was fun! great food! i will deffinatly do it again and again!

[FLnick87]

Some shores you can get in the inside weedlines in 3-4 ft and it is more mud/sand...but still there are plenty of weeds to be caught. I will also do it again next year! they were short on boats tho...only 36,hopefully next time there is a better turn out.

[tunrevir]

the guys that did catch them, said they caught them near the docks in 2 feet of water with cowgirls/bucktails. i dont know how they can? its all weeds. even in 10 to 15 fow im dragging in alot of weeds. how do they do it? must be a shallow shore thats weedless i dont know about?

Though I am a bit doubtful about them coming out of 2 feet I have seen them near docks before. Most of the lake inside of 5' doesn't have standing vegetation that will give you problems when fishing. The other thing I might add to this quote is don't believe everything you hear unless you know the source well, some guys will pull your leg just to get you off track. Sounds like everyone had a good time.

Tunrevir~

[ynnhoj]

We had a great time as well, couldn't believe the weather.... Had one explode at the boat on my partner, wasn't ready..... That was it. Great time at the legion, good food, good times, will be there next year for sure, now, if we could just do something about the weeds!!!

[DWBPUN]

I have been working hard looking for one. where are they? lol

[t-bags]

Don't doubt them being shallow I've pulled.several muskie out of 5 feet or less . There not there all year but at certin times you can find a shallow fish.

[DWBPUN]

The rumor is that he might not be doing the tournament next year. because not enough people showed interest. not a big enough turn out. so if you go into mikes bait on 8 tell him how much fun it was and that you wanna do it again next year.

[Castinski]

Any guesses on when this bloom will finally die down? Seems like it usually ends in mid-late September, but then again it usually doesn't start until late August. Perfect storm this year for algae blooms. High rainfall amounts early and then high temps on top of it. Throw in all the boat traffic tearing up the weedbeds and that equals monster algae bloom this year.

Sure would be nice to get some clearish water soon! I'll guess Sep 21st.

[DWBPUN]

i have not been on the lake for almost 2 weeks, whats it like out there? still as dirty as a swamp? any luck with the muskies?

[FLnick87]

dirty no luck

[ole matty]

Still murky but boated a 38.5" over open water

[DWBPUN]

Good job! i was out this past sunday and nothing. plan on going out tomorrow evening and hopefully this weekend. if only these pigs new we only wanna hold them and take there picture. we dont want to eat you. lol

[Seamus]

does anybody know how much ice there is out there.

[Castinski]

I was out last night. Really depends where you are. West side of first was 2.5" under snow and up to 4.5" where it was clear. A lot of areas froze on different days so if you go out, check it every step of the way.

[servocam]

I stopped out on 3rd lake launch today to see what it was like. I did not go out too far because all of the rain the past day. Hate walking out and all of sudden dropping an inch or two down.

There was a good solid 2 inches with 1 inch of water/crud on top of that. Temp is back down to 21 degrees and windy.

[Castinski]

I'll confirm what servocam saw. I walked the shoreline of 1st lake and saw about 3 inches of good ice with water on top and a soft crust of slush on top of that. I also saw some washout spots where the rain was draining in. It will be at least late this week before I'm gonna venture back out there. I think I saw a portable out towards the channel between 1st and 2nd? Did anyone else see that?

[FLnick87]

i saw i car with a 4 wheeler trailer by the landing by the channel, but did not see anyone fishin

[tunrevir]

I haven't ventured out onto the lake yet this year but have been keeping my eye on it. There were some late freezing areas all along the west and north shore but they appear to be locked up. The good news is it appears the snow/rain forced the ice to sink a bit and with the cold temps forecast we will have decent walkable ice by late week on most areas of the lake. As soon as I get a chance I'll break out the spud and do some poking around and post what I find for thickness. As always, be careful and check your way out to where you are going to fish, bring a rope and a buddy, ice picks are nice, and handy to have and it never hurts to wear a lifevest when venturing out for the first time.

Tunrevir~

[tunrevir]

Well, the ice was not in the shape I thought it would be today with open areas on all three basins. 1st lake was nearly locked up tight but there was a large open area on the southeast side the usual spot that the ducks keep open. Second lake basin had a half dozen open water areas notably over the deep hole on the south side and into the middle of the main basin. Third lake had a large fissure from willow point to the opposite shoreline and four or five open areas out across the basin to the south. The cold temps should lock things up but it sounds like we are going to get more snow this weekend which could slush things up.

Tunrevir~

[servocam]

So in other words, it was good while it lasted and for those who got out, but the weather has now made a mess and postponed our fishing? I guess it gives us the entire weekend for the Ice Fishing show. I'll see you all there

[OnAFly]

Broaden your horizons servocam!

Lots of good lakes with 3-4 inches on them, just look smaller

[Stringerless!]

My kid is out there now claiming 6 inches.

[OnAFly]

what the heII are you doning online then!

[Seamus]

thanks for all the info guys and geez i cannot wait to get back out on the ice now!!!

[tunrevir]

Forest was mostly iced over today with the exception of a couple of spots on second and third. The area by the point was mostly closed this afternoon but there was a small area of open water visible at 3 today. The duck pond on first looked like it mostly had froze over but I couldn't be certain from my vantage point. The narrows areas leading from first to second and second to third had a few iffy looking spots so if you head out be careful!

Tunrevir~

[servocam]

Broaden your horizons servocam!

Lots of good lakes with 3-4 inches on them, just look smaller

I'm just trying to come up w/ excuses as schedules have been crazy and now I have a a 1 week old baby - Child #4. Dance, Gymnastics, Volleyball, Gymnastics, work, more work, more work...