Ottertail Lake Fishing Reports

[carpmanjake]

very cool!

[Flaco651]

Cool Hopefully the Lake Sturgeon stocking efforts pay off.

[mngirl]

Cute little guy .

[GRAND DAD]

Thats awesome now you just have to wait about 60 years and catch him again.

[fishermatt]

the Perham paper recently had a picture of a 36" sturgeon that was caught by a couple guys seining minnows in the Dead river mouth. Another guy I know caught a 34" the week after opener.

[Dave S]

Saw one atleast 36" long at the bridge at the outlet of Ottertail over Memorial Day weekend.

[badfish]

The stocking efforts sure are paying off. I caught one that was probably 3.5 to 4 feet on rush lake by the mouth of the river.

[Dano2]

Anyone have an update on water temp. ?

Thanks

[CRF32]

Ranging anywhere from 68 to 71 degrees

[SapperACE]

My wife caught a 26" Sturgeon on the 24th. It was dragging a basketball sized ball of fishing line with it. It felt really good to release it from that line.

It was a reminder of what can happen when trash like that is thrown into the lake. It was the first time I have ever seen in person what can happen though.

All of that aside... it was really cool to catch that fish on Ottertail, and I will post a pic when it gets emailed to me.

[7outof10]

that is good to here

[TonkaBass]

thats cool...how did you catch him? they sure do look cool when they are that small

[ottertailguy]

Just with a net but it took me two times. We were surprised it didn't move far after the first attempt though.

[trosy29]

Looking for some advise on OT this weekend. I have heard the walleyes are biting but looking for some guidance. I have heard 8-12 with jigs and leaches...30' with crawlers...and raps in the shallows...also wondering what time of day...

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

Happy 4th! Enjoy the great weather!

[ottertailguy]

There are a lot of fish in OT but the key is to make sure you keep moving until you find them. Don't waste time on any spot that doesn't produce in 15 to 20 minutes.

[Dano2]

I was there for a few days and it was pretty much a hit n miss thing,

like it usually is i reckin. wed. i did real well, 18-22 ft with crawlers, guys near me were jigging and doing ok as well, Thursday

was tough, real short hits, water was very calm which i believe

factored into it as there was alot of may flies floating, fish a jumping for them. some of them 12-14'ers from last year grew a little, so that was nice to see. Good luck to you!

[GRAND DAD]

Just wondering if anybody fished OT this weekend and how you did. Been trying to learn the lake for awhile. Finaly hit the jack pot on Sat. Then come Sunday wind changed and it was cloudy, and the fish were gone.

[nroff]

i got two on saturday and one on sunday. I tried all over the lake on both ends between the two days. I had heard they were in deeper (20-30) but I had no luck.

[GRAND DAD]

Thanks for the reply nroff, I got my limit on nice one's on Sat not the little 13 inches 16 to 19 range and released 3 that where over 23 inches biggest was a 25. From 11am to 3pm in 9ft to 12 feet of water. Am just trying to see if am getting the OT puzzle put together. I have never done that good in 5 years of fishing the lake but I keep trying. Its been a very hard nut for me to crack. Whent back same spot on sunday and Nothing. but condtions had done a one eighty. So I guess it was just right place right time.

[Fishin_addict]

I too have had trouble finding active fish on a consistant basis on OT. 9-12 fow in the middle of the day in july ? is this a fluk or what? Whats everyones thoughts?

[slammer]

OT is tough if you dont fish it on a regular basis. I struggle also but keep trying different methods, depths, etc. I try my favorite spots first, then look for new stuff after that. I've used guides in the past and picked up a few tricks but it still frustrates me.

[ndsuhunter]

I was out giving it my best Sat and Sun. Caught one 23" early Sat night. Not much else except some of OT finest perch. I am only 24, but have grown up with a cabin on OT. Just recently got back into fishing on a regular basis. Hopefully someday I can figure OT out, but I enjoy the challenge everytime you head out. When you do get into fish, its always a good reward.

[Corey Bohn]

Granddad,

Not a fluke at all. Consider starting a journal and record each outing on the water. You will undoubtedly repeat your fete again on OT if you take note of everything you did that day. Minor details can be the key. You may not find them there the next day, but you will find them again, maybe not in the same spot, but another spot just like it may produce similar results.

Go over everything you did, what you used, the structure you fished, wind direction, air temp, water temp, bait used, color of lure, etc. Try to recall your precise techniques and everything you did that day. Chances are, you matched the hatch and the fish were shallow feeding on young-of-year bait or some kind of bug larvae, or they were just shallow feeding on forage.

I've fished OT for nearly 40 years and can tell you that there is always a shallow water bite going somewhere on the lake throughout the year if you can find it. Doesn't matter if its May, June, July, or August. I know some guys who have fished OT for many years and never fish deeper than 15 ft. ever, and then there's those like me who fish at all depths depending on what time of the year it is.

With OT's size and diverse structure and it's overall depth, it can be difficult to pattern fish unless you have a very good understanding of time of year patterns and preferences. Since we are approaching mid-summer, start thinking mid-lake. In the next couple weeks, look for fish to be on those mid-lake structures that top off at 25-35 ft. that are surrounded by deep water (50 plus ft.). Look for jumbo leeches and Lindy's and bouncers and crawlers to be effective.

The past week or so the bite on OT has been kind of tough which is not unusual this time of year. Typically in early to mid-July you see the fish transition and the bite can get tough at this time of year. OT generally gets going good again come the third week to late July and the bite goes good right into fall, which gets really good.

We are approaching the proverbial dog days of summer as they call them because fishing does as a rule, get tougher in most lakes because the weed growth is up and the young of year forage is becoming very prevalent. More places to hide and a lot of food can make it a guessing game at times, but I can tell you, that if you find a pod of shallow water fish, 9 out of 10 times they will feed hard and heavy, whereas that isn't always the case with a pod of deeper water fish.

Another thing about OT.....10 a.m. to 3 p.m. is primetime pretty much throughout the year on OT so it doesn't surprise me a bit when you said you caught your fish from 11-3. What is a little surprising is the fact that you caught numbers and nice fish on what was the third day of a continued cold front. 25 years of data on OT says that doesn't happen a whole lot. Does leave credence however, to my belief, that the fish are always biting no matter what the weather is doing, somewhere on the lake.

I am guessing you were fishing in or near weeds, either cabbage or sandgrass if you were in 9-12 ft., or rock. Rock will also hold fish shallow particularly if you have a lot of wind.

Nonetheless, make it a point to start locating other like structures that are the same as the location you did well at, and you will undoubtedly find them again. Pay close attention to the surrounding water depths at the spot you did well at, and then look for similar spots on a map. I am guessing there's deep water nearby. Who knows, maybe its something that will repeat itself only during a cold-front in July or early August.

Was there anything in the fish when you cleaned them?

[GRAND DAD]

Thank you very much Corey for sharing this info. This is what I was looking for. Am putting my journal together as I type. I have been going over everything in my head since Sat night. If there is one thing I learned this year from fishing Is pay close attention to detail thats the difrence.

I found this structure by pulling cranks, I didn't get any bites on the cranks, but by doing this I covered alot of ground. And pretty much every thing you said in your post you nailed it on the head, about location, There wasn't any weeds, I almost want to say sand muck type, because you could feel your lindy weight sink in it, so you would have to keep it just off the bottom.

And I didn't have to clean them to find what they were eating, there mouths were full of them I don't know what there called but looked like some sort of small blood worm, I even had some get hooked on my hook after taking fish off.

[rangerforme]

Are there many lakes in the ottertail area the have smallmouth?

[TonkaBass]

There are a few... some of them are pretty good.

[mattrd]

What lakes up that way have smallmouth in them?

[Gissert]

Clitherall, Pickeral, Ten Mile, and the Otter Tail River - maily below Friberg Dam.

[ibfishen1962]

Ottertail Lake or county? If you are referring to ottertail county, we can expand this conversation to cover a few more lakes.

[rangerforme]

County. I'm gonna start looking for a lake place and was just trying to narrow down the area I would like to buy in. I'm a big bass guy. I know panfishing is dynamite up that way.

I like NW WI too but they spear the [PoorWordUsage] out of those lakes for walleyes which I don't like.