Bald Eagle Lake Fishing Reports

[goblueM]

well the main metro lakes are fairly large and overfished... big food base + overfishing = tons of stunted fish that are kept as soon as they start hitting anything nearing respectable size

for me, ice fishing is about action. if i'm catching a bunch of fish usually I'm happy. though the possibility of a decent one is always nice

[Finesse]

Well, lets not turn this in to a metro lake bashing session. I like bald eagle because you can go out there, fish with a bunch of people who are generally all nice, and friendly. Talk with people you've never met before. Try a new spot every time you're there. Stay in the crowd, or get out of the crowd. Catch fish (regardless of the size), catch bigger "other-than-pan" fish. And generally have a good time. Its a party lake, and to think differently would just be tricking yourself. I've cought walleye out of bald eagle that have been plenty big (28in), and I've cought musky in the summer... so quit hatin', and start appreciatin'.

That's why I get out of the crowd. And yes I will bash. I read an article in the outdoor news that addresses this issue of overfishing and poor harvesting techniques. I believe the title was "GO NORTH" or something to that extent. These guys in the later posts are absolutely correct when they speak of stunted fish. Too many smaller fish and not enough food. Duh, that means they starve and are annorexic. But it's funny how the private lake that I fish, the average sunfish starts at 9" and goes up from there. 55 acres of pure happiness. The water clarity is tremendous too and the fish can actually see my bait. When you fish a honey hole like I do, you can really see the HUGE difference when you hop onto one of these local lakes. It truly is a waste of time. Like I said, good for a fix every now and then if I don't wanna drive. Sometimes, it really is like fishing out of a toilet.

[goblueM]

so in other news, lets just keep every single crappie out of BE this year, then institute a slot limit next year

[lazyhounedaleth]

i think i'll try bald eagle this week...tryed medicine and tonka but had to luck there ...hopeing to have better luck at bald eagle or white bear

[Finesse]

so in other news, lets just keep every single crappie out of BE this year, then institute a slot limit next year

Actually a slot limit would be a perfect solution. I'm not sure how long it would take to rebound some of these lakes though, but I'll bet that would help. In other words, all gills go back that are over 8" and crappies over 11" go back. BTW, I have NEVER kept a gill out of my honey hole that is 10" or above EVER. Just a hint. Crappies around 11" are all I keep too. Anything over 12" goes back with the 10"+ gills. Smaller ones taste good too! If the reasoning behind it is that it takes less larger pannies to fill the frying pan, that is the kind of thinking that destroys a lake.

[Tom7227]

so in other news, lets just keep every single crappie out of BE this year, then institute a slot limit next year

That is exactly what one suggestion has been. The people around Bald Eagle have hired Steve McComas for 15+ years and have spend well over 100k to improve the lake quality. One of the presentations dealt withi the balance of the living stuff in the lake. My understanding is that if there are too many small fish eat the zoowhatever then they stunt. If large predators are out of balance the panfish get out of balance etc, etc. It has to do with all sorts of complex biology and the factors that can booger things up are many in number. Example low rain fall causes the lake to stratify in the late summer with the result being low oxygen, too much rain washes in too much phos. It's way complex.

But the seeming bottom line at one meeting was that we should do everything we can to catch/remove carp and to catch and keep tons of small panfish.

[Terry Peterson]

Went out on BE for the first time ever on Sat nite, 12-19. Went southwest of the island in 19 fow, just off the 11' rock pile. 6-8" of ice where ever we drilled. Started catching eyes right at 4:30 sharp when the sun went down. They hit only one line which had a shiner (a couple came with the scoop of crappie minows). We quickly ran out of shiners and couldn't get any more to bite on the crappie minows after 4:50.

Could the bite possibly be that short? Or do the eyes really prefer shiners over crappies minnows in this lake?

Used a combo lakemap/GPS unit for the first time. Can't image walking onto a new lake and not having one of these. Put us directly on the structure we had picked out on the paper map.

[lindy rig]

I would be in favor of a slot limit on crappies.

[Maximum12]

Quote:

But it's funny how the private lake that I fish, the average sunfish starts at 9" and goes up from there.

Finesse, dude, really? There are, like, totally big fish on a private lake that like, gets less pressure? OMG! What news! I can't believe no one has thought of that before!

Too bad we all don't have a "private lake" to fish on. I have plenty of places to go catch fish on city lakes. You don't like them, I suggest you stay off them. We'll all be happier then.

And welcome to the site. I hope your next posts will be much more productive...

[Finesse]

:'(

[jaredjoker21]

Fished BE a few times last year. Up more on the north end. Lots of houses and traffic out there. Caught a few smaller walleyes and many 7-8 inch crappies. Generally don't keep those usually like 8.5 plus for eaters but lakes like this need to have some of the smaller ones weeded out.

It all tastes the same comin out of the pan!

[Jari Razskazoff]

The DNR should allow for Seagull Feeding on bald eagle, caus I sure don't wanna clean all those lil crappies.... I am against waste of fish, but heck golly gee wiz, do you know what I'm sayin'?!

[Burchoid]

:'(

He went a little over the top, but people don't like hearing about how you have a 'private' lake to fish loaded with ginormous fish... Whether or not you meant it like this, people will read it as "neener neener look what I get to fish and you don't!"

[dinomak]

I know what you're saying. The crappies I get out of there look like they are anorexic. Poor things look like they are starving. I think there are so many of 'em that there is not a stable enough food source to support them all.

[FishSystem]

yeah those lakemastr maps on gps are great. I haven't read a map and worked hard to find a structure since like...'06. Except on a few lakes with no lake map on gps. It sure helps.

Never found any eyes that didn't want shiners over crappie minnows, but I use the head only now most cases, so it doesn't matter to me.

[linetrash]

i may be overstepping my bounds but any color doing well right now?

[Mr. Pickeral]

Looking to head out to Bald this coming weekend. Anyone been having much luck the past few days by the island. Eyes or Crappies? Any info would be awesome!

[huerta17]

Trying to get out some night this week after work. Wanting to find a spot to just catch a few crappies and have a chance at a walleye. Would WBL or BE be a better bet??? Dont get a chance to get out much. Got into some crappies last weekend up north and have the itch to try to get back out.

[tip_upclyma]

I limited out on Crappies on WB the Friday before Christmas....10-11"ers.

More keepers in WB IMO

[life=outdoors92]

if u want crappies, WBL is the 100% best option. if u want walleyes, go to bald. wbl is one of the best metro crappie lakes by far if u find the spots like the person above did. bald is better for eyes because they have a little more size, and i would say more population. i have always had more luck on bald, always for walleye

[Jari Razskazoff]

I was out on Sunday, caught plenty of crappies, and a decent eater walleye. They were biting on just a plain ol' circle hook, and a crappie minnow. We were lucky enough to get some shiners, but only caught one crappie on that.

[jBohmer]

What was the ice like out on Bald Eagle. Thinking of heading out tomorrow morning sometime.

[Hugo]

Went out last eve. Slush has firmed up and travel by ATV was no problem. There was a small car parked out by the reeds. I would say 10-12" of ice where we were. Caught the basic 7" crappies but did manage one 15" waldo. 19 feet of water. Bite seemed a little off for us. Fish were there but not real interested in eating.

Hugo

[jBohmer]

Thanks for the ice update Hugo. I was a little nervous after the weird weather during Christmas.

[sammy81777]

what were you using for bait and lures

[Mr. Pickeral]

Thanks for the info guys! Ill give it a shot this weekend.

[Tom7227]

Saw a number of cars on the ice out on White Bear today but only one or two on Bald Eagle. How come?

[life=outdoors92]

bald eagle had 12 inches everywhere i drilled yesterday. the first couple inches were really white, must have been that slush that froze over. but the last 8 inches or so was jet black. maybe white bear has a little more

[fishing tech]

Was out today, alot of crappies and my first 2 walleyes of my life while actually try to catch them. I lost 1 other but I am happy. 16 and 18 inches and the ice was about 12".

[life=outdoors92]

last night i had a lot of fun with the walleyes. between 4 guys, we caught 15 (C&R) between 14-18". studied the lake master map, and found a spot no one was near. once we got there, we thought we were just on a small little hogback. the hummingbird and marcum revealed we were sittin on a pretty decent rock pile...