Lake Mazaska Fishing Reports

[IceEyes]

My advice if your from N. Metro.....Go North. I fished Mazaska today and found the bite to be slow. I iced 5 crappies 1 Bluegill fishing from 14' down to 28'. No keepers by my standards (9-10" X 1" too thin) Crappies. Many people moving around and pulling houses off the lake. Tough lake for 'eyes....I don't fish pike on Mazaska. I fished 4 hours until dark thirty. Like I said I found fishing slow on the 5 lakes I was on today. By slow I mean small fish active and sizable fish caught were minimal.

[FishingJunky]

If you want to catch white bass you might want to try lake byllesby.

[Rippinlip]

I fished Mazaska yesterday also, and yes the bite was slow, but manageable.

I would be more concerned with the travel off the beaten path to get to the marginal areas.

Good Luck

Mark

[FishingJunky]

Went out to Mazaska today and went as far away from the crowd as I could go. We had no shacks within 700 yards of us and we were catching some gills and a few crappies. 30 minutes after we setup we had 15 shacks next to us. The fish turned off after that and not a single bite after other people came.

Seriously some people have no respect for other people. I know no one owns the lake but come on. We went away from everyone on purpose so it would be quite and then truck after truck came rolling over pulling permanent shacks and portables. Then they drill 100 holes and leave their trucks running for an hour right next to our shack. It was irritating. I have no idea how people think they are going to catch fish when they leave their trucks running next to their shack, music going, and drilling a million holes. Sorry for the rant but I try to avoid the crowds and stay quite while fishing.

[luckycrank]

I don't know the specifics of your location but chances are you chose a popular spot regardless if you where the first there or not. look where nobady wan'ts to fish and you'll be just fine

[love2fish4ever]

Probably no fish either.

[raymondk]

With the snow pack there is only so many places to fish out there most people don't have snow plows on there trucks so where do you think they are going to fish........and the roads that are out there are to the better spots.

[fishing gators]

Had alot of luck today. Fishing in 25fow getting alot of nice gills. I had to get them to come off the bottom, and when they did they hit hard.

[bunkerbay]

Made it out to Mazaska today and had some nice gills and few crappie in about 25 FOW as well. Thanks for the info guys.

[Chuck-B]

Fishing Junky, if you are out bucket fishing its tough to cover up how your doing, if your in a shack dont throw your fish out on the ice if you want to be by yourself. There are folks that will glass the lake to see where and how you are doing. My guess is someone seen you and thats when the parade came out.

[novy898]

Anyone been out there lately? How is the slush freezing up?

[no bait nate]

rougher than a cob out there, need some ground clearance for sure, so i've heard

[Matt C]

Was just out there...helping a buddy get his pick-up unstuck....it aint pretty out there.

[no bait nate]

thats an putting it nicely. what kind of truck and where?

[harvey lee]

Tetonka has some dandy white bass. Last winter I crushed them.

[Morneau132]

thats an putting it nicely. what kind of truck and where?

Yep my White Ford got pulled out by a Chevy. Nice guy stopped and jerked the tow strap and got me free just as Bunt arrived. [PoorWordUsage] day!

[no bait nate]

sorry to hear that was you morneau132, now i feel like an a$$ for just heading home. i'm thinking i might owe ya a few beers now for not helping out. let me know how ya do if ya get out there. i've been on good fishing for quite a while now and the spot is much easier to get too.

[email protected]

[ec30_06]

I might try it out there tomorrow for pike and panfish. what is the best access to use after the last blast of snow?

[no bait nate]

hirdler park is pretty good, just don't drive on old tracks and your good.

[holzwm]

First off, I have to say this is my first post! I'm pretty new to ice fishing, and don't get out as much as I would like...something about a 7 month old and my wife...

I bought a tent shack (blue brand 5x6 works awesome) this year, and my buddy has all of the other toys (auger, vex, heater, gps), so setting up is not the problem. We've been out on the lake a handful of times and pulled in a wopping 1 perch. We were out for around 4-5 hours each time and nothing...

Since I'm pretty new, I dont' have all the tackle a guy would need, I guess diapers and formula take priority, I'm just wondering exactly what plastics and a few particular lures a guy should have in the ol' box for mostly panfish and the occasional walleye. Try to keep it under $30, I can explain that much to my wife!

Oh yeah, I only want to catch the huge fish, so only lures/bait that catch them!!! HA!

We generally go out around the Mazaska/Shields area

[no bait nate]

welcome holzwm, small demons or teardrops, and colored hooks are some of my best producers for rigging minnows. shrimpos, ratsos, and small ants, paired with Gulp fish fry has been great for jigging lately. the plain hooks are also great for walleye fishing along with some various (1/8 or 1/4 oz.) rattle spoons. good luck

[zepman]

Go small...(jigs that is)... if you want to keep busy and invest in a spring bobber or two. I like the tungsten jigs because they're small but heavy...great investment IMO. I use the spring bobber(s) all the time and really think it ups my fish total by the end of the day...sometimes I think I wouldn't catch a single fish without it. Same with your line...2#-4# test is all you really need if you have a decent reel and the drag is smooth. Gold #6-#10 True-Turn hooks with a small tail-hooked minnow on it will catch just about anything. As Nate said, the Gulp fish frys are excellent plastics and keep the cost of bait down too. Good Luck!

[mskyfshntchr]

If I'm fishing Mazaska for panfish I have 2 lures I use: diamond jigs and gill pills.

Both are horizontal and for me, that seems to put many more pannies in the shack.

Colors I use are perch, chartruese or white.

Tip with two waxies or a waxie-spike combo. The red spikes seem to be the difference maker some days also.

It is up to you if you want to catch more fish or not, but I think it is a MUST to fish them with a spring bobber. You will catch some on a normal float, but you will catch 3-4 times more fish with the spring bobber.

That setup will catch crappies and gills out there....and some big ones too

Good luck.

[no bait nate]

mskfshntchr, i grew up in DC and lived there until about 3 years ago. Finally had to move because there wasn't a lake in the county. pretty tough location for a fisherman huh?

[luckycrank]

agreed with muskyfhsnchr spring boober is the way to fly

once you figure out the spring bobber theres no goin back

some people refer to them as "training wheels" those are the people who don't like to catch fish j/k

I currently am building some sweet!!! spring bobber rods w Alder/Mahogany wood handles ,solid carbon blanks and St croix spring bobber.

I've built a half dozen now and every time I build one for my self somebody want's it. and I sell it I am down to 3 blanks and 2 springs so at least one of the next three I get! problem is I really don't need anymore already have about 5 of em' store boughtw (sp?) of course

[holzwm]

Ok, so I went shopping today. $20 and I got a shrimpo, demon, diamond jig, gill pill, and some gulp fish fry. I already have a few puppet minnows, forage minnows and other rattle lures.

I plan on going out to Mazaska Saturday morning and trying things out. My buddy with all the equipment can't make it, so I'll be borrowing a few things to get through the ice and keep warm, so if you see a few big i diots out there looking confused next to a blue pop-up Expedition, come give us a hand!

I'm going to see if I can become a decent fisherman through the FN blogs!

Also, I looked into the spring bobber... is it an acutal bobber or a rod? I saw a rod for $45! That isn't in my budget, but I'm all for making one if anyone has any pics, feel free to send them over! Or is it just a bobber with a spring attached to it, I saw those too?

[zepman]

A spring bobber is a metal coil or wire that can be attached to the end of your rod...it's a light bite strike indicator. How you attach it depends on what type you get. Very easy to use and attach on most models and very inexpensive too.

[delmuts]

Another thing you will find when you change over to a spring bobber, is how you can work your jig! There are times when you just want to barely make the jig quiver, or slightly shake. Much easier compared to using a float of some kind.

[luckycrank]

there are spring bobbers available to attach to your rod at a better price. the rods I build are as good as qaulity as thorne bro or st croix legend Ice the actions are similar to thorne Bros but incorperate a st. croix spring and a tennesee style handle (tape on reel ) once I figure how to post a pic from my cell i will ost a pic of my next creation

[no bait nate]

luckycrank, i'd be interested in checking out a new rod. my brother in law is in need of a b-day present and he's a spring bobber virgin, that needs to join the cult. i agree once you figure out the right way to use them and gain confidence there is no going back and no way to out fish someone that knows how to use one. thanks