2020 Lake Osakis Fishing Reports

[Finlander]

Here's what I do to locate walleye's, and sunfish!

Start using a lindy rig or a spinner rig/crawler and work the 15' depths.

As usual you will wander into deeper and shallower depths as you try to stay on the 15' level.

I have a cabin on the north end on Osakis by Holiday resort, the area out front of Holiday to Buck Point resort drag those crawlers along the 15' until you get walleyes or bluegills. That is always a good area this time of year until eary October for sunfish.

Crappie's, go to the east side of Lindberg point working the drop off in about 30-40' of water with minnows or small 1/8 ounce jigs and white twister tails.

No guarentee, but that is the usual place for fishing these fish!

Good Luck!

[UKCM]

Finlander's advice is consistent to what I found last weekend. While I anchored and used waxies and crawlers we caught sunnies in 12 - 20 foot of water. If you are not inclined to troll, just keep moving along the drop offs. You may have to pull up the anchor alot but sooner or later you will find some. We fished vertically right next to the boat. Either use a slip bobber and set it about a foot off of the bottom or just drop your line down and reel up a foot or so.

If the bite is really on there likely will be a bunch of boats fishing the specific areas. If you get tired of the crowds, note the depth and work similar areas with less boats and you have a decent chance of catching them as well.

[pushbutton]

thanks guys!

UKCM...would rather not even catch fish than fish in a crowd....last i checked the lake has in excess of 6,000 acres...always amazes me how some people think the fish are only next to other peoples boats.

Finlander...i am familiar with that stretch...always stay at lakeshore and on windy days that area is usually accessable. was planning on starting inside the cabbage around 12 ft, but looks they are already moving out?

if any one is out next week stop by and say hi...i will be in a red lund my fishing partner is 4 with an attention span of a 2 year old so if your hungary we will be loaded up with skittles, M&M's, and many other fishing bribes.

[Finlander]

I'll be there with my son and buddies not to far from there trying to harvest some Canada geese in the morning. Then later after cleaning geese, take the boat out and try for bluegills! Should be a good time.

Here's a 10" bluegill from last spring caught on a flyrod!

[pushbutton]

nice gill!!!! probably caught 50 gills over 9 inches this year, but not one touched 10 on the tape....hopefully in a few days.........

[timjones]

Gills have been going good in parts of Schultz's Bay also in that 15 foot range. At least until last Friday. The last few days the wind and waves in that area of the lake have been so bad you couldn't hold a boat on spot for nothing. Today wasn't bad but didn't get out to try it.

[MikeB2205]

How's the weather been lately? We'll be up this weekend pry mostly troll for walleye and pike. would love to get into some nice crappies. any help would be great.

[Sportfish1850]

One word to describe Osakis weather this year....unpredictable. From sudden rain showers and thunderstorms that seem to spring up out of nowhere, to water spouts and surf-able white caps from strong straight-line winds there's been very little consistency to the weather much of the summer with very few if any long term patterns. I think that's a key reason for Osakis being an equally inconsistent fishery this summer with good days and bad days, good hours and bad hours all in the same day etc as fish have moved around with weather and wind patterns being so changeable.

Won't stop me from fishing again this weekend after a couple of weeks elsewhere but I don't expect to set the world on fire.

[Sportfish1850]

Updated fishing report....spent much of Saturday, Sun, and Mon fishing this weekend.

Walleyes are not biting on any presentation right now with any regularity. You get the odd one and if you work at it you can put 2 or 3 nice eaters in the live well over a few hours. We did have our best luck on night crawler rigs trolled at numerous depths between 13 and 20 feet. The ones that did hit were all good size fish. Between the perch attacks on our crawlers we put about 12 in the boat over a total of 10 hours of walleye fishing during the weekend. All were caught on Saturday and Monday with Sunday being a complete bust after the shift in wind from the east. The largest was a 24" and a 22". We put several back in the lake keeping four 17"ers for Monday's dinner before heading home. Orange,green, and chartreuse were the best options for colors.

Sunfish are available and hungry in many parts of the lake but much like retired said above, 14-16ft of water is the key. Wax worms were the most effective for numbers but I got some really nice big ones with the tail tip nearly hitting 10" using just 1" off the dark thick end of a night crawler. Small bait holding hooks was the key to consistent hookups. We caught a nice basket full on Sunday afternoon sitting all by ourselves in 15.5 ft of water adjacent to a drop off. No need to sit in a pack of boats if you don't like crowds as my fish finder was covered by a thick clouds of fish at 14 ft right off the bottom.

Adjacent to several of the "main lake bars and sand areas" we noted several "packs" of fish suspending at 17 or 18 feet in 22-24 feet of water. I'm guessing Crappies but we didn't fish for them.

Inconsistency in the weather patterns continued to complicate fishing with sun, heavy cloud, sun, an isolated shower, stop and start winds all happening within the same day.

Another weekend of fishing for me then out comes the boat along with the guns and bows.

Good luck.

[firefish_12]

I'd like to get the kids out one more time and it sounds like this weekend is going to be nice----any reports or starting spots for sunnies or crappies

thanks

[pushbutton]

the info the guys laid out above and on the previous page is spot on! would like to thank eyehunter, finlander, retired, and sportfish(and others) for keeping this thread going each year. it is a great lake to fish and usually do so with my father and son, which makes it even more special. just bugging out and have to go back to work tomorrow. was another crazy week weather wise and when we were able to fish it was good time.

still have yet to get a 10 incher this year..this one was close, but no cigar

this freak was only 9 inches but was 2 oz's shy of a lb.

was fortunate enough to get into the crappies, but most only in the 12 inch class

never got out for the eyes, but will be back in the middle of oct. (minus my side kick for a few of the days) and will be chasing big girls and some real osakis slabs.

[UKCM]

Let me echo pushbuttons thanks to the regulars who post on here. I was up on Saturday and Sunday fishing pannies and what Sportfish said was pretty much spot on. Though I was in more 12 - 14 foot of water but that was reading the depthfinder on my trolling motor which reads a little shallow cause it is already a foot or two in the water. (and yeah I know I can use the offset on the depthfinder to adjust that, just too lazy)

We also did not get a 10 inches but did get a 9 1/2 that went 15 ounces. I have seen three fish come into my boat at 15 ounces without being able to get it to a pound. We did have at least 4 other fish between 12 and 13 ounces this weekend. Manhole covers as my brother calls them.

[Note from admin: please read forum policy before posting again. Thanks much]

[Sifty]

We ended up going out Sat. Morning and did well on the big fish.

My nephew got a 10.25 inch sunnie on a cane pole.

Our fish came out of ten feet of water.

It did seem like a smaller jig got more bites then the bigger jigs.

We also ened up with some dandy perch.

Sifty

[Sportfish1850]

Sifty, whats a "dandy" perch measure on Osakis ? I've caught the odd 6 incher but never really seen any numbers of something that would be considered a Jumbo perch. Given the huge number of 3" perch in the lake right now, we might have decent perch on this lake next summer but that might be just wishful thinking....maybe we'll get bigger northerns instead.

My starter battery quit on me last weekend. Won't take a charge and I had to jump start from the 24v bats. I don't intend to buy one to use twice then store for the winter so fishing the 'O' may be over for me this year as I don't ice fish on Osakis. Good luck guys and see you next season.

[pushbutton]

one opener, one year, i got into about a half dozen 12 to 13 inchers....... one of those was my sons first fish......he keeps asking when were going to get more "jumbos"......i just smile and say there out there somewhere....... i hear ya sportfish,not much of a water walker myself. thanks again and "see" you next year.

[timjones]

Winter is the only time I have caught the 12 - 14 inchers. All small ones in the summer.

[Sportfish1850]

So my hypothesis is this .....the little perch hit a growth spurt in November & December after I'm done fishing Osakis . Then, retired and his buddies crush them in Jan&Feb when us weekend warriors have packed it in for the year leaving just their babies to annoy us again come June....

That's got to be it.

[creepworm]

I have also caught some nice perch at first ice and late ice on Osakis. Summertime, just small ones.

[Sifty]

4 where 12.5 and 1 was 14

Sifty

[Beast26]

God I miss this lake. I haven't fished it in years. When I was a kid my parents had a cabin in Schultz's Bay and I will never forget the great times I had with my old man catching sunnies that averaged over a half pound. That was in the 80's and early 90's. Now I feel old (only 33). Does anyone else have some good pics of big gills they can post? Thanks

[timjones]

So my hypothesis is this .....the little perch hit a growth spurt in November & December after I'm done fishing Osakis . Then, retired and his buddies crush them in Jan&Feb when us weekend warriors have packed it in for the year leaving just their babies to annoy us again come June....

That's got to be it.

Darn, some one figured it out. Actually, last winter was like the summer, annoying little ones.

[Jack Peterson]

Lake Osakis, September 21st. 3-6 p.m

Not so many boats today for once!

Fish averaged 1/2 pound or greater.

The biggest gill was 1 pound 2 ounces.

Had the best luck using grasshoppers. 17-20 feet of water

North Eastern end of lake.

Just thought I'd share the catch of the day.

Jack

[Boatlessinblaine]

My wife and I will be up on the North end next week! Anyone have any tips for sunnies- crappies- walleyes? Any info is greatly appreciated, especially depths and colors. Thanks!

Is it Friday yet???

[Jack Peterson]

for bluegills, look for fish in 15-20 feet of water in the Northeastern bay. use a jiggle stick, with nearly any yellow/orange ice jig, tipped with a grasshopper! if you can catch grasshoppers, that's what osakis gills love! grasshoppers typically won't work for crappies. For walleyes, I would assume slow trolling with red tails on a lindy rig or snell will work in 15-30 feet, maybe even deeper. Crankbait at night to top it off.

[pushbutton]

has anyone been out lately? water temp? are there any fish left in the lake?

[Finlander]

North end between Caughrens Point and the boat access sunfish are biting in 12-17' of water!

[pushbutton]

lake turned over fri/sat....really had to work for fish! crappies out in 35ish, got some huge perch in 25 ish, could not find the larger gills(lots of small stuff)...a few small eyes...not what i was hoping for, but how often can you fish the second week in oct. in shorts and a tee shirt!!!

[timjones]

What makes you think it turned over? I was just out yesterday and saw no sign of a turn over yet for Osakis the way I understand what turn over is. Surface temps are still running around 60 degrees like they have been for about two weeks now. Waters still pretty clear. It will get plenty cloudy for a while once it turns over. Walleyes are still spread all over the place. They will school up once turn over happens. That's my opinion anyway. Maybe I don't understand what turn over is.

[pushbutton]

i would think it would be too warm for it also....cant come up with another explanation for all the sheer amount of weeds, crud, green gunk, rotten leaves,snails everywhere, ect......could not even cast and retrieve a line on sat/sun without fouling up. it has cleaned and cleared up somewhat since......

[timjones]

The weeds have been coming in for about 3 - 4 weeks now. The neighbor and I have been raking them up and hauling them to the dump every four or five days. Most of it has been the celery grass that comes out by the roots on wind and wavey days. Pretty normal. It's my understanding that lakes usually don't start to turn over until surface temps get down into the low forties. At this temp the surface water becomes dense enough that the warmer, less dense water below it rises and the surface water sinks. This continues until the whole water column is about the same temperature.