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I will be out there this weekend fishing the north end Friday night and all day Saturday. From what I have read they are catching panfish and crappies in that area. Is anyone else going to be out in that area this weekend????

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Was out there Sunday and 3 of us got our fish. We had some crappies but mostly gills. Earlier in the season the crappies were more plentifull but I assume pressure and harvest has taken its toll. We fished 17-20 foot in Mantheys bay. Travel wasn't bad Head of lakes has a rd plowed and there are quite a few trails busted off that. The bite was tough a lot tougher than normal,earlier in the year the fish were more plentifull and way more aggressive. Even with tough fishing we managed to get our fish by downsizeing and hole hopping. Still a lot of people and pressure but the crowds have thinned some. I'm amazed at the amount of people on the lake the last two years, been crazy!

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Was out there Sat. as well for the first time this year. Could not get to some of my marked spots because of all the houses stacked on each other. If the crowds have thinned some, I can only imagine what it looked like before. Hopefully, some fish are going back down the hole in each house.

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Last year Manthys was nuts, this year it's the whole north end. Despite what was published in one particular outdoor publication….the crappies have not, are not, nor will not be big this year and probably the next. Right now normal pattens and pressure are pushing them out deeper and the bite nearly not as aggressive. Good thing is that the lake won't be fished out as the south end only has a few houses on it. If you want fish now your going to have to work a lot harder for them.

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Hello all!

Our yearly ice fishing trip is scheduled for the Alexandria Lakes area this year. We are going up this weekend. We have never been there before and would appreciate any insight into how to fish the area, lake ice conditions for travel and which lakes are most popular. Is the ice ok to travel on with a couple SUV's and which lakes may have springs or spots that don't completely ice over. Responses in regards to after this weekend is appreciated. Thanks in advance. grin

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In two years ever one is going to be sitting out there scratching their heads wondering where all the fish went

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Lol. Yeah, something is almost encoded in our dna that prevents us from throwing panfish back down the hole. As mentioned the lake won't be fished out, tons of wheelhouse caravan unaccessible frozen water on the south end; might be a few fewer fish on the north end though wink Also, while the lake is very productive in terms of food source, do not know if there was enough to go around to support the huge year class of crappies that is going through right now. Some thinning needed to occur to increase the size strucure and possibly prevent a stunted population producing in the future. Similarly, there will be more food to go around for the gills and eyeballs.

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What pushbutton said.

There s a HUGE year class of crappies that are going through Osakis now. Just a few years ago they were all 4 inches and annoying as all get out. At least now they are 9 - 10 inches with pretty thick shoulders for their size, so one can have a meal if they want. I am not sure about the winter, but during summer they were everywhere on the lake. I caught them north, south, east side, west side, mostly just had to fish wherever the electronics lit up. While part of me would love it if this year class got to 13-14 inches en masse, I think it might impact the walleyes in particular.

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In terms of crappies being fished out, more will die of old age and normal mortality than all the fishermen fishing for them. There were crappies spawning everywhere last year that normally don't spawn in places, so look for good crappie fishing as usual! Just my 2 cents! 2c

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An extension is needed depending where and if you are fishing from a house that is high off the ice.

24" two weekends ago.

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It was ok last time up(week and half ago), definitely getting tougher with each new snow, but after last weekends big blow? With all the houses and ruckus remnants out there would assume there is the potential for some pretty serious drifting. A big boy four wheel drive, some shovels, and tow straps would probably be advisable if traveling out side of mantheys, possibly even inside. Good luck!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Targeted panfish on Osakis yesterday. Mantheys bay was loaded packed and I wasn't in the mood to sit around a bunch of noisy augers, so I decided venturing out on my own. This paid off. I really picked a random spot and started out in 20 ft of water with only 3 crappies in the morning. Around noon I had moved to 26-28 foot spot, marking some fish 2 ft off the bottom. After not catching them with minnow, I switched to eurolarva and plastics. They were BIG sunnies. First one was 9 1/2 ". Had to work really hard for these fish to commit. Sometimes it took 10-15 minutes to land 1 marked fish. I could have really used a spring bobber, because the bite was near impossible to feel. I might add, yesterday with the warmer weather, I was able to try many different presentations. Plastics worked at first, but later in the day I downsized to a TINY marmooska tipped with a single eurolarva. This caught the remainder of the fish. Landed 6 sunnies over 9 inches yesterday. The other 8 or so were all over 8. Get away from crowds, and success is much more rewarding.

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Thats great to hear! Do you know if anyone else has been catching fish or was catching fish when you were out there

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The crappies have been biting pretty consistently all season. We've had our best luck finding them suspended 8'-12' off the bottom in 40+ FOW. The lake has a really strong year class of 10-11" fish right now. Tons of houses on the north end like already said you could set up there or look to find your own spot away from the crowds.

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ok thanks ! im gonna head up there sunday. So lets hope they are biting. It would be my luck that when i get up there they would shut off ahahah smile

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How are the road and ice/snow conditions on the lake? Any help would be appreciated. Debating between sticking around home or heading west.

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There were goat trails every where last weekend from people getting their houses off. Have not seen it after the big blow, but suspect more of the same. ...you should be fine, especially since people have to get off this weekend.

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Never fished out of there, but can't imagine they would not have some plowed, lots of time left in the season. Ice is going to be there a while yet wink

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I would like to try Osakis this weekend. How is driving on the north end of the lake? Could I get around ok with 4 wheel drive truck? Any info would be appreciated, thanks

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Might have been me you saw...white Buick LeSabre. Wind was knarly, so fishing from my car sear with heat blasting worked great!

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Well, was not you I saw then, so there were at least two cars out there last weekend...plus our minivan smile Sat. might be the last day for that for a little while, going get rather messy out there come early next week.....

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Was out there yesterday very easy to get around. Head of lakes has a main rd and fingers off of it. saw two cars out there yesterday.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Was a bit slow for me today. Lots of lookers and small fish. Ended up with 10 or so nice ones for a meal. Lake travel is pretty good right now. Best bait was freshwater shrimp or plastics that imitated freshwater shrimp.

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  • The title was changed to Lake Osakis Fishing Reports

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