Medicine Lake Fishing Reports

[IamZombie]

There were still a lot of vehicles on the ice yesterday.

French park access must still be open, and I know the west access was open too.  Be careful on the west access though, there is a HUGE heave in the middle of the ramp, go around to either side.

[bigbad3]

Has anyone been out lately?  How is the ice holding up?  Just got our house of off Mille Lacs and looking to do some local fishing.

[Pigmeat]

9 hours ago, bigbad3 said:

Has anyone been out lately?  How is the ice holding up?  Just got our house of off Mille Lacs and looking to do some local fishing.

Ice is fine. Accesses are another story. Looks like walking or atv's to me. Walked out last night. Crappies suspended over 40 fow, bite slow and light. Did catch a couple walleyes in 30 fow looking for crappies. Around 3pm and they slammed the spoon. Odd timing I thought, but fun. Where were they last week?

[Pigmeat]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the 6" wide crack running roughly north-south across what used to be the road fron Harty's access to the shanty town. Spooky.

[GeluNumber1]

On 3/14/2010 at 5:23 PM, deadeye said:

Not yet. Maybe by next weekend.

 

I always catch plenty of crappies and sunnies. Small, but with a little ultralight its fun. I just C&R all of them but it seems like you could get enough for dinner.

 

There is also lots of bullheads and carp in there too. If I get sick of fishing pannies I tend to throw out a bottom rig with some corn on it and see what bites. My best out of there is around 15lbs.

 

Dogfish always make a appearance when I am there too. They always seem to smash the little mepps spinners and tiny cranks I throw. I usually catch a few each time I go. If someone was targeting them they might have a really good day fishing for them. I never did it my self cause I figured the CO would think I was fishing for bass.

Are these carp and dogfish in the backwaters or the ponds? I'm going there tomorrow and would love to get one of the two.

[nofishfisherman]

I'm looking for newbie advice for Medicine Lake? I'm taking the family out there tomorrow for a couple hours in the morning and I've never fished the lake before. I have a pontoon rented from Harty's and will be taking the wife, 3 year old, and an infant out. I'm hoping to get the 3 year old on some easy panfish. Doesn't matter about size just want her to catch some fish.

Any advice is appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

[Pigmeat]

Anybody had a look yet?

[Cline]

Looks like someone is out!       http://hartysboatworks.com/webcam.htm

[th64]

Out is better than in.

[Dragon Fish ll]

Hartys Web Cam seems to have pretty good night vision.

[Pigmeat]

Any info on Medicine? Ice thickness, bite? Harty's webcam seems stuck. Is the access open for parking on the ice? Thanks in advance!

[mjk]

I'll attempt to drive by there in an hour; will try to see what is going on, and report back this afternoon (as far as the access goes)

[fishingMN4eyes]

Went out on Monday evening and had about 5-6" of ice, I'd say. Bite was very slow, only a handful of crappies between three of us. We were just shy of 40' of water.

 

EDIT: As of Monday no parking on the ice.

Edited January 6, 2017 by fishingMN4eyes

[mjk]

Drove by this morning, only foot traffic coming off of south parking lot.

 

This afternoon, I saw a vehicle on the ice, out from Hardys, and a bit North.  Not sure where it got on, this morning Hardy's gate was closed.

 

 

 

[Pigmeat]

Kinda what I thought. Thanks!

Gotta wonder how much ice was built during this cold snap . . .

[hardcore365]

Went out yesterday from Hartys, gate was open but I just parked on the ice. Couple smaller vehicles out there not too far. I think a small jeep and a minivan. Fished 20 fow measured 14" of ice and it was booming by the time I left around 7.

[Pigmeat]

Any word on access since the snow? Is Joe plowing out from his access yet?

[cavalierowner]

2 hours ago, Pigmeat said:

Any word on access since the snow? Is Joe plowing out from his access yet?

I was just wondering the same thing. Are people driving out to the group over the deep hole north of his landing? I sure miss his webcam!

[hardcore365]

Should be good to go. There are a few drifts around but not too bad. I was bombing around Friday night with no problem. Stop in to joes he'll tell you what's up. 

[mjk]

Was out today, vehicles everywhere.  16".  I joked with the sisters regarding the webcam.  It is out of their hands, the person that runs them is having some issues..

[mrklean]

Last I heard no plowed roads yet

[Pigmeat]

Got out yesterday. Plenty of ice, not too much snow. Got a few gills and a few crappies. Light bite. Not exactly fast and furious, but fun to be out. Heading back today.

[mjk]

Their webcam is running again... dreary as heck, is this late March or January?

[cavalierowner]

1 hour ago, mjk said:

Their webcam is running again... dreary as heck, is this late March or January?

The webcam has been running for a few days now. I was watching it on and off all day yesterday and saw a fair number of vehicles going on and off the lake. But I haven't seen anything yet this morning. I was thinking about going out tomorrow, but I'm starting to get a bit nervous. I may call Harty's this afternoon and see what they say.

[Pigmeat]

I see on the cam that Joe's gate is open, but the access is pretty trashed with cones out front. Is it still driveable?

[mjk]

Good question, I stopped in yesterday morning and asked about the conditions. They said they were fine at that time for driving, and later in the day, there were vehicles out there.

[Pigmeat]

Yeah, it looks like there's room to drive around the bad spot. Nothing much happening on the lake, though. At least not from the angle you can see on the cam. Might as well go see.

[hardcore365]

So I took advantage of the perfect weather yesterday and brought the kiddo ice fishing for her first time. Fished with tip ups and rattle reels, and also jigged for perch. Only managed to catch one pike on the rattle reel, nothing on the tip ups and a few small perch on the jigging rod.

Fished around 12-3pm, 8-13fow. Kind of slow but we had a lot of fun. Lost count how many times she said "dad I love ice fishing"

I'm crossing the fingers she loves it as much as me. 

Side note joes access was looking not so hot. Trucks and bigger suvs were getting out, but cars on the other hand you will probably need to find another access point. Ice was softening with minimal amounts of water on top. 

[tmoose78]

Went out to medicine lake twice over the past week. The first time my buddy and I caught a bunch of 7-8 inch perch, but nothing to take home. Had some marks at night we thought may be walleye, but couldn't trigger a bite to save our lives. Went out again last night in about 25 feet of water and caught about 20 crappies. Biggest was 9 inches with most being around 6. Had fish marked in the bottom 6 feet of the water column constantly from 3 pm to 8:30 pm. Bite was very slow but had fishing following our jigs up and down the entire time. Fish count was nearly dead even between dead sticks and jigs so the ones that were hungry didn't discriminate too much. It'd be nice to find some walleye or keeper sized crappie, but that hasn't been too easy in the metro area this winter. Only lake that's produced for my frying pan has been Calhoun! Maybe I'll learn how to fish well one of these winters ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[mjk]

South end of Medicine opened up....