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Elwood,

During the week, morning/afternoon it's still busy? What times are you and your buddy out there?

Its not I thats been out there that often( to many people for me) Its my buddy and its been during all the times but mostly evening hours

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I went to this bowl of a lake yesterday and fished from 11am to 3:30pm. Apparently I was a day late, everyone was saying they slaughtered slabs the day before. It does'nt take long to fish a lake out when you have close to 100 people out there limiting out on crappies in 3hrs

_________________________

You're damned if you do,and

you're damned if you don't

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was out there ysterday for the 1st and last time. It looked like a small fishing tournament in a 100 yd area. I counted 63 trucks that I could see, no to mention the ones I couldn't see. dirty, nasty looking water. Seen Carp on camara for about 20-30min. would not move. caught 3 perch and had enough of all the crowd noise. went to another lake and caught some fish to bring home.

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I had a itchin suspicion that it would. It was just to crowded for my liking. Well maybe next time I'll stick it out.

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So is anyone still actually catching fish? I can't believe there's too many fish left in there right now.

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I think its fished out. Was out there a few times over the last week and caught only small perch. Did not see much else caught besides perch and a few small crappies.

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Word around Elk River is they are still out their wink Some reports of crappies the size of hubcaps being caught out of Francis. It is all the buzz right now in the North Metro ice fishing community. Find your self a little patch and right under under the ice with plastics about a foot.

Pick up some trash on your way out. smile

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My parents live like 15 min from this lake. It goes in cycles like many other shallow fertile lakes. I wouldnt eat anything outa there though. I wish I could have got in on the fun but for the last month I've been in South Carolina, now Oklahoma, and this weekend I'm headed to Mississippi. Gearing up for my deployment to Iraq sometime in April. Catch em while you can, if the winter is long the lake will probably partially freeze out.

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Trav,

Good luck and safe wishes over there. A small lake in the toolies hardly seems like a big issue in comparison.

I agree it will come back some day after people have forgotten about it. But I bet people will be keeping a closer eye on it for sure. Kinda like Round Lake in Andover several years ago.

Lately Round looks like it hasn't had enough water to float a duck though. frown

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My parents live like 15 min from this lake. It goes in cycles like many other shallow fertile lakes. I wouldnt eat anything outa there though. I wish I could have got in on the fun but for the last month I've been in South Carolina, now Oklahoma, and this weekend I'm headed to Mississippi. Gearing up for my deployment to Iraq sometime in April. Catch em while you can, if the winter is long the lake will probably partially freeze out.

Good Luck Trav and thanks for your commitment. Stay safe

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Good luck TravP! smile I am not sure this is the greatest saying to us but try to have some fun when over their. Hopefully you will not see much if any action, so instead enjoy visiting that part of the world. smile I know I will never get a chance to visit that area during my life time. Good luck!

That poor lake, it seems we are wanting to destroy that lake one way or another.

"hooks"

I would not worry their "hooks". I heard "Save the Crappies" & P.E.T.A. are going to be protesting the act of ice-fishing one week from this Friday, on the pristine shores of sunny Lake Francis. No need to worry. grin Those 20" crappies will be safe next week whistlegrin Then "we" will get them to our selves next year. laugh

Lake Francis smirk

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Why would you pull that post and I guess smiley’s make up for the sarcasm. wink My point is that lake has gone through a lot from us humans. frownwhistle From making it a sludge pond to fishing it out. Should I not care what happens to that lake??? grinwinksmilecool

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Why would you pull that post and I guess smiley’s make up for the sarcasm. wink My point is that lake has gone through a lot from us humans. frownwhistle From making it a sludge pond to fishing it out. Should I not care what happens to that lake??? grinwinksmilecool

I have heard of the "hot" bite on Francis from several different people who (as far as I know) do not even know about HSO or even have a computer. The crappies "the size of hub caps" was heard/told out in front of a local bait store. The plastics a foot under the ice was said from another guy who fished it this last weekend. He was told by another person on the ice this was the ticket. How that person knew, I have no clue. The one thing that rings true is not one of any of these people has either caught a crappie or has pictures of a crappie from Lake Francis. I was just relaying what I heard. smile I have fished Francis as far back as the 80's and even hit it up when I lived in Bethel. That is all I am going to say. Local bait shops i am sure do not mind the extra business.

Fact is people are fishing the Lake Francis, this is a fishing reports forum, this is a Lake Francis Fishing Reports thread. wink If you want to take a stand for Lake Francis, I suggest hitting the shore line and talking face to face with the anglers as they go out on the lake. If you have a report or pictures, post them here. grin

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Quote:
I have heard of the "hot" bite on Francis from several different people who (as far as I know) do not even know about HSO or even have a computer. The crappies "the size of hub caps" was heard/told out in front of a local bait store. The plastics a foot under the ice was said from another guy who fished it this last weekend. He was told by another person on the ice this was the ticket. How that person knew, I have no clue. The one thing that rings true is not one of any of these people has either caught a crappie or has pictures of a crappie from Lake Francis. I was just relaying what I heard. I have fished Francis as far back as the 80's and even hit it up when I lived in Bethel. That is all I am going to say. Local bait shops i am sure do not mind the extra business.

Fact is people are fishing the Lake Francis, this is a fishing reports forum, this is a Lake Francis Fishing Reports thread. If you want to take a stand for Lake Francis, I suggest hitting the shore line and talking face to face with the anglers as they go out on the lake. If you have a report or pictures, post them here.

Shack,

I think I now understand the reasoning behind your remarks.

I am sorry that you had the impression my post was directed towards you; and felt the need to pull it. (a perk that I am sure several wish they had) wink

This might have been blown out of proportion and perhaps I am not explaining myself correctly. crazy

I just feel bad for the lake, it has been through a lot of abuse. That is all I am saying.

Quote:
I suggest hitting the shore line and talking face to face with the anglers as they go out on the lake.

Thanks for the suggestion, I am not for sure how that will help the lake, it just might get me killed. grin

"hooks"

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maybe someone should rip Genz for blabbing all over facebook about the lake. Maybe because he's the father of modern day ice fishing no one says anyhting bad about him. I have drove by the lake for a few years and have never seen more then a couple cars and very few boats. I guess i missed a hidden gem right in my backyard. Its also been my goal to find a lake like this and its never worked for me, I'll just keep trying.

Mark

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maybe someone should rip Genz for blabbing all over facebook about the lake. Maybe because he's the father of modern day ice fishing no one says anyhting bad about him. I have drove by the lake for a few years and have never seen more then a couple cars and very few boats. I guess i missed a hidden gem right in my backyard. Its also been my goal to find a lake like this and its never worked for me, I'll just keep trying.

Mark

I don't know about you. but I am very sure that it was not Dave Genz that named the lake on Facebook. and I'm also sure that Dave did not go out there tell after there had been at least 5000 people out there before him. so you should know your facts before you open your trap.... there was no fish kept by the 7 guys that fish with him out there, and we spent more time teaching the Local how to icefish than we spent fishing.

By mistake one of the lindy guy said the name of the lake.

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Lindy's legendary iceman Dave Genz was on Minnesota's Lake Francis near Isanti this week catching slab crappies in skinny water. His favorite lure? The Lindy Fat Boy, of course. But our other horizontal hangers took plenty of fish, too!

I'm sorry I said Dave genz Posted this but there is his name and the naming of the lake. I would probably agree that the lake was being hit hard before this posting. The people on this facebook site should know that by posting the name of the lake they have open up a can of worms. By going to this lake with a camera crew and filming you pretty much helped finnish this small lake off for good. Thats opening my big fat trap again

Mark

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grin I just had to google your name like your signature says and one of the first things to pop up is "The Big Lebowski"? Thats a great movie! grinlaugh I agree that Dave and the "Blue Crew" didnt wreck this little lake,it's been the talk of the area since 1st ice-the people that should really be watched are the "doubledippers" who keep going back for more. 10% of fishermen catch 90% of the fish anyways so that would mean that only about 2,500 crappies are being kept out of there every weekend(based on other reports of the crowds out there),I would have to bet that it wont be the same bite next year- a "mini" Red Lake possibly?
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anyone been out lately? thinking of trying it tomorrow hows the ice? would i be able to drive out with a truck?

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Just got back from there, nothing. About 2 1/2 feet of ice and not much snow left on top. There were cars driving all over the place. About 40-50 vehicles in one small spot. I tried to find the 8' hole but couldn't. I wound up fishing in about 6 1/2'. I think it got wiped out.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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