Lake trout reports

[Mike Stark]

iced 5 fish today on burntside. a 10, 8, 5, 2, and .5lber. 9am-1pm was the best time. i fished until 4pm. only marked one or two fish after 1pm. small gold buckshot spoon. 54fow.

some ladies happen to be skiing past when i landed the 10. they were nice enough to take my picture.

[reinhard1]

nice laker!!!love the background as well. i realy miss the northland. you guys are blessed. good luck.

[Steve Foss]

Glad you got into them Mike. A really good day with that many fish and good size. We had a good day today, too, and like you did best in the morning. Yesterday was almost all an afternoon bite. Man, I love March!

[Mike Stark]

two fish today. one 25incher that went 8lbs and the other was a .5lb dink. marked more fish in the morning but couldnt get them to bite. ended up getting the 8 at 3:30. got it on a gold lindy rattln flyer spoon in 54fow. talked to another group of guys that said they had lots of lookers in the morning but no takers.

8lb

[Steve Foss]

We had 4 today, but nothing of any size. Just eaters. Two in the morning and two in the afternoon. We really didn't expect a lot, it being the first bluebird day after yesterday's snow front. We picked up the last two fish late in the afternoon after it clouded over and the barometer started dropping before tonight's front moves through. I did get a bonus 3-lb smallie on rainbow chub/tip-up a couple feet off the bottom in 55 FOW. First smallie I've iced on Bside. Was a great day to be on the ice.

Think I'm gonna rest tomorrow. Three groups, three days in a row. Maybe I'm getting old or something.

[Mike Stark]

tomorrows weather doesnt look very nice either. good day to rest!

[Steve Foss]

I hear ya, Mike. We did really well in the rain Thursday and the snow yesterday, tho. Goofy barometer sure has done a big yo-yo routine this winter, what with the little snow fronts moving through every couple days. I've forgotten what three days of consistent weather looks like.

BTW, first sunburn of 2011 today.

[Mike Stark]

im just hoping for snow and not rain. there is not much snow left on burntside. we have some cooler temps in the forecast as well. im hoping for good ice conditions the rest of the season.

[401TE]

Beautiful day on B-side! Started the morning with a buddy's wife's sister's boyfriend (confusing, I know) getting a 32", 13-15# laker on the first drop down the first hole he tried on his first ice fishing trip ever! Lucky little ______ ! Lure made it down about 20' then started screaming line off the reel and he knew something was up. Awesome sight to see.

All said we got 5 fish on the ice (32, 24, 23, 19, 18), lost two at the bottom of the hole (one was another big one with a number of power runs), lost another about 20' down (dink), missed at least 5 other bites where fish didn't get hooks in them, and marked a pile of fish throughout the day.

The best action of the day for us was 8:45 to 10:30 and then 2:40 to 4:15. That cloud cover definitely sparked another flurry. People that left early afternoon missed out.

Two things that stunk about today...our conversion rate and that I didn't tie on a jigging rap til after lunch. Otherwise can't complain at all. Lots of action and a really nice laker on the ice.

[401TE]

Forgot to say, I also caught a 21" walleye this morning suspended at about 25' in 80' of water. Talk about a surprise...and disappointment when I realized walleye season was closed!

[reinhard1]

nice fish!!!good luck.

[Mike Stark]

Beautiful day on B-side! Started the morning with a buddy's wife's sister's boyfriend (confusing, I know) getting a 32", 13-15# laker on the first drop down the first hole he tried on his first ice fishing trip ever! Lucky little ______ ! Lure made it down about 20' then started screaming line off the reel and he knew something was up. Awesome sight to see.

All said we got 5 fish on the ice (32, 24, 23, 19, 18), lost two at the bottom of the hole (one was another big one with a number of power runs), lost another about 20' down (dink), missed at least 5 other bites where fish didn't get hooks in them, and marked a pile of fish throughout the day.

The best action of the day for us was 8:45 to 10:30 and then 2:40 to 4:15. That cloud cover definitely sparked another flurry. People that left early afternoon missed out.

Two things that stunk about today...our conversion rate and that I didn't tie on a jigging rap til after lunch. Otherwise can't complain at all. Lots of action and a really nice laker on the ice.

well if your buddy's wife's sister's boyfriend didnt get the laker bug after that then i dont know what will give him the bug! gotta love starting someone off with a fish like that.

[Great Outdoors]

Forgot to say, I also caught a 21" walleye this morning suspended at about 25' in 80' of water. Talk about a surprise...and disappointment when I realized walleye season was closed!

You must have been the crew of about 4-5 fishing near Valentine Island with a pickup, and had a gray (???) SUV with another few people join you there about 1 o'clock, or so???? I also think those were the same two vehicles that came up behind us on the Van Vac Road when I was driving home, that turned down to the landing around 8:15. We had a white Dodge pickup.

My son and I were fishing off State Island directly across from there when I heard someone say they caught a Walleye. We pulled up at 10 am with a red Polaris Ranger with tracks, and a 4 wheel ATV.

[Wanderer]

I hear ya, Mike. We did really well in the rain Thursday and the snow yesterday, tho. Goofy barometer sure has done a big yo-yo routine this winter, what with the little snow fronts moving through every couple days. I've forgotten what three days of consistent weather looks like.

BTW, first sunburn of 2011 today.

This is exactly what we've experienced this past season. We only made 3 trips up over the winter for a total of 9 days of fishing. 3 of those days were in Canada but all in all the weather game was the same - we had our best fishing days when it was snowing hard.

Last weekend when we were up we fished B-side on Sunday which was punny 'cuz the sun was SO bright and the conditions were extremely warm and calm. We fished no less than 5 different spots and marked chasers everywhere but only got 6 to commit. 2 little 16 inchers and one nice 30 incher. 2 pulled off after a short tug of war and one broke off at the hole. That one was my fault though and the first time I've ever broke off a laker. I got cocky and didn't pull the transducer out of the hole. It wound up being a stronger fish than I thought and took a hard run after wrapping the line around the 'ducer.

We had 18 fish iced on the weekend, so 15 were caught during bad weather. Consistent findings against earlier results regardless of what lake was fished.

And yeah, the sunburn was a shocker!

BTW, nice reports guys! The good laker times are upon us, er, I mean you. I'm done for this season.

[Leaddog]

It seemed that Saturday morning the "Randon red line generator" on the Vexilar was set on high. Marked alot but if they struck it was only enough to steal the minnow (Could only find chubs, everyone else was closed Friday AM) from the spoon.

We iced three letting a little one go. The bellies of the two were empty, not actively feeding.

Nobody home again on the boarder.

[Mike Stark]

leaddog,

how are the trails and lakes up there???

[Leaddog]

Mike,

The Sibs run well on bare ice. I did chain up the drag pads. BB has been running sight seers returning on the warm afternoons so the bogg area is messed up. Other than that the lakes are fast and trails good. That one log really launches you now though. It was looking like it will fall apart fast. Hoping some snow and cold will make for one more run otherwise its Drydock time for the Silent-Run Siberians!

Dave just called, he tried running Sat but sans chains and turned around after the second trail.

Please send me an update on the weather later this week. If one more trip happens we'll drive up early Friday morning again.

[401TE]

It seemed that Saturday morning the "Randon red line generator" on the Vexilar was set on high. Marked alot but if they struck it was only enough to steal the minnow (Could only find chubs, everyone else was closed Friday AM) from the spoon.

We iced three letting a little one go. The bellies of the two were empty, not actively feeding.

Nobody home again on the boarder.

We had that issue with spoons, once we figured out they were smoking jigging raps we started putting some on the ice.

[Steve Foss]

Well, regardless how much snow actually falls tonight (current NWS guess is 2-4), if they are right on the rest of the week, should be some good laker fishing. Three to four days of lows around zero, highs in the mid-upper 20s and sunny. If it actually happens, I'd guess the lakers will start picking up on Friday and be going strong for the final weekend of the winter.

If they are wrong, and we get some more of those goofy little fronts moving through every couple of days, well, that's how it's been all winter already anyway.

[chaffmj]

A little late with this report but went out last Friday the 18th on B-side and had 4 lakers before noon! My first day ever with more than 2 caught. Two were just under six and the other two were just over 12.

Now for the bad news, that was inches not lbs. Oh well, lots of lookers and it was good to be out on the ice.

[Wanderer]

Nice tease there chaff!

[JerkinLips]

Another 10 hours and I'll be up on b-side chasing lakers in the teens (pounds hopefully, not inches).

[sheephead2]

Can you still drive around on Bunrtside thinking on heading up Saturday.

Can you drive a Front wheel drive car around?????

[Mike Stark]

Can you still drive around on Bunrtside thinking on heading up Saturday.

Can you drive a Front wheel drive car around?????

you can still drive on burntside. stay away from neckdowns and shorelines as those areas lose ice first. the only issue with a front wheel drive car is getting on/off the lake. getting off the lake at van vac would be tricky. its a steep hill with deep frozen/icy ruts. the landing also has deep frozen/icy ruts. you need clearance as well. passi road access would be doable. there was a road plowed off that access all winter long. that road was flooded bad after the thaw. it seemed frozen solid yesterday but if you were to break through that layer of frozen water on the road you would be stuck bad. so just stay off to the side of the road.

still always use caution when driving around burntside. there are spots(narrows/neckdowns/shorelines) that are not frozen solid.

[sheephead2]

Thanks Mike

I think I will be safe and bring the truck no need to drive all the way up there to be in a bind.

Wife wants to come along she always catches lakers on Burntside .....

But for me on Burntside A Big FAT ZERO and boy she likes to rub it in So I am out to prove her wrong.....

[Mike Stark]

Thanks Mike

I think I will be safe and bring the truck no need to drive all the way up there to be in a bind.

Wife wants to come along she always catches lakers on Burntside .....

But for me on Burntside A Big FAT ZERO and boy she likes to rub it in So I am out to prove her wrong.....

good idea to bring the truck. women always catch all the fish! good luck.

[Steve Foss]

Well, Mike and I swung for the fences today but struck out on darn near every at bat. I had a nice fat 4 lber this morning, but hooked and lost a heavy fish in the early afternoon, and Mr. Stark had a couple chances as well that dribbled away.

But golly, it was an amazing fine day to be on the ice. And how often do you hear the lake making ice on a late March morning? The constant rumbling was very cool. It was about -3 when we started, but it was sunny with no wind, and I was fishing with bare hands.

We fished from 20 to 55 feet, in spots that have yielded trout (and excellent size and numbers of trout) only a few days ago. We moved from deeper water about 3 p.m. to a shallow saddle between two islands with deeper water on either side, a location that delivered twin 6 lbers for me a few days ago, but three hours later no lakers had come in shallow to feed.

Putting/keeping a hook in the fish we had hitting us would have turned a nearly fishless day into a good day, but that's how the lakers run (or don't) now and then. We saw five different parties of anglers out there. Probably it'll be a real zoo this weekend with the travel conditions and very little but panfish still open on most Minnesota waters.

March on the ice. Gotta love it!

[Mike Stark]

Thanks for letting me tag along foss. I always learn a thing or two when i fish with you.

I blew both my chances today. I was trigger happy and just tried to set the hook too early. The one that i felt had some weight to it.

back at it tomorrow.

[Steve Foss]

You're no tag-along, Mike. You got chops of your own, and are always a pleasure to fish with. Probably it was just that new secret lure that took some getting used to.

Tomorrow indeed!

[Steve Foss]

What an amazing day on the ice again. Partly amazing because, just after sunup with temps around zero, there was no wind and we were fishing again with bare hands. And of course 30 degrees and sun and no wind later in the afternoon produced sunburns, bleached facial hair and contentment.

Oh, we caught trout, too. Normally there's not much point running and gunning if you are on a proven spot. Better to keep jigging hard and attentively in anticipation of an open window. But today we ran and ganned, fishing four or five locations just for the fun of it. I iced three. Nothing overly large. The biggest was this 7 lb fatty that came about 5:30. Missed another aggressive fish 10 minutes later.

Thanks for taking the pic, Mr. Stark.

And no, I wasn't winking. My left eye got nearly closed this morning when I split some birch for kindling for the wood furnace, and one piece leapt up and slapped me across the forehead and eye. Now I know how circus freaks feel.

And no II, that's not a Packers gold towel. Pre Super Bowl, I got a Steelers Terrible Towel in the mail and figured wiping laker blood and slime on it would be a perfect use. No way could I wipe that stuff on a Packers towel.