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I want to thank the locals ahead of time for all the extra work they do with keeping us posted with reports. It saves people alot of time and money, especially with the uprising gas prices.

I hear ya man. We will do our best to keep everyone up to date. Between BD110 and myself I think we got it covered.

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Hey Load just get the mail out on time would ya! grin

Its that time of year where boredom really takes over and smelting and shore fishing is really all we have to talk about. Well and the Twin Ports Walleye Association Tournament May 21/22 that you need to get signed up for. wink

See ya on the beach man.

I will also clean my smelt before eating them. Dip in Shorelunch Beer Batter and YUMMMYYYYY!!

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How much and where are u guys buying your christiansen nets for/from?

Goggle this and you should find the info you're looking for.

(H. Christiansen Co.) - We Specialize in Custom Made Nets

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We buy them from Christiansen nets themselves and prices vary with what you get. I highly suggest a sock. Its been so long I cant remember what I paid for mine.

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I have 3 christensen sains with the big basket if you need one I could part with two of them. I am not getting bait any more so no need to have three? But one for fun and to get a good meal just send me a pm. they did there job heck next to free just let me now. But there are a lot of FM's with good nets and willing to share. Every year BD110 is always willing to help people out I would take him up on it he is always there to help out and tell you the right way to pull. Take Him up on his offer you will be happy you did.

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Hey Tom...PM sent (maybe...not sure how to use that feature) or give me a call please @ 218-428-6258 thanks:)

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What we do, go home and rinse them off and then freeze without cleaning. Then thaw and clean and cook. Does not seem to effect the fish.>>>>later the load

I've froze panfish and northerns whole and cleaned them after thawing without problem. Never tried with smelt. Do they stay firm when you do this? Would sure be nice cleaning them a pack at a time when I eat them rather than staying up all night cleaning when smelting! I'd probably do a better job of cleaning.

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Truthfully I find smelt that have been frozen not as good as fresh smelt. Yes I will eat them but not as many as fresh smelt. Im like that with any fish. I much prefer to eat them the day or day after I catch them.

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Typically I'll clean about 2 gallons, refrigerate them and have them eaten in 5 days.

Yes fresh is better then frozen but if you want a smelt feed later on you have no choice but to freeze them and they are still pretty darn good.

I freeze my smelt whole and have been doing that for decades. Use ziplocks or milk cartoons and add water to force out the air.

I clean them after they thaw. Maybe I'll try deep frying some whole for myself but will definitely sort out the plump females.

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Hear ya on the bordom Heading up to Leech Sunday and hunt for some Tullies. Ice fishing is far from over. With this weather, we will be smelting in late May. I should not say this, but Mrs Smelt King dragged the nets out and was sewing them up yesterday. Talked to Dave N. and signed up. Now if I can just get off. This sounds like a good deal and a fun time>>>>later the load

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The Smelt run can't come soon enough. I just fried up my last food sealed bag of Smelt from the 2010 season last night. I brought a nice big container to work today to enjoy as well. grin

For the record my Smelt had their heads and insides removed and they were just fine if you ask me!! I'll let someone else try the natural method. wink

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Hear ya on the bordom Heading up to Leech Sunday and hunt for some Tullies. Ice fishing is far from over. With this weather, we will be smelting in late May. I should not say this, but Mrs Smelt King dragged the nets out and was sewing them up yesterday. Talked to Dave N. and signed up. Now if I can just get off. This sounds like a good deal and a fun time>>>>later the load

Nice to see you signed up for the Twin Ports Walleye Association Load its set to be a very good time and the fishing should be good too. wink I hope you get the weekend off to fish the Tourney with us.

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It's nice to see everyone all hyped up for the smelt run. You guys are getting me excited! I bought a Christensen net last year and it cost about $150. Not cheap but it sure worked! Anyhow, I custom made one out of two nylon?? 5'x10' with a "sock" and this one works great! Got it at fleet farms. Mainly because it is a lighter material and it has less drag through the water.

I'm all ready for this year's action. Anyhow, keep us posted! I'm from the Cities so you guys are my number one source of info when it comes to knowing when the run is taking place. See ya.

- AL

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The nylon will be ok but not what the Christiansen is. If you use it add plenty of weight to the bottom because that light nylon meshing tends to lift and blow back when pulling especially if you sewed a sock into it. Anythings better than nothing though.

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Loadmaster and others. Might take you up on the use of those nets. Haven't been smelting in many years but used to have a blast in the 60's and 70's when they were running strong. What bridge do you guys fish under now?

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We mostly pull the nets on the lakeshore of Park Point. Read above and I think BD110 listed areas to try.

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smelt = cohos. let me know become i will get up early and cast from the canal area or from the beach.

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It will take a long time for the ice on the beach to melt so don't get to worked up the lake is about 35.4 to 36 degrease so when it hits 40 they will spawn and be done so the ice will still be on the beach and hard to get the pulls in I would look at the streams.

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A friend of mine pulls seins off private land in Ashland. He's thinking they'll be running under the ice this year.

He said there's a place down there you pay $10 a head to sein.

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Most years I have been smelting, the smelt hit the beach to spawn when the water temp hits 42 degrease same goes for the rivers. The Lester was 34 degrease today and very hi. So if they go under the ice I have never seen that but the water temps need to be warmer than they are now.

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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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