Fish Lake, Island Lake Boulder Lake Fishing Reports

[Lorin]

I know Im probably preaching to the choir here but Im just hoping this guy reads this.

If your going to bring your dogs on the ice keep them by you. I had this guys dog pizz on my new Otter Thermal yesterday and when I yelled to the guy that the dog pizzed on my house he didnt do anything but call his dog back. 1 minute later the guys in his house and the dogs running all over the lake. Guy didnt even say sorry.

Nice! Not exactly the way to treat a new Otter.

I had a guy pull up 75 yards from me. His yellow lab exited the vehicle, ran directly to me, dumped a big pile 10 feet from my hole, and ran back. I was pretty happy to see his owner come over and clean up the mess. We could use a few more dog owners like that out there. Too many piles!

[Northlander]

You should have gone and whizzed on his house!

Believe me it was all I could do to not walk over there and do exactly that. Good thing my wife was there to talk me out of a mess I would have surely created. In this day and age you never know who is going to go postal and start shooting holes in your Otter.

[fishinfey8]

Has anyone been out on Island yet? I'm heading up this weekend and was curious if they started the winter draw-down, or if the lake level is still somewhat close to full?

[Northlander]

Be careful out there a wheeler and ice house are at the bottom of the lake or at least were from what I was told by a reliable source. Rain and warm weather today. Supposed to get cold so it should lock things back up as long as we dont get too much snow.

[Lorin]

I was out there the other day. Scary! There are areas of open water around several of the islands. Water levels seemed to be around 6 feet low. Be careful if you head out there!

[Jack Stasney]

Island sounds pretty messed up. Anybody know if it is safe off of the Abbott landing? I was going to try it in the bay outside of the islands this weekend.

[Lorin]

Island sounds pretty messed up. Anybody know if it is safe off of the Abbott landing? I was going to try it in the bay outside of the islands this weekend.

The Island out from the Abbott landing bay has open water. That is where I put in. With this cold weather tonight and a dusting of snow it may turn into an icy trap. If you see the skating rink that was shoveled, stay away from it. It had open water on both sides of the rink. I didn't see any open water on the South end of the Island, But that could have changed after the past 2 days of heat. I would put in somewhere else if you have to go out there. The main lake had 10-12 inches and seemed pretty consistent.

[Jack Stasney]

Okay that is all I needed to know. I'd be interested to know if that open water might have just been a crack that opened up. If the lake is down 6ft it could be that the ice is just cracking up around the islands where it is shallower. I just haven't fished Island enough in the winter to know. There could be a spring there or something too. Fish Lake here we come.

[Lorin]

It was not a crack. Must be a current issue around some of the islands. I first noticed a 2' diameter hole on the way out. I fished the day and returned to see a hole the size of a pickup, plus the opposite shoreline had opened up as well. The ice on the main lake is fine. Just be careful around the islands.

[Roscoe010]

Need some info on Boulder Lake. Are they walleye on the lake usually on the small side? I month ago I caught 4 about 12-13 inches and released them. If they were sauger I would've kept them. What do you guys think, is that about the average size? Thanks.

[reinhard1]

i would not say that would be the average. more like 13 to 15 with 17's and 18's thrown in. i have fished this lake since the early 60's and walleys haven't changed much. i have caught a few 5 to 8 pounders as well over the years. while they are the exception to the rule they are there.

i have been there when it was eaters, that were all we cought. i kind of like that myself. there are some nice one's in there but i would not concider boulder a trophy fishery by any means. 14 to 16 inch walleys are the most common caught in all the lakes there [boulder,Island,Fish, and Rice]. Boulder has some nice perch in there also along with good size crappies when you can locate them. bottom line is, if you want a meal of fillets for the table, these lakes dont dissapoint you very much. good luck.

[cohome612]

In fact, if you check DNR Lakefinder, you will see that the majority of walleyes in that lake are 9-11 inches.

[cohome612]

oh yeah, and good luck.

[reinhard1]

i have never been on boulder or any of the other flowages there and just caught 9 to 11 inchers. cant just base something on one test netting, altough i use the DNR lake finder at times. i base what i said on fishing Boulder since the 60's and i think what i said was accurate for the most part. the strain of walleys in boulder and island are slow growing and that is not going to change anytime soon. it's in the genetics of the fish there. they are mostly self producing having only been stocked once with walleys that i know of in Boulder. call the fisheries office in Duluth, they have all the data of that lake and others in their files dating back many years. good luck.

[Feathers Rainin]

13-15 average on boulder seems like a stretch. 14-16 for an average for island is definitely a stretch. Plenty of those fish can be caught in both those lakes but definitely not your "average" fish. Start measuring every fish out their reinhard and take the average and let me know if that is really what you are getting. And I'm talking about now and not the 60's.

[reinhard1]

i'm talking about from the 60's till now the avererage i have caught. i dont need to measure every fish i catch. i realease more than i keep. so what is your average? you catch an averge walley under 13 inches at boulder? i dont need to lie about what i catch. i certainly would not call an average catch for me 13 to 15 bragging. just a reality. i also dont get my limit every time. nor would i keep one if i did. i have caught one 8 pounder in all those years. some between 5 and 7 but over the spread of many years. it's not a trophy lake and it's not a lake of 13 and under either. same with island. good luck.

[gooty]

Island Lake Average for me: 11.534 inches

Boulder Lake Average for me: 12.234 inches

[Feathers Rainin]

Okay well we are talking about now. Just about every lake was different 50 years ago. You will not average 13-15 on boulder or 14-16 on island. An average is all the lengths added up divided by the total number of fish in case you didn't know. You will get some but the average size of fish caught is a lot smaller. Not calling you a liar just trying to tell people what they should expect. My average is 10.5648931564897662 rounded up.

[Northlander]

Depends on the time of year for me. In the spring around the ALS contest time I struggle to get 13" plus eyes on Island. Now in July/August we get a bunch of nice 14-20" fish trolling cranks. A few bigger.

[reinhard1]

as for me, what i have said about that lake, it is what i said i catch. for you it's what you catch. we report and others can decide and find out for themselves. good luck.

[reinhard1]

that is the way it is for me at Island also. it all averages out in the end. Boulder is an easier lake to fish being more shallow and it helps to know the lake. walley's in Boulder can be caught in very shallow water and often weed related at times. there are good spots on the Boulder side and many in the Otter side. on Boulder i get my best action in 8 foot or less and during the day. on hard water i have had my best luck for walleys after 3pm up to dark but never after dark. the walley in my avatar came out of Rice in early May. good luck.

[Feathers Rainin]

as for me, what i have said about that lake, it is what i said i catch. for you it's what you catch. we report and others can decide and find out for themselves. good luck.

You lost me on your first attempt at a complete sentence there. Again I just don't think you get the concept of average. To get a 13-15 inch average you need quite a few nice ones (15+) to bring up the average for all the 6-12 inchers you catch out there. Not worth arguing about on here and as you said, they will find out when they get out there. It just seems like you post things before thinking about the facts. Thats the only reason I mentioned anything. PM me if you need some help or examples on calculating averages.

[fishinfey8]

Last summer I averaged over 14in. on island. Only fished it a handful of times, and one of those times I caught over 50 fish with only 3 under 13". My dad was with me that day and I also have pics to prove it.

What's the point in picking a fight about the average fish other people catch? Just because your average is under 14, doesn't mean that we are all in the same boat. Averages require data. Everyones data is going to be different. So if you need help improving your data entries, PM me and I will be glad to help. Kindness can go a long ways...

[spivak]

For me the average walleye in Boulder is larger than my average on Island. I'll keep a batch of 12-14 inchers on Island but I hold out for the 15-18 inchers on Boulder. There are lots of old 13 inch on Island that I feel fine about keeping. Turned in a tag on a 14 inch fish on Island which had only grown 1 inch in 4 years. Reinhard 1--I always appreciate your input and I have found you to be honest and helpful.

[Lorin]

Just curious. Last year just after opener, we kept a limit of 14-15's out of Island. We were in a small boat with no live well so we strung them up. We then put them in a pail for the drive home. By the time we got home all of the fish had expired. The bottom of the pail was now also full of worms, (tape worms??) The worms are not in the meat... intestinal.

I usually Throw my fish in a cooler of ice, but this was not my boat. This was the first time I have seen these parasites. So my question, Is this common for all lakes? If not, is this the reason for the slow growth rates on Island and connecting resevoirs in the area.

[biff]

I would agree with reinhard on the ave boulder fish. I think some of it may depend on how you fish. I tend to use bigger baitfish presentations all year and I dont catch many under 12" on boulder. I have used crawlers or little chubs and then I get into the dinky eyes. Best ave size for me is fish lake first, boulder second, and island last.

[reinhard1]

i have had that happen to me only once, and that was in some crappies i kept in a lake down here. never seen that in the flowages. we had a thread going on the slow growth of walleys in Boulder and Island last year some time. i talked to the Duluth Fisheries office. it's genetics according to the fisheries department. they did stock walleys in the early 90's once with walleys from different waters but it seems like it didn't make a difference in the general population.

call the Duluth Fisheries office when you get a chance and they could answer a lot of your questions or look back at one of these threads in this forum where size of walleys were discussed at length including what the DNR up there told me. i cant remembere the exact details at this time. good luck.

[reinhard1]

back in the "old days" we didn't have the technoligy as we have had in recent times. lazy ike's, flatfish, and the old daredevils were the most common artificials we used. and of course the old standby, the worm gang, was used often. no fancy colors, just basicly silver or gold if i remember right.

also as far as live bait, we used suckers almost exclusively. so we tended to get the better size on average. you make a good point on bait selection and lure presentation.

here is something i do in Boulder that seems to work for me at times. i'ts almost impossible to employ traditional jigging methods on the lake as far as drifting and working areas hopping the bottom. snags everywhere. i have learned to drift with jigs over areas i have luck in with a combination of a slip bobber and jig.

first i fish where i know there is a consistant depth. then i set the slip bobber so my jig/minnow or jig half crawler in about 2 feet off the bottom. then i put the presentation over the side of the boat, let line out about 20 feet or so and start drifting or in little wind, use the electric motor very slowly just enough to move the bait while twitching it a few times here and there. this works when there is a slow bite and enables you to cover ground. just one option. good luck.

[nwhunter]

I would agree with reinhard on the ave boulder fish. I think some of it may depend on how you fish. I tend to use bigger baitfish presentations all year and I dont catch many under 12" on boulder. I have used crawlers or little chubs and then I get into the dinky eyes. Best ave size for me is fish lake first, boulder second, and island last.

+1. Except I would re-arrange your rankings, Boulder first, Fish second and Island last. I can't remember the last time I was under 12" on Boulder.

[northernfishin]

Fished Fish Lake today for four hours. Pulled up a lot of perch and crappies. Got 1 nice big crappie and 4 fat perch in a matter of 3 hours. We fished a 20' hole south of the dam. Crappie minnows or waxies, on a bright jig, they bit hard. The bigger fish were hitting hard on a northland moxie minnow spoon. Didn't seem like there wasn't a lot of people there.