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Cattin the Chain 2012


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  • Rick G

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  • DTro

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  • Brad B

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Walked out to my spot only to find roughly20 frozen catfish piled up with no one in sight madmadmad. This used to be common back 15 years ago but you dont see this sort of wanton waste out there much any more. I am pretty sure it was not a member of FM/HSO that did this but I would just like to reminde everyone it's not legal to leve fish on the ice/shore.

Ok time to step off my soapbox.

The bite was pretty good all afternoon. I got to the lake around 12 and had my first fish by 12:15 grin. Action never was fast and furious but was verry consistant all afternoon. Around 4;30 the bite picked up to where I could not manage two lines. Best lure was 1/16 frostee in glow green. I don't think I got more than a handfull of bites on the red today. Most of the bites were too light to feel so the float was the way to go. The bite was good till 6:30 then slowed and was all over by 7:30. Got somewhere in the 30s with plenty of bonus fish between two of us.

Weather man said its going to be around 40 Sun. My only isue is do I go back to the Shoe or do I try Cedar laugh.

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Just got back in from the first trip out on the chain this winter. Did very well on the cats tonight. 2 of us caught somewhere between 35-40. Best was a 1/16oz red glow Forage minnow for us. The bite was best between 6-7pm. Im still new at this whole cattin' thing so Im guessin we just got lucky haha.

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RFM, how's the access looking? Anyone making the mile walk or is it still "private access"? Thanks for the reports, as usual keeps the itch alive. And it is a shame that ppl out there are practicing want and waste.I know for some cats are by-catch but blatant disregard is totally unacceptable.

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The bite was outstanding tonight! Aanderud and I had a friendly competition and it was back and forth all night and when we finally pulled the plug, he had 27 and I had 25. Alagnak was right next to us in his house and got 20 as well, so for the three of us we pulled 72 cats through the ice.

The best part was that the average size was much better tonight. Lots of fish over 20" and several over 24". If you didn't keep your lure glowed religiously you would quit getting bites. I can't stress enough how much more action you get with a fresh glow on your lure.

Again I have bunch of pics and vids that I will try to get up tomorrow morning.

8" of good ice, but the meth hole is still wide open.

I don't keep very many cats, but I decided to take a couple home for a meal.

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Great report DTro, sound like you got into them better than I did. If I knew it was you guy over there I would have swung over. From my vantage point it looked like you had on a faded blaze orange suit so I didnt reconize you.

osok, there are still a few legal options along 22 that are under .5 mile.

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Made my first trek out to the chain last night with my buddy and had pretty consistent action from the moment we got set up. No short cut for us, we made the voyage from the winter access and man is that a hike dragging gear, especially on this slick ice! As mentioned earlier in this forum cleats are a must right now.

Got set up by around 2:30pm and my friend had his first ever hardwater catfish in hand by 3. Started with the tried and true red colored spoons but as Riverfishingmiss mentioned green seemed to be the best producer last night. Ice was super clear last night and we squealed like little girls watching the catfish materialize from the darkness right under our feet. Several times we just stopped fighting the fish and just watched them swim around 7 feet underneath us in the darkness.

Ended up with around 20 or so cats each, which we thought was pretty amazing considering how long it took us to work out the kinks. (These fish do not bite like other fish, they are... different.) Biggest was about 5 lbs with most being around 2-3. Released the bigger fish but kept 6 for a meal. Also got to meet DTro and Aanderud for the first time as we were packing up. Very nice group of gentlemen and wow what a setup they have going on there. Someday I will be that comfortable while out on first ice!

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Did a marathon day out there Sun. Got to the lake little after 7am and stayed till almost 9pm. It was one of the best multi species days I have ever had grin. Between the crappies,walleyes, catfish and and even a few small mouths I bet I touched 80-100 fish grin. Crappie bite was very good all day long, walleyes bit from 2-6 and the catfish started going around 2-3 and stayed red hot till 6 then died off for a while only to come back strong for the last couple hours. We had a crew of six people with my group and not all fished for cats but we all had a great time and caught plenty of fish.

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Man that sucks about not being able to park on 22 and take a wheeler out... I parked there all year last year and never had a problem. Might just have to test my luck this year again.

You guys seeing around 6-8 in of ice from 22 out to the meth hole area? Otherwise i'm gonna start exploring some other stuff over towards the Cedar island public. Anyone see any problems there?

Been fishing elsewhere this year and its time to ice some kittys. Hope to see some of you guys up there again this year. Camo Kingquad, Black canvas craft house and a red GMC.

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I guess I was under the assumption that you could still park along 22 near the winter access?? I know people have been walking out to the meth hole from there without any issues. They must be parking somewhere wink The only 2 issues I’ve heard of real sketchy ice is near the island there on 22 and the meth hole itself. I have yet to see any wheelers buzzing around out there, but I bet it won’t be long.

The open water is really hard to see with this clear ice. A little extra caution should be used. On windy days you can see the ripples, but when there is no wind it kind of blends right in.

Still working on that darn vid (having some software isssues)..….. I have 4 or 5 really nice ones between 24 and 27 coming through the hole.

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Drove by the winter access yesterday, and there must have been 20-30 trucks parked there. I think you can still park there? If not, it didnt stop anyone.

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Well, sorry to put out some wrong info, I guess i just read through this years stuff and it sounded like people might be getting some tickets. ANYWAYS, sorry for the wrong info guys.

I know where the meth hole itself is so im not worried about running into that.

"The sketchy ice by the island there on 22" You talking the island to the SW of the winter access or the islands up by the bridges?

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Thanks DTro, looking forward to hopefully meeting you this year at the coolcats deal or maybe before. Between you and RFM you guys could have a seminar on how to hand out catfish beatdowns on a regular basis.

Hoping for some cold weather for a few more inches of ice to make wheeler traffic a bit more comfortable. I'm sick of being scared, bring on the sub zero temps.

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Made it out yesterday to a spot ive had for a few years. Little out of way hole in 25 foot of water. i used to fish meth hole but have since used that knowledge to find some other spots. Fish were cooperating 3 of us caught 25 in little over 1.5 hours with jigging spoons working the best. pictures to follow.

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very nice fish dtro! we pulled out at 7, got sick of looking at 20' of solid fish on the flasher & not getting bit or have any interest shown in well over an hr. watched a guy almost go in the meth hole on his wheeler at night. skidded to a stop just in time. 4-8" of ice depending on where we were

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Most are still walking out but there have been a few wheelers in the last couple days. Sleds would be tough to turn right now due to glare ice and lack of snow.

Brad, from the meth hole to the bay I am usaly found in there are a few places that froze a bit later than the rest of the lake I would not drive a atv accross yet. Most of theese spots are in 30+ ft so if you stay shallow you will be fine. Hope to see you and Summer out there a few times this season.

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As FishuHaulik said, the fishing was slow-ish for us tonight. Still better than being inside, and it was nice to meet a fellow HSO'er. I hope to meet a few more of y'all on the ice before too long. smile

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Here's a few pics of when me & carmike went out. Sorry for the poor quality, cruddy cell phone pics.

Carmike holding our only double of the night!

1324500111.jpg

Nom nom nom!

1324500121.jpg

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Boys there are plenty in there I can attest to that! This spring walleye fishing saw a pile of little ones so they are reproduceing good. If you want keep a few for a meal go ahead you wont hurt the population.

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If you want keep a few for a meal go ahead you wont hurt the population.

Yes , lots and lots and lots of them infact they are and will continue to be the dominent species in the system , so keeping some for a meal is just fine wink.

I hear they are tasty but never tryed them yet.

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so keeping some for a meal is just fine wink.

I hear they are tasty but never tryed them yet.

Your kidding right RFM? I can't believe you never eat any of them shocked I love to fish for the bite but I got a wife and two kids that love to eat em'. I think my daughter would disown me if we threw them all back without bringing home at least a limit for dinner.

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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
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    • 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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