Big sandy

[lispeej]

My brother caught a 20" tullibee this past weekend. It was pretty big. What's the biggest you guys ever caught out of here?

[lakeshoremunster]

My brother caught a 20" tullibee this past weekend. It was pretty big. What's the biggest you guys ever caught out of here?

I dont think you need to post this up twice in the same forum, the same folks are going to see it. But your question was already answered in the other thread.

[lakeshoremunster]

but to play nice and answer your question, we used to get a many of them years ago but I have notice that the size is getting smaller every year.

This year we have gotten more smaller ones than large ones.

[lispeej]

yeah. you're right. sorry.

[fish_4_fun]

how much snow do you guys have on big sandy right now? was thinking about coming up there tommorrow since I dont work, I have a dodge ram. do you think I'll be able to get around the lake. or do you guys think its not even worth it now?

[NewtotheNorth]

I hope all the slush freeze up, else it be a mess out there. From the news weather, it seem they gotten a bit less than the twin cities (we got about ~6").

Not to say the rain didnt thin out some of the older snow prior to the new one falling.

[lispeej]

how much snow do you guys have on big sandy right now? was thinking about coming up there tommorrow since I dont work, I have a dodge ram. do you think I'll be able to get around the lake. or do you guys think its not even worth it now?

hows the travel on bsl?

[Fishman11]

Snow wasn't too bad on the lake itself, but the access was a little work getting through. Probably because the wind blowing it up against the land. Once we got pass the access we were find driving around, but some spots may be deeper than others. Had to help a guy push his 4wd pickup out from that access. Overall had a great day of fishing and with that beautiful weather. Didn't even need a hat,gloves or coat on. Was my first time on that lake and thanks to all those who responded with tips. Much appreciated.

[fishuhalik]

what'd ya get?

[Fishman11]

Caught about 70 tullies between 4 guys, 3 pike(let them go). Lost a lot of tullies at the hole. Was a lot of fun. We like to target tullies up in that area like mille lacs and surrounding lakes with tullies, at least a couple times a year. We got a 3-1/2 hr drive up there so it's nice to hook something on the line, but the trip up and just being on ice is fun enough.

[lispeej]

Nice! Going to try to make it up there with the wife and kids sometime this weekend.

[Fishman11]

Good luck target 28' and jig 15' down.

[lispeej]

Was at BSL from sunrise to noonish. This weekend was almost a replica of last weekend for us. We tried a couple of different spots with no luck then decided to go to our same spot from the last weekend. Only managed to get a handful of of tullies and jumbo perchs. No crappies this time.

There is a lot of snow on the lake now.

Please be advised that if you don't have a 4x4/AWD, don't go. You'll get stuck. There was a couple of times we almost got stuck.

What a nice day to be on the lake today. Traffic was slow too. It could partly be because of the snow. Plastics and waxies did the trick for the most part. They were easily spook by spoons/castmasters.

Happy fishing.

[fisherman-andy]

Was at BSL from sunrise to noonish. This weekend was almost a replica of last weekend for us. We tried a couple of different spots with no luck then decided to go to our same spot from the last weekend. Only managed to get a handful of of tullies and jumbo perchs. No crappies this time.

There is a lot of snow on the lake now.

Please be advised that if you don't have a 4x4/AWD, don't go. You'll get stuck. There was a couple of times we almost got stuck.

What a nice day to be on the lake today. Traffic was slow too. It could partly be because of the snow. Plastics and waxies did the trick for the most part. They were easily spook by spoons/castmasters.

Happy fishing.

The Crappies can be very elusive and im sure you've heard me say before they are very very finicky. If you want Crappies you have to fish the lake with the intent on catching them and forget about the Tullies or go after only as an added bonus.They typically show up in small schools of 1-3 and will conjure on drop offs 20-25fow from shallow humps. If you dont see suspended fish their not there.

So the intent is to keep hole hopping till you find them. I've have caught all my Crappies on BSL with just finesse small plastics and jigheads. Only 1 fish has come from a Crappie minnow on dead stick.

[MidCoast]

How many inches of ice are out there over the weekend? Warm weather coming up. Will it be good for half ton trucks this coming weekend? I want to get out just one more time and was unable to fish this past weekend. Hopefully the ice will be thick enough still on Saturday for half tons.

[lispeej]

We didnt measure the ice thicknes. But we did eye balled it to be even thicker than the previous weekend. Im sure the ice levels will be different throughout certain areas of the lake.

[Oranda]

How many inches of ice are out there over the weekend? Warm weather coming up. Will it be good for half ton trucks this coming weekend? I want to get out just one more time and was unable to fish this past weekend. Hopefully the ice will be thick enough still on Saturday for half tons.

There was 24 - 26" of ice.

[sunnyday]

Thanks to the Internet and all the post. We hear about the hot bite in talk like many of the other people and decided to check it out over the weekend. We had a group fishing all over the lake and located 2 spots that produce tulibee all day with the majority of the fish in the 15-20" range. It was a challenge getting around with all the snow. We caught 35 crappies 10-13", 12 jumbo perch, 1 eelpout, 6 suckers, 4 pikes, 3 walleyes. Many fish released back. Each person caught at least 33 tulibees, a few caught over 50. We lost a lot of fish, but that's good for the lake. Overall it was a great day on a great lake. Too bad not all lakes are like this and this one won't last so enjoy it while you can.

[fisherman-andy]

Thanks to the Internet and all the post. We hear about the hot bite in talk like many of the other people and decided to check it out over the weekend. We had a group fishing all over the lake and located 2 spots that produce tulibee all day with the majority of the fish in the 15-20" range. It was a challenge getting around with all the snow. We caught 35 crappies 10-13", 12 jumbo perch, 1 eelpout, 6 suckers, 4 pikes, 3 walleyes. Many fish released back. Each person caught at least 33 tulibees, a few caught over 50. We lost etca lot of fish, but that's good for the lake. Overall it was a great day on a great lake. Too bad not all lakes are like this and this one won't last so enjoy it while you can.

Were you guys on the North end or Bill Horn? Seems you must've hit the jackpot lol. Fishing was pretty slow or moderate for most over the past few days from reports I got. Bite can get very good sometimes but I wouldn't expect one to replicate the same success over and over. So dont get too excited to find out ones next outing turns up cold and few fish. I wouldnt exactly call it a hot bite lake as you can do so the same with lakes such as Winni, Leech, & Mille Lacs etc. The bite is at best sporadic in my opinion. There is no hotspot as the fish seems to move frequently to different areas due to the complex structure. Most times you may have to run & gun and drill alot of holes to find fish.

But you must've had a very large group scouting and the bite must've been really outstanding for each person to hit 30+ tullies in the 15"-20" range. I've had a couple 30+ tully fish days myself but not with big sizes like that. Mostly 10"-14" fish but rarely keep more than 8-15 Tullies during an outing if successful.

Report may sound almost too good to be true? Or was it part of the nice warm up we got today that really pushed the bite? LOL hope you guys at least saved some for us and for next time , nevertheless its a day to treasure for memories for sure. Congrats,this is best report so far this year i've seen.

[lakeshoremunster]

sonnyday,

I think I know were your group fished on sat, we were a few hundred yards away from you in the afternoon. I thought you guys were going to pass us when you packed up but you guys decided to go the other way home.

[sunnyday]

We had a large group, spread out and scout all over the lake fully equipt with gps, augers, and sonars to locate fish. Bite was good in the morning in most spots till 10am then shut down except the 2 spots I mentioned that had fish all day. When the bite slow down, we call each other up to see who's still catching fish. Then we all moved to the spots that still had fish. A couple of our guys were at the community hole on the nw side in the morning, but the fish were small. We fish from sunrise till sunset. If you saw people arriving after sunset or leaving before dark it was not us. I'm sure it's not like this every day, but we have been using the same strategy and game plan for several years and has been working well for us. There's no way to cover a lake that size with just a few people.

[Big_Sandy_Lake]

We fished all day as well. Some nice tullies but only three crappies all day. We were on the northend as well. Have a hard time believing someone nailed the crappies, we had a bunch of guys moving around throwing everything at the crappies, they just were not biting.

[lispeej]

I might try to hit up BSL again on friday. I'd like to try different areas this time. Seems like I'm always short on time when ice fishing. Then it leads me to my bad habit of going back to my usual spots that

semi-produced. It should be some nice weather too.

This past weekend, I saw what seems to look like some folks that either got to BSL super early, or they slept over in their portables. I've asked this question in the past, but didn't get a direct answer....

Is there such a thing as a night bite on BSL?

[Big_Sandy_Lake]

NO nite bite, don't waste your time. And if somenone tells you there is, don't believe it. The people that were out there all night were probably jsut camping out or partying.

I have caught fish an hour after sunset in the summer which is rare, but then is just shuts off.

[fisherman-andy]

The water is bog stain, I dont know if this has something to do with the night bite. I dont fish BSL during the open water season which im sure is different. But I know the Crappies for me completely shutdown when the sun sets on the ice. I will mark fish on the flasher but none would be interested after dark. I have not stayed out later then past 6pm cause of this.

[sunnyday]

Don't waste your time chasing crappies. There's not going to be 33 in one hole and they're not going to be easy to catch even when you find them. I believe those who can catch their limit of crappies are tight lip for good reasons.

[fisherman-andy]

Don't waste your time chasing crappies. There's not going to be 33 in one hole and they're not going to be easy to catch even when you find them. I believe those who can catch their limit of crappies are tight lip for good reasons.

I was surprised your group was able to pull 35 Crappies on what seems to be a first timer trip. If your able to do so then you would've at least somewhat figured out the pattern of what works on them Crappies.

There may not be 33 Crappies all in one single hole but I have gotten into 20-40 Crappies spread over multiple holes when drilled 10ft-15ft radius when they do stack. On my worst outing I was still able to pull a limit of crappies on a bad snowy/windy day. So I have yet to come up empty on BSL this year. Maybe just my luck?

I've given some solid pointers over my recent post on this thread for those who are willing to chase them. You have to work hard so finding them and its gonna take some work as well as getting them to bite. And they will bite. You just got to clean through your arsenal and find out whats going to work...

[lispeej]

For giggles, I'd like to see some more pictures....besides from the ones we've already seen in this thread.

[Big_Sandy_Lake]

I agree lispee, for some reason I smell something funny in the air!!! A lot of talk and bragging, but not much walk. On the otherhand, why exploit a lake for no reason, as a matter of fact, why do we even need to name a lake? Is there a real good reason, I agree with helping other people, isn't that a PM for?

[NewtotheNorth]

These warmer days are killing the snow/ice. Anyone been out lately? How is the snow holding up? Once the snow is gone, the ice is gonna be hit hard...

ANyhow, some pictures will be nice, not that i dont believe it. I caught at least one or more crappies every time we hit BSL and we are not even targeting them. I could see good limits if they were our prime targets as the fish are stack when you find a nice school/pod.