Tullie report 2-25-12

[fishuhalik]

bsl, i do agree. on a lake that pressured they should lower limits. the problem with limits on tullies is they dont release well. for some reason (i'm sure someone can tell me why) but they always seem to bleed profusely after they're caught. kyle, i don't like to divulge specific spots but a good starting point is the north end. avoid community holes, just look for structure & 24'-35'. drill ALOT of holes but keep em 20' or so apart. even when you're in the right spot, 20' can make all the difference. when you find em drill a few more in that area. i usually drill a mess of holes before prime time (7:00-10:00) and fish each one for 10-15mins. alot of times you'll see nothing on the screen but if you jig aggressively 10'-15' down with something shiny they'll come flying in. after the morning bite it'll slow down for a while til the evening then they'll turn back on. i usually do alot of hole hopping but with the tullies i'll wait for em to come to me once i find em. if they arent biting really aggressively i'll switch to a tiny hair jig & try to finesse em in. willy's south of the lake on hwy 65 has em. lastly, make sure you have a flasher for everyone fishing! they come in spread out all throughout the water column. hope that helps a little!

[Feathers Rainin]

I just got a report that the 250 guys who were out there last weekend nearly fished all the tullies out of the 6439 acre lake they call Big Sandy. (Keep in mind about 200 of the fisherman were shoulder to shoulder) Now that there are going to be 300 next weekend due to this post I would say the lake is done for and you my as well go back to mille lacs.

1 fisherman every 26 acres just isn't sustainable. Dang intranets!

[Guest Kyle]

Thanks fishuhalik. I've been reading on here and have seen Bill Horn Bay mentioned a few times. Is that on the north end of the lake?

[palisade1kid]

How can there be that many...I've yet to make a post on them this year....go get em guys.

Kyle ..drive on by Big Sand bar on hwy 65...just north of the bar on the service rd.

.Angle to the left...if you have a lake map...drill out the deep holes...look for the old holes to help .

Fish is right..Wiley's has small hair jigs.

A few guys netting will take way more than all of those guys will on any given day...remember the locals are not your friends.You are taking their fish.

[lakeshoremunster]

the crowds are just getting bigger and bigger every year on this lake, Ive even herd of some guys coming over from wi to fish for tullies. I wonder if they know that there are tullies in wi for them to catch. Oh well guess its just more money for out state.

[fishuhalik]

hey cra..er palisade kid! its jeff. good to see ya on here again! looking forward to getting out on the ice again and hopefully meeting up with ya sometime this year. hope all's well

[leech~~]

the crowds are just getting bigger and bigger every year on this lake, Ive even herd of some guys coming over from wi to fish for tullies. I wonder if they know that there are tullies in wi for them to catch. Oh well guess its just more money for out state.

If you check the DNR lake map page you will see that the highest fish type netted in Big Sandy in 2010 were Tullies. Higher then Crappies! That maybe why so many people are fishing them on this lake?

[Fishman11]

I see that Winni has a good tullies pop. also how come not much mentioning of this lake? In fact dnr shows more were netted there for the 2010 survey.

[Scott M]

[NewtotheNorth]

I agree to what was mentioned above... 16"+ tullibees wont be getting touch by pikes and walleye in that lake...

[ClownColor]

the crowds are just getting bigger and bigger every year on this lake, Ive even herd of some guys coming over from wi to fish for tullies. I wonder if they know that there are tullies in wi for them to catch. Oh well guess its just more money for out state.

Never saw a house out there last season...and many many times I was the only one out, even on the weekends in the North Basin!

[Feathers Rainin]

I see that Winni has a good tullies pop. also how come not much mentioning of this lake? In fact dnr shows more were netted there for the 2010 survey.

There is a tullie thread in the leech, winnie, and mille lacs forums and no locals are complaining there. I have heard of much better tullie fishing on winni and leech ya just gotta know where to find them.

I would think taking out tullies would provide more forage for pannies, eyes etc. so taking them out may be helping the lake.

The lake just doesn't get that much pressure considering it's size.

[Chris Barlage]

I just got a report that the 250 guys who were out there last weekend nearly fished all the tullies out of the 6439 acre lake they call Big Sandy. (Keep in mind about 200 of the fisherman were shoulder to shoulder) Now that there are going to be 300 next weekend due to this post I would say the lake is done for and you my as well go back to mille lacs.

1 fisherman every 26 acres just isn't sustainable. Dang intranets!

The tulliee pop on bsl is just fine. Better to catch them and eat them then to watch them float in the summer when the water gets to warm and they die off. I have seen that happen every year out there. If they were in such danger of being fished out they would have a limit on them out there. Just like they did with the gills. Next I am sure you will be mad because minnesota sportsmans mag did an article on BSL as a great crappie hot spot. Not sure why everyone is so touchy about this lake. It is a great lake to fish and it is going to see its share of people fishing it. I guess you dont like it when we stimulate your economy.

[GuidoSarduchi]

A few guys netting will take way more than all of those guys will on any given day...remember the locals are not your friends.You are taking their fish.

[Bigbartguy]

the local businesses definitely appreciate the traffic.

question - what do people do w/ 500-1000 netted Tullibees?

I'm just wondering - do they smoke'em and eat'em? is selling them legal?

I like smoked fish as much the next guy but.....

[Fishman11]

MAYBE THIS WARMER SEASON HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT ALSO.

[NewtotheNorth]

I have to agree to what Chris B. said about the summer kill. It would be put to way better use than to let those fish float in the summer.

I assume that if the lake was in any danger, DNR would ban netting as they did on Mille Lacs. Also, from post above, it seem that guys netting takes 500-1000 fish per season, that way more than a busy weekend out on the ice from all the people there (the catch rate is not that great).

Posting video from a trip does nothing but promote the sport of ice fishing... I would love to see more people ice fishing as it would push the ice fishing market to be alot better than what it is now (more new lures every year, more new fishing methods....). Just saying, more people fishing mean more money generated.

[GuidoSarduchi]

Just to play devil's advocate, let's look at some numbers. If there are 250 people out fishing on any given Saturday (not too far off, in fact a couple of weeks ago a buddy of mine who lives on the lake said there was close to 500), and 50 of them catch 10 fish, that's 500 for just that Saturday. Multiply that by the number of Saturdays this year and you got yourself a bunch of tu-peas and crappies. I'm not too sure how many guys are netting 500-1000 in a season, but I'm thinking it isn't an overwhelming number.

I'm not a fisheries expert, but how long can a lake sustain that kind of pressure? Does anyone really know. I do know that catch rates of Crappies aren't anywhere the same as they were 5 years ago. I know it apples to oranges, but look what happened to Red Lake. Schools of Crappies miles long, now pretty much gone. So we can't really say it won't ever happen in this case. And for gosh sakes, do not put your faith in the DNR to step in and do something.

I would agree that posting a video promotes ice fishing which is good for the industry and those involved. And we've all seen the clips where they're explaining methods, bait, etc; But don't kid yourself, when they specifically mention brand name products (caught using this rod, with this flasher, out of this house, drilled with this auger), and make sure they get the product name in the picture, there are sponsorships and comped products involved. So alls I'm sayin' is one of the reasons people are so touchy is that they feel this has been done an over abundant number of times on "an Aitkin County Lake."

[NewtotheNorth]

Not to say your buddy was wrong but I was up there saturday... Unless there was 10+ people in each pop-up or sled house, there was no more than 50 house/sled/pop-up out there, unless he was able traveling all over the lake...

I think some people over estimate just to make a point out of it...

Also, I am not a fishing experts but Red Lake crappies numbers drop due to walleye coming back, not people fishing it (as well as BSL, if the eyes are back in numbers)... Also, it not like people were netting crappies up there on Red Lake anyway...

I would also have to say that if you want to share knowledge of a brand (rods/reel/lures/line/auger/…), what is wrong with that? Just because some people buy a $50 rod and other people buy a $50 combo doesn’t make any difference as long as they like and trust their equipment…

Also, just to note, I am not a sponsor or being sponsor by anything or any company but I do like other to know what I am using. Not to say only one brand of rod will catch more fish or one brand of flasher is better than another.

[Chris Barlage]

for some of the posters lets not get to off track. my comment was involving tulliees not crappies. I do agree that the crappie fishing in that lake does need to be protected because it will not last forever as BSL is being groomed for walleyes and as the eye numbers grow those crappie numbers will fall. Keep in mind that when I am posting a video most of those fish are going back in exception for the tulliees as I feel they are not the most releasable fish nor do I feel that the tulliee pop in BSL is in any danger. Also nor am I taking home an over abundance of them eaither. I take what I will eat. It is everyones job to protect what we have and not rely on the next person to do so. We all need to be good sportsmen.

[GuidoSarduchi]

I'm not saying it was this past Saturday, but generally this winter it has been pretty busy on the lake.

As for Red Lake, like I said-apples to oranges. But don't you think 5000 people a weekend had anything to do with the crappie decline? Sure walleyes were foraging on crappie fry, but without sufficient reproduction(ie: all the fish that were taken by the thousands of people) the crappies didn't have a chance, which was what the DNR wanted- to build up the walleye population.

We could go back and forth about all this, but... this dead horse has been beaten. I'm goin' fishin'. Peace out.

[PierBridge]

Well said Chris Barlage, keep up the good work and more importantly keep on having a blast on the water!

We all appreciate your reports and Video's.

Let's keep it on topic guys!

[fishuhalik]

wow, one post about catching big minnows & i get 3 pages of finger shaking. this has to be some kinda record...

[lispeej]

I agree. I'd say let's get back to talking about fishing and the reports people have. This is getting off track.

[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?

[Tube_hoggin62]

I would normally not comment on others opinions, but I feel some posters are not considering some common facts. First off, fishing pressure is increasing on most lakes in MN (not just BSL). It is inevitable with today's technology combined the increased interest in ice fishing . It has and will continue to increase as long as we have ice. Therefor I think this argument means nothing unless you want to continue to get upset each year when more and more people want to experience what we are so blessed to have, great fishing opportunities. As far as posting videos or"gaining" benefits off these resources. Should that really be an issue? Just think for a moment if no person ever gained a benefit from fishing. Where would this industry be? Imagine if the Linders would not have revolutionized fishing with media and others following in their foot steps. I may be wrong but I don't think we would have nearly the advances we have today which make fishing such a enjoyable sport. Them and others helped gain peoples interest which in return brought more companies to come out with tackle, electronics, ect. I grew up on a popular lake near BSL and although the fishing pressure has increased throughout the years the fishing has really improved. Spots which have been great in the past may not produce as well, but fish move. When a certain area gets pounded all year and fish stop coming up the holes, it generally doesn't mean the fish population has taken a hit (on a larger lake). Try new sports where activity has been minimal through the year. It is really surprising where you will find fish sometimes. Finally, It is true when there is a population increase in walleyes, crappies decrease in numbers. The nice thing is that although the numbers decrease, size tends to be greater. This has been found in many Atkin county lakes managed for walleyes. To be clear I am not trying to "Bash" any ones responses to the original post, I just felt like throwing in my two cents to see what people think.

[fishuhalik]

we've got a couple 20"ers. not many though! thats definitely a hoss.

[palisade1kid]

Good points Chris.. april 2010-august 2010 we released thousands of crappies. Most were in that 10"-13" class.I see all sorts of guys struggling at different times of the year. I have taught many how to catch them and offended a few by bringing guys to the BSL area. There's tons of crappies to be caught and released. I said that thing about locals....where do you think the term citiot came from and is widely used to refer to someone not from here.

One local shop is being told that because he has my jigs that they are gonna boycott his shop.We are just talking about fishing for God's sake...fishing.People sure do take things personal...and some will hold onto whatever grudge they have....

I'll still hit BSL here and there,but it's like a soap opera...a bad soap opera.

Now that I'm driving ...my crestliner & I will be all over the area helping guys learn their waters with a variety of patterns being incorporated.

As to products being promo'd....I have learned not everyone is interested at being the best they can be...some are tickled to just be out there.So what if they struggle..they really don't care...I couldn't fathom that ,but it is what it is....and really those folks are happy.

Some on the other hand want to upgrade but are looking for direction...that's where I come in.

I'm also there to offer up to date intel....not super anal specific but general real time info.

I believe helping is better...do I make a few bucks..sure,but not enough to give up my day job.

I love fishing...I love watching others get dialed in...to see a guy struggle kills me...

I've been investigating kids clinics as a way to pay back.

The dues I've paid to be on here helping has been huge..locals stealing all sorts of items from my boat trailers. My home has been vandelised countless times...the verbal abuse I've recieved on the water...and we are just fishing .The cops have me outfitted with cameras now to catch the culprits...that expense was not cheap...jail should educate them.

...and we are just fishing....

I've paid my debt and I'm moving on.

[Chris Barlage]

This year we have caught a bunch of big ones. never really messured them. seems to be an every other year for that. Last year was mostly small but the year before were mostly big.

[GuidoSarduchi]

For a time a few years back,the state record Tulibee was caught out of Big Sandy. I think it was a bit over 5 lbs. Now it's little long lake in st louis cty. 5 lbs 11 oz- 20.45" long. So those 20" fish are getting up there!