Northlong Lake Report

[centralmnguy]

Sorry I guess a silly question gets a silly answer! Obviously it is hard to troll raps through heavy weeds...so what I meant by depends on the weeds is I try to find the edge of the weed lines & troll along them...as for depends on fish...if you aren't marking anything then time to move. I don't fish just one spot. Also depends on the wind...if its a windy day chances are the main lake will be harder to fish than the bays.

Hope that helps Gregg52

[gregg52]

i just have a hard time pulling cranks in like merrifield bay hard to stay out of the weeds

i'm no crank bait expert for sure

i could see out in the big lake you make longer runs off the breaks

do you any northern when you are puling those

[centralmnguy]

Usually get a northern or 2...pretty much catch anything & everything trolling raps. If your snagging weeds just move out a little deeper...those fish will come up & hit it. Just the other day I was trolling raps with a bottom bouncer in 70 fow & caught a 21" eye...I was on Big Trout trying for lakers. Also caught a nice tullibee at that depth.

[WalleyeJeff]

Was out yesterday and bid pretty good kept 3 nice eaters. Out tonight tried same same and more. No eyes for me. Did catch a few bass and northers, even caught a nice bass (18") in 30 ft jigin with a leach.

I do the same, follow weed line on big lake pretty easy once you now weed depths. Like tonight you can see weed lines as tips of weeds are hitting top of water. Merrifield bay I slow way down and jig or lindy rig.

[centralmnguy]

The wife & I were out last night & caught 8 eyes but they were smaller. Biggest was 16". Caught most on main lake & a few in Merrifield bay. Also caught some bass. Trolling raps like usual.

[gregg52]

what kind of boat do you have??

[centralmnguy]

Fishing boat lol...if I tell you that then I'll have followers!

[gregg52]

i've been out there the last couple nights

just woindering if i saw you

and i thoink i did being as you said your wife was with

[gregg52]

think i'll be out there today about 4 till dark

if you put in on the merrifield side youi will have to drive by me

i'll be fishing crappies been doing pretty good in the evening

[gregg52]

If you are at a boat launch and there is 2 docks

If its night time once you back down TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF

If you cant turn off the lights turn the vehilce off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

for the obvious reason !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you

[centralmnguy]

Well it wasn't me Gregg...we just got in about half hour ago & were the only ones at the landing...little hard to see backing down eeah!

Lost a pig trying to net it tonight but did manage to land a 23" eye. Also caught 5 small ones that were under 13". Caught the 2 big ones trolling raps deeper in 25-27fow.

[WalleyeJeff]

Caught 5 tohight 17-19 with one being 24

[bltbowhunter]

I was out all weekend, mostly on the main lake. The 2 of us caught 7 eyes Friday night trolling raps in shallow water. Biggest was 24" and kept 3 between 18 and 21". Saturday we pulled rapalas on the main lake using lead core and planer boards. The boards helped to keep the floating weeds from getting to the lure. We fished from 10 until 3 and caught 19 eyes. However, only kept 3 from 17 to 19 inches. The rest were 6 to 14 inches. We also caught a few decent pike and a couple real nice bass. Saturday night we trolled the shallows again, but only picked up 2 rock bass a few perch and a sunfish. Sunday, we fished from 10 til noon and caught 6 small eyes, ranging from 6 to 14 inches. We tried fishing gills in Merrifield for a short time, but weren't able to find any decent ones.

[centralmnguy]

Nice fish...how do you get a good picture at night? I try to take pics but they turn out grainy looking & all you see is the shine of the fish at night.

[bltbowhunter]

This one is a bit grainy and the fish is shining a bit too, but we just used the iphone with a flash to take the picture.

[gregg52]

hmmm there was 2 trucks left..when i left i guess I shoulda paid more attention then i would be albe to figure out which boat you are in ..lol

depending on what time you put in you should have went right by me ..lol

Ya i was maybe a little grabby last night ..lol first unloading the the truck stuck in park on those steep ramps then the battery on the boat was dead when we were going to head in ..lol then some guy was cleaning his boat after he he put it on the trailer which was fine but he left his head lights on i really could see ok cuz i was going in the north side and my truck blocked the lights ok,but I guess it was just the idea of his lights being on the whole time he spent cleaning out the boat while stilll on the ramp

really not a big deal As I think about it today...lol

had fun fishin...thats the important part !!!!!

[city slicker]

It’s been 4 years since I lived in Brainerd, and I really miss the 15 walleye day/nights on North Long. The lake has so many great areas to fish at anytime of the year. The key is to but together some sort of pattern, (weeds, sand, mud) I always run plugs to pick off the active ones. But if you want to rig, jig, pull spinners it sure saves a lot of time to start with the feeding fish and pulling plugs will give you a starting point! I start in either part, Merrifield or the big lake depending on the wind, and start in 8' and move in or out from there.So many good days out there, hope everyone is enjoying the end of there summer and practicing C.R.P. with those nice girls!city

[centralmnguy]

We must be taking the picture to far away or something because I have a iphone & use the flash also but for some reason all you see is a shimmer/flash off the fish but in your picture you can see your face, boat, fish & lake in background. Or my phone camera just sucks...

[centralmnguy]

The wife caught a nice 25" walleye today out on northlong & I caught a 15" & a couple 13" eyes. Also caught some bass & few crappies. The big eye was out deeper in 27fow. Trolling raps as usual.

[gregg52]

any body been out whats the water temp any one know

might have the rest of the week off

[centralmnguy]

Sunday night it was 70.5 on my lowrance...caught a 22" & 17" eye trolling. Both were caught after sunset & in 24-26 fow. With the strong winds last couple days the water temps should be in the mid 60's.

[centralmnguy]

To the bleepity bleep A-hole in the black lund boat & black lab in front...I dare you to get within spitting distance of me again while trolling at night & went over our lines...next time you will be getting a #5 rapala in the eye!

On a lighter note...did pretty good tonight vertical jigging with jigging raps in 19-25 fow. We caught 9 eyes but most were little ones but did put 3 in the live well that were 17"-18".

[gregg52]

there seems to be a few that think its ok to come by at full or half thottle to like check out the structure a guy is fishing

i dont care if you come in and putt around me or even fish close

but doin at a high speed does aggravate a person

a guy should maybe carry a bag of rocks with and see how good the ole pitching arm is...lol

and on a lighter note we did ok also but sunnies and crappies

kinda weird...well at least it seems so to me i'm not a real accomplished pan fisherman but we were catching real nice sunfish

suspended on minows...go figure huh

also got some nice crappies

i think the best bite is yet to come when this cooler water settles to the bottom...or also known as the turn over period...lol

[BlackLundBoat]

Hey Centralmnguy, I am the one in the black lund with a yellow lab not black. let's set the story straight. I saw you out in front of the landing fishing (approx 200-250 yards away). I was on my way in and decided to troll that shore line a time or two. I went up, back down, and up one more time towards the landing. Low and behold you worked your way right in front of me on my trolling run kicking me off the weedline I was following. Since I was heading in anyway I didn't make a fuss over the whole thing. I am use to Cormerants like yourself putting ownership on a lake including, the comment from the peanut gallery as I passed. Who was really at fault????. But again you think you own the lake. That is fine. If our trolling runs ever pass again I hope you do decide to wing #5 rap in my direction I could use a couple more. Enough said..good luck fishing hope you can be respectful to others on the lake as well.

[centralmnguy]

Blacklund...who's the one that thinks they own the lake?? "I was in your trolling run" When we set up there wasn't another boat in site & we were there for at least 15 minutes before you came along & went right over our line...way to close especially at night. Next time have a little courtesy & "respect" of other fisherman also please!

[centralmnguy]

And obviously you were to close if you could hear the comment from the peanut gallery since I said it under my breath to my wife!

And for those following this thread the comment was "Holy Balls your going right over our lines"

[BlackLundBoat]

Apparently not close enough for you to determine the difference between a Yellow Lab and a Black Lab. As for the ownership of the lake I was on a trolling run and I moved, which happens all the time. And you were not where we passed for fifteen minutes I watched you motor in from the hole in front of the access to where we passed each other. Point being... It is not a big deal. learn to share the lake and keep the comments to your self. By the way our lines never tangled.

[centralmnguy]

And my point is that is was dark out & you came in way to close for being that dark & no our lines didn't tangle but you did go over them. Could have been a bad situation...I didn't know if you could see us or not the way you were coming in so close & kept coming. You scared the s#$t out my wife. Your dog looked black but probably because it was so dark out. And we were anchored with our lights on & had been sitting there for awhile before you came by. You were fishing down the other end of shoreline when we set up...don't worry I noticed you also! And you don't own that shoreline either just because you had been trolling it.

No harm...no fowl & sorry for making a comment on here but it got the point across right! There's plenty of water out there for both of us.

[BlackLundBoat]

Yep, you got the point across...You own the lake. I will be sure to make a wider loop around you next time when you decide to anchor in front of a trolling boat. That is fine. I also hope I didn't scare anyone too bad trolling by at 2.4 mph. Enough said, There is plenty of water for everyone. Agreed.

[centralmnguy]

Great...I would appreciate that! Good luck