Alexandria Fishing Reports

[Chad Peterson]

The fishing report for the Alexandria area this week has been very good on walleyes and panfish. The cooler weather has really started to get the fish bite.

The walleyes are starting to come in shallow and on several of the area lakes the best bite has been in 7-10FOW. Have being getting them on crankbaits(shallow runners) and the colors are firetiger and purple. It will all depend on the lake,but the more stained waters have produced the best during the day.

The morning and evening bite is always the best time to troll crankbaits and now that the cooler weather has pushed the water temp down,jig and minnow will start soon.

The crappies and gills have been excellent and they seem to be in preparing for that fall bite. The sunfish lately are in 10-15FOW next to the deep basins and also look for those deeper weedlines and rock piles for the areas for bigger gills.The Northland Impulse plastics have been producing the best. The Impulse waterbugs and 1" smelt on a jig will not disappoint anglers.All colors have done well and what most the people that have used them have said that it is nice to not to re-bait all the time. You can average 5-10 fish per plastic.

The crappies are being caught in 12-18FOW during the day and of course they will move in during the morning and evening hours of the day. Using the same presentation for the gills the Impulse plastics have produced some nice slab crappies. If your into trolling smaller crankbaits, the crappies can be caught by trolling in 5-10FOW. This is another way to cover more water until you can find them, which you can then stop and jig for them. Or, just keep trolling.

Until next week,be safe and I will see you on the water.

Sniffer

[keyks42]

Chad

How's the fishing on Ida been. We have are fantasy football draft at a friends cabin next weekend and where bringing are boats. The lake is loaded with structure any tips on what depth to start for eyes.

Thanks

Mark

[gmeabake]

Great report and pics Sniffer.

[Chad Peterson]

Mark,

Work the 15-19 foot breaks with a jig and a leech or trolling 15 feet will work as well. I would use a perch color crankbait if your trolling.

Sniffer

[Chad Peterson]

This week's report has a different spin and I had an opportunity to fish with a good friend up north. Jim Uran called and said to get up here and fish for some of the tanks that he has getting on. The sunfish were exactly that..........TANKS! This was also a good opportunity to do some film work as well, so I headed up to his neck of the woods for the afternoon and it was a very good day.

The water temp was in the low 70's and the clarity was stained a bit which brings out some of the best colors in this gills. The presentation was Northland Impulse plastics and FireFly's.The Impluse waterbug and 1"smelt minnow were all we needed to land some of this beauty's. The color did not seem to matter as these gills were active in 9-12FOW in the weeds. They were filtering through the coontail and cabbage and all we did was fish over the side of the boat. I personally have not done that in a long time and it was nice to get on fish that we did not have to keep moving. The fish were 2 feet off the bottom and it was one after another.

We did land a few crappies and they were on the small side. Jim said that the lakes crappies were on the decline due to pressure, but we managed to land a nice 11'er.

The one thing that I enjoyed seeing was that Jim likes to catch-n-release and Jim believes that is why the sunfish have grown to the sizes of 8-10". And maybe that it is just one of these lakes that just kicks out trophy gills. By looking at the structure and food sources, I can see why.These are the lakes that are hard to find, but also need to keep tight lipped.

So, we landed about 100+ gills in a few hours and just want to say thanks Jim for the day on the water.

Until next week,be safe and I will see you on the water.

Sniffer

[Jim Panfish Uran]

It was great fishing with you, as always. Can't wait to do it again buddy!!

[Chad Peterson]

This weeks report is a hot one, weather I mean. The weather has hot and the panfish have not stopped biting. The sunfish have been on a feeding frenzy this week and look for the crappies to do the same. Most of the fish caught are coming out of 10-15FOW on the outside edges of the weedlines. The water temp. has been 72-76 degerees on most of the lakes that we have been fishing.

The walleyes are getting that feed bag on and look to start fishing with a jig and a minnow. This week the walleyes are in 18-22FOW and the trolling bite has been very good in the mornings and evenings. This Friday thur labor day should produce good walleyes during the full moon. The best depths to troll during full moon are 7-10FOW and would use a #7 crankbait. Good luck this weekend and have a safe labor day weekend.

Until next week, be safe and I will see water.

Sniffer

[Chad Peterson]

The signs of fall are in the air and the fishing continues to be very good. The sunfish and crappies are starting there fall patterns and you want to look in the areas that are a little deeper as the water cools. Today, found many sunfish in the 12-16FOW hunging the bottom right next to a deep basin. Work the bottom for larger fish. Smaller one's are still in the weeds and the bass are active as well in the 5-9FOW. Using the AquaVu micro today to see what they were doing and the better sized gills were in the deeper water.

The water temp has dropped from 76 degrees to 71 degrees in the past few days due to cooler nights.

The presentation was a Northland FireFly and Impulse plastics and have produced some nice fish. And at times using a waxy was needed to get a few. Crappies are in 13-17FOW and tipping your jig with a fat head or minnow will get some nice slabs in the boat.

The walleyes are starting the jig and minnow pattern and this morning we caught a few in 10-15FOW. The other pattern that will produce is the trolling pattern. Using a #5 or #7 crankbait will be your best bet for putting walleyes in the boat. The best times are mornings and evenings. The depth is 8-12FOW for trolling and I would not hesitate to troll during the day. We have caught some nice eater walleyes and we will troll in the 15-18FOW.

The fall bite is starting so get out there and not only enjoy the weather, but the fishing will be very good this time of year.Until next week,be safe and I will see you on the water.

Sniffer

[bturck]

Great report and pictures as always Chad. Great time of year approaching for sure. I ordered some of the Water Bugs from Northland after your report on them, and they do catch fish. Between those and the Linday Watzits, they are the go to bait for me as of now......

[Todd_B]

Hi everybody. I just joined the sight a couple of days ago. I really like everything I have seen so far. Great report Chad! A few guys and I are going to be headed to star lake the end of next week. Does anybody know how the bite is, has the minnow bite kicked in yet? Any info or tips would be great, thanks.

[Chad Peterson]

Welcome Todd to HSO. Star Lake has kicked out some walleyes, but the crappies should be on. Have a good friend that lives on the lake and crappies are going. Where??? he will not tell me.

Sniffer

[Todd_B]

I have heard that star produces some Nice papermouths . Those and walleyes will be the species of choice, and of course the big gills that are there. If anybody is on star the end of next week I will be in a blue and white smokercraft , stop and say hi.

[bturck]

Todd, sorry don't have any lake information for you, but welcome to the site. Looking forward to your reports and input. You will find some super guys on these sites. Good luck in your ventures on the water

[Chad Peterson]

Boy I tell ya, what a week will do. The temps have really have taken a nose dive, but the fall fishing has been good. Not great,but we have gotten some cool front that gone though which have slowed some of the panfish. Fished a few times this week and the water temps. were in the mid 60's to day it was 59.5 degrees.

Look for the panfish to start to slide out to deeper water and if your going to fishing for them start in 12-18FOW. At time you might want to deeper than that. After hearing that we have a frost warning tonight it will push those water temps down again.

Yesturday,we were slow trolling for crappies in 14FOW and had pretty good luck, but today it was very slow. Have not walleye fish this week so no information this week.

Sniffer

[Todd_B]

Well back to the real world today. Star Lake, well what can I tell you but cold wind and not so friendly waves. I'm sure the cold front did not help much,the fishing was pretty slow. The pan fish bite was almost nonexistant. Walleyes were very tough to come by also. The only willing critters were northerns. Water temp on Sunday was 58 degrees. Wish I had more time to spend on that lake a lot of structure and great places to fish.

[Chad Peterson]

The fall bite is ON and it has been very good this week. We were on several lakes this week and the water temp. is between 55-59 degrees and most of the panfish are now in 13-17FOW. This weekend will be awesome with the weather being stable and with little wind. The way we have been getting them is slowly drifting and locating fish on the vexilar. This is like we are ice fishing where you can lift that fish right in. This is a great way to put more fish in the boat rather than just guessing.

When doing this, you want to either use a shorter rig like a 4'8" pole or a 28" ice fishing pole. It does not matter what way you want, but you have more control with a short rig. I like this because I can see my jig and also see where those fish are in the water column. The sunfish and crappie are active and by using a larger presentation will help. Using live bait or plactics will depend on the day. A few times this week we had to use piece of crawler or fatheads for the fish to go. The best colors are pink, orange, or yellow and white.

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The walleye bite is very good this week, and with the full moon this weekend it will be awesome. Reports are that they are trolling in 7-10FOW in the evening and getting nice walleyes. During the day, the jig and minnow bite has been good. Once you locate the walleyes on the breaks, it is lights out. Heading out this weekend to do some trolling and jigging, so I will report back next week on the results. Enjoy the weekend as it looks to be beautiful out. Until next week, be safe and I will see you on the water.

Sniffer

[sunniewally]

any good pan fish on miltona now off the breaks?

[Chad Peterson]

any good pan fish on miltona now off the breaks?

You have to look for them a bit, but can get them in the 15-18FOW in the deeper weeds.

[Chad Peterson]

If you haven't noticed,it turned cold and even saw a few snow flakes. Cold weather is fine, but snow can hold off for a while. With the cold morning the water temp. has dropped in to the low 50's and the fish have moved out in the deep basins.

Yesturday, Greg, Blake, and I were out for the crappies, which it was overcast and cold. With that north-west wind coming off the water, it is nice to have Ice Armor gloves and suit. The crappies have moved into 25-35FOW and are 10 feet off the bottom. They also can be found on sharp breaks that are next to deep basins. Most of our crappies were caught working those breaks.

The crappies were very active in the morning to mid-day and then in the early part of the evening. We were using Impulse Tadpoles and StoneFly on a FireFly jig. Very good presentation and keeping our hand dry without putting our hands in the bait bucket. A few sunfish were caught,but they were in a little shallow next to the outside weedlines.

At the same time, we were picking of walleyes on the sharp breaks. Blake was using a 1/4oz Northland GumBall jig tipped with a minnow and getting walleyes and crappies. The walleyes were in 14-19FOW all day and caught several nice eyes.

The fall bite is on and so is the cold weather. Water temps will stay pretty close in the low 50's the coming week, so get out there and enjoy the fishing. The patterns will stay like that up until ice up. Until next week, be safe and I will see you on the water.

Sniffer

[basssmasher*]

Nice work once again Chad!! I was on LQP today and thewater temp was a cool 46*... Fishing was decent though

[Chad Peterson]

I think we can finally say that winter is here. After a few trips looking for some decent ice, I took the plunge. The ice conditions have been of late a real challenge due to the weather and as of today, the ice on smaller lakes are 3.5-4.5 inches.The larger lakes still have some open areas and if we get the cold weather that they say they will lock up quickly. Now, the forecast is saying snow and how much we get is still up in the air and I am hoping for a little. If we get the 4-8 like they are saying, it could get ugly out on the ice.

The areas where the fish were in the 10-15FOW right in the weeds. They are pretty active right now and this afternoon was very good once you found them. The presentation was a Northland hexi-fly tipped with a 1" Impulse smelt minnow. This is a deadly presentation with out using live bait.

Several crappies and sunfish were caught on this and a surprise walleye too.

The fish were hanging around the weedlines and were 2-4 feet off the bottom. Once they were located, it was game on and it was finally good to get back out on the ice. As the evening approached the bigger crappies showed up for the dinner bell and caught several 12"ers.

Until next time, be safe and I will see you on the ice.

[Chad Peterson]

The walleye and panfish bite has been very good, and the ice is finally here. For a week or so, it didn't look good what with the snow we recieved, though the rain that came last weekend helped a ton. The walleyes are bitting in 9-14FOW on jigging spoons, and the best times are early morning and late afternoon. Most of the walleyes are nice eaters and range from 15"-18" inches. Those are the best sizes to catch for table fare.

The panfish bite has been fantastic and is a great start to the ice fishing season. I really like to start on the shallow lakes first, but with the snow that we had, it was hard to get to the honey-holes that we usually fish. But, with good records on lakes that have produced fish in the past will help you when we have years like this one. Of course, once things start to get back to normal, you can always go back to the lakes that you've fished before.

The hot jigs and plastics are the new Northland Fire Ball jigs tipped with Impulse stonefly, tadpole and mayflies. Any color seems to work on the jig, but the tadpole(natural) was the ticket on several mule slabs.

The panfish are running 9-16FOW in the weeds and where the forge is. Most of the time, these fish will head in those basins and there are lakes where this pattern is true, but there are other lakes where they come in these shallows then fatten up before heading to deeper water. The other thing to keep in mind is to start out with a bigger presentation this time of year. They are looking to feed, and as we get into Jan-Feb. they become finicky and this is when you want to down size. It's a challenge and at times,they can really drive you crazy. The patterns or as I like to call them "the puzzle" they present to anglers can make you think a bit. Not to worry, this happens to all of us including myself. That is why good records on the lakes you fish will help with those days.

Lastly, remember to let the big girls go. It is a cause that I believe in to keep the resources healthly. This does mean that you shouldn't keep fish, but be selective in doing so. Lakes get a beating and to many of the good breaders get taken. And now the lake takes time to recover and can take up to 2-5 years to get on quality fish. So the question is are you steward....................I am!

Until next week, be safe and I will see you on the ice.

[goose89]

Nice report, Chad.

[Spenser]

Nice Crappies Chad! Thanks for the report and stay on them!

[Chad Peterson]

This weeks report took me up north to fish with my good friend Greg Clusiau. Greg called up to see what I was doing on Friday and of course, it involved fishing. So, what am I going to say............no. Of course not,so I left early Friday morning and meet up with Greg and the start stop was to have a little breakfast before we hit the ice hard. Never fished in Greg's neck of the woods so I knew it was going to be an adventure for sure, and it was.

When we arrived at the lake, I was in a state of shock. The beautiful landscape with a hazy sun filtering through the snow covered trees. We were the only ones out on the ice and it was quiet. There was no wind and at times the skies would drop some light snow as we started to punch holes. It did not take long before we started to mark fish and they were 5-7 feet off the bottom in 29FOW. It was funny when we started, Greg said we are going to slaughter them today. I turned to look at him and said "How do you know?" Trust me kid, I know! I guess that was enough for me, and he was right. It was a one after another fish kind of day.

Crappies and sunfish were very active and the presentation we were using was the Northland Impulse Tadpole, mini smelt, and stonefly. The other presentation, which is one of my favorite is the Forge Minnow Spoon. The funny thing was we were not using any bait.....nothing. This made it nice because is was on the cold side. So keeping your hands dry is always a good thing.

At the end of the day, we iced over 80 crappies and 15 sunfish and they were quality fish too. Most of the crappies were 10-12 inches and sunfish ran 7-9.5 inches. It was a great day of filming so watch for the early ice crappie with Impulse plastics.

Until the next time, be safe and I will see you on the ice.

[Pesik]

How is the fishing on Le Homme Dieu and Lake Carlos? Are the crappies and walleyes biting?

[Chad Peterson]

Not sure pesikboy, but welcome to the site.

[bturck]

Chad great report and pics. The background scenery would have made the trip worthwhile even without great fishing. Just something about the kind of day you describe that makes us very lucky to be living in MN

[Sifty]

Nice report and pics Chad.

Sifty

[Chad Peterson]

Thanks guy's! It was priceless to see and we are lucky to live in a beautiful state.