Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Cattin the Chain 2013


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 525
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Rick G

    122

  • DTro

    51

  • aanderud

    40

  • Horseshoe_Don

    37

goin back out tonight to see how they are bitting not sure if i'll be ok parking by the winter access with this snow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you had to guess Rick, with the cold temps coming how long will it be til a guy can drive a Ranger out there? I'll be coming through St. Cloud on my way to Williston in 4 days & I'll only have an hr or two, not worth it if I gave to walk all the way out there & back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Judging from the pics you guys are having the same problem I am, lack of size crazy Traderlee got a few and I got around 25 and only one of them was over 20in.

Bite was generaly good tonight, though size was small. Fished from 4 till 11. Best bite was from 5 till 8. Didn't get on any real schools but had lots of fish coming through all evening.

Found from 12-14in of ice tonight. People parked on the ice by the access. One full size Ford out on the lake. Lots of folks off 22, one guy on the meth hole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah they haven't been huge, that's for sure. We had only a handful over 20 inches last night, with the top two being 23 and 24. The good news is that even the 12 to 16 inchers fight 5 times harder than the 8 inch crappies we catch around these parts.

We had about 7 inches of ice.

We noticed that smaller jigs with green glow outfished the rest, and if you left it down there more than 5 minutes without a bite, you might as well reel it up and re-glow it, because they wanted them bright.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 of us made it out last night, given the high pressure cold front, the fishing was good. I drilled about 15 holes, in our target area, the first one had fish in it! We chose 32ft, and started fishing. My buddy in his solo house caught one right away, in 28ft. We were both marking fish pretty much non stop, but we had very few takers. Jimmy went up about 6-0 on us so we knew we needed to change tactics. We started using one live minnow tail hooked, and a set line, BAM! Walleye on the live bait, and that trend continued for both houses until sunset. We moved our house closer to Jimmy's after only catching 5 or 6 Cats and that made a huge difference. From about 6:30 to 8:45 it was steady action then we started running out of propane. frown A Red Glow Frostee was a great bait, as was a glow green Forage Minnow, and like stated already, keeping it glowing was key. If you don't get bit, or bumped in 5 min. reglow it! It was a fun night, I can't wait to go back...... We were the only house in the area after sunset!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How is the day bite there? If a guy were to go fish from, say 1030 - 1800 would it be reasonably safe to assume there would be some actively feeding channels present?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't speak for the meth hole, but the fish in other spots around Horseshoe and Krons Bay won't open their mouths til after 3p.m. It's definitely clear water this year, and has always seemed to be a low light lake. Heavy cloud cover days might give some day action.

I couldn't believe how many non-biters I was marking last night. I think I had a 5 minute stretch where I didn't mark a fish. Otherwise, there was always at least one or two on the graph. Ended up with one walleye for 4 hrs. Everything seemed locked down to the bottom and wouldn't come more than 2' off the bottom. Crappies I'm sure, but it was a rough night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't believe how many non-biters I was marking last night. I think I had a 5 minute stretch where I didn't mark a fish.

Honestly I think the day bite yesterday would have been decent.

We had fish in the graphs ALL DAY/NIGHT there wasn't 5 minutes we weren't marking fish, they just weren't feeding aggressive at all. I had maybe 2-3 hit the bait hard! I could get them to follow the bait up, but wouldn't eat it. I had one fish hit it while jigging, that was BIG, I'm not sure if it was a Pike or a big Walleye, but I got it up close to the hole after several runs and it ended up wrapping up in another line we had down, I'd like to have that fish back!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, the day bite can be very good, like I mentioned above in that video I posted, we caught them all day long that day.

It is said every year on this thread, but I'll say it again, if you can find some virgin waters you are usually rewarded and it paid off again on Fri. We could have easily sat there and caught over 100 fish. They were still pulling the bobber down hard and fast when we left.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. I'm a horseshoe virgin and will be up there on the 1st. Just was wondering what to expect (or hope for rather) as far as the time of day.

Darren I haven't watched your video yet, but ill check it out tonight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes' date=' the day bite can be very good, like I mentioned above in that video I posted, we caught them all day long that day.

It is said every year on this thread, but I'll say it again, if you can find some virgin waters you are usually rewarded and it paid off quote']

That's why I think fishing pressure has a huge effect on Flatheads....but that's whole diffrent subject....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made it out last night for a couple hours. Set up on a spot that I caught some crappies and walleyes last year. Caught a small walleye within the first 10 minutes. After that I thought something went crazy with my Bird. Turned out that the cats moved in and stayed there until I packed up and called it a night. I ended up also catching a handful of kitties. Fished in 25' and marked fish all the way up to 14' for most of the evening. I had a hard time seeing what was my jig and what was fish. They weren't biting like crazy but they liked to follow. I tried several different set ups with my most productive being a Buck Shot(rainbow) tipped with a minnow head. And all of them that I caught were with it glowing and within a minute of putting it back after glowing it up.

Several trucks parked on the ice and even saw one drive out to their house. I didn't measure anything more than 10" of ice where I drilled. Had one that was about 8".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heading out in a couple hours. Never fished within walking distance of the Hwy 22 winter access but the 4-wheeler trailer is broke and I'll need to hoof it. Anyone have luck within a reasonable walk of that access?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We hit the motherlode again last night. Ended up with over 50. Always a fun time.

Glo Green was the ticket.

I was a little upset to see yet another pile of frozen cats on the ice, right next to an empty beer can cigar butts and other trash near the spot we set up at, but was pleased when later on the CO came walking out with 4 younger guys. He gave them a good talking to and made them take the cats and clean up their garbage. Hopefully he wrote them a ticket as well. He quickly checked in on us and said he would be back. He walked back out and talked to us for a good 20 min. He seen how many fish we were catching and wanted to get some tips for taking his kid back out to catch some. smile

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN

Dtro-Glad to see Todd makeing his rounds. He stopped out on Big lake the other night and talked to us also. He is a great guy. Hopefully the kids got a ticket or a least learned a lesson in wanton waste garbage etc. Great to hear your still on the cats! Hopefully I can get to that area or some of the others soon with the cold temps alot of those spots will be a go this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That chain of lakes never ceases to amaze me. Even though I haven't caught any hogs (nothing over 24 inches yet this year), the quantity of the fish and the quality of the fight those mid-teens put up keeps us driving back.

If folks end up on sections that have current, be sure you know where you're going, and don't go alone if you can help it. Yes, with these temps it's getting better but I still drilled a hole yesterday in 4 inches of ice (about 50 feet from a spot with 11 inches).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you're seeing fish that's half the battle. Just gotta convince them to bite. Maybe a live minnow on a plain hook. Try smaller jigs. Bigger jigs. Glowing jigs. Different color glow. They rarely shut down completely, but they might want a different presentation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We had the same issue today. Marked fish ALL DAY but no takers. Iced one rock bass but not a whisker to be found. Tried live and pinched Fatheads with a variety of presentations/techniques. Didn't hike to the meth hole, but perhaps that would've been the thing to do?? We were kind of thinking the pressure system maybe killed the bite, but that may or may not be the case ...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Messed up my back pretty good on Sat morning. Been laid up till today, found the courage to get out, or should say was draged out wink by my buddies. Started the day on Long, found 12-13in of ice. People were driving all over the lake crazy, we went with the wheelers. Graphed lots of fish but could only get perch to bite frown Hit maybe half a dozen 'good' spots with no success, even prime time was a joke. Headed over to the home waters for some night fishing. Found plenty of fish right away, they were pretty sluggish, but we got right around 20 in 3hrs. Glow red with a fresh minnow head worked best. Found out something intresting, the guy who was eating corn chips got the least fish wink figure it was the oil on his hands.. Whatever it was, he didn't do so hot grin We had 17in of ice under us out here, trucks and wheelhouses going everywhere.

Dtro, glad to hear you guys got into them again wink Pretty cool to hear about our local C.O. cracking down on some of the people whe abuse the resource, it's all too comon to see cats laying on the ice to rot frown I'm betting it was Officer Vanderweyst you guys met, he is one heck of a nice guy and one of the best wardens we have in the area imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Went out the last 3 days. Sunday bite was agressive. Kept 3 limits between the 3 of us and smoked them all, very tasty. Biggest fish about 3 pounds but most over 2. Green glow was hot. Monday bite was really soft iced a decent amount didnt keep any with biggest about 6 pounds, pink and white glow wotked best. Tuesday marked many fish but iced just a few but landed one of about 6+. Bite was tough, white glow worked best. Had a camera down there and watched them come up and bump the jigs over and over. Saw quite a few northerns down at 30ft, which I was surprised about. Never iced one cat all 3 days on a live minnow.

Don

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice reports, guys. Don, sounds like you're getting into some nice fish. I haven't gotten a 6 pounder out there in over a year now, so getting a few in a weekend is awesome, in my book.

Rick, too bad to hear about your back. Here's to hoping it gets better soon. It's also sort of interesting about the corn chips. Last time we went, the guys that were eating doritos (Adam and I) were outfished by the guy who wasn't (Darren), like 2:1. Yet another variable to wonder about smile

I should really get up there today but I think I'll hit a local lake instead, and save the chain for the weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone headed out this afternoon? Been a couple years since I have tried my hand icing some cats and sincer I will be down around the St. Cloud area anyway I figured I would cut over on my way home today (between 2 & 3) and I was just curious if any other FM'ers will be out and possibly wanting to show a new fella some tricks? Well feel free to pm me er 3202479495. Send me a text.

Thanks

TM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was up there tuesday with nutter fishing 28-29 fow I have never marked so many fish and never got bit, we measured 13" of good ice and had a big wheel jouse pass us and a few trucks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was up there tuesday with nutter fishing 28-29 fow I have never marked so many fish and never got bit, we measured 13" of good ice and had a big wheel jouse pass us and a few trucks.

This was my experience over on Long, frustrating to say the least!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was a little upset to see yet another pile of frozen cats on the ice, right next to an empty beer can cigar butts and other trash near the spot we set up at, but was pleased when later on the CO came walking out with 4 younger guys. He gave them a good talking to and made them take the cats and clean up their garbage. Hopefully he wrote them a ticket as well. He quickly checked in on us and said he would be back. He walked back out and talked to us for a good 20 min. He seen how many fish we were catching and wanted to get some tips for taking his kid back out to catch some. smile

DTro,

I reported those kids...

They were "fishing" right next to me that afternoon, radio cranked, drinking beers, ripping their piped sled around ect. When I left they came over to see if I would take their fish; I said no, I have my limit of fish. As I was leaving I saw them throw the cats next to their pile of junk and drive their wheeler and sled up to the grey house on the north side. I called TIP and reported them 10 minutes later the CO called me for the GPS coordinates so he could investigate. 2 hours go by and he called to give me a update and after they tried saying "the other guy" did it... they admitted they left them but would come back to get them later. The CO said he gave them a ticket after they lied to him and made them go out and clean it up.

I told the CO that I don't like creating waves but it makes everyone else look bad and something needed to be done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • smurfy
      i cant help you with the weed thing, but i just came back form out that way......Regal, New London Hawick area. i dont no how big the swat of rain was but there is water standing everywhere. my buddy told me they had over 3 inches of rain yesterday/last night 
    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   The big basin, otherwise known as Big Traverse Bay, is ice free.  Zippel Bay and Four Mile Bay are ice free as well.  Everything is shaping up nicely for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th. With the walleye / sauger season currently closed, most anglers are targeting sturgeon and pike.  Some sturgeon anglers are fishing at the mouth of the Rainy River, but most sturgeon are targeted in Four Mile Bay or the Rainy River.  Hence, pike are the targeted species on the south shore and various bays currently.   Pike fishing this time of year is a unique opportunity, as LOW is border water with Canada, the pike season is open year round. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. Back bays hold pike as they go through the various stages of the spawn.  Deadbait under a bobber, spinners, spoons and shallow diving crankbaits are all viable options.   Four Mile Bay, Bostic Bay and Zippel Bay are all small water and boats of various sizes work well. On the Rainy River...  Great news this week as we learned sturgeon will not be placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.     The organization had to make a decision by June 30 and listing sturgeon could have ended sturgeon fishing.  Thankfully, after looking at the many success stories across the nation, including LOW and the Rainy River, sturgeon fishing and successful sturgeon management continues.   A good week sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River.  Speaking to some sturgeon aficionados, fishing will actually get even better as water temps rise.     Four Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River near the Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp is still producing good numbers of fish, as are various holes along the 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  A few spots with rotten ice, but as a rule, most of the Angle is showing off open water.  In these parts, most are looking ahead to the MN Fishing Opener.  Based on late ice fishing success, it should be a good one.  
    • leech~~
      Nice fish. I moved to the Sartell area last summer and just thought it was windy like this everyday up here? 🤭
    • Rick G
      Crazy windy again today.... This is has been the norm this spring. Between the wind and the cold fronts, fishing has been more challenging for me than most years.  Panfish have been moving in and out of the shallows quite a bit. One day they are up in the slop, the next they are out relating to cabbage or the newly sprouting lilly pads.  Today eye guy and I found them in 4-5 ft of water, hanging close to any tree branches that happened to be laying in the water.  Bigger fish were liking a 1/32 head and a Bobby Garland baby shad.   Highlight of the day way this healthy 15incher
    • monstermoose78
    • monstermoose78
      As I typed that here came a hen.  IMG_7032.mov   IMG_7032.mov
    • monstermoose78
      So far this morning nothing but non turkeys. 
    • monstermoose78
      Well yesterday I got a little excited and let a turkey get to close and I hit the blind!!
    • smurfy
      good......you?? living the dream..in my basement playing internet thug right now!!!!!! 🤣 working on getting the boat ready.......bought a new cheatmaster locator for the boat so working on that.   waiting for warmer weather to start my garden!!!
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.