Burntside Lake Fishing Reports---Lake Conditions

[fishinsfun]

Caught a 27 incher yesterday about 10am, just before the temp started dropping and the wind picked up. Hit a tip-up with a good-sized shiner on a red hook in 42 FOW, about 30 ft down. I hook em just behind the dorsal similar to Steve. My setup is similar as well, old school braid with 6-8 ft of 10lb mono with a sinker 12-18 inches up from the bait.

Nothing the rest of the day. Kept marking fish right near the bottom (within 6 ft). They would come and look at the jig, but never hit and never followed up the column. I'm guessing pout.

It was windy enough I had to put the outrigger stakes on my Quickfish6 for the first time!

Oh yeah, and it was not clipped FWIW.

[Barack]

Been getting all my LT's anywhere from 90fow to 25fow. Sunny days have a flurry between 9-11am then again at dust. Warmer overcast days they tend to feed 25-45 fow. Haven't caught anything over 10 lbs yet all 3-8 lbs'ers. Ran into quite a few 10-14 lbers last winter all native fish. I also old school it with tip-ups and live bait, suckers, rainbows, chubs, shiners, etc it all works when they go on the prowl. Been getting walleyes in a few spots that produce after dark. Happy hunting stay warm.

[Steve Foss]

Caught a 27 incher yesterday about 10am, just before the temp started dropping and the wind picked up. Hit a tip-up with a good-sized shiner on a red hook in 42 FOW, about 30 ft down. I hook em just behind the dorsal similar to Steve. My setup is similar as well, old school braid with 6-8 ft of 10lb mono with a sinker 12-18 inches up from the bait.

Nothing the rest of the day. Kept marking fish right near the bottom (within 6 ft). They would come and look at the jig, but never hit and never followed up the column. I'm guessing pout.

It was windy enough I had to put the outrigger stakes on my Quickfish6 for the first time!

Oh yeah, and it was not clipped FWIW.

We had nearly the same deal, only ours was a 2-3 lber. Hit about 10:30. It was a tough day for everyone I talked to, especially once the wind switched direction and came up. We only saw four lakers, which is really slow. Three were in the morning.

Often when the lakers are not in a biting mood, the bait rigs do better than jigging, but we didn't get a sniff on any of our four bait rigs all day. It appears the fish just weren't moving around much, which is not a surprise at the tail end of a two day weather front. That period, as well as the day after the front, tend to produce tougher fishing for lakers. Not always. Usually.

Fishinsfun, if that was you in the white pickup, topper and red Quickfish, you were about 1/2 mile west of us. We were in the silver Chevy w/trailer and electric blue Dodge. When the CO came over to check our licenses, he said you (if it was you) caught a ncie one.

Of the 14 fish for us so far this season, only one was fin clipped.

[fishinsfun]

Yep, that was me. Those darn CO's spillin the beans

I'm planning on taking a friend and his son from down by the cities out next weekend. Hopefully we get some action anyway. Sounds like the temps will be better at least.

[Steve Foss]

Yep, that was me. Those darn CO's spillin the beans

I'm planning on taking a friend and his son from down by the cities out next weekend. Hopefully we get some action anyway. Sounds like the temps will be better at least.

Good luck this weekend. Always nice when you can get your buddies on fish.

[Mike Stark]

its been pretty slow for me the last couple days. i have managed to miss a couple fish and have had some chasers.

it's easy going for 4x4 trucks. measured 16-18in of ice.

it has been pretty quite on the lake the last couple days.

[Steve Foss]

My guys had a good day Sunday. Three fish in 40 FOW. The 31.5x17 got put back after a quick measurement and before a camera was ready. There also were a 25.5 inch and a 21.5 incher. I did not get pics, though the guys did.

It's been a VERY good January so far.

Thanks, Mark and Ben. You guys were a pleasure to be with!

[Jkelly1311]

Heading up Friday with a buddy. 1st time for both of us. Been trying to find some threads and info but I'm just not finding much. What I have found is 40-50 fow seems to be the popular depth and some sort of jigging spoon seems to be the popular lure. So far so good?

I've fished sagnaga for lakers many times and love pulling lakers through the ice. Is there any other fairly obvious tips I might be missing? Also, I'm not looking for anyones gps coordinates but are there "areas" or islands that are good places to start?

I love trying new lakes. Thanks guys.

[Mike Stark]

Heading up Friday with a buddy. 1st time for both of us. Been trying to find some threads and info but I'm just not finding much. What I have found is 40-50 fow seems to be the popular depth and some sort of jigging spoon seems to be the popular lure. So far so good?

I've fished sagnaga for lakers many times and love pulling lakers through the ice. Is there any other fairly obvious tips I might be missing? Also, I'm not looking for anyones gps coordinates but are there "areas" or islands that are good places to start?

I love trying new lakes. Thanks guys.

Around 40-60fow is popular but don't be afraid to try deeper or shallower. You can use a lot of different baits. When a trout is hot it will hit about anything. Use what you have confidence in. Rattle baits can be very good at times.

There are fish everywhere on Burntside. Point, humps, saddles, walls, gradual breaks. If i were you i would move around until you start marking fish.

[Jkelly1311]

Excellent. Hopefully I'm not opening up a can of worms here but what is your opinion on line? I've been using no stretch. My thought was u'd get a better hook set. But I've lost many fish and found my hooks to be bent after I real up. Maybe regular mono is better? Any thoughts?

[Mike Stark]

I use braid on warm days or when fishing inside a house. I use mono when im fishing outside on cold days. Both work great. My guess is that you are bending hooks because they are weak hooks. Change them out with gamakatsu hooks or another high quality hook and you will be good to go.

If you haven't already take a look at this thread. Tons of info about winter lake trout.

Inland Lake Trout Gear & Tactics

[Steve Foss]

My laker setups have evolved over the last 10 years. I've used a lot of different combos, and have settled on mono, basically, whether baitcasting or spinning.

Now, all but a couple of my rods are spooled with 12 Trilene XL. Never know from one day to the next whether we'll be in heated shacks or out on the open ice, and mono is the more versatile of the two, since it works in all conditions and braid freezes up easily to the spool when fishing outside at anything much below freezing. I have a couple braid rods for when, like Mike, I know we'll be in heated shacks or it's above freezing out.

It's also easier for hooks to pull out of the fish with no-stretch, and rods blow up easier with it. No worries about stretch in mono, either. You rarely have more than 40-50 feet of line out when a laker hits. Make sure your hooks are very sharp.

[Wanderer]

Excellent. Hopefully I'm not opening up a can of worms here but what is your opinion on line? I've been using no stretch. My thought was u'd get a better hook set. But I've lost many fish and found my hooks to be bent after I real up. Maybe regular mono is better? Any thoughts?

I've pretty much converted over to all mono also. I started with it, moved to braid and went back. You don't need anything from braid that mono can't give you for ice fishing lakers IMO.

Another reason you may be straightening your hooks is possibly your drag is set too tight. Anytime using braid you should set your drag to slip on the set. Folks really tend to over set with braid.

[Barack]

Anyone drill a hole today? Wondering if i need to put the extensions on. Theres at least 28-30 inches by now I'd assume.

[Murdock26]

Thanks everyone for updating the travel condition last weekend. We ended up with 8 trout over two days, 6 Sat and 2 Sun. Most on tubes and the others on a dead bait rig. I ended up landing my biggest laker on Saturday which was an awesome feeling. We were only able to get the last half on video and one picture because it was so cold I didn't want to harm the fish. 30.25" was the length. Even though it was brutally cold, we had a really good time. Hope the fishing picks up for those big fish. The other picture is my buddies 27.5"

Youtube Laker Video

[][30.25" Released]

[27.5" Released]

[Steve Foss]

Sweet fish, Murdock!

We only got about 2-3 inches of snow at the house last night. Trucks, ATVs, sleds, all good to go on Burntside.

[Barack]

Fished from dusk ta dawn 2 flags with a total of a foot a line spun out. I assume a couple of drunken moonshiners ran into line after a a good night of binge feeding. Someone had a overnight tip-up out LOL. Flag was up 2. I threw everything at them includinga cowbell f or flash. Checked every spot fished today from the arm to the wolf lake landing. Seems nobody did good today. Tomorrow could be great cu hhf

[Mike Stark]

Nice fish Murdock. Looks like you were rewarded for braving the elements and fishing outside.

[Wanderer]

Nice fish! I love watching those videos.

[chaffmj]

Congrats! You deserved that fish just for being out there.

Thanks for the pics and video.

[Steve Foss]

We had a 6-fish day today on Burntside. Ranged from 2-8, with one significantly heavier fish that was on for about 10 seconds before tossing the hook.

Gorgeous day to be on the ice.

Everywhere I drove there was only 6-8 inches of snow on the ice. No need for auger extensions just yet.

[Wanderer]

Whew! Missed the jinx!! Congrats on another great day on the lake.

[Barack]

Fish where active all day. Might have to call in to work and hit again tomorrow. Someone forgot there tipup lol. Theres a fish on it 2.

[Steve Foss]

I spent the day exploring new spots and/or revisiting spots that I hadn't hit for a few years. Always searching for more trout water.

Saw about 8 fish, landed two of them, a 2 and a 5. Got a bonus 5 lb pout just after 4 p.m. Of course, wouldn't you know it that while I was in the middle of shooting a promotional video and landing a pout on a bait rig, Great Outdoors would drive up, dominate the audio with the clatter of the motor from his Maki Traki, and then try to talk to me while I was narrating into the camera.

No prob. MANY days left on the ice this winter, and so far we'v had 26 trout in 7 outings.

Lake travel is easy. Never even put the truck in 4x4 out on the ice. Got some melt today, which will compact the snow even more. NWS is calling for 3-8 inches of new snow overnight by tomorrow afternoon. We'll see. They've been off significantly this winter so far. Have been consistently overestimating. Last 3-8 forecast we got yielded 1/2 inch.

Should be on the ice again tomorrow, and will update conditions at end of day.

[Steve Foss]

Already they've dropped it to 2-6 inches. Yawn. Whatever happens, we'll be fishing.

[Deet]

How much snow?

3 - 4" on the west side of the range.

[Steve Foss]

We've got an inch here at the house in Ely. THey say maybe 1-2 more before noon, but it's not snowing now. Looks like they overestimated again. Good!

[leech~~]

Of course, wouldn't you know it that while I was in the middle of shooting a promotional video and landing a pout on a bait rig, Great Outdoors would drive up, dominate the audio with the clatter of the motor from his Maki Traki, and then try to talk to me while I was narrating into the camera.

Oh the down falls of being a ice fishing Star!

[Great Outdoors]

Hey, give me a break!

I didn't realize what Foss was doing and just dropped by to say "hi!"

I've seen him kneeling down and talking to himself so many times before on the lake, didn't think anything was different this time!

[leech~~]

Hey, give me a break!

I didn't realize what Foss was doing and just dropped by to say "hi!"

I've seen him kneeling down and talking to himself so many times before on the lake, didn't think anything was different this time!

maybe he was just kneeing down praying for fish again!