Burntside Lake Fishing Reports---Lake Conditions

[Steve Foss]

Lakers don't stack up like cordwood in the shallows in May and early June in Burntside like they do in a lot of lakes up in Canada. You can catch them shallow until the shallows warm, but they aren't usually there in concentrations. And I've had far better luck targeting Burntside lakers in deeper water in May and June compared with fishing the shallows.

We've had quite a few 8-10 fish days on Bside, with sometimes 2 or 3 over 30 inches. On average, the lake yields 2-3 lakers per day on open water for us when fishing a full 8-9 hours. That means some full days yield 0 fish, and some days yield 8-10. Most days it's in between.

Burntside is a fishery turned on its ear, however, since smelt were introduced in the '70s. Most native inland laker lakes in Minnesota do not have the smelt factor, but have the traditional forage base of cisco/tulibee and whitefish.

[Improvedarock]

Burntside lakers are tough to catch consistently. If you are able to this consider yourself a great fisherman! The smelt movement on the lake probally dictates the time of day they usually go on the prowl.

[Steve Foss]

We dodged a lot of rain today, but ended up fishing in a lot of rain as well. The fish continue their activity upswing. We had two releases and landed the 10 lber in the pic. It went right back in the water . . . CPR.

Rod was a VERY happy guy fighting this fatty. Great to be out with Dan (a repeat guy and great fella who owns a sports bar in Fargo) and Rod, who went to UND and played DE for the Sioux Football team during my era. Good times, good memories! Not to mention, they were good sports when I showed them the Packers protective case for my iPhone.

Small purple/gold spoon down 35 feet over 70 FOW. We saw active fish in 40 to 130 FOW today. Lots of fish well off bottom, some very high flyers, and good numbers coming up to look at the DR balls. Surface temps 72 to 76. Spiny water flea on the downswing compared with the last couple of weeks. About half as many on the lines as there have been. Strong constant read on both electronics units from 20-25 feet down makes me think we have a thermocline.

[Steve Foss]

Pretty much same type of day as yesterday. Had a half-day afternoon gig that turned into a bit over 2 hours fishing because of the rain, but Bill and Harriet, who traveled from San Francisco for some Bside laker action, were able to nab supper with this 2 lber. Cleaned it for them and left them planning a gourmet meal.

Fish came on a silver/gold spoon fished 30 feet down over 70 FOW.

Hats off to Harriet, a New York City girl who was not very interested in fishing (or rain) but who held out for a couple hours.

[Steve Foss]

Laker activity continues to pick up. We landed some nice smallies, including a 3-lber, first thing this morning, then transitioned to lakers at 10 a.m. before getting chased off by lightning about noon.

Caught two lakers in those two hours, the largest this 13-lb 31 incher. Definitely a fatty! Ed was surprised by how hard the fish fought, and how tough it was to gain line on it.

Surface temps were 73-76, lake was flat calm until the storms blew in. Again, very few spiny waterflea on lines and cables. Both fish came on a silver/gold spoon fished on a downrigger 35 feet down over 75 FOW. Both were immediately CPRd. The 2 lber had a clipped fin.

[SwivelDigger]

Went laker fishing on B-side for the first time with Foss guide service. Awesome lake. Sadly we didn't catch any but it's fishing not catching. Me ,wife and youngest daughter went half day then in laws and oldest went in afternoon. We all had a good time and I will definitely come back again. Thanks a lot Steve.

[Improvedarock]

Waterfowler inland laker fishing takes patience. You can troll your gear all over lake twice without a bite. I just use a 3 way swivel put 2-4 ounces of weight on and a gold color crawler harness on work the bottom in 30-60fow. If its dead calm out troll 25-35 foot down over suspended water. The walleyes are heating up so no more LT for me until late September.

[levy382]

Any ice, snow, slush report for the lake just wondering what to bring next weekend to get around on the lake.

[Mike Stark]

Took a ride around bside today. found 17in of ice. the top 2-3in was cloudy. found very little slush. the slush i did find was tight to the shoreline.

[Neighbor_guy]

Mike,

How much snow was on the ice?

[Mike Stark]

The most I found was 10in. Most areas had 8in-9in. There are some drifts that might have a little more.

[trumy]

Anybody plow any roads.with that snow cover truck travel is not out of the the question wheelers are questionable imo hope to have sled up and going smooth sailing then

[magic_minnow]

Hey Mike Stark:

I remember reading somewhere on here that you rent an ice house on Burntside/Shagawa? Just wondering if you have 2/22/14 or 3/1/14 available for rent? Also is it a sleeper or just a day rental? Thanks, I'd love to get out there this year!

[Mike Stark]

Hey Mike Stark:

I remember reading somewhere on here that you rent an ice house on Burntside/Shagawa? Just wondering if you have 2/22/14 or 3/1/14 available for rent? Also is it a sleeper or just a day rental? Thanks, I'd love to get out there this year!

I do have an ice castle for rent on Burntside/Shagawa. Both of those dates are booked at this time tho. I have two cots for the house. It will sleep two people.

Send me a message for more info.

Thanks.

[levy382]

Thank you for the update and wish everyone luck this weekend

[Mike Stark]

Took another ride around Burntside today. Found some areas off the Passi access that had only 11in of ice and half of that was cloudy. There was a lot of fluffy snow back there too. Also found a couple spots further out from there with 14in of ice with 4in of that being cloudy. There is less ice in that area vs. the main lake. Main lake the least I found was 16in with 12in of that being clear ice and 4in cloudy. Not far from there I found 19in of solid clear ice.

So the ice thickness varies depending on where you are at.

There are quite a few roads being plowed to the usual areas.

[mt1017]

Thanks for the update is there any slushy areas that u found

[lispeej]

Mike Stark.

Is your ice castle or day use only? Or is it available for overnights too?

[Mike Stark]

Thanks for the update is there any slushy areas that u found

[Mike Stark]

I was out yesterday. The lake had drifted over pretty good with the snow we had. It blew pretty much all day yesterday with snow on and off. Some are calling for 1-3in of snow tomorrow. I will be getting my house out today and will see what the lake looks like. Snowmobiles are going to be the best bet for getting around. I'm not sure about trucks. If you do take a truck off the road be prepared to get stuck. You will need 4x4, good clearance, and good tires.

[magic_minnow]

Thanks for the reports Mike!

[Wanderer]

The lake had FUN snow conditions for getting around by sled today. I wouldn't have wanted to stray too far off a plowed road without one. Very soft with a nice float feeling. Some slush but not crazy bad. Many times today though, I heard the snow just compact. Walking around the fishing area would cause it to just drop and settle.

Fish sightings were few today but a good percentage of lookers were turned into takers, leaving us with 4 fish iced between 17 and 24 inches. Two released and two kept. 3 of the 4 came while jigging and the fourth was on chub under a tip up.

Pretty standard fare.

[Mike Stark]

Had a great weekend fishing with a couple buddies. Fishing was good. Yesterday we caught 2 fish. 26in and 24in. Lost a nice fish at the hole. Guessing it was in the 26-29in range.

Today we iced 7. 4 were all around 24-25in. The other 3 were smaller. Lost two others on tip-ups and had three others drop the bait. It was good action. Even had a double! A cisco on the bottom in 57fow produced most of our fish.

[Mike Stark]

Here are some pics from this weekend.

[leech~~]

Great way to start the season Mike!

[Cliff Wagenbach]

NICE Mike!!

Cliff

[DTro]

Nice fish Mike!

[monstermoose78]

Very nice Mike!

[fishgutz77]

Love those unclipped fish!

[TomWehler]

Looks like fun to me, a real Groovy good time.

T