Any thoughts for this weekend?

[slick2526]

Anyone think that a decent walleye bite will be happening on any lakes this weekend? Im still questioning on where to go. Two of my favorite spring walleye lakes froze out so I need to think of some other options around the detroit lakes area. Any suggestions? Was thinking Middle corm maybe but I havent been that way or have any Idea when the ice came off.

[Tadpoletodd]

On Middle Cormorant, the ice gave up on Saturday. Sunday AM it was all clear.

[TroutYammer]

I'm staying off the lakes until they are done spawning.

[Musky Buck]

All I did was read the DNR report and the lake we did so well on last weekend without stocking it wouldn't be a walleye lake in short order so we weren't that concerned about the spawn and none of the walleyes we caught had any eggs or milt or whatever word we use to avoid the word sperm coming from them nor the dozens caught by other anglers which seemed very odd in a way. None of the ones we cleaned had eggs and none were leaking milt ? All were in the 17"-19.75" range, did see 1 maybe 8 pounder caught and released. Best part......spent $ 0.00 on live bait !

[BrianLucky13]

Been catching walleyes from many different lakes and ALL males were milking and every female is full of eggs and very chunky. And that's the same with everyone else I've talked to. All spots 5-20 minutes from DL.

[Guest]

Been catching walleyes from many different lakes and ALL males were milking and every female is full of eggs and very chunky. And that's the same with everyone else I've talked to. All spots 5-20 minutes from DL.

+1 Been lights out and EVERY female was full of eggs and ALL males were running with sperm...only keeping eater sized males and they are harder to come by...lots of big fish!

[Tony Mariotti]

Been catching walleyes from many different lakes and ALL males were milking and every female is full of eggs and very chunky. And that's the same with everyone else I've talked to. All spots 5-20 minutes from DL.

We must be fishing VERY different lakes! I just got in from Melissa,(15 minutes ago) and my buddy and I caught 23 fish, ranging in size from 13"-22" in about 2.5 hours....Guessing 21 of the fish we caught were males, and 2 were a female: We tried to "milk" each one and couldn't get a "drip" out of any of them! My buddy kept 6 that were 13-15" for an awesome feast. It was very different than last night, as the fish wanted smaller baits last night. Tonight the bigger fish INHALED Salmo crankbaits, and bigger baits outfished the #4 crank I was throwing. Not a single fish showed any sign of spawning activity.....

In my opinion, the "slowdown" has occurred, but very quickly the shiners will run and the males at least will be putting on the feedbag!

[Guest]

We must be fishing VERY different lakes! I just got in from Melissa,(15 minutes ago) and my buddy and I caught 23 fish, ranging in size from 13"-22" in about 2.5 hours....Guessing 21 of the fish we caught were males, and 2 were a female: We tried to "milk" each one and couldn't get a "drip" out of any of them! My buddy kept 6 that were 13-15" for an awesome feast. It was very different than last night, as the fish wanted smaller baits last night. Tonight the bigger fish INHALED Salmo crankbaits, and bigger baits outfished the #4 crank I was throwing. Not a single fish showed any sign of spawning activity.....

In my opinion, the "slowdown" has occurred, but very quickly the shiners will run and the males at least will be putting on the feedbag!

That is strange, all they eyes we are catching are on the Pelican Chain just S of Melissa and all males full of sperm and females full of eggs.

Did you chase any crappies on Melissa while you were there?

[Tony Mariotti]

BB: Didn't chase crappies yet, just been running out after dark for a couple of hours and shore fishing: Found fish on Lida last weekend as well, none were showing any signs of spawn. Strange indeed! I'm yet to catch an eye this year showing signs of sperm/eggs:

Goes to show what a goofy year we are having!

[Guest]

Tony:

Agree...very strange. Spawn will be fast IMO and crappies will be in and out fast which might be good...not so many people taking them during the "easy bite". I heard DNR was thinking about closing Bass Harbor on Lida because of the slaughter that happens in there...not sure if they followed through but I think that would be a good move. We'll have to hook up some time and catch some slabs. Peter is going to be up for a month as his in-laws rented a place on Franklin for the summer

[Musky Buck]

bbfenatic speaking of Lida slaughters, what about Mud connecting to Lida, if you aint drivin a Toyota you be a nobody lol. Boy did we cry years back when they paved that road, we could only lie so long and tell the few that stopped we are after carp, we couldn't even fish when anyone was around, showing 15" crappies word woulda spread like headlice and eventually it did and now it's cooked, done.

[RK]

Be interesting if they did close Bass Harbor. The DNR used to 'post' (close to fishing) the bay on the NE corner of Crystal. Locals called it "Loud Mouth Bay" because as soon as someone shot their mouth off in town that the crappies were in there they'd come and post it. Wish they would still do that. Crappies in there have gotten pummeled over the years. Not nearly the crappie fishery it used to be as a result.

[Musky Buck]

Pummeled, connecting Mud was slaughtered and over the limits were the norm as the bank fisherman dump them into the trunk of the Toyota then it would roar away and they'd keep fishing and yes I made then CO Bruce Pfalzgraf(sp) very aware, he tried but couldn't take on that language barrier on his own, staking it out too often. 11" or larger, now these same game hogs are left wondering what happened, can't hardly catch a keeper. Pretty sad to watch it go down the toilet.

[Tony Mariotti]

Tony:

Agree...very strange. Spawn will be fast IMO and crappies will be in and out fast which might be good...not so many people taking them during the "easy bite". I heard DNR was thinking about closing Bass Harbor on Lida because of the slaughter that happens in there...not sure if they followed through but I think that would be a good move. We'll have to hook up some time and catch some slabs. Peter is going to be up for a month as his in-laws rented a place on Franklin for the summer

BB: I hope there is a spawn this year: I believe it was 06 that the spawn never really happened, and you were catching crappies in August full of eggs. There are a lot of areas I would like to see closed down during the spawn for both gills and crappies, but if you do some research there really is no biological reason for closing a season or shutting down an area. It's simply the "game hog" mentality that ruins the fishery. Shallow bays make it easier to catch fish, but if guys only kept what they legally could it wouldn't be a problem. I think Peter will be very happy with a month up here.....I have a few fun ponds that didn't kill that should still be fun all summer!

[Cicada]

Hey RK, the only time I fished that bay on Crystal, Sumo and I went in and found an old friend from North Dakota fishing. He had one line draped over the edge of the boat and was casting another. We mentioned to him that you were only supposed to have one line. Maybe an oversight since in North Dakota, you can have two. He continued to fish with the two. Fishing was not good that evening, so he decided to head out. He no sooner pulled out of the bay and Ray's pickup went by the bay. Sumo and I looked at each other and smiled. We couldn't resist, so we headed back to he access and sure enough, Ray had stopped our buddy. We asked the guy what happened and he told us that Ray pulled up and he was going to write me up for fishing with two lines. The guy denied it and Ray asked him if he would like to see the video.

[RK]

Ray used to pinch quite a few people in that bay. Ray liked Crystal so he'd make that the last stop of the day quite often. He'd finish his shift and out came the fishing rods. There's a spot out there my neighbor and I still call "The Game Warden's Spot."

One of my favorite Ray encounters was actually after fishing crappies in Bass Harbour. I was in there on a weeknight and there was one other boat with two guys. It was pretty slow, and I was working around the bay looking for fish while they anchored up, and after a while I looked over - 3 bobbers. A little while later, 4 bobbers. Then 5. Then 6.

So we both end up leaving the bay at the same time and they were right in front of me. Buffalo must have been in the rushes spawning because when they were going through the bay mouth a 10 or 12 pounder came flying out of the water and slammed into the side of their boat. They both jumped and we all had a pretty good laugh.

I passed them on the way to the ramp and when I got there, there was Ray leaning against the hood of his truck. Asked him if he wanted to check my license and fish and he said "Nah, you're fine."

Other boat came in and Ray starts chatting them up. I was loading my boat and got to hear the whole conversation:

Ray: "So, do you fellas know how many lines you can fish with in Minnesota?"

They both said "Only one."

"And you weren't using more that?"

"Oh no, we'd never do that..."

Then Ray says "And if I tell you I watched that buffalo bounce off your boat through my spotting scope, are you going to change your story?"

After he'd written them up I asked Ray where he'd been hiding. Turns out he'd brought a ladder with him and crawled up on top of the turkey barn on the county road to the west with his spotting scope...

Ahh Ray...he was a beauty.

[Guest]

Who is this Ray? is he still working? CO that I talk to down there is a Forsgren or something like that I believe....might be wrong - thx!

[wally243]

What is the difference between being a hog of the resource and writing on the intranet you just got off a lake and caught 20 walleyes? Same thing as running to town and telling the every person who fishes or even worse I guess. We should respect other anglers privacy as part of the sportsman's code in my opinion. Even if you don't think it matters be respectful of people who have put in effort for their success!

Gary Forsberg? = Great Guy

Good Luck

[RK]

Who is this Ray? is he still working? CO that I talk to down there is a Forsgren or something like that I believe....might be wrong - thx!

"Ray" was Ray Jensen. Ray was the CO around Pelican for 20-some years. He was either legendary or infamous depending on your point of view. He retired several years ago and passed away last winter.

Only run into the current CO a couple times but he seems like a pretty good guy.

[Tony Mariotti]

What is the difference between being a hog of the resource and writing on the intranet you just got off a lake and caught 20 walleyes? Same thing as running to town and telling the every person who fishes or even worse I guess. We should respect other anglers privacy as part of the sportsman's code in my opinion. Even if you don't think it matters be respectful of people who have put in effort for their success!

Gary Forsberg? = Great Guy

Good Luck

Sorry, I will.