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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
Posted

got out from 3 to 5 today to check a spot and color selection was the key. had lookers and after 4 different combos finally got 9 to commit. all growing up to get bigger. :) tried a combo from 3 days ago and they would not touch it!  that really surprised me. great info  chris. 

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  • Thumbs Up 2
Posted

Another factor to contribute to the dog days of February definitely is fishing pressure. Was out on an area lake last week targeting basin crappies. A community hole that has seen a fair amount of pressure since the first wheel house set down. The fish still want to be in the basin to feed, but showing themselves during the day suspended half way up the water column is not happening anymore. They tend to huge bottom, or just a couple feet off at most. You can throw everything at them, and they laugh and swim away. They've been fished so hard for so long, that they change feeding activity times, and take insects closer to bottom it seems.

 As Chris mentioned, line diameter helps detect light bites and along with converting line wary fish. Live bait presentations can be the only way to go, or plan on going home defeated. Fishing away from the wolf packs with a small tail hooked crappie minnow just off bottom, at prime times and well beyond o' dark 30 will help ice fish from these same areas that produced crappie earlier in the season. Prime time for good fishing, usually coincides with a NHL, or NBA game on the radio, 7pm -10pm, or just before the sun wakes up. FISHON!;)

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  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
Posted

This whole winter has been a struggle for me. I fish away from crowds and use light line. I have never struggled like I have this winter. I have tried all kinds of plastics and tiny jigs to huge jigs. Live bait has not helped either. I have lightly pressured lakes and pressured lakes nothing wants to bite. This not just me many others are saying the same thing.Today was I was on lightly pressured lake and marked fish but could not get many to bite.

Posted

We had to work a lot more today to get on fish than what we expected. And having a biting wind didn’t help.

I still wouldn’t say we crushed them but managed to sort out a dozen keeper crappies.  Once we found em, the first flurry was easy but that didn’t last real long.  We changed, and changed, and changed presentations to keep those lookers biting.  One thing would work for a half dozen or so fish and then it would die.  Make a change or two and get a half dozen more.  Lots of small ones to weed through.  Another thing I would do when they started ignoring my bait and disappear was just pull it out of the hole and wait until I marked fish again before dropping back down.  I don’t think you can ever over estimate the first drop on crappies.  

Later on, the thing that worked for us to draw them in was very aggressive jigging.  I mean 2-3 foot rips with small jigging spoons.  Blade spoons, rattling flyer, and forage minnows tipped with plastic at times but needing to be minnow heads at the tail end.

It turned into being a fairly odd bite but change kept us in the game.

  • Thumbs Up 3
Posted

I too went out all weekend with very tough results... I would see them all schooled up on the camera and couldn't get them to commit 

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  • Official Fishing Report Team - MN
Posted

Great tips guys lets keep it going. 

Posted

Wait for the ice to melt then get out there during open water.  That's the best advice I can offer!

  • Yayyyy 2
Posted
7 hours ago, bassman186 said:

I too went out all weekend with very tough results... I would see them all schooled up on the camera and couldn't get them to commit 

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We saw the same thing in one area we tried.  They were perfectly content doing nothing.

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Builders
Posted
1 hour ago, gimruis said:

Wait for the ice to melt then get out there during open water.  That's the best advice I can offer!

haha!  :)   why wait?  fish on! :):) 

Posted

Your point about going to a lighter rod is very timely.  I was working thru my rigs and moving more toward my heavier combos thinking more about solid hook-set rather than feel.  I have found springs and walleyed didn't mix, but lighter tip action will get a try next week.  Based on your comments may start with light action on my jigger and medium on my deadstick.

Thanks

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators
Posted

I would add that mobility is your friend.  I can almost always pluck a few of the more aggressive fish out of the hole.  Then it gets tougher.  Sometimes switching colors or profile will get the bite going again.  But often moving just 20 feet will get you on fresh fish.  Do this enough times and it turns into a pretty good day.  :)

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Wanderer
      Nope!  But it’s more funner!
    • smurfy
      I don't need no livescope to catch fish....🤔🤪  It's all in how ya wiggle the worm!😜 Just sayin  🤣
    • Kettle
      Obviously this is more of a hot topic due to forward facing sonar. With that being said, I know people who have pulled crappies out of basins 40+ deep since the fl-8 and zercom flashers came out. That's over 30 years ago. I do think there's a push to ban these in MN and I could see them doing it here. They'll have to pay my livescope from my cold dead hands 😆 on days I can't catch a walleye jigging or rigging it's nice to turn it on and throw corks at individual fish
    • Kettle
      It wasn't just you, I was fishing west of you about an hour on Monday. Fished 8am-4pm, no fish, two keeper walleye and one small one from 4pm-630pm. Marked a lot of fish, they would come up to a jig and swim away. They were skittish to the dead stick too
    • leech~~
      I wonder like divers, if we let them decompress every 10' for 1/2hr. If that would help?  🤔  It would slow the bite down a bit!  🤭
    • carlsonmn
      That was a better study compared to last winter when they setup the vertical tube nets and tried to release exhausted fish from being studied and expected them to be able to swim straight down a 3' hoop net.     That lake's crappie population from this latest video was pretty deep at 40-50', and no doubt from those depths that is barotrauma for most.  That is deeper than most crappie holes but certainly how some are. However from helping give fish a good release from the 35' and less range and tracking them with live sonar most of them swim at a shallow angle back to the depths and I watch them rejoin the school and be active.  Uncut Angling's video helped counter some of the initial narrow findings.  
    • SkunkedAgain
      If you fished with me more often, you'd never have to make this statement...   38" of ice - love it. I'm really going to have to dig around for my auger extension. I don't think that I've needed it in over a decade.   Too bad nobody has a locomotive chugging across the ice to do some logging, like the good old days.
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the South Shore...  Ice fishing remains strong across the south shore of Lake of the Woods out on Big Traverse Bay.  Resorts and outfitters on some parts of the lake have ice roads extending over 16 miles staying on nice schools of walleyes and saugers.  Many fish houses are over deep mud.  Some are on structure.  It is always fishing of course, but overall, February has been very productive for most anglers.   Extensions are being used on ice augers as the ice continues to thicken.  The thick ice this year will be good for the extended ice fishing season Lake of the Woods enjoys with fish houses out through March 31st, walleyes and saugers open through April 14th and a pike season that never closes. Most fishing activity is taking place in 26-32 feet of water.  Anglers are finding a healthy mix of walleyes and saugers, with a good number of jumbo perch in the mix this year.  Some big eelpout are also showing up.  Anglers are reporting plenty of fish for fresh fish frys and usually extra fish to bring home.   The one-two punch of a jigging line and deadstick is the way to go.  On the jigging line, jigging spoons with rattles tipped with a minnow head have been consistent.  Lipless crankbaits and jigging rap style lures also doing well.     Lures with a light have been working well in the stained water.  Please remember, in MN, lures with a light or water activated light can be used as long as the battery is mercury free and the hook is attached directly to the lure and not as a dropper line.     On the deadstick, a plain hook or a small jig with a live minnow 6 inches to a foot off of the bottom.    Some days, mornings are better, other days, it's the afternoons.  There is no distinct pattern, they could come through at any time. On the Rainy River...  The start of the day and end of the day have been best for those targeting walleyes on the river. A jig and minnow or a jigging spoon tipped with a minnow head is also producing some fish. Some big sturgeon being iced by ice anglers targeting them.  It is a catch-and-release sturgeon season currently.   Although ice conditions on the river are good, they can vary significantly due to the current, so anglers should always consult local resorts or outfitters for the most up-to-date safety information and fishing advice. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing has been strong in the islands area of Lake of the Woods. Resorts continue to move their fish houses around, staying on the best schools of walleyes.     Anglers are catching a nice mix of walleyes, saugers, and jumbo perch with an occasional pike or tullibee as well.     Big crappies are still being caught just over the border.  Fish houses are available, check with a NW Angle resort for info on crappie fishing.   Lake of the Woods enjoys an extended ice fishing season with fish houses on the ice through March 31st and walleye and sauger seasons open through April 14th. Perch, crappie, and pike seasons remain open year-round.    
    • leech~~
      Maybe you should put rattle wheels down, if your going to sleep for 6hrs! 🤭 😆
    • JerkinLips
      Monday was my worst day of winter fishing on Vermilion in the last 4 years.  Caught only one 14" walleye in nearly 8 hours of fishing.  Missed two other bites and was marking very few fish.  Maybe the fish were taking Monday off after a big weekend.   No more water came up on the ice under my house.  Think it was because I haven't banked snow around it for a couple of weeks so the bare ice around the house is getting very thick.  I measured 38" of ice under my house and the Ion barely made it through even with the extension installed.  Needless to say I banked around the house this time.  Another lesson I learned today is don't drill holes if ice is frozen on your blades.  I did that on one hole and it didn't center properly and drilled at an angle on the edge of the opening.  Hope I can correct the location and angle on my next trip up.   Not much change in the surface lake surface conditions.  The drifts may be a little higher and are definitely harder.  There are still a few bare ice spots on the lake.  Very little activity on the lake today.  There are about 3 dozen houses from McKinley Park out to Birch Island.  Another person pulled there house off today, and I am sure many more will pull theirs off this coming weekend.  Only 13 days left of walleye season.    
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