The Fishing Must Be Horrible!

[mtheis]

Not one positive report?  What happened up there?  I really would love to go one last time this year, but boy oh boy, I need a little love first!

 

 

[Wanderer]

Mobility is tough now without a sled.  I had a buddy up there a week ago for a scouting event.  So not die hard fishing but they still got fish.  16 inches was the biggest though.  I think the group caught/kept 45-50.

[mtheis]

What about resorts?  Surely they have something to report?

 

[Wanderer]

People up there sound like they’re literally in survival mode, not fishing mode right now.  Snow/wind/slush conditions are horrible.  You probably won’t hear much till things stabilize a bit.

[Hookmaster]

Fished out of Wheelers Point Friday and Saturday. Not gangbusters but ate a lot of fish Friday night and ended up only a few fish short of an 8-man limit. We had 3 houses and some were better than others. In the same house, some holes were better than others. That's fishing. Overall a pretty decent trip. Plenty of tullibees. Wheeler's did not fish yesterday. As we were driving in Saturday night there were many wheel houses looking like they were going to ride out the wind. I'm sure many of the roads were drifted completely shut.

[Deet]

Fished Friday off of Cyrus's road. With four lines down we caught twenty-something, kept 12, fishing from about 10 am to about 4:30 pm. Morning was better than evening - wished we were set up earlier. We were 9-10 miles past Pine Island. Sounded like the resort's houses did better a couple miles closer to shore.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to be graphing fish practically the whole time. It was a little frustrating that they wouldn't bite much of the time, but at least we were on fish.

[mtheis]

I wonder when houses are going to start to be pulled?

[PRO-V]

I'm betting more than a few people learned a valuable lesson this weekend. Hope everyone is okay.

[Hoey]

This was updated 18 hours ago.  Sounds tough out there.  For me, every trip onto the Lake is one that could turn out badly.  I hope everyone gets back OK.  When I make it back to the cabin, I exclaim "We made it!!!"

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/rescue-efforts-ongoing-after-100-anglers-are-stranded-on-lake-of-the-woods

[leech~~]

17 minutes ago, Hoey said:

This was updated 18 hours ago.  Sounds tough out there.  For me, every trip onto the Lake is one that could turn out badly.  I hope everyone gets back OK.  When I make it back to the cabin, I exclaim "We made it!!!"

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/rescue-efforts-ongoing-after-100-anglers-are-stranded-on-lake-of-the-woods

 

Dang and people were talking about Mille Lacs. 22 miles out, It's going to cost these guys tons to find someone to go after them.

[Hoey]

Here is another story....  https://www.twincities.com/2019/02/25/blizzard-conditions-strand-dozens-of-anglers-on-lake-of-the-woods/

[bigpike]

Will slush make it a sloppy mess to try fishing out of a hub style portable?

 

I.e. will there just be a bunch of water/slush on top of the ice?  Debating coming up and fishing out of a portable vs renting a day house.  No sled so wont be able to go offroad.

[Deet]

3 hours ago, bigpike said:

Will slush make it a sloppy mess to try fishing out of a hub style portable?

 

I.e. will there just be a bunch of water/slush on top of the ice?  Debating coming up and fishing out of a portable vs renting a day house.  No sled so wont be able to go offroad.

I would guess that you could find plenty of slush-free surface area by walking out away from the roads onto wind-blown ice. Avoid large drifts.

[BIGFISH.JZ]

3 hours ago, bigpike said:

Will slush make it a sloppy mess to try fishing out of a hub style portable?

 

I.e. will there just be a bunch of water/slush on top of the ice?  Debating coming up and fishing out of a portable vs renting a day house.  No sled so wont be able to go offroad.

I've been using a boat cushion or a short plastic crate, like the ones that hold 2 liter pop bottles. But it has been tough to find a 'dry' spot. As soon as you punch a hole the water gushes through.

[Wanderer]

You could try not shoveling too deep for a spot to set and hope the remaining snow will keep your feet dry for a little while but I think you’ll be bucking the odds.

 

Or you could open up a spot you want to set on to expose the slush, let it freeze, then return later.

 

Just ideas.  From what I’ve heard, once the hole is cut you’ll have slush.

[Hookmaster]

That bright green double-axle wheel house in the first link above was fishing on the next road out from us. We were 24.8 miles from Adrian's road starts by Wigwam. Glad everyone is OK.

[PRO-V]

I made a folding wood floor for my hub house so you can stay up on top of the snow.

[PRO-V]

I made a folding wood floor for my hub house so you can stay up on top of the snow.

[bigpike]

Thanks for the ideas.

 

Think I will be looking to see if any day houses are available this time around.

[Wanderer]

5 hours ago, PRO-V said:

I made a folding wood floor for my hub house so you can stay up on top of the snow.

 

I have a folding wood floor for my hub also; mainly for spearing.  I’ve used it once this year cuz it’s so darn heavy.  They are nice when they’re down though!

 

I’m finishing up packing now for Ontario and am not even considering the floor since I got word there’s 2.5 - 3 feet of powder on the lake right now.  Not much slush but some.  Taking both the hub and tub.  The advice was to have one of the sleds free from towing anything to break trail so I’ll prolly run with the hub first since my partner only has a tub.  Maybe if the running isn’t bad and use the same track I’ll pull my tub too but for the start I’ll leave the extras behind - just bring the necessities.

 

Keep the speed up and make the big circle to stop on my track.  Gotta be looking and plotting ahead the entire time out there.

 

Enjoy that day house @bigpike!

[LoonASea]

I will be going back for our 4th trip march 17th thru the 20th ,,, Hopefully the roads and slush issues will be good to go by then 

[KidMoe]

Has anyone heard how much ice people are seeing up around the NW Angle? About this time last year we didn’t need extensions but wondering about this year. I know there’s lots of snow and slush so maybe an extension is needed?

[LoonASea]

At least have it with you ,,, Our last trip a month ago we were 2 inches from needing an extension 

[Hoey]

I began using my extension a month ago, fishing along the south shore.  

 

I have a trip planned for this weekend.  Wondering about any slush pockets forming with all the snow.

[wookiemofo]

We just got back, fished the long point area. Our guy encountered a nasty crack that separated his shacks and produced an intense amount of slush that was too much for his tracks to get through. Luckily it froze up with the cold temps. But after we left he was pulling all his shacked closer to shore on the other side of the crack. And as soon as the temp hits 32 he's pulling all his houses. 

 

On the 28th, Long Pointe posted on their FB page that anyone with a house on their road needs to get it off as the road was flooding badly.

 

It's going to be a messy spring. 32 degrees up there this Saturday.

[Wanderer]

I just got back from the Nestor Falls/Sioux Lookout area.  We fished Crow and didn’t need an extension - average of around 20+ inches of ice I’d guess but it varied noticeably.   Some slush but not too bad if you stayed in the main lake.  

 

What I heard from across the road (LOW), more slush but people were getting around on sleds.  If you drive out on a road, you’re only going to be able to walk a little ways off it to fish.  They didn’t mention extensions but I sure wouldn’t go up there without one packed at least.

 

LOTS of snow up there and you WILL make some slush when you cut your holes if you’re not already in it when you start.  We were able to pull our houses but it got a little dicey sometimes on Crow.  I’d be more careful on LOW from what it sounded like.

 

BTW, not to dampen your spirits, but the bite hasn’t been great.  It’s not March up there yet.... Not conditions wise anyway.

 

Good luck!

[CANOPY SAM]

Now that right there is an honest, very helpful report!  Thanks Wanderer! ;)

[Wanderer]

This weekend’s quote from the same area of LOW: The slush sucks bad.

[LoonASea]

Wanderer,,, We are heading up there on the 17th,,, Will i need hip boots or waders to deal with the slush???  We will be traveling by snowmobile and fishing out of portables so that's a plus to stay away from the crowd  

Edited March 11, 2019 by LoonASea

[jstrommen13]

Water and slush was non existent on the west side by arnesons out of Dale's road. I'm guessing it's different by each spot you stop at on the lake.