Winter Wanderbouts

[Wanderer]

I figure I might as well start my own thread at least for the winter season.  It’s the first time I’ve ever had time off work like I do now with operating a seasonal business.  I usually spend most of my time in central to north central MN so that’s most of what you’ll see here.  I don’t name lakes much unless they’re bigger.

 

I’m also one who likes to see and try new things and places so my results can be hit or miss for catches.  The results I’m after are the experiences of wandering around helping friends and family.

 

Today is the last day of muzzle loader season and I probably won’t get to finish it in the woods due to other plans.  I’m already missing the deer hunting but now on to ice fishing and spearing.

 

I’ve found up to 5 inches of ice on lakes in the Brainerd and Mille Lacs areas.  I’ve seen a few ATVs out already and a UTV.  I posted a near miss on Moose’s report but will again here.  BE CAREFUL!  Just cuz someone else made tracks doesn’t mean it’s all good!  This sheet was broken down more than it looks and cracked again when I stepped on it.

 

 

My job for the day was to teach my brother how spear for pike.  We didn’t get out till the afternoon so it was short but sweet!  We had a 30+ in the hole looking at a pike sucker before we even got completely set up.  It busted us trying to get my bro in position.

 

Finally getting him settled in and a quick tutorial about tying off the spear first, then the rest on angles, how to throw and keeping his foot off the rope I went and rigged the large live decoy.  I suspended it off my custom carved jigger and told him I would sit for at least 5 minutes before going back out to scout more.  
 

 

Sure enough, not 3 minutes later this 28 came in perfectly.  Bro remembered everything I told him, kept his cool until he got into a good position.  I told him to aim for behind the head and gave him the “now”.  It was probably the best scenario I’ve seen from start to finish.  Everything went perfectly.

 

He saw 2 more and an unidentified tail go by but no more throws.  4 pike in 3.5 hours was a GOOD first experience. 
 

I bounced around looking for panfish and got a few crappies and sunnies.  Crappies to 9.5 inches and sunnies to 8.5 but lost a couple good head shakers (drag was too tight) and got bit off by a pike.  The bite was light and took a lot of coaxing.  The crappies that were landed were truly lip hooked.  Some on waxies and some on minnows.  15 fow just out from the spear shack that was at the top of the break.

 

So now my bro is looking to get set up for spearing.  We need to get him a spear, saw and tongs first and then start accumulating to other details.  If anyone reading has some extra gear to sell, please let me know!

[Wanderer]

So I did get to sneak out for the last evening of ML season after all.  Came in down wind of a bedding area and did manage to find one.  I was going to zoom in for a better pic but when I got the phone out she had already gotten up.  There’s a little dark speck down there  off the tip of the broken branch in the center of the pic.

 

 

I eased up a bit closer and got a hold on a tree for my gun but just couldn’t get a clear shot at her.  She eventually drifted off back further in the brush.  Man, I thought I had her.  Not such thing as a sure thing.

 

Learned ALOT more about this area that I’ve been working this past week.  If y’all have some time to scout, this is the time to do it.  Especially if you have to find something new for next year.  

[Wanderer]

Quiet through the mid day after the first 5 minutes.  The decoy got pounded right away by a 21 incher that went in the bucket.  Game on at sunset though.

 

I ran a set line a few feet deeper on the break and it was going constantly.  Speared 4 (all under 22) and caught prolly 10 more on the set line.  I should move out deeper I think.

 

Couple crappies and sunnies after sunset.  The lake had more panfish 3 years ago but got absolutely pounded 2 years ago.  Now it seems to be a good pike lake with just a few remaining quality panfish.  
 

Gotta get into pickling now.

[Wanderer]

Just gotta say, when people complain that five 9 inch panfish aren’t enough for a meal, I start questioning their filleting skills.  I’m full after 3 with no sides.  My wife wouldn’t get past the other 2 by herself.

 

Nice lunch.  Air fried with Shore Lunch oven style.

[Wanderer]

No pics from today but I was able to spend a few hours out.  Haven’t been on the ice in too long already but that’s life.  Being out on Christmas Day is kind of a novelty for me. 

 

I found 7 inches on one lake and 9 on another in the Brainerd area.  Some 17’ wheelhouse have been drug out along with the smaller hard side annual regulars.  I’m going to put one or two of our smaller houses out tomorrow.  Probably one on each of the lakes I was on today.

 

The crappie bite was decent but I didn’t keep any.

 

Merry Christmas.

Edited December 26, 2021 by Wanderer

[Wanderer]

The 7-9 inches of ice now has 8-16 inches of snow on it after last night.  Chose to NOT put houses out in case we got it bad.  Feeling good about that choice now but disappointed with what I expect this to do to the lakes.  Slush city…. Bummer.

[smurfy]

same here Wanderer............ my brother is at the cabin, last i heard they had 6 inches and expecting 3 more. 

 

i was gonna head up friday, but them double digit below 0 temps got me thinking twice......to more then likely not!!!!!!!! i'll text him about wed to see what the lake conditions are like!!!!!!!

[Wanderer]

Yep.  This week ain’t gonna be pretty for outdoors stuff.  Spent most of the day today plowing and blowing snow along with a trip 45 minutes north help our stranded daughter.  
 

Snow and ice got up inside her engine compartment and shucked the serpentine belt.  Took me 2 hours on the shoulder of the road in the ground blizzard to figure out that little car’s routing and actually get it back on.  Frozen fingers and no room to work.

 

[smurfy]

Yea I looked at 511 this morning and the snow plow cams on hwy 2 between deer river and grand rapids didn't look so good 

[Wanderer]

Another 3-5 for us today.  Sigh….

 

The minnows are getting restless.

[gim]

12 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

Another 3-5 for us today.  Sigh….

 

Where are you located @Wanderer?

 

I realize that the snow is probably not helpful on the lakes or for traveling on them, but I'd like to remind you that we are still in a historic drought that hasn't been this significant in 30 years.  We're gonna need an epic amount of snow and rain next spring to make a dent.

 

Good to see that you are removing those small pike with a spear.  They are a serious problem.  They are a very under-utilized resource that is abundant and easy to catch.

[Mike89]

desert looks good!!   

[Wanderer]

2 minutes ago, Mike89 said:

desert looks good!!   

It has been with some berries on top! 

 

42 minutes ago, gimruis said:

 

Where are you located @Wanderer?

 

I realize that the snow is probably not helpful on the lakes or for traveling on them, but I'd like to remind you that we are still in a historic drought that hasn't been this significant in 30 years.  We're gonna need an epic amount of snow and rain next spring to make a dent.

 

Good to see that you are removing those small pike with a spear.  They are a serious problem.  They are a very under-utilized resource that is abundant and easy to catch.

 

I’m between Little Falls and Brainerd.  But wander around in about a 50 mile radius most of the time.

 

Yep, I’m aware of the drought.  I can see it every day and won’t argue we need moisture.  I’m expressing I’m disappointed we haven’t been able to put more ice on than snow at this point.  Of course if lake travel stays bad with less ice I might be able to spear more?

 

Always a silver lining.

[smurfy]

1 hour ago, Mike89 said:

desert looks good!!   

 Yea leave it to you to notice food!

[Mike89]

4 hours ago, smurfy said:

 Yea leave it to you to notice food!

just helping you out!!!!  

[whateverisbiting]

Wanderer I appreciate the posts.  I have not been able to get on the ice yet this year...bad timing...ice too thin, then too much snow so my fish house is on dry land.  I am fishing vicariously through others' posts!

[Wanderer]

38 minutes ago, whateverisbiting said:

Wanderer I appreciate the posts.  I have not been able to get on the ice yet this year...bad timing...ice too thin, then too much snow so my fish house is on dry land.  I am fishing vicariously through others' posts!

Thanks, and me too for the past week! We have the regla flu in the house so it’s been pretty boring.

 

Hoping to go pick up a hard side spear house today though if the guy still has it. Plan was for yesterday but -16 temps and feeling bad scuttled that mission.

 

I also cancelled a guided goose hunt in Iowa for this weekend.  Birds are there but I need to get over this before I set out in a field for a couple days.

 

Good luck and I hope you can get your house out soon!

[Wanderer]

Happy New Year All!

 

Last minute decision to hit up Winnie for the weekend so we can end the stir crazy at home as we’re all starting to feel better.

 

She’s gonna be a cold one tonight!  -27 forecast.  Just got out and set up late afternoon.

 

About 20 inches of ice at the first break and they let us take out my full rig - 1 ton diesel with plow, pulling the 8x21 house.  Out of Denny’s.  We were headed to The Pines or Tamarack since they were already open to anything but we have friends out here on the south end.  They literally opened it up to anything moments before we got here.  We were expecting to unhook on shore and get shuttled out with the friends 1/2 ton.

 

Plowed our own spot and dropped the lines.  The usual cigars are around and with the barometer continuing it’s creep up I expect the bite to be tough.

 

 

But what the heck!  We’re out, having burgers and beers with friends and fishing through the living room floor. 
 

I should add: The end of the road here is still at 14 inches and they said it’s still too unpredictable beyond that. 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Wanderer

[smurfy]

Good luck my friend stay warm and cheers.

[Wanderer]

-31 here at sunrise this morning.  Still kickin’.  Rattle reels were quiet overnight (or since 2022 started ) but that’s alright.  Might have to move deeper for tomorrow night though.  A quiet night here is unusual.

Edited January 1, 2022 by Wanderer

[Wanderer]

Moved from 15-17 feet to 23-24 feet and it’s already been an improvement today.  Not going non stop gang busters but keeping our attention.  Schools move through and we get busy. 

[smurfy]

stay warm up there bud!!!!!!........i'm headed that way about 10-11 tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

[Wanderer]

1 hour ago, smurfy said:

stay warm up there bud!!!!!!........i'm headed that way about 10-11 tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

Tonight should only be in the -20’s so not as bad.  We figger we’ll be heading off the lake about the time you roll by!  
 

Just keeping the mountains blue! 

Edited January 2, 2022 by Wanderer

[smurfy]

Heck a heat wave I usually fill up the truck at the deer river cenex before heading to the cabin.

[Rick G]

1 hour ago, Wanderer said:

Tonight should only be in the -20’s so not as bad.  We figger we’ll be heading off the lake about the time you roll by!  
 

Just keeping the mountains blue! 

Nice!!!! I'm talking the walleyes, not the beer if that's what you call it...lol

[Wanderer]

39 minutes ago, Rick G said:

Nice!!!! I'm talking the walleyes, not the beer if that's what you call it...lol

Neighbor beer is what I call it!  No matter, I can’t drink more than 2 of anything anymore without getting a headache.

 

I dropped a 15 in the bucket and asked my wife if she wanted the next one (would have to get out of bed).  She said she would if she was still awake.  2 minutes later… 

[Wanderer]

It went -34 again Saturday night!  10 degrees less than forecast.  My wife was reading a lot of people having problems on the ice with diesel trucks not starting, furnaces needing parts, propane regulators freezing, hoses breaking, door latches freezing and on and on…. Quite a few mentioning their houses or trucks or both were new and they didn’t understand why their POS toys were having problems.  
 

Well, it ain’t always the toys folks…   So here’s a few things we did to cover our butts.

 

We toed the line by having 20lb tanks on our house when they should be 30’s for weather like that.  30’s have more volume so they’ll hold more pressure longer.  Propane stops flowing at -41 F.  We were only 7 degrees from that point.  I brought a spare 20 that I kept in the house so when our furnace quit making heat, usually around 3am, I’d swap a cold one with the warm one and wrap it in a fleece Jeff Gordon blanket (cuz what else ya gonna do with a JG blanket? ).  The cold tanks were still half full so I’d just keep rotating to keep one warm.

 

I also replaced the standard pigtail with a high flow pigtail the first year we had the house to help.  Next item will be a tank heater blanket this week.

 

I also carry a back up buddy heater with several 1 pound cylinders.  One of our friends needed to use that to keep their door latch from freezing closed.

 

For the diesels - when you know it’s gonna be cold on the lake, pretreat your fuel with Diesel 911 to prevent gelling.  Much better to do before than risk it and try to un gel afterwards.  Also, those generators can power your block heater on your truck too.  Just plug it in a couple hours before you want to start it.

 

And those generators!  Keep off the ice and out of the snow!  So many people had problems when they left them sit on the ice.  Mine is always on the tailgate of the truck with the exhaust pointing down wind.  This last weekend was the first time I put it in the bed and under the tonneau cover to let it run a little warmer and prevent some of the hoar frost from building up and causing moisture issues.

 

Old gear or new, it can break down in those conditions.  You just gotta think a couple steps ahead when you can.

 

Maybe one or two of these tips will help someone else down the line.  
 

Stay safe out there. 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Wanderer

[Mike89]

good stuff Wanderer!!!   a darn good share!!!   

[Wanderer]

Picked up a new to me 4x6 hard side spear shack last week and got it out on the lake this afternoon.  

It’s light but hard to load by myself on a slippery trailer deck so after considering several different ideas to make it safer I came up with the idea of a pulley since I couldn’t work out using the winch on the 4 wheeler.  Well what better pulley system than a block and tackle - or simply a deer hoist.  Easy peasy.

 

First order of business was to swim the big timber my carver friend made me for Christmas!

 

 

At 22 inches and almost 3 pounds it swam pretty darn well.  It’s a pretty good monster in the hole but not so much to get in the way of a throw.  No fish seen in the short time out but I’m looking forward the day I get the first fish off it.

 

[gim]

How does the shack slide?  Are there skis or skids on the bottom of it?

 

That decoy is bigger than 90% of the pike I catch each season.