Winter Lake Trout

[JerkinLips]

This may end up be a quiet topic, but I thought I would share my results (and lack there of) because of my love for late winter lake trout fishing.  Went to Burntside Lake on Thursday, February 27th for my first time there this winter, and like my last 3 trips there last year I was skunked.

 

It was a very windy day so I fished in a spot next to a cliff to avoid the wind.  I found 4" of hard pack snow on top of 3" of water over 20+" of ice.  I was able to avoid the water (most of the time) by sitting in my sled portable and walking around very carefully.  I had no bites in 10+ hours fishing and only 3 "follows" of my pike suckers and jig.  Was still a very enjoyable day on the ice.  I saw a few other people out fishing, and was surprised to see that somebody had plowed a huge road out from Van Vac landing and plowed spots for wheelhouses.  Currently there were 8 of them on the ice.

 

My success on Burntside has definitely diminished in the last few years.  Guess I need to get to "10,000 jigs" to catch another.  Or maybe I will take the tough trip into the BWCA to enjoy the wilderness.

[Wanderer]

It’s been all of 7 years since I’ve fished Burntside.  The last time I also brought my wheelhouse up and headed out of Van Vac.  That was a scary ride down the hill at 11pm when I showed up.  The switchback access road was iced up and the weight got me sliding like I was on a luge.  I intentionally put my rig into the snowbank before I got to the 2nd turn.  It was enough to slow me down that I could make that corner.  I left the lake out of Camp Van Vac and that wasn’t easy either with the double layer of ice.

 

The lake ice conditions you described are too familiar to me for this time of year.  I’ve  had a wheelhouse out there twice in my years of fishing it, otherwise it’s been sled or wheeler travel only - which is a way better idea!

 

Reports have been so quiet from there, I’ve wondered if the fishing got tougher or if it’s just the shift in social media that’s the reason.

 

March trips for me have always had that great expectation but honestly, most March trips for lakers have been a bust.  I’ve been in Canada the past 3 years at this time and only 1/3 were good laker trips.  No trip this year and I’m OK with that.

 

All this to say, I still miss ice fishing that lake!  I was looking over some of my old spots on my mapping app and thought how nice it would’ve been to have that back in the glory days!  
 

Good luck and thanks for posting!

 

*6 years, 11 mos, based on a phone pic. *  

Edited March 3 by Wanderer

[mbeyer]

Is Burntside "the Laker" spot to fish in the area? Is that a matter of convenience or is Lake Trout populations far better there than any other lake??

[Wanderer]

9 hours ago, mbeyer said:

Is Burntside "the Laker" spot to fish in the area? Is that a matter of convenience or is Lake Trout populations far better there than any other lake??

Quite a bit a matter of convenience but it was pretty good in the late 2000’s; early 2010’s for me.

 

It’s fully outside of the B-dub, and expansive, so plenty of places to try.  But never go out there with expectations beyond spending time on one of the most beautiful lakes the state has to offer.

 

You should count yourself blessed to get 1 trout iced but 5 trout days can happen.  Biggest I’ve gotten out of there is 32 inches.  Average had been 24-27.

[JerkinLips]

Burntside Lake is a beautiful lake and very convenient to get to.  I started fishing it in 2010 when it got to difficult for me to travel into the BWCA while I lived in the twin cities.  I averaged 1 laker/day up to 2018 when my success started to decline.  That was also when I quit going out on snowmobile and just walked to fishing spots.  That probably also contributed to my decline.  My average the last 3 years has been 0.4 lakers/day.  Now that I live in northern Minnesota I think I will travel into the BWCA more for lakers.

 

My longest Burntside laker was the skinny 33 incher shown in the 1st picture (2020).  This fish weighed only 7#-15oz, and I think it was at the end of its life.  My biggest BWCA laker was 34 inches and weighed 13#-3oz (2nd picture from 2008).  I also caught an 11 pounder in the BWCA in 1999 (3rd picture).

 

My goal is to someday catch a 20 pounder.  I had one up to the bottom of the hole once that I think was over 20 pounds.  I was jigging a large airplane jig near the bottom when I thought I snagged the rocks.  When I was able to finally move the fish I knew I had a huge one.  I saw its head at the bottom of my 7-inch hole and had a hard time getting it started into the hole.  I reached for the gaff hook but the jig caught on the bottom of the hole and the fish was gone.  Ever since then, I chisel the bottom of my holes to guide the laker's head into the hole.

 

[JerkinLips]

16 hours ago, Wanderer said:

headed out of Van Vac.  That was a scary ride down the hill

Van Vac can be a tough hill to travel on.  I parked in the upper parking lot in 2014 and went out fishing in a snow storm.  I think we got about 10 inches of snow that day and they didn't plow at all.  There was no way my front wheel drive caravan was going to make it up the upper hill so I spent the night in my van.  I had prepared for that possibility so I was quite comfortable in the 0ºF night (just started the van up once during the night to heat it up.  I went out fishing again the next day and when I came back they still hadn't plowed the road to the parking lot (late March).  So I towed my snowmobile trailer to the top of the hill with my snowmobile.  Then I made a circular path in the parking lot so I could build up my van speed to go up the hill.  I think it was about 15 attempts to go up the hill before I finally made it to the top.  What an experience.

[SkunkedAgain]

Those are some nice lakers. Admittedly, I just hit BWCA lakes in the spring when they come up shallow - so I cheat!

 

I fished LOW two weeks ago and caught a good sized pike on an airplane jig. It swam around and collected one of my buddy's lines and then slipped the hook on the hole's edge as well. The fish that get away are always the ones to remember.

[JerkinLips]

Took another trip into the BWCAW last Friday to fish for lakers.  I waited until daylight to drive the snowmobile to the portage so I could safely cross the large pressure ridge in the middle of the lake.  There were 4 other parties already parked at the portage when I got there, plus 2 other parties came later in the day (one even after sunset).  Walking/towing on the lake was quite easy and I found a spot to fish with nobody close by.  Fished for over 10 hours until sunset and didn't catch a fish.  I did have 4 hits on jigs, including one I got up to the bottom of the hole before the snap swivel caught on the bottom of the hole and the fish shook off.  Enjoyed the sunset in the BWCAW before starting the trek out in dusk.  While leaving I saw 3 other people towing sleds just coming onto the lake, I assume to spend the night.  While snowmobiling in the dark back to the landing I got slightly lost but was able to correct my rout and make it out before running out of gas (was on empty).  Was very nice day in the BWCAW, but it is a tough trip when you don't even catch a fish.  May go back to Burntside this week for a much easier trip.

[SkunkedAgain]

Running on empty at dark on a sled is definitely stress-inducing. Been there, done that. Glad that you made it out.