The off season bite

[fiskyknut]

Hey all, the Pike bite is pretty much in high gear the past few days. Lot's of fish caught during the Zippel tourney, and the Warroad area is seeing lot's of fish caught as well, lot's of 40+'s caught yesterday, as well as lot's of fish in general. Majority of fish are spawned out by now and are looking for an easy meal. I fished for about an hour yesterday afternoon while the wife went grocery shopping and landed a 40 inch fish 10 minutes after setting my bait, and a 37 incher with a tag shortly after that. Pike fishing should stay pretty hot for a week or so anyways.<P>Sturgeon fishing has been darn good as well. Get on the right spots and it's downright fantastic. DNR crew was out on the lower river taking fish from anglers and tagging them over the weekend. 4mile bay and the usual spots on the lower end of the river are giving up lots of fish. I would imagine the Sturgeon are biting well upstream as well. Spoke with the creel guy and alot of fish are being kept, if you keep one make sure to sign your license in the space provided. Remember the slot has been changed to 45 to 50 inches too.<P>Bullheads! Yes Bullheads, alot of folks don't even know there are Bullheads in the system but there are and they are huge. Would'nt surprise me one bit if a state record were caught up here. This is something I have contemplated trying cause I have caught some that must push 4 pounds when they're all round and full of spawn. Protected backwaters off the bays are where you'll find these monsters. Hopefully get you guys some pics of these little piggies here soon.<P>The off season bit is ON, no excuse to not get your boat wet now!<P>Best fishes....fiskyknut<P>

[Matt Johnson]

Here's Fisky with a pig...<P> <P>Another nice pike!!<P>Good Fishin,<BR>Matt Johnson<P>------------------<BR> [email protected]<BR><A HREF="http://iceleaders.com" TARGET=_blank>Iceleaders</A><BR><A HREF="http://catchn.com" TARGET=_blank>Catch-N Tackle and Bio Bait</A><BR><A HREF="http://marcumcustomerservice.com/" TARGET=_blank>MarCum</A><BR><A HREF="http://stonelegacy.com" TARGET=_blank>Stone Legacy</A><BR><A HREF="http://www.jrstackle.com/index.html" TARGET=_blank>JR's Tackle</A>

[Dr. Bob]

Howdy Norm -<P>Thanks for the report bud. Nice pike indeed.

[The Big Gaffer]

Bullheads???? Don't you just take your rod and whip it back and fourth beating the bullhead on the shore until he finally spits the hook and then leave em there for a wild animal?? Oh, thats me that does that. A 4# bullhead, that is too gross to even think about. I would rather catch 5 eel pouts than one bullhead.

[bturck]

Fisky: Nice gator. Sounds like lots of excitment on the pond right now. Bill

[fiskyknut]

The Pike are still biting okay. Got out yesterday afternoon and fished from 2:30 till about 7:30. Only got 2 bites, only landed 2 fish, but they were decent, a 40 and a 38.5, saw about 10 other small fish caught. I did'nt get a bite after 5 or so. Saturday afternoon was banner and I caught alot of fish, fifteen, used up all the bait I brought along and went home at 3pm! Nothing big, but 5 were between 35 and 38 inches, so that is'nt too bad. A fellow from Badger landed a 43.5 inch fish that day, nice big headed thick one too.<P>This bite may be starting to lose steam, 2 fish yesterday is nothing like what was going on last week. Maybe it was an off day though? Saw a few fish caught yesterday on lures, might be time to start whipping a few of my favorite early season crankbaits out. Live Suckers might be a better option now than the deadbaits too? Could'nt get any in Warroad yesterday or I would've tossed one out. Planning on getting out to my minnow trapping grounds later today and fishing out some assorted wild Chubs and Suckers to toss at them, see if that'll trip their triggers better than the deadbaits.<P>Walleye opener right around the corner and I'm ready for some fresh fillets!!!<P>Best wishes for BIG fishes....Fisky

[jclymer]

Fiskyknut,<BR>Question for you! I made it up to my first Sturgeon fishing adventure this year, and I will be making this an annual trip, we had a great time with lots of action and a 55" being the biggest put in the boat. Next year however I want to plan a week long trip that will be divided between the Pike action and the Sturgeon fishing. I am all set on the Sturgeon fishing, can you point me in the right direction for the pike action. Are you fishing right in 4 mile bay in the large flats that are about 4-5 feet deep? Thanks for any info...

[AaronM]

What would someone suggest for casting cranks? Staying in the river or heading out casting all of the bays?

[Dr. Bob]

Thanks for the report FiskyMan -<P>I wish I was there................<P>------------------<BR>The Doctor is in.............Everybody stand back!!!<P>I.B.O.T. # 144<BR>Boundry Waters Chapter

[Wiskers]

Fisky... Here is a pic of one of the Sumo Pike we got up off the docks in Warroad that weekend..<P>My son got this one but could not hold it still enough for pics.. it was 42"... <P>That is what keep a fella going back..<P>Hummm still doing something wrong with the pic???? For goodness sake I just put a pic in here a while back... lol lol.. Guess you will just have to take my word for it.. It's on my site pic page.. sigh sigh.. <P>------------------<BR><A HREF="http://wiskersguidingservice.com" TARGET=_blank>Wiskers Guiding Service</A><BR>Red River, Red Lake River & Minnesota River,for Channel Cats, Flatheads & Walleyes<BR>Crookston, MN<BR> [email protected]<P>218-280-0442<p>[This message has been edited by Wiskers Guiding Service (edited 05-06-2004).]

[hanson]

Fisky,<BR>Better start fishing for those bullheads. If you've ever wanted to hold a state record fish, sounds like you might be close. Last weeks Outdoor News had the state records listed and if I remember right, both the state record black & yellow bullhead were in the 4 pound range.

[fiskyknut]

Rusty, Congrats on that fine fish. I tried putting a note on your post the other nite when you were trying to get the pic up.....Send it via email to MattJ and he'll throw her on. This is the 'easiest' way I have found yet! lol, thanks Matt.

jclymer, I spend most of my time near Warroad and Zippel during late ice and the early openwater season. Lot's of fish run up Bostic too, as well as tribs off of the Rainy.

Frenzy, I find those Husky jerk-baits hard to beat for early hardbait casting and trolling. Suspending Crystal Minnows are great too, kinda spendy though. After the season opens you will find lot's of easy to catch small and midsize Pike in the river, and all sizes out on Muskeg though not as easy to find as in the river!

I've spent a few hours at the river mouth and the bite has indeed tapered off as far as seeing the BIG ones. Got out in a boat the other day and fished the north side of Muskeg in a couple spots, found a few here and there. All the fish I've caught since the end of last week have came off of Live baits, with big wild Chubs, then wild Shiners getting bit the most.

Fresh Walleye fillets 5 days away!!! YIPPEE!

fiskyknut

[fishduckdog]

Heading up to Oak Island on the 20th. Have always just fished for walleyes there, but I have 2 friends flying in that want some pike action. Any spots to try, up in that area?<P>Thanks<P>------------------<BR>Teach kids to hunt and fish.