Horseshoe Chain

[The Chemist]

Hey is anyone heading out on the Chain sunday for cats?

I was wondering if I could tag along. I have everything just hate sittin' on the slab by myself. Makes the day fun to talk to other people.

[Mykal]

Chemist, Sorry man, heading out there on Saturday. Slim chance of going to the Shoe on Sunday afternoon, but if I do I have a buddy thats dying to go along in my portable. Your welcome to swing by and hang though. Black Dakota Quad with Black wood bottom portable. We bring the kitchen sink so you shouldn't miss us. I'll let you know.

[The Chemist]

When on Saturday and which lake? Horseshoe?

I just found out the tourny I'm fishin' in is from 2 - 4 Saturday so I'm want to get some cats before I go. I have to take full adavantage of any time I can get on the ice this weekend. I also w/ have a black portable 3x5 house.

In the past I have fished the main bay there on 22, only vertured out further once. I believe I'm going to be out there on my 4-wheeler w/ trailer. Hopefully I will have my FM decals today so I shouldn't be hard to miss either.

Maybe I'll see you out there.

[Guest]

You are starting to see pickups on the Chain now. The good ice has been slow in coming, but it is here now. I have been driving on all week. However, we did have several houses go down in that warm weather so there are a few week spots. Last night I had 19 inches by my house. Watch out for the spring and river channels. Scott Steil

[Mykal]

Chem, yes the Shoe. Probably late morning until dark. I'm new to the lake and don't know a lot of places to try. I would really like to find some decent walleyes. Do you have a better spot out there somewhere? I see lots of houses on the way to where I fish.
ScottS, any suggestions would be appreciated? I have a map.
Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Mykal (edited 01-17-2003).]

[The Chemist]

I have fished in the bay where you access Horseshoe. I 'm not familiar w/ the Meth hole, is that where you drive out and currve to the right around the point and then maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile further it's out from shore ~ 100 yds, (can be seen from 22 where the walking bridge or whatever it is)?

[Mykal]

I believe thats it. I come in off 43. I walk out from shore. I will look for you then.
Thanks.

[This message has been edited by Mykal (edited 01-17-2003).]

[The Chemist]

What time are you going to be out there? Where off of 43 do you go on? That would make it a heck of alot easier for me to go that way. Our cabin is off 43 on Rice.

[Mykal]

I figure around 10-11am. I want to stay past dark. I take 43 from 23. Take a left then first right and follow this gravel road. Don't know the names of the roads off of 43, but they are not hard to follow as the lake is right there. What vehicle do you have?

[The Chemist]

So is it the first left that you can take off 43? I'm coming from the other way on 43(Eden Valley). I drive a maroon minivan. I may get out there earlier because I have that contest from 2 - 4 but then I will probably go back afterwords.

My goal is to put alot of time on the ice this weekend, because it may be the only time I will get out. At least until the new one is born.

Where do you walk out from? I believe I should be able to find the area. Otherwise I will take the 4-wheeler from the other end. What kind of distance is it? Trying to decide if I should go home and get my 5lb cylinder.

[Mykal]

Yes. It's about 100 yard off shore, farther if you go to the other side. I plan on moving around the bay and do some searching if its not too windy.

[The Chemist]

I'm leaving here soon. What kind of bait do I need? I heard chunk meat(spearing chub), I'm gonna get crappie minnows,fat heads, wax worms and one chub.

I believe I should find the area. MAybe I'll see you out there. I should be in full camo and I have a black little portable. What do you cross to get to the lake? Is there parking along there or something. Or some landmark that I can go by.

[Mykal]

Right on with the bait. Look for some barrels on the side of the road with tape aross them. park on the road there. Or if your more comfortable, take the atv over. I will try and get out there earlier. I am coming from Rogers so it will take me a bit to get there. I'll be in a red coat with blue bibs. See you then.

[This message has been edited by Mykal (edited 01-17-2003).]

[The Chemist]

I'll probably walk out. I'm on my way out the door right now. Now that I have all my stuff. I'll see you tomorrow then.

[Guest]

Dark 30 and myself will be up on the chain on sunday.Probably be up there around 9:00 and I have to leave by at least 3:00.
Were going after some cats.Was thinking of trying the channel areas,(if they are safe for a sled)or if anyone wants to hook up?I kind of wanted to do some exploring but am limited by time.

[only-eyes]

i'm ure most people on this forum respect people's property, the access is private and please don't leave a mess, or rip up the area with wheelers, a lot of us locals use it and we don't need it shut down, plus there isn't much room to park. GOOD LUCK thanks for keeping it clean

[Mr. Pike1]

only-eyes, thank you for the feedback. When we go out of that access we are always respectful of the property and would never leave a mess.

Mykal, Chemist, and myself were out on the shoe today. The bite was much slower then on past trips. Cats were caught, a small walleye, rock bass, and we missed a few crappies just after dusk. We also had the pleasure of running an fl-18 and a LX-3 in the same house. The first challenge was to get the units to play nice together. After some tweeking we were able to get most of the interfernce to go away and enjoy the units. Marked a lot of fish pre and post dusk but getting them to bite was more of a challenge that I guess we were up for...

[only-eyes]

hey mr. pike how is that lx-3, i'm a vexlar man but that lx-3 sounds like it is pretty sweet from what i've read

[Mr. Pike1]

only-eyes, the unit comes in a very nice carring case and is very well put together. The unit did the job and graphed the same things I was seeing on my vex. It has the multiple zoom options that the Vex does not offer. Both units perform great. The thing I like better about the vex is that the zoom feature is very easy to use and I still like the bright Red/Green display of the vex. As far as funtionality both are worth the investment just a matter of choice.

[The Chemist]

Hey guys: I decided to leave around 9:30 when I had my limit of cats. The largest went around 7+ pounds. Then there was the one you guys saw and the one I got earlier was the smallest. Took them back to the cabin and let them set on the counter to thaw over night. Cleaned them this morning so I didn't get back out today. Thanks alot for your help. Hopefully if the wife can get this child out before ice out we can hit the area on the other end and find the crappies.

Thanks again and it was nice meeting you, hopefully you get good use out of the decals. And sorry to bring my FL-8 in for some interference. Hopefully we'll see you out again.

[Mr. Pike1]

Chemist, glad to hear you picked up some more cats in the evening. No problem on the FL-8. A few taps on the interferce button and we were all clear. I have tomorrow off for the holiday and plan on going to this little lake that is just down the street from my house and will get that FM sticker on my shack.

[The Chemist]

Mykal, Mr. Pike 1: What depth did you guys have? I thought you said 30, I was in 40. After you left I had some fish come in @ 25-30 ft, Ichanged to a crappie minnow because they would follow the fathead but never take. I ended up landing a cat and lost another. But I couldn't get those crappies to bite. I'm hoping top get back up before the ice starts to melt so that I can use the permanent once, or hopefully by then I have a new portable. Thanks again.

[Mykal]

Chemist, we were in 37. Did you get the cats off the bottm or at that 25-30 foot mark? Didi you catch them on cut or the crappie mimows? We couldn't get the "crappies" to bite either. I had one taker after hours of coaxing and he tore the minnow off my hook. Anyway thanks again for the FM stickers. It was nice to meet you.
Only-eyes, I have the LX-3. Mr Pike 1 is my fishing buddy. We ran them side by side. Like he said, They are both great units. The zoom feature is awesome.

[The Chemist]

After you left I used one of my poles for jigging and went after the fish that were in the 25-30 ft range. I caught one cat and lost another using a crappie minnow. I didn't use cut bait at all this weekend.

[Mykal]

Chem, I got my 3 cats on cut. Right off the bottom. One broke me off at the hole one I lost half way up. One small walleye at dusk.

[Guest]

We fished on Cedar Island.Its the only spot I know so far.I wanted to do a little scouting but we had only about 3 hours to spare so we just stuck it out hoping that maybee they would turn on.It was a little slow but we did manage to get 4 cats.There were plenty on the vex but they just didn't find our baits all that appealing.We were fishing in 35 ft and the cats that were biting all came in from 2 to 6 feet off the bottom.I tried very small shiners but the the only thing that would worked was a big hunk of cut shiner.
Looking at the map there are a few holes in Koetter lake.Has any one had any success there and is it safe ice?I usually travel by sled but like good ice under me.
A funny thing happend though.A cat pulled my dead stick down the hole.I tried to snag the pole with no luck and eventually caught a cat out of that hole about half an hour later.I kept fishing that hole and then hooked into another.I fought him and when my bait came through the hole there was nothing but line on the hooks but the line I caught was tugging so I hand lined the rest of the way and the pole I had lost came through the hole and on the other end was that sneaky little cat that stole it in the first place!He must have been dragging that rod around for about 45 minutes!

[This message has been edited by fishhead (edited 01-20-2003).]

[IceHawk]

Any of you guys ever try the deep hole out from the 71 culvert access. There is some deep water there, drops to around 70 ft I bet the cats stage up out there this time of the year. As far as koetter lake be carefull there is alot of current areas that have thin ice. One spot we fished walleyes many times is a area called sandy beach. There is a deep hole off of the east side that hold cats. I have fished out there in the winter but only travel by quad or foot. The area I am talking about is if you come out of schneieder lake head east to southeast twoards Cold Spring you will see a area that narrows down, the hole will be on the east side. Not many people try this area but us locals know it holds fish. Always check the ice in front of you as this area can have thin areas. If any of you try it give walleyes a try I have caught some nice fish here. Good luck but always treat these areas with alot of respect its part of the river so the ice can change thickness quick.

[The Chemist]

Fishhead, I can give you a couple of sspots to try. I've been out on Long before and the bite is supposed to be good. I also have fished a different area than the one that I fished w/ Mykal and Mr. Pike 1. I fished Cedar Island before but all I got there was crappies but then I didn't know you could catch cats there. About 8 yrs ago or so.

[Mykal]

Fishhead and Dark 30, did you guys have any success on Sunday? Where on the Shoe were you fishing?

[Guest]

Hey that would be great.I have been spending most of my free fishing time on the chain but have only fished on Cedar Island and only scouted a couple areas.I am going to try again sometime in February.

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