late june fishing on blackduck,red,and benjamin ?

[can it be luck?]

Hello to all, I'm new to the forum as far as posts, but have enjoyed fishing mn website for quite some time. Not only filled with valuable info. and tips, allot of class also. I live in wisconsin,but in the winter Minnesota could be called my second home. Passing Blackduck lake as I travel back and forth to Red and Winni. I always wonder about the fishing and always say next time. With all the outstanding fishing to be had on Red and Winni it's so hard to try any new lakes. How lucky to have this problem. In the past I've always fished the Ely area in the open water season and fore mentioned in winter. I have a cabin rented for the week of 6/21/03-6/28/03 on Blackduck lake. Being a shallow lake, does the fishing slow as the water warms? From what I gather allot of the fishing is being done around the island bars and the culvert/river mouths. Slip bobbers and live bait rigs will probably be my approach, but I"ll leave that up to the fish. I was thinking about a day at benjaim lake chaseing trout for something a little different. Crawlers,corn,eggs,spinners? any tips would be appreciated. Lastly, Red lake. For crappies slip bobbers and plain hooks or maybe ice jigs? Last year ice fishing I landed a 43,41,38 inch northern on the jig pole with 6lb line, an experience to say the least! I'm real excited to think of the possibilitys of being able to cover ground in pursuit of giant pike, versus being over a stationary hole. Tips on casting,trolling,pulling boards,or baits for northern would be appreciated. Thanks for any info. CAN IT BE LUCK JUST ONE MORE CAST

[Drake]

Welcome to the Forum can it be luck!! You're right, this is a problem area for fishing..as in which lakes to hit! During late June last year on Blackduck our best fishing was produced by trolling in the 12' to 20' depth range, and as Kupcho mentioned the 17' depth produced very well. There are several bars around the island, as well as around the shoreline. For us, and our guests during that time period the early morning or evening bite produced very wel using a black jig with a white eye (chartruese was also a very good producer) tipped with a leech, also green spinners with a crawler, and some folks did well with spinners and minnows, although at that time of the year the crawlers and leeches were the best producers.

Benjamin is the lake that our young fisherman wants to hit this year (fishing and not just the beach this year!) as we were out at Benjamin Saturday and you could see some trout from the pier. (There is a really nice fishing pier at the landing that's calling his name!) Back in Arizona we were avid trout fishermen, but this will season will be our first trout fishing in Minnesota (like you said so many other lakes to hit!). Our arsenal when we fished before included corn (but it was fresh cooked and cut from the cob, seemed to produce much better), we found that Power Bait produced many times better than the eggs, and since we'll be doing casting Rooster Tails were recommended. But Benjamin is a great little lake, they stock it every fall with about 4500 rainbow fingerlings and as I mentioned they have a beach with a shaded picnic area across from the boat landing.

On Upper Red I have a jig that is a dark red that has become my favorite when fishing crappies tipped with a minnow. The majority of the time that was the color that worked the best, with a yellow jig coming in second. During late May and early June (depending on the water temps & spawn) the fish are normally in the shallower water, (5' to around 10'), then after that they normally head to the deeper water (12'+), which is a good time to fish the cribs. The northern pike action is normally pretty active in the early summer months also, and had some fun last year with PWaldow trolling and casting with bucktails (white seemed to get the most hits)

Hopefully we'll see you out on the open water while you're up here!

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Drake Motel
drakemotel.com
(888)253-8501
[email protected]

[kupcho]

Can it be luck, welcome to the Blackduck forum. It sounds like you have everything already planned out. Blackduck does slow down that time of year. You need to stay out on the edge of breaks into 17 feet of water or more. There are a few locations that have good drop offs. Lures of choice that time of year are slip bobber rigs and lindys. Leechs and crawlers work better that time of year also.
As for red, I like to use ice fishing glow jigs all time. I have much better luck on them than I do than on plain hooks. Fish out in the cribs and fish a school of fish to catch. If you are marking them, you can catch them. If plain hooks do not work then go to something different. Lipless crankbaits also work around that time of year. Real small, (1" works best).
Benjamin, Your plan should work well. Try to find the fish and if you have a side finder use it. trout are easily spooked from away from the boat.
Keep posted here for info on how the fish are biting when the time gets closer.
Good luck.

Kupcho