Report

[Flick]

Fished Saturday and half of Sunday and did pretty good on the perch. Three of us caught 30 nice ones, and 3 eyes, 8,21,24.5". Fished in 30ft. of water on the north end of the lake. Perch seemed fussy at times and real aggressive at others. Overall, a little teardrop with a crappie minnow on it seemed to produce best. Way more didn't hit than would, they'd be red hot on you on the vex but just wouldn't grab it.
Here's a question for you guys. When we caught a perch, it seemed they always spit up their air sac or whatever that is. I didn't even want to keep any perch but also didn't want to put any back that may die later. Is the only way to beat this to reel them up slower to let them adjust or will they suck it back down later. I'd like to hear your guys' comments on this. Thanks.

[Fishn'Lady]

We also fished Saturday into Sunday morning. We went out of Garrison and ended up in 30 ft. of water. We didn't have a lot of action but we had perch biting every now and then. The average perch was at least 10 inches, the biggest was 12-1/2 in., we had probably 14 perch all together. We caught one walleye in the wee hours of the morning that was 21 inches.

We to noticed the air bladder coming out. Figured from those depths that is too much of a depth change to fast, the slower we brought them up they didn't have the problem. So remember if fishing that deep reel them in a slow as you can but not so slow you lose them.

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Fishn'Lady

[Guest]

We went in at Myr Mar and used last years GPS hot spot coordinates to get on the edge of a mud flat that produced numerous jumbos and nice 'Eyes last year--this year--nothing.

We had portables and moved from 27' at dawn to 30' and then 33' and still nothing--glad to hear someone caught some nice fish!

Spagetti and Meatballs for dinner last night!

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Chells

[Guest]

On the air bladders..... I fish the Red Wing pool #4 a lot, there is a lot of controversy on the subject. There is a great article about the bladder issue. I can't remeber where it came from but I'm sure one of the boys from done there would be able to help. I'd love to put the web site address up here but it is a conflict of intrest. If anyone wants it let me know I will E-mail it to you.

Anyway... the article states that it takes walleyes a minimum of 20 minutes to adjust to the pressure change. So it doesn't matter how slow or fast you reel them up.The mortality rate is high so on the river they want people to not fish 30+ feet. I respect that. Popping the air bladder....still up for graps if it works or not. Let me know if you want the web site.

Keep the Line tight

[Guest]

On the air bladders..... I fish the Red Wing pool #4 a lot, there is a lot of controversy on the subject. There is a great article about the bladder issue. I can't remeber where it came from but I'm sure one of the boys from done there would be able to help. I'd love to put the web site address up here but it is a conflict of intrest. If anyone wants it let me know I will E-mail it to you.

Anyway... the article states that it takes walleyes a minimum of 20 minutes to adjust to the pressure change. So it doesn't matter how slow or fast you reel them up.The mortality rate is high so on the river they want people to not fish 30+ feet. I respect that. Popping the air bladder....still up for graps if it works or not. Let me know if you want the web site.

Keep the Line tight

[Squid]

Spent the weekend fishing the north end mudflats with mixed success. Got there Friday afternoon and fished 28' in the mud with a big fat zilch. The next morning we managed a 20" 'eye.
After that we made the mistake of going to the ice fishing derby at Barnacles (froze our behinds off). Fished 24' over the sand, saw fish but couldn't get them to bite. After looking at what was caught I should have downsized and probably walked away with some prize.
After that we moved the house out to 34' (probably about 30' from the old location). Caught one slot fish that evening on a jig. Then about 10:30 PM landed a 22" 'eye on a rattle reel. Lost 2 more the next morning, both felt bigger than the ones landed earlier. So overlall the weekend got a "C".
A couple intresting observations. I rented a camera and yes there we saw small perch abound, they were very curious of the camera. What I did find surprising was schools of tuibees on the bottom. It was always my understanding that they were always suspended fish, not bottom feeders.
Last but not least my buddy cleaned the slot fish we caught and he swears to god that it had a leech in its stomach. Is it possible that with all the clear ice that some of the leeches in the lake bottom may have become active? I'm curious if anyone else has seen anything like this?

[ackotz]

I can't deny what your friend saw however, I know that a leech cannot withstand the water temps in late fall much less winter. Ever see a leech in 50 degree water? They ball up and die. The leeches are dormant now and buried in the mud...

[swampman]

Have to disagree with you akotz.while leeches will tend to ball up on the hook in colder water they certaily dont die from it if that was the case they couldnt be native to this climate.while they do go in the mud during the winter it certinly isnt balmy there in the winter.the water in our baithouse was spring fed and ran out of the ground at about 52 degrees had thousands of pounds in there over the years and they didnt die!

[Guest]

I keep my leeches on ice all the time and they have never died, soon as they hit the warm water they start kickin' up a storm.

[Guest]

I usually keep my leeches in the refrigerator (~40 F) to keep them alive. They last a long time doing that. I can believe that a walleye had a leech in its crop during the winter. Although the leeches are dormant during the winter months I believe they will still move from time to time. I used to spear and have seen frogs crawling along the bottom of the lake in January!

[Guest]

Are you sure it wasnt the liver or kidney of the fish. Typical lobes can appear elongated and almost black in coloration. Leeches live in very cold water but with minimal activity. I read a publication from the MN Sea grant on leech farming and trapping. It sounds like you can tease a few out of the mud in the winter with a trap but the numbers are small. I have only caught a few through the ice in late spring with my traps. So yes I would think a leech or two could be roaming under the right circumstances in ice conditions. Perch will burrow with their snouts to get larvae and shrimp. Maybe dormant leeches can be disturbed or consumed by this action. Aren't stomach contents cool!

[Johnny B]

I caught a crappie over the weekend (not on Mille Lacs) and while removing the hook, I noticed that it had pucked up a leech! Must say it is the first time I have seen that in the winter.