Great week on LOTW

[Bushwacker]

We just got back from a Monday through Friday trip to Adrian's in Baudette. We fished in about 17-19 feet off of Pine Island and just hammered the fish. Our group of 10 guys produced 5 fish over 25.5" with one fish at 30.75" and just over 11 lbs. It was a great time. I had a golf score clicker and I iced 157 walleyes and sauger in 4 and a half days of fishing. The killer baits were a Chubby Darter CD5S

in the hot perch pattern tipped with the Bio-Bait mealworm/shiner. I kept that set up in the water almost all week and the walleyes were hammering it in the middle of the day when I wasn't even jigging it. The other great baits were the Angle Eye tipped with a shiner head and a gold verticle jig with a whole shiner swimming around. It was an awesome week. How has everyone else been doing?

[Scoot]

Sounds like a ton o' fun, Bushwacker. What can you tell us about ice conditions/depth?

Side note- I hope this is the first time your golf score clicker has gone to 157!

[MJCatfish]

Wow! Sounds like a great week. Those walleyes really do mollyhock those Chubby Darters, don't they. If the bite is tough sometimes, it's amazing how they may not hit anything else but the Chubby Darter.

MJ

[Bushwacker]

Scoot,

My golf clicker only goes to 99 and then I have to restart--and unfortunately 99 is not all that uncommon for a once a year hacker like myself--

The ice was a little iffy going out on Adrian's road at the beginning of the week. On Monday, when we arrived an enclosed trailer full of 10 guys broke through in the bay. Everyone was all right, but they all packed up and went home. As long as we stayed on the marked trail there was plenty of ice. A solid 10" in the lake and they said the bay was about the same. When we left Friday, Adrian's was thinking that they would have vehicle traffic by Monday(today). The ice drifted under itself in the lake and Adrian's said it was tough to fish in less that 16 feet because of the two layers of ice. We fished in 17-19 feet and had no problems at all. It seemed like very good ice. The resort houses were out from about 20-25 from what we heard. Very good action.

MJCatfish,

Yes the Chubby Darter was on fire. I have been using them for three years now with mixed results. I usually end up tipping it with minnow heads but that seemed to throw off the movement of the lure, but this year I tried Bio-Bait and they are small enough that they don't affect the movement, but there is just enough scent and taste that the walleyes hit and hang on.

[bass-o-matic]

In one of my typical trips, we learned the "should've been here yesterday"! We fished off of Morris point on Friday as the wind started to really pick up. 4 guys, 6 fish, only one keeper. Rented a house from Wigwam on Sat. to get out of the wind. 4 guys, 12 fish; no keepers. The only good part was the fact I did manage a 9.25lb. eelpout on 4lb. test on Fri. and a 4.5lb. walleye on Sat. Overall, pretty dissappointing trip, especially after reading the reports all week. Oh well, I guess you can't control the weather. We'll be back.

We measured 12" of ice in both places. On Sat., they took us out past Pine Island in one of their track vehicles. Also saw 2 full size trucks out there. I'm sure with the

-20 they had on Sun. and the cooldown again this week, there will be more than plenty of ice by the weekend.

[hardwaterfishing]

what color of Chubby Darter do you use

[Bushwacker]

I was using the hot perch Chubby Darter in the #5 size, which is the middle size. I have a dozen Darters that I have accumulated over the years and the hot perch and the real roach color are usually the best for me in the #5 or #4 sizes.

[eye1000us]

BOM -Too bad about the lack of fish but they are always bting somewhere.I was there Fri and Sat morning and had a great bite going , I must have stumbled in the right direction as I only had to drill 6 holes in 2 days.Went straight out from Morris point ,to the end of the marked road and headed west, about 200 yards beyond the people just short of the crack.The bite started at 8:30 and went non-stop until about 2:30 but still a good bite later into the early evening , headed off the lake at 5:00 or so before the wind got too bad. Pretty much got bit as fast as I could get back in the water.Literally probably caught somewhere around 75 on Fri.Granted most ran from 10" to 13" or so , did keep one 16" sauger on Fri.Went back out Sat am but moved farther west and in a little and caught a limit 15-16" eyes and three more slightly smaller saugers.Was headed to Red by 10:00am. All the action was in 24' plus or minus.Best bite came on a small firetiger buckshot on Fri and a larger silver swedish pimple with yellow tape on Sat both tipped with either a shiner or a fathead head. SOmedays I guess it pays to be lucky.

[fsnrod]

Where do you get that bio bait from

[Mjen]

Just got back from Borderview. Fished their houses just past Pine Island around 20-22 feet. Thursday PM saw 3 fish on Vexilar caught 2. Friday AM pretty steady bite all morning, could barely keep 2 poles down at times. Friday PM slowed down a bit. Saturday not steady but caught fish all day. Sunday the best. Caught fish all day. At times frenzy conditions. We used Red Glow Jigs and Gold Rock'n'Rolls most of the time. The gold worked best midday and the glows early and late. Only 1-20" and 1-17" on Friday, the rest were the normal little ones. I am used to getting more big fish this time of year up there. Some feel the big fish are still in the river. Weather was awful. They were making good ice with the cold. Windy the whole time and horizontal snow on Sunday PM. Tried jigging spoons but could barely feel the bite. Seemed to do better with jigs and a lot of lifting and slow drops. 3" off the bottom. The people we talked to usually matched our action except Sunday, most said it was awful. Had a great time all in all. The folks at Borderview are great. It is always nice to start the ice fishing season up there.