Pelican Report

[ironman]

Got back yesterday from a five day trip at Pelican. Weed growth is a bit behind schedule yet...the cabbage is only about half as high as it should be this time of year. Fishing was alittle slow...of course the high pressure that just lingered over the state didn't help by bring clear blue skies...however fish were feeding. Most fish that we kept when cleaned had full stomachs. It seemed you had to either fish really slow or super fast to trigger strikes. The trip started out great Wed night the first fish came after only a few casts, a very portly 19 1/2 inch largemouth. Followed moments later by a 17 inch smallie. Those would be the biggest of the trip. Nice crappies and sunnies were caught as well as one 6lb norhern. If anyone is headed up...think shallower than you would for this time of year both big bass came right off the shorline. For pike look for the thickess most developed cabbage patches...head west young man. As usual bluegills are everywhere with the big boys being hangin out with weeds and rocks together, throw in some timber and bingo bango. Keep moving however the big boys are spread out..pick up one or two at each spot then move on. Hoping to get back up there next month...good luck to all.

[jschultz]

Was at Pelican from the 2nd to the 9th and had a great time. Didnt catch as many as last year. We were down about 125 Northerns but we hammered them last year this year was just average which is still good. Largest three were two 31 inchers and one 32 incher. Largest bass were two 19.5 inch smallies and several 18 inch with numerous largemouth and smallmouth in the slot, mainly caught on leeches under a slip bobber in the same areas we caught bluegills. Those areas were the rocks and gravel around islands with weeds not to far away. Once we found the gills it was one after another. Didnt catch a lot of crappies had a few but nothing to brag about and did manage to average one walleye a day due to the fact we caught five in one day. Heard from a reliable source of one boat catching several 24-27 inch walters in one night but they threw them back because they thought they were northerns and in the slot. Oh well good spawners for the future. Had a great time and cant wait to come back next year. Would be willing to trade information if anyone is interested, since I only get there once a year I dont need to keep my "spots" a super secret.

[SteveWilson]

I was up 6/25-7/2 and had a decent bite as long as I was out early enough in the morning as the bite was really over by 9am with the best time between 6-8am. Stayed mostly in the middle to the east end and had decent luck trolling black/silver shad raps at the weed break in 15ft of water. Perch and blue/silver SR's also worked well. Inside turns were killer for pike. We had four lines out (2 kids, mom and dad) one morning and had three northerns hook up simultaneously - kind of a hectic few minutes, weed edge on an inside turn. The other typical structure spots worked well at the drop off's or weed break. We mainly caught Northerns in the slot limit with a couple just under that made mighty fine eating. Also had a large crappie or walleye hook up every morning just to keep things interesting. Later in the morning had some reasonably decent small mouth action around the islands in the middle of the lake.