Ice Conditions!

[Sportland_Bait]

The ice conditions vary from lake to lake as of today. We have open water on Gull again which broke open with the wind. Many of the small lakes have fishable ice. Please use caution if you venture out this weekend. We are filling the bait tanks Friday morning so we will be ready for the new season. We also have a new page on our website www.sportlandbait.com with the daily ice conditions on all of the lakes in the Brainerd/Nisswa area. I'll be heading out today to check a few spots. I'll keep you posted on the latest.

Jason Erlandson

[Hopper]

Good work Jason!! That Ice condition link looks good. Im guessing we will be in full swing next week on gull. I have not checked on the wind conditions for the next couple of days.

T-bone is coming over tonight. We will be planning our first adventure probably this weekend.

I keep you updated!

[koeps]

Jason is right! you need to proceed with alot of caution, especially with the light coating of snow. We have had quite a few folks heading out. Most seem to be going to the smaller lakes-they say there is anywhere from 3 to 7 inches-depending on the size-yes gull opened up this morning but with the perfect ice making weather coming up it shouldn't be long. Again glad to see all that come up to fish--BUT BE CAREFUL--we want you to keep coming back--check in before you go for up to date info.

[Sportland_Bait]

Hey Hop keep me posted on the latest, I think the fish are really gonna be chompin this year at early ice. Rene and I just got off the water, we hit a small bay for some panfish. We had 4-6 inches of decent ice. We were hoping for some crappies but all we could find were gills. Lots of little buggers but we landed a handful of 7-8 inchers. We put them all back but they sure were fun. Boy I can't wait to get out after some walleyes. It won't be long now.

Glad you liked the new ice conditions page on our website. It should be handy. I'll keep it updated along with the fishing reports through the season. I'd recommend bookmarking it. Hopper grab T-Bone and be sure to stop in soon, our ice fishing selection is huge again this year.

Good luck with the new pups and your event this spring. I know what your going through I'm also sealing the deal in February.

Jason Erlandson

[walleyedan]

Jason,

A pretty large area of the west side is iced-up and so is Booming Out. I am going to be at the Ice Fishing Show in St. Paul all weekend, so the fish will have to wait if they want my bait!! Have a good weekend.

Walleyedan

[Sportland_Bait]

Ice fishing has begun on a couple of more lakes today. Round lake had at least a half dozen anglers out there today chasing walleyes, Round has about 4 inches of solid ice. The east side of Gull also froze over. With a couple of more days like this Gull should be ready.

At the bait shop we also got in a truckload of real dandy shiners this morning, perfect for those hungry walleyes and pike. Good luck this weekend. Stop in for the latest.

Jason Erlandson

[Moses2531]

How's the Whitefish Chain looking?? Any ideas where I should target in a couple weeks when I get home from xmas break??

[Seeker of Clayface]

Jason,

Any walleye reports coming in from Round? Hoping to make it up Sun. eve.

[Sportland_Bait]

We are hearing some good reports from Round for the first couple of days of the ice season. The ice conditions are good, 4-6 inches of solid clear ice as of Saturday afternoon. Anglers are catching some decent keeper walleyes in areas with a sand/rock mix and on the deep weed edge. 18-24 feet has been very productive both mornings and evenings. Jigging spoons tipped with fatheads or rainbows, or set lines with lively golden shiners have produced some nice catches. Hopefully the fish stay active. Good Luck!

Hi Moses, with the forcast this week we should be making lots of good ice up on Whitefish. Lower Hay is a good starting point, and supports a good population of walleyes. If you are little more adventurous a good all season hot spot to try is Foleys Bar out on Middle/Lower Whitefish. Some very hefty fish were caught out on Foley's this fall, it may be worth a try. Otherwise just buy a decent lakemap of the chain. There are lots of great spots to try on the chain that don't receive much angling pressure. If you want to stop in while you are up I could point out a couple of decent spots on a map just to get you started.

Jason Erlandson

[whitesand]

went out on round this evening 430-600 set up a tip up w/shiner 19 ft got one wally and fished one line in port. with buck shot and minnow head 22ft got one wally. it was like a litle city of portables out on the 371 launch it was a great site! i was out there but stayed away from the crowd. good luck

[Moses2531]

Hey Jason I really appreciate the info!! Sounds great that there's good ice making up there! I'll pick up a map and try somethings out over break!! Thanks again, maybe I'll swing and say hi and thank u in person! Good Fishin!

[Sportland_Bait]

Gull was steaming a little this morning in some areas that had pushed some water up through the cracks. With these frigid temps she should seal up nice.

Caught a few walleyes on Round last night, nothing real big but it was good action. Jigging spoons and fatheads. Sure could feel the temps dropping as the evening progressed. The fish were a little finicky, I think it was a little noisy with all of the anglers out and about.

Jason Erlandson

[Moses2531]

Got some walleyes on Round the other night?? Thats great, even if they are small, gotta luv eyes coming up threw the ice... Gonna be up in a Cabin on Portage lake in about a week so was looking for maybe a break from chasing the pannies in Portage and trying some walleye fishing... Thinking about trying either Big Sandy or Round, looks like i'll try some jigging...

[Sportland_Bait]

The ice conditions have shaped up real nice on most of the area lakes. 4-8 inches is common pretty much everywhere. We've had decent walleye fishing on the bigger lakes. On Gull the hot ticket has been jigging spoons and fatheads. On Pelican we're hearing great fishing using golden shiners under a bobber. The weekend should be great. The reports keep coming in daily so stop in and check with us for the latest.

Jason Erlandson

[trencherguy]

Jason whats up with 4-wheeler travel on gull? Is it safe yet or is anyone out there yet?

[koeps]

BEEN ALOT OF WHEELER TRAFFIC ON GULL NOW BUT I WOULD STILL BE LEARY OF THE CENTER AROUND THE ROCKPILE AND SOUTH OF THAT-LAST I HEARD WAS YESTERDAY AND ONLY 3 TO 4 INCHES. BUT THE REST IS MAINLY OK BUT STILL NEED TO WATCH. AND REAL COLD WEATHER WILL MAKE THE ICE POP AND PRESSURE RIDGES START TO DEVELOP.

[Sportland_Bait]

Hi Trencher sorry for the delay. I was in Grand Forks last night for the Gopher hockey game. We are seeing 6 inches of good ice on Gull. That is along the shoreline areas, you can expect the mid lake areas to bit a little less. Anglers have been hitting the mid lake structure now with wheelers, but please use caution.

Jason Erlandson