Medicine Lake

[Ralph Wiggum]

Got a bunch of smallish perch on Monday mid-day. Only one decent sized. Fish the Eastern side of the lake. No sunnies to be found.

[Ole the Guide]

I'm with you Bonehead. I don't think anyone will be driving out on Med. this year. This might be a good thing for the fishery. It'll give those panfish more time to grow up for next year! Those pannies will make the predators grow bigger in the process! Maybe this warm weather is Mother Natures way of getting us that 9 lb. state record.

See ya at Harty's!

Ole

[AQUAJOE]

Fished the West side for about 4 1/2 hours this evening. Anywhere form 40 to 17 feet. nothing on the Vex at all. (Skunked)

Ther were two cars that drove out and parked out there.

Ice was 10 to 12in. everywhere I drilled.

[Lee the bonehead]

Nothing? Yipes! (Was that just the clear ice or the white included?)

[AQUAJOE]

About 2in of white.

[BDR]

I was out there last week and there were tire tracks from a car all over the middle of the lake.

Scary!! I did not see over 11"s of good ice where I drilled.

[Ducks22]

Was out last Friday on the small island in the south eastern basin near the west shore line. Caught numerous pike and a few eyes with good size to em'. Pike caught all over the island and eyes were caught in 30' in the day and 14' at dusk.

[MedicineMan]

Ducks22, could you shoot me an email?

[email protected]

[hanson]

What a great night to be on the ice.

Found some crappies again in one of the deeper holes. They were a little more active this time than my last trip out. The crappies of course were running regular Medicine Lake size with nothing over 9 1/2". I was playing around with some of JB Lures tackle and the crappies seamed to respond. Glow was the trick this evening.

Ice is pretty good still with about 10" or so where I was fishing. Not much water on top but it is a slick one out there.

[MedicineMan]

Went out and did some exploring today, and did it pay off. I ended up getting on some large perch while searching for Norts. Quite a few 9-10" fish with some bigger ones mixed in. I did lose a true jumbo at the hole as well.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I met up with Hanson last night to hunt for some pannies. Once we found them, we did alright. They were hugging the bottom in about 28 FOW and biting lightly (glad I had the spring bobbers). We had success mainly on Ratsos. One just over 10", 2 just under 10", and a bunch of 7"-9".

[hanson]

Ryan-

It was a good time last night, weather was much different than the last few times I'd been out. Much colder and we got snow on top of the ice again. That snow posed a problem since I couldn't locate the old holes that I was fishing the other night, and of course I left the GPS at home.

Oh well. We eventually found some active fish after a little hole hopping. Size 8 & 10 Custom Jigs & Spins Ratso's tipped with Eurolarvae seamed to be the ticket. I switched to a Lindy Fat Boy for awhile to help me get down to the fish quicker but the crappies didn't want anything to do with that lure. Back to a small Ratso and the fish were smacking again. I think the action of the plastic along with the slower fall rate is really what the fish were responding too. I'll have to try next time without Eurolarvae and see how that goes. I'm stuck on bait, what can I say.

It sure would be nice to be able to drive vehicles out there but I think the fishing is that much better for those who are willing to take the walk right now. There just isn't much pressure out there.

Like Ryan said, we found a couple very nice crappies for Medicine, a few blacks in the 10" range. Now why couldn't I have caught them for the Ultimate Panfish event the other day?

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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Like Ryan said, we found a couple very nice crappies for Medicine, a few blacks in the 10" range. Now why couldn't I have caught them for the Ultimate Panfish event the other day?

---

You couldn't catch them last night, either

[BDR]

ouch! thats gonna leave a mark.

[Ralph Wiggum]

He left himself wide open for that one!

[hanson]

Wait just a minute...

I believe I caught the first NICE crappie. You then moved in next to me and continued to catch a few more.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Fair enough.

[Eye Slayer]

Has anyone had any luck fishing near the scattered bulrushes right by the beach/public access on the north end of the lake near French Park? I am looking to target some pikers and thought that the point of bulrushes there on the edge of 10-20 FOW might be productive. My buddy and I will be out there on Saturday morning in a Clam portable... stop by to see how it's done or tell us where to go...

[MedicineMan]

I've never had much luck fishing right infront of the launch. I've had a lot of success on the south shore in 6-10' for Pike.

[Eye Slayer]

Where on the South end do you target them - the east or west side? I've never fished this lake before but didn't see much promising structure, weeds, or anything remarkable that might increase success for pike on the southeast side...

[Dragon Fish ll]

Id say right by the parking lot area in 20 or so feet of water with shiner minnows should do the trick. did I say west side.?

[MedicineMan]

Eye Slayer, shoot me an email. I'll get a little more into detail than I will on here.

[email protected]

[Eye Slayer]

We typically use either shiners or suckers on tip-ups (my preference is shiners) so thanks, Dragon.

MedMan, I will shoot you an email shortly from my hotmail account...

[MedicineMan]

Eye Slayer, you have mail....

[Eye Slayer]

Thanks MedMan... We will try off the southeast beach on Saturday morning looking for pikers.

[beharms]

I had a hit by the biggest northern I've ever had on, right in front of the park last summer. Had it for a minute or so, but he snapped my line.

[Dragon Fish ll]

Is anyone driveing on Medicine yet and if so how thick is the Ice?

[MedicineMan]

I've seen a few vehicles out on Med. I was out on Wensday and only found 8-10" of good ice in most areas. I've found areas with even less than that. Even the good ice isn't very good. The "good" ice has been coming up in chunks, and last time I checked that wasn't good. There was about 4" of snow ontop of the ice, so Med won't be making much in the way of ice in the near future. Personally, I won't be driving my vehicle out there at all this year. There's no fish thats worth the risk in my opinion. Besides, is it really that bad to walk out?

[MedicineMan]

Juan Grande, Eye Slayer, you have mail.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Yeah, I was out last night and saw a few driving. A Blazer drove by a 100 yards from us and the ice was really creaking. You'd probably be fine, but it's a stupid risk, in my opinion. And don't drive near me.