Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Recommended Posts

I spent a full day on the water today with an absolutely wonderful guy from the Fairbault area. To sum up our outing, after a lot of hard work and patience, we were rewarded with a nice basket of fish that covered the "species spectrum". We had nice 'eyes, crappies, 'gills and perch all come to the boat today. Now, onto the report I suppose. smirk.gif

Being that my client was looking to learn and get more comfortable with Tetonka, I put together a game plan that would include a "milk route" of spots that could be fished with multiple presentations. We started on the W end of the lake and by day's end we found ourself on the E end of lake. Covering water never hurts, does it? smirk.gif Our first spot found us riggin' with crawlers and pitching jigs and minnows to the inside and outside edge of weedlines that were still surprisingly healthy. The first 15 minutes told me we were going to have a pretty good day because we had already boated a healthy 14" 'eye and 2 decent northerns by then. But, the northerns continued to rule the roost so we moved on to a couple of areas adjacent to the main basin of the lake. Both of these spots were "empty" so we headed to main lake points and continued riggin' and pitchin' only to be bothered by small perch and 'eyes. My client did have one really nice fish on we didn't get to see but I wish we would have. confused.gif For the remainder of the day, we concentrated on "first breaks" adjacent to rock and/or sand that also included weed stubble. Let me tell you, dragging jigs tipped with minnows and riggin' with leeches completely took over on the top and bottom side of the "first break" in 8 - 12' of water! We had perch, 'eyes, crappies and 'gills all coming out of the same area. In the late morning, the quality fish were relating to rocks and by day's end those same fish had found their way to the sand. Also, just so you know, I briefly tried pitchin' cranks in a few spots while my client was riggin' but I was only able to boat 1 pike. Bummer. smirk.gif

Some things to note that I think made a difference today were boat speed, boat control, presentation color, and mobility. All day, we back-trolled ~1.0 mph which is faster than most would think of going and I also did not let the boat waver from that 8 - 12' range. The fish were very "spot specific" today so when you went through some fish you had to have your A-game on. We also switched colors a lot today and finally settled on red jigs for draggin' and plain chartuese hooks for riggin'. Lastly, mobility played a big part in our success today. Most of the spots were similar to a "fish here, fish there" but occassionally we would find a nice school of fish holding tight. When we found that type of situation, I would mark it on my GPS and then travel both on the inside and outside of that spot by ~25' because the fish were scattering just a touch.

Well, it's time to gear up for the North Country as I will be traveling north to Mille Lacs for the better part of 4 nights of trolling starting this Friday. But, I'll be back in the area for the remainder of the month next week. I look forward to seeing you at the Fall Get-Together on Madison Lake on Saturday, October 14 and maybe somewhere else!

Good luck and we'll see you on the water!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jamison,

Sounds like a great day on the water. Heading north tomorrow night myself until Sunday. Will be spending time on the Brainerd area lakes. Gotta love this time of year! Good luck to you on the big pond.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I spent a few hours chasing eyes this morning and except for 1 small one that was it.I then decided to try some of those skills and tricks Matt J taught me and boy did that work.I ended up keeping a limit of gills and a few crappies.The crappies that I caught today were the nicest ones I have ever had the luck of catching.Many fish over 12 and yes,one crappie that topped the tape at 15.7 inches.I thought just maybe that I had a 16 inchers but it fell a little short. smile.gifAll fish caught were between 10-15 fow with the majority of them being caught in the 12-13foot range.All fish were caught on plastic.Size 8 Ratso with white plastic.Tried red but that did not do anything.

I left at 1 and the crappie bite was still going pretty good.

I have not fish the local lakes hardly at all this summer due to those great catfish.

After today its time to get back to what I like the best.Huge gills and slab crappies.

Shortly we will also have that great time of year when fishing is just as good as now,first ice.I cannot wait.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds like some great outings by a lot of people! I like the sound of big pannies smile.gif

Just make sure there's some left when I come down in a couple weeks wink.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matt

there will be as 90% of what I caught went back as usuall.Maybe we can hook up in the next week or so and hit the spot I was at today.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The bite is ON MJ. Well, you saw the pics. smirk.gif

For those of you interested in taking a look at a few photos from the most recent outing to Tetonka, I have updated my website with some great shots from the day. Enjoy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hopefully the weather is better than the forecast for Wednesday as I want to hit Tetonka again.It looks to be pretty windy.

Ken,will you be home on Wednesday as I might stop by you mansion. wink.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wont be home unless it rains 3 or 4 inches. Just got home now, had a bit to eat and set to leave at 5:30 am. You be good out there, thats the winter stock you are tapping into now.I got a few surprizes for you and Matt this winter. tongue.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like surprises... especially if it has to do with big panfish smile.gif How's the fish house coming? Did you get it fixed yet?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ken,if you tell Matt and I some of the big secrets we promise that most all the fish will get returned to the lake.Except for the 4# crappie and 2# gill. wink.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • mulefarm
      With the early ice out, how is the curlyleaf pondweed doing?
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   The big basin, otherwise known as Big Traverse Bay, is ice free.  Zippel Bay and Four Mile Bay are ice free as well.  Everything is shaping up nicely for the MN Fishing Opener on May 11th. With the walleye / sauger season currently closed, most anglers are targeting sturgeon and pike.  Some sturgeon anglers are fishing at the mouth of the Rainy River, but most sturgeon are targeted in Four Mile Bay or the Rainy River.  Hence, pike are the targeted species on the south shore and various bays currently.   Pike fishing this time of year is a unique opportunity, as LOW is border water with Canada, the pike season is open year round. The limit is 3 pike per day with one being able to be more than 40 inches. All fish 30 - 40 inches must be released. Back bays hold pike as they go through the various stages of the spawn.  Deadbait under a bobber, spinners, spoons and shallow diving crankbaits are all viable options.   Four Mile Bay, Bostic Bay and Zippel Bay are all small water and boats of various sizes work well. On the Rainy River...  Great news this week as we learned sturgeon will not be placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.     The organization had to make a decision by June 30 and listing sturgeon could have ended sturgeon fishing.  Thankfully, after looking at the many success stories across the nation, including LOW and the Rainy River, sturgeon fishing and successful sturgeon management continues.   A good week sturgeon fishing on the Rainy River.  Speaking to some sturgeon aficionados, fishing will actually get even better as water temps rise.     Four Mile Bay at the mouth of the Rainy River near the Wheeler's Point Boat Ramp is still producing good numbers of fish, as are various holes along the 42 miles of navigable Rainy River from the mouth to Birchdale.   The sturgeon season continues through May 15th and resumes again July 1st.   Oct 1 - April 23, Catch and Release April 24 - May 7, Harvest Season May 8 - May 15, Catch and Release May 16 - June 30, Sturgeon Fishing Closed July 1 - Sep 30, Harvest Season If you fish during the sturgeon harvest season and you want to keep a sturgeon, you must purchase a sturgeon tag for $5 prior to fishing.    One sturgeon per calendar year (45 - 50" inclusive, or over 75"). Most sturgeon anglers are either a glob of crawlers or a combo of crawlers and frozen emerald shiners on a sturgeon rig, which is an 18" leader with a 4/0 circle hook combined with a no roll sinker.  Local bait shops have all of the gear and bait. Up at the NW Angle...  A few spots with rotten ice, but as a rule, most of the Angle is showing off open water.  In these parts, most are looking ahead to the MN Fishing Opener.  Based on late ice fishing success, it should be a good one.  
    • leech~~
      Nice fish. I moved to the Sartell area last summer and just thought it was windy like this everyday up here? 🤭
    • Rick G
      Crazy windy again today.... This is has been the norm this spring. Between the wind and the cold fronts, fishing has been more challenging for me than most years.  Panfish have been moving in and out of the shallows quite a bit. One day they are up in the slop, the next they are out relating to cabbage or the newly sprouting lilly pads.  Today eye guy and I found them in 4-5 ft of water, hanging close to any tree branches that happened to be laying in the water.  Bigger fish were liking a 1/32 head and a Bobby Garland baby shad.   Highlight of the day way this healthy 15incher
    • monstermoose78
    • monstermoose78
      As I typed that here came a hen.  IMG_7032.mov   IMG_7032.mov
    • monstermoose78
      So far this morning nothing but non turkeys. 
    • monstermoose78
      Well yesterday I got a little excited and let a turkey get to close and I hit the blind!!
    • smurfy
      good......you?? living the dream..in my basement playing internet thug right now!!!!!! 🤣 working on getting the boat ready.......bought a new cheatmaster locator for the boat so working on that.   waiting for warmer weather to start my garden!!!
    • monstermoose78
      How is everyone doing? Holy moly it’s chilly this morning I stayed in bed and will hunt later today when it warms up.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.