West Rush...

[Ray Esboldt]

I am personally going to pass on this weekend. I don't like the thaw and refreeze ice very much until there is a bunch of it.

[WILD WILLY]

Crappie Attitude

I was out fishing by Cigar Island yesterday and the ice actually looked great compared to the chain of lakes in Chisago that I decided not to venture out on. I dont know why but the ice did not look bad.I found about 6 to 7 inches of very solid ice , no standing water on top of the ice at all. A few guys headed out on four wheelers pulling all of their equipment on snowmobile trailers. The guys on four wheelers went out past Cigar Island. The fishing was tough,the crappies are there but need alot of coaxing to get them to bite . I spent about six hours moving constantly until I finally marked fish . I did manage to catch my limit of nine and ten inch crappies (stay away from everyone else and you will find fish )I will be heading out again tommorow at about 11:00 a.m.

Good luck !!!

WW

[panfried]

Hey crappie attitude. Good report. I like to hear that. I won't be able to get out until Sunday,(I hope) but would be interested to hear how the ice is on your next trip out. (12/15) Thanks for the report.

[CrappieAttitude]

WW,

I feel a little better after reading your report. My Dad and brother went out in that general area last weekend, and did pretty well. I totally agree about getting away from the people. With all the banging and clunking that goes on with everyone in one area, the fish are like anything else who would be near that situation. They move!!! Good luck to all of you who venture out this weekend, and remember to have your saftey gear.

CA

[BUCKSNMUSKYS]

Any word on the ice conditions? Is it crazy to try it tommorrow (Sunday)? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[WILD WILLY]

Bucksnmuskys ,

I went out again Friday afternoon and the ice was fine ,once again no standing water ! Ice was a little dark where there was a permanent on Wednesday but it was moved on Thursday or Friday morning. The ice by shore was a little flexible, there was a hole drillerd about 40 feet from shore in about 5 feet of water and when I bounced up and down about ten feet away water came up out of the hole ,out beyond that the ice was a solid 7 to 8 inches !! 4 Wheelers still driving around out by the end of Cigar Island. Crappies were in a negative mood ,Live minnows would not work on a regular basis,Waxies nothing doing on a regular basis, DEAD MINNOW jigged furiously about a foot above the marked fish--fish on, weird, just goes to show keep trying different things when you mark fish but they dont bite consistantly on normal presentations !! Honestly you would catch one on a waxie then nothing then switch and you would catch a few on a live minnoow then nothing switch again and 3 or 4 on a dead minnow and then you would have to switch again. Frustrating but kind of fun once I figured out what they were up to. Also stay away from the noise and keep looking with your electronics until you locate a few fish .

WW

[spinnerfisher]

I was out of CJ's tonight caught 20 crappies 15 8-12 inch keepers,,, ice was alright 6" MOST places there is an area of open water thats unmissable when your walking out the top layer of the ice isnt very good but the bottem 4-5 inches is solid people were out on wheelers i walked checking the ice every 50 yards or so... most ice i saw was 7 least was 4 so there is fluctuation out there so be careful wear a life jacket under your coat or have picks but most of all be safe

[luv2fish]

I probably will get yelled at for asking this, but do people really think an 8 inch crappie is a keeper? Even in the Metro? I am sorry, but I think that is a bit small. I was out on the lake a week ago Friday. The place was getting fished hard. Me and my buddy were on them (I outfished him 2 to 1 with plastics.... ), and we caught about 70 crappies. We kept 9 for a nice meal each. We tried to keep 10 inches and above. We did catch a bunch between 7 and 9, which was a good sign for us that the lake was thriving. There were a few that were a good 9, and we debated before we sent them back. My .02 is that if people keep 8 inchers, we will never get the hogs in the lake. I did catch 1 11+ that was a nice fish.....

Thoughts?

[BUCKSNMUSKYS]

Thanks for the info WildWilly & Spinner Fisher. Dead minnow.....Funny how that works. I plan on running out tonight.

Thanks again fellas.

[fishinrush]

I agree an 8" is a bit small. Especially on Rush. I was out yesterday morning from about 6:15 until noon. Low light hours didn't seem to productive, around 7 or so they turned on and were steady until I decided to leave (out of Euro's). I had my 10 crappies and 2 decent sunfish. A small forage minnow with a euro off each hook on the treble worked great. White jigs have been the ticket so far this year.

My dad was checked on Sat. by the warden. Make sure of what you have in the bucket. He had 8. She was a real warden (uniform and all), not the imposter carhart wearing wanna-be warden . I haven't heard of any other run ins with the imposter, but guys on the lake are talking about it.

[fishfearme]

Luv2 There is nothing wrong with keeping 8 inch crappies. That is the most abundant size in rush right now. I try not to keep a crappie over 10 inches. 8 to 10 inch are keepers for me. Thats how you get big panfish back in a lake. Not by putting a death sentence on every fish over 10 inches. Remember 10 and 11 inch crapies are tomorrows 13 and 14 inchers. Just my .02

[panfried]

Was out on west rush 12/17 from noon to 2:30. Caught alot of 7"-8" crappies. Was able to keep 5, 9"ers. Tried in the middle of the 38' hole to start. Lots of fish down there from the bottom up to 11' off the bottom. Literally could not see my jig on the vex when i got it into the school. Tried fishing above the fish and everywhere in between, fish just stared at it. So i moved to 30' of water where i found the fish to be just off the bottom and they cooperated nicely. Although, hole hopping seemed to help when looking for larger fish. 1 or 2 keepers in a hole and it was time to move. Just 10 yards or so and you would catch another keeper. Fishing seemed to slow down just before i left. I'm sure if i moved around some more i would have found some more active fish. My fish came mostly on a #12 mamooska tipped with a noodle, but did catch some on power minnows, power nymphs and ratso's. Seemed when every thing slowed down all you had to do was drop something else down the hole. Fish were hitting rather light though.

[evinrude19]

can any one help me out with ice amount on west rush thanks

[BUCKSNMUSKYS]

Was out in the 35' hole next to cigar and they had anywhere from 6-7" of good ice. Wheelers, dirt bikes with studs on the wheels, people everywhere. I couldn't believe the noise out there. Crappies were stacked 11' from the bottom. We got our limit of 9"+, however it was not easy.

Good Luck

[CrappieAttitude]

I'm heading out there tomorrow. Makin' the trek from Brainerd for Christmas. Anyone else heading out there? I will probably be the guy sitting by himself away from the crowd. That's the secret my friends.

Good luck to all, be safe and have a wonderful Christmas!

CA

[luv2fish]

I am going out there. I will have an Otter Lodge out there. I will be in the crowd, but I have been on a spot the last few times that has produced awesome!!!! I am fishing with a buddy who will have a Clam out there. Stop by and say hi.

[BUCKSNMUSKYS]

Anyone else see the helicopter flying overhead all day Sunday? Could not tell if it was DNR or what! I thought I was on the set of Hawaii Five-O

[evinrude19]

that was because one of my friends drove his 4 wheeler in thin ice behind crain at night on saturday so it fell threw but he is ok

[GRUMPY1]

HEY CRAPPIE, DID YOU GROW UP IN MERRYFIELD?

[fishinrush]

I'll take this one for him (since he's my brother). Grew up in Coon Rapids, moved to Merrifield a few years ago. As I am typing this, I just called him and he had to let me go because he's on Rush and the crappies are biting!!!

[evinrude19]

any one else been getting any thing cause i went out today and got bout 30 perch and thats it

[evinrude19]

also if any one is needing a ice report i went out today and measured 8 all round me and even some spots 10

[GRUMPY1]

I WAS JUST WONDERING BECAUSE I GREW UP IN(AROUND)MERRYFIELD! I HAVE A T-SHIRT THAT HAS A CRAPPIE ON IT AND IT SAYS "I HAVE A CRAPPIE ATTITUDE" I WISH I COULD GET THAT REPRODUCED BECAUSE IT'S FALLING APART!

[sparkyaber]

Made it out yesterday a bit before dusk. Hit hard for about 15 min, and then nothing. Then about 5:30 they started biting again, but we had to go in for Chirstmas dinner. . I don't think I have every graphed that many fish on my Vexilar at once. The botom six-eight feet was solid fish. Ice seemed to be in good shape (8"), I drove the 4-wheeler out from my fathers place on the lake.

We kept 10 fish and tossed 5 or six back down the hole. All in about a 2 hour period. Good Luck.

Abe

[Scott M]

I got a "Have a crappie day" t shirt at Gander Mtn.

[CrappieAttitude]

GRUMPY1,

As my brother stated above, I grew up in Coon Rapids. I have seen that t-shirt you were talking about, but I think I remember seeing it at Fleet Farm a while back.

As far as fishing goes, we did really well on Friday. Didn't get out until 12:30 (had some stuff to do in the morning) and left right after dark. It seemed to really slow down for us once the sun started going down. Totally different than the night bite lakes up here. We got out away from the crowds in about 28 fow. Forage minnow tipped with euros was the ticket for us. Ice was a great 7-8 inches where we were. It was nice having a little bit of snow to get traction.

CA

[GRUMPY1]

I WAS ALL SET TO GO WITH MY COUSIN ON MILLE LACS TODAY AND THEN I REALIZED... THE KIDS ARE HOME ALL WEEK ON VACATION! THAT'S COOL WITH MY SON BUT HE'S SICK AND MY DAUGHTER ISN'T REALLY WILD ABOUT HARD CORE, NO SHELTER FISHING. HUMBUG! I SEE THE CITY HAS DEVELOPED ON GREEN LAKE IN ISANTI. AS FAR AS I KNOW THEY FISH CRAPPIES ON THAT POINT BUT, I HAVE ONLY CAUGHT WALLEYE AND NORTHERN ON THAT POINT. THERE WERE NO CARS AS OF SATURDAY EVENING.

[Bigfife]

I was out on West Rush today, Tuesday, and did really well. I set the house up in 38 fow smack dab in the middle of the crowd. For some goofy reason the school never moved from 8am to noon, and my buddy sat in there and smoked the crappies. I hole hopped from 20-38 fow all day. I picked some fish tight to the edges, but for the most part they were suspended at 22 feet over the deeper parts. Horizontal jigs tipped with waxies produced 60 crappies and 30 gills today. We kept 16 crappies and 1 gill. Ice was around 9 inches.

[fishnhooks]

Bigfife,

Give me a call, I am going to try to get out there friday afternoon, (if it's not raining).

"hooks"

[hanronson]

The parking lot looked like it was week-end when I got there yesterday about 2pm. Main and overflow were full with people parking in the weeds. I fished by Cigar in 32fow and kept 10 nice crappies. Ice was 9.5" Caught them 2-10otb.

Ron