Elysian

[Team Otter]

Thanks for the report Andy.

[Dragon Fish ll]

Thanks for your report last week, I came down there for the first time Friday night. and ended up with a nice eater at 17 inches. had fun. Im a cpr sort a guy an only keep a few a year for the pan. Wont be making too many trips from the cities with the price of fuel an all.

[honker23]

A couple things I would like to say.

When a lake like this coming back a proactive slot and a lower limit would be great, still catch them, but not so many leaving the lake. The other thing I find funny is the fact that I'm the most unlucky fisherman I know, because I measure all fish in the house and 60% or more have been 12.5-13.75, so guys that say all fish are 14-20 inches are stretching it a bit. The same thing happened to another lake around here 5 yrs ago and now you can't catch a cold out there, so it does happen. Just let em go, and if you do knock em, show a little restraint on the net and you will enjoy it longer.

[gr]

First my report. Very poor Ice I personaly seen 2 people go down on the West side on elysian on saturday night. Both were wet but made it back on top. We only had 3 16" for the 3hr fished.

Now my two cents on the debate. This lake has been boom and bust for the last 20 years that I have fished it. And I think thats a good thing. Its just like Lura. In 1993 and 1994 Elysian was in the same boom as today. Onece these fish get bigger the new fry that the DNR throws in don't suvive. Look at Lura in my oppinion the best big walleye lake in Southeren MN. But theres very low succes of new stocking. As soon as it freezes out stocking will work again. In my humble oppinion if we can keep a huge year class of fish from getting to big by cathing them instead of freezing out you accomplish the same thing. By the way I am not for keeping over you limit in your freezer but why not utilize the resource we all paid for.

[Only Eyes]

Went out from the south side the other day and there was no evidence of anybody even walking out from there. Only caught a few and some northerns. Why doesn't anybody fish down there. Is it a oxygen issue.

[harvey lee]

I would guess its a follow the leader deal.

[gil fin]

Fishermen are always wineing about something. A guy I talked to that just got back from a weekend Crappie fishing trip to Upper Red Lake."Stinking Walleyes would'nt leave us alone,must have caught 50 a day" .

Aah poor baby.

He also said there was a solid foot of ice on Red.

[eyepatrol]

I'd find it awefully hard to complain about that!

[walleyejim]

Hey Andy, I'm suprised you came back already with fishing in its prime out west . Gimme a call this week. I'll probably be going out Wed-Sat.

[Team Otter]

Glad to hear you had a good time. Hopefully my report was of some use to you.

[Bigeye30"]

Well this has been certainly interesting to read, I myself have fished this lake for the past three nights and would say that it has definately slowed down, however what I cannot say is wether it is because of the pressure it has recieved or from mearly weather related or the fish may have simply turned off,tonight for example I marked more fish than any other night but could not get them to take the bait, as far as people loading up buckets of eyes, one thing that I have realized is yes there will always be the greedy, self centered idiots that have no brain what so ever but have just as many rights as I do to be there. So for me I stick with my own slot, nothing gets kept under 14" and nothing over 20" I like to have one or two meals in the spring and when first ice hits, then everything gets put back. So heres what I have caught this past week, three that I kept, one 20", one 16" and one 17" the rest all fell under 14" and went back until maybe next year, the ice conditions seemed ok where I was at but would urge caution as ice is never really safe. I myself keep most information private and love this site for the usefull info that is brought about it. Tactics and presentations, what the sponsors are doing to help out the area etc etc

[harvey lee]

Good to hear you are getting out and having a good time.

[Fish'n guy]

James, I was getting annoyed with all those pesky walleyes out there. I want them MONSTER perch and I already have plenty of them!! SO I wanted to come back here to catch some nicer walleyes and some pike as well as a few slabbers. I'll call you buddy.

On to the report, I was able to pull some nice fat walleyes out tonite in shallow water 6'-8'. They seemed to be relatively aggresive. I pulled the first three out on an angel eye, and next one on a #5 jigging rap, with the last two coming on a plain neon pink #4 Gamakatsu deadsticking a large fathead. All walleyes were released tonite.

Tommorow I think that I am going to try and locate some pike out there. I'll post results!

I also want to add that I found about 5" of clear consistant of ice tonite, but there was open water near me so I would not recommend traveling all over without some ice pics and an ice chisel to check the ice every few feet.

[BendnSend]

A buddy and I fished the lake last nite. We only managed 2 small eyes both of which were released. We were informed when we were walking out last nite were the open water was and were it was safe. I would like to thank everyone who noticed we left the drivers door open on the truck and didnt steal everything including 2 shotguns inside! Whew! What a relieve it was to look inside of the open truck when we got back to the landing at 11 and realize that there still is some honest folks out there! Once again thanks to everyone out there who still lives a honest life. One simple mistake could have ended up really bad for us! As far as structure to the lake is there any? I couldnt locate a lake map and was just going off on a whim when i headed out there last nite. We were fishing in 7.5 fow. Is that about the norm for others? The 2 fish we did manage were both taken on fatheads. Im assuming we missed the best bite? We didnt get off work and to the lake til about 6:30. Oh well this guy can only fish when work allows me the time. Neverless a good time on the ice with a good friend! Hopefully I can make it down there in the daylight sometime soon and get a better understanding for the lake. The sound of the open water waves gave a weird feeling while sitting out there last nite.

[harvey lee]

As far as the time to fish, I have found that the time around sunset has been a good time. The structure on this lake is not much. I would look for a depression in a area and fish around that or maybe put down your own as in Structure on a String made by LaDredge.

www.ladredge.com

[sheepheadslayer]

heard that the lake died out last night so everyone should just save there time and go else where......

[Team Otter]

The lake is full of transition areas. I would rather fish those than structure in this part of the state.

[Rozman]

I have some time early a.m. tomorrow. Just wondering if it is worth the trip out to Elysian? I have only fished evenings, fall and early ice. Thanks

[Rozman]

Went out from about 6 to 9 this morning. Did not get a bite. Punched maybe a dozen holes or so in some areas that had produced in the evening. Oh well, good to get out.

[Norselander]

Regarding the matter of fishing pressure on Elysian—I would like to add another perspective.

As we all know, Elysian not only has a good population of walleyes, it also has lots of northerns. If you check the DNR test nettings for Elysian for 2005, you will see that the DNR caught 25 northerns per gill net set. That is ten times the number of northerns per gill net set than in Washington and almost 20 times the number of northerns per set in Tetonka. I wonder what all those northerns are eating (besides my lures)?

The DNR says that you can’t manage lakes for largemouth bass and walleyes at the same time, the reason being that bass love to eat small walleyes. I suspect that northerns eat walleyes too, and it becomes an issue when (a) the northern population is very high and ( the lake is relatively small. For 15 years I had a cabin on Little Boy Lake near Leech, and when the DNR started managing the lake for northerns, muskies and walleyes, the walleye fishing went on the skids (but it’s great if you like muskies and northerns).

So when we blame the fishing pressure on Elysian for the walleyes we don’t catch, let’s remember that fishing pressure may not be the biggest factor, and—think about keeping more of those northerns for the pan.

[harvey lee]

Very good point Norselander.

[Fish'n guy]

SO when is the lake going to clear up so I can spear some of those slimy walleye eaters (pike not people)?!?! Or have you guys seen any clear water in Elysian right now?

[farmer boy]

Norselander how is the water clarity out there I have not speared in a very long time but if it is clear this might be the time to get the spear out again. It would be fun if it is clear to see a bunch of fish even if I never threw a spear.

Thanks and Merry Christmas

Farmer

[Willy]

You might have a point there, but it is not the walleyes we don't catch. For most of the season, it has been a cake walk out there. Guys that have no clue have been filling limits. There isn't a lake in our area where a limit of walleyes has been easier than Elysian most of the spring and now early ice.

It's not that people aren't catching them, it's that people ARE catching them easily and pulling a TON out.

About the slimers, I encourage people to keep them whenever they can. IMO, those little snakes are nothing but a nuisance to any lake.

[harvey lee]

I keep every one I get. I have a friend that likes them to eat and pickle. I take home every one I get.

[eyepatrol]

I don't mind eating slimers one bit....when they're fresh. They can be very tasty in the pan with some Shorelunch sprinkled over or made into batter.

[walleyejim]

The northern out there are a blast to catch right now. They slam your jig and run like mad I've usually been getting a couple when I go out, nothing big though. I was thinking about pickling a few, but I've never done it before. Does anyone have any good recipes and methods they would be willing to share? I was also wondering how the ice has been doing after all of this rain. I heard a rumor of a couple of guys falling through earlier in the week. I think I'm going to head out there tomorrow and see for myself.

[Norselander]

Farmer Boy,

Good to hear from you! I was out on Elysian last Monday, and at the 6 foot depth I could see 3 to 4 feet with my camera. That is not very far, but if you are spearing in five to six feet you might be able to pull the northerns up to three feet and see them pretty well. You can be the judge of whether that will work or not. I caught a 28" slimer last time out, and I talked to guy at the landing who said he had caught a 7 ponder the week before. Northerns of that size can eat a lot of walleyes. The more you can spear the better.

[harvey lee]

walleyejim

Go to the Sharing recipes forum and do a search for pickled fish. There have been many recipes there.

[jdbolton1]

This post has been an interesting read and I finally decided to weigh in. To me, this debate of what draws more fishing pressure to a lake is a moot point. Is it word of mouth or reading a post on the internet which draws more fisherman to a lake? How does one quantify this? Maybe surveying 100 fisherman on the lake and asking them(wasting fishing time). Word was out on this lake long before I saw any posts on it. Last May when I was up there fishing Tetonka most locals kept telling me to go over there. I never did fish Elysian because the walleyes were very good to me on Tetonka. To me, fishing equals solitude. I would rather go to a lake and find my own fish than join any of the crowds. If anyone sees illegal activity going on(double dipping, etc.) either confront it or report it, whatever you are most comfortable with. Over the years, I have done both.

T.O - Please don't stop your fishing reports exactly as you have been including the name of the lake. When reading them I feel like I am right there with you fishing. I really enjoy reading them and try some of your techniques on my local lakes. Some have worked (thanks) and some have not but either way it has been fun trying new things.

N-Lander - Good point on the northern issue as I believe you are right on the money. And, I used to fish Wabedo many years ago. Is that little resort on the south side of the lake still in business? I think it was called Hilltop Cabins run by older woman and her nephew name Monte. Hooked and lost biggest muskie of my life on that lake. Back in the 80's, it was good for northerns, muskies, and walleyes.