Pelican Lake Fishing Reports - Ashby

[jjohnson5150]

I was out all day Sat & a few hours Sun. You did not miss much. It was the worst fishing I've ever had on the lake. I got one Northern. That's it. The neighbors got 3 Walleyes after fishing all dsy Sat & all day Sun. I saw a few Walleyes being landed, but most boats I saw were not exactly swinging the net around.

I am a defeated man!

[Tadpoletodd]

Ditto for me. JJ pretty much summed it up. Opener was much slower than normal on that particular lake. We fished until 10:00am Sat with only a couple northerns and perch to show for it. I spent the next few hours just running around graphing structure preparing for the coming weeks. We bailed just in time to miss the snow.

We didn't witness a walleye caught. One guy reached for the net once but then put it down. That's about all the excitement we had all day.

[jjohnson5150]

Be careful out there this weekend everyone. It's going to be blowing hard. We decided to stay home since the lake will be so rough.

[jjohnson5150]

How was it this past weekend? Did the action pick up or is it still slow?

[BoxMN]

We were there Friday until Monday morn, but did not fish Monday. The wind was dead until about 10 am or so (as usual) but then really huffed and puffed (again like usual for there ).

We only caught 4 walleyes, and one was from Clear Lake. We did catch a few 14" crappies by the arches, right at dark. Also got some pike from about 26" to 30", and some smaller ones. We were able to clean enough fish for a fish fry, and my buddy brought a couple crappies and a walleye home.

We also tried Ten Mile, and only thing biting was a dozen or so smallmouth, with a nice 18.5" fish! (I know, before season, but we were using lindy rigs and shiners.)

Pelican was a dead sea for us, basically, on the walleye front. The carp shooters did great! They were getting drums full of them, having a good time! My bro even put on some corn and ending up catching a bunch of carp, and those spawning things sure messed up the boat! But a good time the whole weekend! Sun the whole time! Great time. I might not make it up again until duck season, we will see how it goes.

Good luck!

[jjohnson5150]

Nice job. I was a defeated man again this weekend (justy a few pike). I think I lost my mojo! What are the arches? e-mail me offline @ jjohnson5150 at yahoo dot com if you would like to share. My wife attended the assoc meeting Sat AM. I'd be happy to pass along the info to those who were unable to go.

[GRA]

All Quiet on the western front.

[BoxMN]

JJ, sent you email. I should have said little arches, which (I think) is what they call the inflow from Christina, and the Arches is the outlet to Melby lake. Or maybe I have that backwards... but we were by the Christina inlet.

I'd be interested to here what the assoc. was saying, even though I am not part of it. Thanks.

[jjohnson5150]

Highlights from the assoc meeting:

1)A few landowners are still holding out on selling the land to the county. As a result, the highway 19 project is stalled.

2)The Crappie kill last summer did not do as much damage as originally thought. Apparently, Crappie fishing was decent this past winter. The DNR thinks the general population is fine & will rebound to prior levels with a few good spawning years.

3)The water quality is never going to get clear. Since Pelican is a prairie lake, the run off is going to cloud the water & compete against the better water coming in from Christina.

The water quality seems really bad this year.

My Dad caught a 2lb Crappie 2 weeks ago, but I still can not locate any schools of them. 1 here - 1 there is all.

Indian Mounds resort has changed hands. The new owners closed the deal on Mon June 9th. I think it's a younger couple.

Overall, I am having the toughest year of fishing I have ever had on Pelican. Perhaps the dirty water & weather has something to do with it.

Advice for this defeated man would be appreciated.

[jjohnson5150]

What a weekend.

Walleyes & Pike were very active when the sun was high in the sky.

I caught more Walleyes this weekend than I have in the past year.

The fish appeared to be from 3 different year classes.

Crankbaits & spinner / leech combo's both worked out.

[BoxMN]

Good to hear you had good luck JJ!

There were just some Ashby-ites that came down here, as my Dad passed away last week. We had a picture of him on the "funeral home card/handout" from last year, with a nice big sunfish in one hand, a big thumbs up on the other hand, and a huge smile on his face. He loved Pelican.

Glad to hear that while he was moving to the next place, one of his favorite lakes was on fire with action

[jjohnson5150]

Sorry to hear about your Dad. I heard about the sad news on the radio. They were saying how much he loved the area & even played an audio sample. His memorial card was posted at Dahlen's this weekend.

Take care.

[101winchester]

Good to hear you had some luck, how low is the water? We haven't had spit for rain, other than one big shot of 2+ inches. They started working on CR 19 too, are they still planning on tarring this year or is it just a gravel upgrade, until they get all of the sidehill work done?

[jjohnson5150]

Fishing was pretty good again this weekend. Fished mainly off the dock due to the wind.

I managed 1 16" Walleye in a 30 minute trip. Had to cut it short due to having the family on the boat.

The bass are still very active. I caught many in the 13" - 16" range & 1 right at 20" / 5 lbs.

The 20" bass is going on the wall. It is a personal best for me. I was fishing with my wife off the dock Fri evening. My rig was about 10 yards off the end of th dock like it had been most of the day. She saw a few surface ripples & told me where to cast. I hit it spot on & felt the fish right away. She wants her name next to the fish when it's on the wall now. lol.

The sunfish never showed up in #'s like they had in years past. Maybe it was not hot enough for them to head to the shade. Who knows.

Is anyone else catching anything?

[jjohnson5150]

Has anyone been out over the past few weeks? I am heading up tomorrow & plan on doing some fishing.

[101winchester]

Haven't been on Pelican but fishing has been good on most of the lakes in the area. Heard Pomme de was doing OK most people are pulling cranks towards dark. Past history would say its time to switch to minnows and a jigs on the rocks on Pelican or maybe try the big points thats what has worked in the past. They are making progress on CR 19 but we had over an inch of rain yesterday and it is pure soup right now, just a heads up for you.

[jjohnson5150]

Thanks Winchester. I'll give those techniques & spots a whirl if my new spot does not produce. With the full moon approaching, I would think the bite is going to be on again. You never know though.

[BoxMN]

JJ, for what its worth, my brother talked to Mike at Ashby Resort, to book our duck opener cabin, and he said the fish have going crazy for most of the folks. Good luck!

We'll be in cabin 10 on opener, if you want to stop by and have a brew

[jjohnson5150]

How was duck opener?

We are heading up this weekend to pull the boats.

Any fishing reports?

I'd like to give it one last try before all the equipment gets pulled.

[BoxMN]

Duckin was good. A really ixed bag, a little of everything. My Grandson shot his first duck, so that was awesome! He really liked it, and said , "When can we come to Ashby again?"...

Mike at the resort said fishing has been pretty darn good. We didn't go fishing though, built a new blind on Sat afternoon instead.

Good luck!

[jjohnson5150]

Congrats on a good opener.

Does Mike ever mention if they ever plan to rent ice houses in the future? Their resort did at one time, but I have not seen an Ashby Resort house in a long time. I seem to do fine in my portable most of the time, but some of those winter evenings it would be nice to have a hard sided house.

[river runt]

Heading up to pull the dock this weekend. Is it worth it to bring the boat and try some fishing or is it dead. Thank RR

[jjohnson5150]

I did not get out on the water this past weekend to fish for walleye. I was able to spend some time fishing off the dock Sat evening though. It was well worth my time. The northerns & bass were active. They liked sucker minnows. I wish I would have had more time. but I had to tuck away the boats, mow, pick up leaves, etc. I would be willing to bet the walleyes were on, but I could not get out to confirm that.

[river runt]

jjohnson sounds good Thanks Ill give it a try. RR

[river runt]

I hate post another hows the ice. but any one know how the ice is coming a long on pelican . oh man that hurt. RR

[jjohnson5150]

I'm heading up there this weekend & will report back. My wife drove past it last Sun. It appeared to be locked shore to shore.

[jjohnson5150]

Our bay (by Indian Mounds) had 6" of solid clear ice. There were 4 perms out with folks driving atvs to & from. I took my portable out to 7' & got one walleye up to the hole, but lost it. When the fish ran & took out line, I watched it through the ice right under me. It was a strange sight. I fished for 2 hours around sunset. I wish I could have stayed out longer as I am sure I would have got a few more bites. I've never ice fished in Nov until this year. It was great to be out again. There were dozens of folks fishing the narrows also. I don't know how the lake froze, so I can't say if the 6" of ice is throughout the lake. If anyone ventures out, use extreme caution. The lake was making a lot of noise, which should mean she's making ice. You just never know where the weak points are though. Goo luck everyone. I hope to be up again in 2 weeks & will report back then.

[river runt]

6" thats good news Thanks for the report Johnson. RR

[firenfish]

Be very carefull in the narrows! A four wheeler went through close to shore on Saturday evening about 6:00. I was right behind him, he got out o.k., but the wheeler sunk in about 6'. I had a heck of a time getting around the pressure ridge that opened up late in the afternoon. A good lesson to keep the latern on to walk off after dark. Be careful!!!!!

Kent

[jjohnson5150]

Yikes! How did they got the atv out?