Burntside this weekend

[chaffmj]

I am coming up to fish lakers this weekend. I should be out on the lake by noon or so tommorrow and all day Sat and some on Sun. If ya see a red chevy crew cab stop by and say hey and have a cold one.

Is there somewhere in Ely that fills propane tanks?

Chaffmj

[Wanderer]

Well, I had the same question last weekend. We burned up a couple hours on Sun. morning waiting for the bookeeper at Lucky 7 to man the register at 8am while the regular guy (wish I would have asked his name) could go out to fill my campers 30's. They were helpful.

If you just have a 20 and don't mind exchanging it, Holiday does that. I think both places are open 24 hours.

I like to be out earlier than when the other shops open in town (9 am). But I'm sure I'm probably jumping the gun on the day for lakers.

Good Luck!

[Steve Foss]

Holiday's open 24 hours. I don't think Lucky 7 is.

[yukon]

Lucky seven is open 24 hours also. keep and I out for two panther snowmobiles one pulling a fish trap.

[JustinG]

As far as getting your tanks filled, if you are in Ely tomorrow (Fri.) Range LP Gas on Camp St. will fill your tanks. They are over by Vermilion Community College- just behind Dairy Queen in a big brown building.

Anybody want to meet out on Burntside on Sunday?

Later,

Justin

[SKIPPERS KID]

I have to see what the game plan is with family we might go fish near home. I think it would be better than three out of one house. Well I will now by tomorrow and see from what every one would like to do.

[chaffmj]

JustinG and Wanderer,

Thanks for the info on the propane. JustinG as far as meeting Sunday I can't make any promises but look for a red chevy truck by vanvac cause after fri and sat I don't think will be traveling to far out on Sun. We will most likely head back to St. Paul early afternoon and if we get real lucky we may have our limit of lakers before then and may not be out at all.

[Great Outdoors]

chaffmj;

Justin is right about Range LP, they fill tanks while you wait and you keep your own tank. To fine tune his directions, stay on Sheridan Street in Ely(hwy 169, same thing) until you see the Dairy Queen, turn left on that avenue. Go one block to Camp Street. Take a right turn and go about 1 block. It will be on your left side (1613 East Camp St.)

[chaffmj]

Well I made it up there Friday with a buddy and after stopping by The Great Outdoors for bait and some advice hit the lake. We went in at Van Vac and headed out to Dollar. Trying to follow Jim's directions that he had given us I got confused and ended up who knows where. Got out of the truck to figure out where we were and while we were standing there scratching our heads a big wolf popped out from behind an island and decided to see what the commotion was all about. Pretty awesome sight and well worth the trip in itself. Got back in the truck and headed back to a more familar area by the access and picked a spot with a depth of 52 feet and ended up catching two lakers about 1.5 and 4.5 lbs. My poor buddy got skunked on the lakers but got real excited when he hooked what we both thought was a nice size laker only to be disappointed when it turned out to be an eelpout.

Saturday we went to another spot in 60 feet of water. Started off with a swing and a miss on what I thought was a nice strike but lost it. After that we would get real light bites and couldn't tell what it was. I switched to a jigging rap and pulled in a couple of lunker smelt. That explained the light bites and made us more optimistic for the late afternoon. Alas nothing happened and for his second trip on Burntside my buddy ended up with no lakers. We did manage to have a good time though and he wants to come back again. Thanks again to STCatfish and Chunky who have given me advice and Burntside laker fever.

Mike

[Wanderer]

A wolf! All right! We noticed pack tracks out there on opener and then I read that some people question the existence of the beasts out there-not sure why they doubt it.

I need to ask about the smelt... I have expected to mark em suspended maybe halfway down or something like that and haven't come across a school yet. Are they those small marks that come off the bottom to check out the latest jig dropped down? My camera has a 50 foot cord so I don't even bother bringing it to Burntside so I'm not sure what those small ones are.

[Steve Foss]

Wolves are on Bside all the time. Their tracks are everywhere. No doubt.

chaff, glad you got into some action.

Wanderer, smelt will come up off the bottom to check out a lure and sometimes pop it. They also move in big schools and sometimes can completely clog your electronics. Many times, they appear as red bands on your electronics even if you have it tuned so the lure shows green. But you generally can tell them apart from the red bands of lakers because lakers move so much more quickly and directly. A smelt rising for a lure may come in and out of the cone, circling a bit, like a perch does, before coming under your lure. A laker rising from above (sometimes they just come straight in from the side and you don't get a chance to watch them on the electronics) makes a faster, straight up approach.

I often fish 50 FOW on Bside. You might want to bring that camera along next time. It may not do you a lot of good on the laker fishing, because they move all through the water column and the camera can't move that way to track them, but you'll be able to see how they approach your lure, at least, and you'll see if those other marks are smelt.

[chaffmj]

Wanderer,

The smelt that I caught came off the bottom like STC stated. They were small marks but so was the 1.5 lb laker. On Friday we had a school come through and they lit up the electronics for about a 10 foot area but again they were down near the bottom. I'm sure they do cruise around at different depths I just haven't had that experience yet. I have only fished for lakers on the ice 4 times.

Chaff

[Great Outdoors]

chaffmj

You said you got turned around on Burntside last Friday. Did it happen around Dollar Island? Next time you're in town, stop in with a GPS if you have one, and we can work that way. I find lots of spots fishing for Walleyes in the summer that I'd like trout guys to try in the winter. This invitation is open to anyone that would like to try different spots where no one else is. Keep in mind that you will have to program the GPS with spots I show you, because there isn't anyone else in the world more low tech than me.

[Wanderer]

Ok guys, thanks for the smelt lessons...! I've fished my whole life and think I know what I'm doing, but when I get involved in a new game (Ely in general and lakers specifially) I go in with preconceived notions that are sometimes hard to kick.

My 2 pounder (1st Bside laker) came off the bottom as a thin green line at 70 feet. He chased my white flipping tube up and down and would just hold on to the tail on the drop. After 6 nips, I let him hang on to it for a couple seconds and hooked up. My 4.5 came in thick and red at 60 feet. I raised it above him, shook it, and BANG! Awesome fight that made me feel like I just got a 10 point buck!

Great Outdoors, what are your hours? I'd like to visit. I'm planning on a trip in March since I understand its a HOT laker month--or is that preconceived too?!

[chaffmj]

Great Outdoors,

I have a gps. I don't know if it is just me or not but even with the Sportsmen's Connection map in my hand I have a hard time picking out what island is what. I think I drove right by Dollar and didn't even know it. It was nice to meet you and I'll stop by next time I'm up. Hopefully I'll get up there one more time before the season closes. It all depends on how my son's hockey team does in the playoffs. Is it selfish of me to hope they lose so I can go fishing?

[Great Outdoors]

chaffmj,

Heck yeah, enjoy the hockey while you can. I went through 14 years of it with my son, then went through a 6 month withdrawal when it was done I think we (means you) can figure out the GPS thing next time you're here.

[Great Outdoors]

Wanderer,

Mon-Fri, 8-5, Sat-Sun, 7-2 or 3. March should be good fishing, and the normally warmer weather lets a guy feel like moving around the lake more. Feel free to call me, 218-365-4744 during the listed hours.

[JustinG]

Jim, Jim, Jim,

I have never seen bait shop hours like you have!!! 7am ?!?!?

Do you have the Lowrance H2O by chance? That is the unit I am going to get for next ice season-they are amazing!! You can plug the Navionics or Lakemaster chip right into them-those little machinces are just amazing!!

I am going to try my best to get out to the spots we talked about this week-remodeling is still going on and I keep getting distracted by fishing!!! I caved into the thoughts of setting the hook and put the paint brush down for the afternoon- good thing I did because I came home with a few nice walleyes tonight!

Take Care-I will stop by on Thursday

Justin

[Great Outdoors]

chaffmj

Saw your name on a petition to Oberstar, and your address. I will be coming down to St. Paul on Thursday and be staying at my fiances house, which happens to be about four doors away from yours. She lives two houses from Macalester College,next door to Garvey's, do you know where that's at?

[Great Outdoors]

Justin,

Them be called retirement hours! Stop in, I'll be leaving for the cities by noon, Thursday, so make sure it's before that.

[Wanderer]

Justin,

I flipped out when got back into GPS and saw the Lowrance units. Way Coool! I opted for the Hunt C model (colored map background & blah, blah bells and wistles) instead of the H2O, even though I heard some people return them because they are too difficult to operate. I threw in a LakeMaster chip and headed for Mille Lacs last year. It put me EXACTLY where I wanted to be. I loved it!

This year, I've had nothing but problems getting it to do what I want. I carry the book with me to figure it out and still can't count on it. Maybe I just don't get it anymore, but I have to take it in to a dealer to have it checked out. Hopefully something IS wrong with it.

What I'm saying is: Above all, choose a model thats easy to operate if you're not tech savvy like me.

Wanderer

[chaffmj]

Great Outdoors,

I live about 8 blocks west of Macalester College closer to St.Thomas. Never heard of Gravey's is it a store? If you are looking for directions email me the address if you don't want to post it here and I'll tell ya how to get there.

[email protected]

[JustinG]

Thanks for the info Wanderer,

I am not going to get the hunting model-just the fishing one. Its always fun to get some new toys!

Justin

[Wanderer]

Yeah, you gotta keep expanding the inventory!

I found out my GPS is broken. I have to send it in. Flat rate of $150 for repairs after the warranty period. Take the time to register your H2O with Lowrance, then you don't have to keep track of your receipt for a year.

I'd tell ya to have fun with it, but I know ya will!