Blackduck Area

[Drake]

Been kinda quiet on the forum lately...any one been hitting the lakes lately? We've had a hint of spring, the warmer weather has made it nice to be able to be out on the lake and move around, but it has also helped to melt snow. The standing water created by the melting snow is getting better on the ice, with the amounts decreasing some each day. One of my anglers said that he noticed yesterday was definitely better than the day before, with the water subsiding especially around areas that had been where they had drilled several holes yesterday. The forecast through the weekend is showing highs in the mid 30's with the lows getting down around 10 the next couple of nights, so that's good.

The past few days has been definitely a variety pack, with anglers spreading out in the area hitting a several different lakes in search of a variety of fish. For those who have been in search of perch, they have done well on Blackduck Lake, where not only have they done well with the perch (which the best bite is in the morning hours, and still doing the weeding of the smaller ones and keeping the ones in the 10-12" range) but managed to reel in a rare slab crappie. On Blackduck Lake you won't find good numbers of crappies or sunnies, but when you do manage to reel one in you will find that it is a wall mounter. Anglers also noticed that the walleye were pretty active, catching and releasing several eyes while searching for perch....now I can't wait until this spring's fishing opener to hit the open water for some walleye.

Panfish were also sought, and caught, the past few days by anglers trying numerous lakes in the area, keeper size gills are hitting in the deeper waters in the daytime hours using a jig tipped with waxies.

Upper Red has been a mixed bag of reports, for example one group of three were up at Red and said they reeled in 3 crappies and while talking to them one angler who was fishing solo came in with 9 crappies in the 13-15" range. But folks are spreading out a little more, some are finding the aggressive crappies that are taking the bait (plastics have done well when they are aggressive) before they even hit the bottom, while others are finding the crappies down there but less aggressive and finding that a red glow jig tipped with a minnow head on a dead stick is working best for them.

[Roscoe16]

Can anyone provide a current report on the perch bite and ice conditions on Blackduck Lake? Can vehicles still be driven out? A group of us is heading up there Wednesday night to fish on Thursday. Thanks!

Roscoe16

[woodman]

I was out last week and there were trucks all over the lake. The weather is suppose to warm up in the 50's on Wednesday so that should do some damage to the shore ice. I will be up on the Duck all day on Wednesday, so I will let you know how it is when I get home.

Bring the wheelers if you have them, that is what I have switched to for the rest of the season!

[Roscoe16]

Thanks Woodman. I'll be watching for your report.

Roscoe16

[Drake]

So Woodman, how did you end up doing? No school for you today?

Still trucks on the ice today, and the perch fishing was good this morning, doing a little perch hopping in the 18-22' depths, jig and waxies.

[Roscoe16]

Any particular area better than another? When I was up there in January we did well on the northeast shorline, from the public access up to Dunrovin's Resort.

Roscoe16

[woodman]

sorry for the late report. I found lots of perch in the 18-22 ft range. They did not want minnows as much as they wanted waxies. I bet I caught 3 to 1 with waxies. We had to sort a lot, but it was fun watching them charge the hook 6 ft off the bottom. The fish would come and go along with northern and walleye. We drilled to the motor on the auger, so lots of ice still. The water in places was about 5 inches deep, so hopefully that will run off in the next few nights, so we don't need a boat to fish on the ice. My boss asked where my motor was for the portable, since I was sitting in about 4 inches of water.

Fun day on the ice and it is comming to an end too quick!

[Roscoe16]

Thanks for the report Woodman.

Can vehicles still drive out at the access?

Roscoe16

[Drake]

As of this morning, the water is subsiding some on the lake, but the access is still wet. There are trucks out on the ice this morning, but we are going to play it safer and switch over to the fourwheeler and see what happens the next couple of days.