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Springtime Crappies


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How soon after the ice recedes will the spring crappie bite begin? I might head up to gull lake if I get time. Any info will be helpful. Thanks.

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There is great fishing as soon as the ice is gone. Sometimes they won't be up in the shallow water yet. But they might be out on the first drop or hanging on the weed edge. Early after the ice goes out is when some of the biggest crappies in the lakes are active. You can find them in 8-10 feet of water right away. Sometimes it takes a little searching. You'll also catch lots of bass and sunfish.

Jason Erlandson

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If you can find a small, shallow, black-bottomed bay or pothole that is connected to a larger lake (usually by a culvert or small channel), they usually go ice-free before the main body and it's often possible to catch crappies from shore even while the main body has a lot of ice. On a sunny day, that black-bottom bay can get quite warm and really draw the pannies. It seems like the crappies go best when dusk approaches in those situations, but at times can be caught all day long.

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Bar harbor on gull is always a good early spot right off the docks at the resturant. Ice usually goes out there first. Good spot, you can get lunch and a beer or coffee at the resturant. good for kids too.

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It all depends on the water temp. They will move into the shallow bays when it gets into the upper 40's or low 50's. Hopefully we get some stable weather so they dont move in and out of the bays from day to day.

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Trophy,

Jones bay used to have a decent population but they have been hammered the last five years and the size and numbers in not there anymore. The Breezy resort bay can be good, even shorefishing from the docks if you time it right. If Cree bay has any water you could find some there also. Never fished them Mousseau Bay and the channel area but see people in there every year.

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Any of the bays on pelican are good. Cree use to be good, the water level is way down in cree, almost got stuck with the boat last year in there. They can get hammered pretty good if the word gets out. But the dock fishing in breezy bay is good because of the convenient dock access and parking there. Would be nice if we had a couple of deluges and got the water level up.

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Dont give up yet. Just made it out today and caught 30 or so nice crappies and a ton of bluegills. The fish are a bitin' but theres not much time left.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
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