Ice NOT out quite yet on North Arm

[CaptJohnWI]

Worked our way up to Pot Island but could not come back on main lake. Had to take the inside passage on west side back from there. Ice had come up tight to all the west side of the islands. I doubt you could get any farther north than Pot Island today.

Managed to catch a few.

[jerkin'm]

Nice gators...The color on that one looks like he was messing around in the walleye gene pool.

[89Bronco]

CaptJohn...may I ask, is that a Slug-O type lure you're using in that first pic? I'd be a rookie with soft plastics. I only use hard cranks (husky-jerks, X-raps, etc.) and spinners and would like to get into the soft stuff for pike. How do you fish it and what kind of hook do you use with that?....if you don't mind me asking.

Nice fish by the way. And that one pike does have some cool, different markings on it.

[CaptJohnWI]

I have found 5/0 Texposer hooks and 6/0 Owner Wide Gap Plus hooks to be excellent when matched with a 6” Sluggo. The Texposer is a little longer while the Owner has a wider gap. Both allow an enticing, but slightly different action. I add a permanant wire leader leaving a small loop at the eye. Leader needs to be able to flop around in the eye of hook to get good action. Texas rig the Sluggo and find some weeds - work it slooow.

You often see the strike coming as the pike will make a wake headed fer yer lure. I had one try to snatch my Sluggo off a weed on the surface where I was stuck for a second.

Water 54 degrees in back bays but still lots of ice on main part of lake.

Some various methods to keep Sluggo from sliding down shank of hook. You can also peg the Sloggo with a toothpick but NOT through the eye of hook - this will kill action. Go through nose of lure just in front of 90 degree bend so toothpick will bump into bend when lure tries to slide.

[89Bronco]

Thanks! Great pics. I've enjoyed seeing the pics you've posted since you've joined the site. I can tell that you are certainly enjoying The Falls.

[vister]

Great pics, how long of leaders?

[CaptJohnWI]

I guess around 12-14 inches. Don't really measure em.

[walleyedeerslayer]

Where are you planning on going on Canadian Opener on Rainy? Has the weather and ice out impacted your plans? I may only have few posts on fishingmn, but I've been heading to Ontario Rainy Lake waters for Canadian opener the last 10 years and walleye fishing in northern MN for the last 30 years. I'm posting because I feel really guilty about skipping Canadian opener for a MN tournament on the St. Louis River. I want to hear the up north perspective.

[CaptJohnWI]

I am more of a bass & pike fisherman so I don't have to wait for any opener. I'll still pick up some walleyes but am not really chasing them. So I don't have a lot of insight on where to try for those.

The North Arm is where I have been going for 35 years. But now that I live here I will have to start trying more spots.

[okfisherman]

Since you have a lot of experience on the north arm can you tell if low water conditions have a bigger impact on the fishing in the north arm versus the U.S. side? We only get to come up once a year and are always on the north arm. We tend to do almost as good in low years as normal ones, but struggle a little during high water years. Is it just us and our inexperience?

[CaptJohnWI]

I would think it is about the same anywhere on the lake. I fished here about 4-5 years ago when the water was really high and many ramps were under water. As I recall we did OK. And last fall was awesome with the low water.

My only concern is getting the boat in and out of the water. I like to use Five Mile Dock since it is the closest to where I want to fish. But late last fall the water was just too low to use that access. I talked to deer hunters coming in during November. They said they tore their trailer up the day before try to pull out. Water level is about the same right now.

So I am using the ramps on the MN side until the water comes back up.