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Finally about done with all the springtime cleanup and maintenance so time to get the cover off the boat and get ready to hit the water. It's been pretty windy up in this neck of the woods the past couple of days, but have still had some anglers hitting some small lakes and reeling in some panfish.

Drove around to several of the lakes in the area and the docks are out on the lakes, and looks like it's all ready. As of right now, Blackduck River is still closed for the walleye spawn, but talked to a fisheries rep Friday night and he said that they would be checking it this Tuesday or Wednesday, but anticipate that it will be open for fishing by opener..but the water levels are down.

But we're ready to get fishing, and hope to try a couple of lakes in the area that we haven't had the chance to spend much time on. Got some great temps forecasted for this week, highs around 80 Tuesday through Thursday, so hopefully will be able to hit the open water for some panfishing.

Who's had a chance to get out lately, and is everyone all set to hit their favorite lake on opener? Forecast is showing partly sunny and a high of 65-70 for opening day...an opener without rain?? Good luck to all!

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I'll be on Island Lake again this year. Got the dock and boat lift in last weekend and looking forward to opener weekend. The lake is as low as I've seen in this time of year. Sure could use about a foot of rain, just not this weekend. Good luck to everyone!

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We will be on the duck on Sunday after Mothers day lunch at the Country Side with Tiff and Mom and Dad and the kids. Can't wait to get into some of those hot spots and catch some eye's with the family! Carpet got put in the boat tonight, rods relined, and jigs getting organized. Fishing Fever is HERE! grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

HERE FISHY FISHY!

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Hey Drake, we are staying at your place Thursday night, before we head up to Westwind. Do you have any crappie lakes a guy could Thursday evening and Friday morning? We are looking to kill time on the water, before we head to Red Lake.

I have never fished your neck of the woods, except Big Red.

Thanks Hopper

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Drake,

I was thinking about hitting up Blackduck on opening weekend to mix it up a bit. I am fishing Red, but have never fished Blackduck that early. How is it as an opener lake? I have had success at night on Blackduck in summer in the past, but haven't done much during the day??

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Sorry for the delayed response folks...been doing the last minute stuff before opener. Obviously will be talkin to Hopper when he gets here. Skunked_again, Blackduck is typically very clear water on opener (haven't put the boat out there yet to see if it's the same again this year), and it's mixed results, with some saying it's the best fishing of the season and bringing back their limits of eyes and others just getting a couple, normally the better eye bite is the late afternoon to evening.

Blackduck is normally pretty packed on opening day, with the morning and afternoons having both lots full and parked down the road, but then clearing out late afternoon..which is typically when we hit it, or else on Sunday (quiets down).

We normally hit Blackduck later in the afternoon and fish until around dark, but as the summer progresses we actually do pretty decent in the daytime. (With the chores around here, we don't get a chance very often to hit the Duck early in the mornings, but there can be a pretty decent early morning bite frown.gif ) Try working the bars and points at first doing a slow drift going from 16' to 8' depths just to see where they are scanning, we do a lot of slow drifting with a spinner tipped with a minnow, but we do have a few folks that start out the season bobber fishing with a jig tipped with a leech, but have done better ourselves early with minnows. You may also find a couple of perch in the mix, as well as a few eater size pike in the mix.

Good luck to you...let us know how your opener weekend was..maybe we'll see you on the lake!

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Work the bars and the drop off's along the shore lines. Don't be afraid to change your presentation alot. What is hot one day, may not be hot today. Slip Bobber is the way I fish Blackduck most of the time. When I find the fish I will drop the anchor and sit and relax. Shiners, both golden and spot tails are the bait of choice. Have some leeches along to test also. Sometimes a different bait will trigger them to bite. If you are getting lots of sucking walleye's downsize your jigs/hooks and you will increase your catch rate.

Good luck, and we will be seeing you on the lake! grin.gif

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Best wishes to all on a successful opener. Sorry I can't join you but I'll be up in a few weeks so save a couple for me.

Regards,

Indiana Mike

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Hey guys, thanks for the advice! We made it out at midnight, and wow what a site...walleyes in the shallow clear water. Pretty cool. We cruised around for about an hour just looking at the fish, but made a half hearted attempt to actually get a line wet. Saturday we headed up to Red Lake, and boated about 90 walleyes in 9 hours. Sunday we were excited to go after those walleyes we saw in the shallows at Blackduck, but the wind was just too much for my girlfriend to handle so we packed it up after about an hour with no bites. We did see a few at the landing though so some people were catching fish, but it looked slow overall. All in all a very enjoyable weekend! Thanks again

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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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