More Recent Fishing Reports
Ely 03-08-2023 • Mississippi River 03-07 • Lake of the Woods 3-7 • Mille Lacs 3-6 • Sundin 3-6 • Lund Alaskan For Sale • Walleye Stamp 3-3 • Sundin 3-2 • Lake Trout 2-22 • Forward Sonar • Lake Winnie 2-17 • Where are the Perch? 2-16 • Grand Rapids 02-13 • Panfish Workgroup • Lund Boats 75 Year History • Transom Mount Electrics • Green Weeds During Winter? 1-24 • Panfish Selective Harvest 1-19 • Follow on Facebook
Jeff Sundin March 31, 2022 "Slow Start For Rainy River Walleye Anglers"
At the time I’m writing this, we’re only 18 hours away from the end of March. But we’re nowhere near the end of the ice fishing season, that could go on for another 18 days. Anglers chomping at the bit to catch a walleye on open water have 2 choices, 1) drive to border waters to the south or west or 2) wait for the Rainy River to open; don’t expect option 2 to occur this weekend.
We all know that conditions vary wildly from one year to the next, so using the terms “early” or “late” to describe when ice out occurs on the Rainy is subjective. The accompanying photo shows the Rainy River, not far east of Baudette still iced over as of yesterday, March 30, 2022. Unless there are a few local folks pushing rowboats across the ice, walleye fishing on the Rainy has not yet begun.
If they even exist, I can’t find any published average ice out dates specific to the Rainy River. But I do have a lot of archived reports from past seasons, and we can contrast the photo of today’s conditions at Baudette with the ones described in the report from last spring, specifically March 29, 2021, which were “On the Rainy River, five boat ramps are open on the Rainy River and there are 42 miles of open water for fishing. Nelson Park in Birchdale, Frontier, Vidas (near Clementson), Timbermill Park in Baudette and the Wheeler's Point access at the mouth of the river 12 miles north of Baudette are all open.”
Anglers seeking to fish open water this weekend can find opportunities on the Mississippi River from Redwing and further south. The Minnesota South Dakota border rivers may also become accessible for the weekend. As of March 25, 2022, Big Stone Lake had some large swaths of open water along the shorelines. It is unclear how much progress has been made, if any, since then.
I sympathize with folks who want to get their boats on the water, but truthfully, I’m not ready for open water fishing yet. My ice fishing season feels like it just started a couple weeks ago and for me, that will be the focus for the next couple of weeks. The most recent firsthand report is the one I posted on Monday morning, but since then, conditions in the Grand Rapids region have not changed much.
The snow that fell on Wednesday didn’t amount to much in Grand Rapids. We might have received an inch, if that, but it was wet and heavy so most of it packed down already or will pack down today. Tomorrow’s weather could bring some melting, which will affect some of the back roads and landing. But I don’t believe that there’s enough snow on the surface of the ice to cause any major flooding. I think wherever we can find a safe shoreline for accessing a lake, we will find good to excellent conditions on the ice.
This past Tuesday was my designated day to take my mom to doctor appointment in the Twin Cities and yesterday was a big day in the office, completing the finishing touches for Tax Day, to be specific. With those chores behind me, I should be able to carve out a few hours for ice fishing either today or tomorrow. I’ll add whatever updates I can gather before the weekend.
Before I wrap up this morning, I should mention the contrast between snow and ice conditions in north central Minnesota vs the ones I observed as I traveled south toward Carver on Tuesday. The snow cover in my region is still heavy, in fact there are a couple of feet still standing in my yard. As I traveled south, I saw that the snow cover begins thinning just south of Aitkin and by the time I reached Garrison, was almost non-existent. The further south I traveled, the dryer conditions looked and in some areas, reminded me of drought conditions.
Last summer we were begging for rain up here and apparently, Mother Nature has responded favorably. I know the rainy season is still coming, so I won’t call it an emergency. But from what I saw, I do hope that the ratio of precipitation favors folks to the south. Maybe your observations differ from what I saw, if they do, drop me a line, I’d really appreciate the updates. 
— Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
News Release March 30, 2022 "Mille Lacs Lake: One-fish walleye limit set for spring, fall fishing 2022/2023"
"Mille Lacs Lake walleye anglers will have two potential opportunities for harvest during the 2022 open water season.
A one-fish limit will allow Mille Lacs anglers to harvest one walleye, 21 to 23 inches or one walleye longer than 28 inches from Saturday, May 14, 2022 through Monday, May 30, 2022.
(Catch and release fishing for walleye begins on May 31, 2022 and ends on June 30, 2022)
After a summer of catch-and-release fishing with an early July closure to reduce hooking mortality, the one-fish limit is expected to return on Thursday, September 1, 2022.
“We must continue to manage state harvest very carefully on Mille Lacs so we can provide as much angling opportunity as prudent while protecting the opportunities for the ..." Learn More >> Mille Lacs Lake: One-fish walleye limit set for spring, fall fishing 2022/2023
Lake of the Woods, LOW Tourism March 29, 2022
"Ice fishing houses are now, for the most, completely removed from Lake of the Woods. From here on out, most ice fishing on the lake is accomplished using collapsible fish houses or for some anglers, out on the open ice.
Some of the rental operators and resorets still have ice roads open to snowmobiles, ATV's and side by sides. It is good to call ahead of time as this time of year, conditions can change quickly.
There are still some anglers targeting walleyes, with mixed reports across the lake. But now, most ice anglers are after pike. The recent cold spell seemed to slow pike activity for the time being as reports frlom over the weekend were about average. Pike will be on the move though, areas near feeder creeks, streams and small rivers will become increasingly attractive as water begins flowing. Pike move in to them and spawn well before the lake becomes ice-free.
Tip ups with a quick strike rig, live sucker, frozen smelt or cisco have been the most successful in 10 to 20 feet of water. Set tip ups in varying depths until you figure out the best depth and duplicate it. Some laying dead bait on the bottom or just off. Others set bait just below the ice, in the middle of the water column, 2 feet off until you find a pattern.
Walleye and sauger season remains open through April 14th, 2022 and the pike season open year round. Minnesota's Walleye Fishng Opener is Saturday May 14, 2022.
Anglers are looking forward to the open water and the spring walleye run on the Rainy River. The snowmobile trail is closed and as of March 28, 2022, the open water line on the Rainy River was still east of the Nelson Park access in Birchdale, MN. There is a stretch of open water down the middle of the river channel near Franz Jevne, which is just east of the Nelson Park access, but colder temps have slowed the open water progress a bit.
Only Mother Nature knows, but when the river starts to open up, it can happen fast, so stay tuned.
Up at the Northwest Angle, resorts have pulled fish houses off for the year. Some residents are still ice fishing using collapsible houses.
COVID testing requirements to drive through Canada will be dropped come April 1st. Travelers need to be vaccinated and use the ArriveCan App.
There are various ways to travel to the Angle. Drive through Canada to the Angle • LOW Passenger Service (charter boat service across the lake staying in MN) • Lake Country Air (stays in MN, planes land on ice or water) • Take your own boat (Safety first, this is a 40 mile ride over big water)." — Lake of the Woods Tourism, (800) 382-FISH"
Jeff Sundin March 28, 2022 "Best Ice Conditions Of The Winter ... For Now"
It took long enough to get here, but the classic early spring meltdown and re-freeze ice fishing pattern arrived this weekend. The photo of my snowmobile (lower right) sitting high and dry on top of the hard pack was taken on a Grand Rapids area lake this Sunday. Travel conditions for I and the Hippie Chick were literally as good as they get, there was no slush, no rough ice, no ice ridges, nothing to stop us from fishing anywhere we liked.
We were not the only lucky ones, driving home we saw other ice anglers, on other area lakes, all enjoying similar travel conditions. There were also reports of equally good ice conditions on Lake Winnie, Leech Lake, Pike Bay and Bowstring, just to name a few. That’s the good news.
The bad news may possibly come in the form of another snow storm this week. Theoretically, even if that does happen, there could still be time for another meltdown and re-freeze cycle to occur. In fact, it probably will, but our days are numbered, it is almost April already and one of these days, the cold weather will surely give way to summer.
If you do have time to get on the ice before the next storm arrives, the patterns for catching both panfish and perch are trending shallower. On Sunday, Susan and I started at one of our favorite sunfish spots, a sloppy, soft bottom breakline the straddles the 18-to-20-foot depth range. Nothing happened there, so I started moving shallower, connecting with a nice crappie when I dropped my Rattl’n Quiver Spoon into 15 feet of water.
Still looking for sunfish which are usually found shallower than crappies, I moved in even further, connecting with some small ones at about 12 feet of water. The sunnies were too small to be of interest to us but mixed in with them were some decent size perch. Those perch were not monsters, but they were good enough. So, for us, switching over to Lindy Perch Talkers, tipped with waxworms coaxed in more of them and allowed us to gather our dinner for yesterday.
We were satisfied with our morning, but I think we’d have done better if we would have stayed later. There were fish on our graphs frequently, but at mid-morning, under sunny skies, they acted lazy, and most didn’t strike. At sunset, they likely would have been feeding, but the problem with late winter is that you must wait until after 8:00 PM for the crepuscular period. On a worknight, with alarm clocks set early, that schedule doesn’t work for us.
I’ll be adding more updates throughout the day, but if you have free time on your hands, I wouldn’t wait around for those. Travel conditions are as good as they get right now, so if you want to fish, go today, just in case we do get another storm that could gum up the works. — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Jeff Sundin March 25, 2022 "Early Spring Ice Fishing Update"
"Early spring ice anglers using ATVs and side-by-sides will rule the ice this weekend. They won’t have much trouble navigating the shallow snow, and the moderate underlying layer of slush. The jury is out about travel by snowmobile, I think they should be okay, but I’m not as confident about that. Walking, the method I’ve been using these past few trips, won’t be easy, but definitely is do-able. Travel by pickup truck, maybe in some places, but I won’t endorse it.
There was a beautiful scenario setting up over the past week. Warm air temperatures and lots of sunshine melted a lot of the snow from the surface of area lakes. Conditions were sloppy, but water was draining, and the surface of the ice was improving by the hour. With sub-freezing temperatures forecast for the weekend, it appeared that we were on track for excellent travel conditions this weekend. Until Wednesday, that’s when as you can see by the photo, the scenery changed from spring, back to winter.
In Grand Rapids, we had 5 to 6 inches of wet snow in the driveway. As I traveled west along US Highway 2, and then north on MN 46 toward Winnie, it was somewhat deeper. The gravel road leading into the landing I used was not plowed, but I didn’t have much trouble driving in, the dense snow packed down easily.
On the ice, a new layer of slush had already formed under about 6 inches of snow. My boots were filled with water within a few minutes, that made walking difficult, but not impossible. Snowmobiling would have been worse, I’d have been fighting slush the whole way out, and back in too. An ATV would have been perfect, but of course, I don’t have one of those.
Luckily for me, there were some fish under the first hole, a combination of sunfish and crappies in about 15 feet of water. I dropped in a red/chrome, 1/16 Rattl’n Quiver Spoon tipped with waxworms and as I watched it fall on my screen, I saw fish moving up to greet it. When the two red marks intersected, my rod tip went pop. Yup, the first drop produced a crappie, and subsequent drops produced a mix of both crappies and sunfish.
Combined with the warm air temperature, the active fish made it possible for me to shrug off my wet feet, allowing me to fish for a few hours before lunchtime. By then, I’d selected enough fish, 3 sunfish and 3 crappies for a meal, so a warm truck seemed like a great idea. But, the experience wetted my appetite for more, so as soon as I arrived home, I swapped out my wet stuff for dry stuff, re-charged depth finder batteries and later, got the truck ready for an early morning re-match on Thursday.
Thursday morning arrived, I finished the morning radio show on KAXE and high-tailed back up to the lake. I hoofed to the honey hole, re-opened the hole I’d used the previous day, dropped in my lure and … nothing happed. Except for a small crappie, a small sunfish, and a bunch of small perch, that’s the way my whole morning played out. I drilled holes in water depths ranging from 4 feet to 24 feet and in several instances located them on my graph, catching them just didn’t happen this time.
That’s okay, alone and on foot, a man can only cover so much territory. I just didn’t have time to get wherever I needed to go on Thursday. Now the question is were will I go next? I’m watching today’s forecast, west northwest winds gusting to 30 and declining air temperatures throughout the day. Yuk, it doesn’t look too appealing for walking out and sitting on the ice.
Under the snow and slush, the ice itself is still in good shape. In most areas, there are about 20 inches of solid ice, more in some places. The inbound flow of cold air might be enough to re-freeze the surfaces of area lakes, probably not before Saturday or Sunday though. Whether I fish today or not will depend on if I can drag my portable out there and that means using my snowmobile. So, today, I’ll have to wait until the sun comes up, check a couple of landings and ponder the situation. Whatever happens, you will be the first to know.
My personal travel challenges aside, fishing reports from around the region are generally good. Perch, sunfish, crappies, tullibees and eelpout are all biting and in a variety of lakes. Like I said at the start, if you have an ATV, you’ll be in good shape, so I would not shy away from ice fishing this weekend.
If you’re chomping at the bit to get onto the open water in your boat, it’s gonna be a while. Even though there’s been a lot of snow melting, it is slow to translate into runoff. In my region, the Mississippi River is still mainly ice covered and so is the Rainy River to our north. At last report, there are anglers catching fish on the Mississippi River, south of the twin cities, I’ll make a point of learning more about that today." — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Lake of the Woods, LOW Tourism March 22, 2022
"Warm weather has melted a lot of the snow on the south end of Lake of the Woods, causing a slushy mess on most ice roads. With that being said, most resorts have removed their fish houses from the ice.
Some resorts are still allowing ATV-UTV and snowmobile travel with collapsible fish houses. Check with resorts and outfitters prior to accessing the ice.
Some anglers are still targeting walleyes. Mixed reports across the lake. Some really good, some a bit slow. Anglers are in varying depths from 17 to 32 feet of water. The one two approach of a jigging line combined with a deadstick is the way to go.
Pike activity is really picking up. Tip ups with a quick strike rig, live sucker, frozen smelt or cisco have been the most successful in 10 to 22 feet of water. Set tip ups in varying depths until you figure out the best depth and duplicate it. Some laying dead bait on the bottom or just off. Others set bait just below the ice, in the middle of the water column, 2 feet off until you find a pattern.
Have pike release tools (needle nose, jaw spreaders, camera) ready to roll so pike get back into the water quickly and safely. Pike limit is 3 fish per day, 30 to 40 inches must be released, one pike can be kept over 40 inches.
Walleye and sauger season open through April 14th. Pike season open year round.
With warm weather conditions and run off, ice fishing has stopped on the Rainy River for all practical purposes. The snowmobile trail is closed and anglers are looking forward to the open water and the spring walleye run.
As of March 21, 2022, the open water line on the Rainy River was at mile marker 168 near Indus. The open water is progressing at about (give or take) 3 miles per day. The Nelson Park access in Birchdale, MN is the first main boat ramp to open and it is located at about mile marker 156, about 26 miles east of Baudette. Only Mother Nature knows, but when the river starts to open up, it can happen fast. Stay tuned.
Up at the Northwest Angle, most resorts have pulled their fish houses off the ice for the year, with some still ice fishing through the weekend. Fishing reports are consistent where they are fishing.
COVID testing requirements to drive through Canada will be dropped come April 1st. Travelers need to be vaccinated and use the ArriveCan App.
There are various ways to travel to the Angle. Drive through Canada to the Angle • LOW Passenger Service (charter boat service across the lake staying in MN) • Lake Country Air (stays in MN, planes land on ice or water) • Take your own boat (Safety first, this is a 40 mile ride over big water)." — Lake of the Woods Tourism, (800) 382-FISH
Lake of the Woods, Border View Lodge March 22, 2022
"We have moved closer to Pine Island and are now around the 4-mile mark North of Pine Island. As of today, we have an abundance of snow cover, the forecast for the week shows some daytime highs above freezing which should reduce the amount of snow. There is still 3-4 feet of ice which will last a considerable amount of days unless the weather is different than the current forecast.
The bite has slowed and its success is with those who are actively fishing non-stop to catch passing Walleye and Sauger. Electronics are important to have during this kind of bite. Reminding Anglers to have a noisy lure to work the water column and a lively minnow on a deadstick is also important.
Most days of this week show temps up to 40 and overnight lows in the 20's." — 1-800-776-3474 Border View Lodge
Jeff Sundin March 21, 2022 "Colossal Spring Springing in Grand Rapids!"
In terms of ushering in the first day of spring, I don’t know how conditions could have been much more perfect. Sunshine, calm breezes, summerlike temperatures, and fish biting all over the place! That’s right, they were, and I didn’t have to reach far outside my inner circle of friends for proof. Perch were biting in perch Lakes, crappies were cruising in crappie lakes and sunfish were swimming in sunfish lakes. But for me, tullibee fishing made first position on the agenda.
Late last week, my friend Reed Ylitalo shared a hot tip for Tullibees with me. We fished together for them on Friday and as far as I’m concerned, fishing was good. Between, the 2 of us, we packed up a pail containing 25 or so and those fish are headed for his buddy’s smoker. He tells me they’ll be done this week and I’m looking forward to trying a few of those.
It’s not my place to share the location, but truthfully, finding lakes that have fishable populations of Northern Ciscoes (tullibee) isn’t that hard. Ten minutes spent on the DNR Lake Finder website, and you’ll know about a couple of them. They don’t survive well in warm, shallow water lakes, so focus your search on lakes in Minnesota’s northern region.
Compared to going after some fish species, Tullibee fishing isn’t scientific. They travel a lot and spend most of their time over expanses of deep water at mid-lake. So, provided you know of a lake that has a good population of them, can travel to the lake’s deep-water holes and have an accurate graph, then you can catch them.
The most important aspect of an effective presentation is attracting the fish within striking range. Typically, large, flashy spoons, jigged wildly up and down in the water column get their attention. Then smaller, panfish size jigs are used to trigger them to strike. On this trip, there were some variations. For me, a 1/16 ounce red/silver Rattl’n Quiver Spoon, tipped with wax worms served as both and attracting and triggering lure. So did a small Lindy Perch Talker, blue/silver color and tipped with wax worms. Both lures are small enough to trigger strikes, but flashy enough to attract fish from some distance.
Reed used a larger, 1/8-ounce Rattl’n Flyer Spoon, treble hook removed and replaced with a “drop line” that had a Tungsten Toad tied at the end. The extra weight of the Flyer makes getting into the strike zone faster than a smaller lure alone. The small tungsten jig offers the built in trigger, so Reed was basically attracting and triggering fish at all times.
Fishing depths for tullibee can be all over the map, on Friday, we fished over water depths of about 55 feet. Suspended at depths ranging from 10 to 45 feet and everywhere between, the ciscoes come in at random depths and intervals.
We speculated about whether tullibee are like Lake Trout and can escape the affects of barotrauma. Their behavior makes it appear that they can, but this morning, I can’t say that with scientific certainty. What I will say is that the whole point of fishing for them is to get fish for the smoker, broiler, or pickle jar. When located, they are amazingly uniform in size, so there really isn’t any need for selective harvest or catch and release fishing. We fish with a goal, trying to catch enough for certain size batch of finished product and when we have enough, we stop fishing.
Throughout the weekend, travel conditions on the ice improved steadily. The snow cover was mostly melted by last Thursday, but there was a lot of standing water on the ice. By Sunday afternoon, most of the water had drained off and the ice was becoming dryer.
I drove to one on my favorite small lakes and was delighted to find that I was able to take a nice walk to the sunfish hole. I did hit a few slushy spots, but by and large, this was an easy walk on solid ice. As soon we get a cold snap, we’ll be able to go anywhere we want using ATV’s or on foot. Travel by pickup truck will be possible on a lot of lakes too, but that will depend on conditions at the landings.
Some combination of stable weather and flowing water meant that the sunfish were active and covering water on Sunday. The classic late winter panfish pattern was in full play. Fish were shallow, 10 feet of water was my best depth, but there were fish shallower than that too. They were aggressive and easy to catch, but they were also in and out of the territory a lot. For me, 10 minutes without a sighting, followed by 2 minutes of constant action was the rule, not the exception. It didn’t matter whether I hole-hopped or sat still, the frequency between flurries was the same either way.
Small ice jigs, typically super-effective for sunfish, were not the best presentation on Sunday. But they were tearing up the larger, flashier, Rattl’n Quiver Spoon. I used the same red/silver color spoon and loaded the treble hook with wax worms. When the screen of my graph was blank, I jigged a lot and whenever the fish showed up, I held the lure still. That presentation made gathering 5 fish for a meal easy.
After being hunkered down against a long, cold, and snowy winter, these conditions make me feel like making a marathon out of the next few weeks. There’s still a lot of ice out there and unless summer arrives early, plenty of opportunity still to come. — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Jeff Sundin March 17, 2022 "North Central Minnesota Meltdown"
During the past 2 days, warm temperatures have melted off the upper layers of snow standing on lakes. But the warm temperatures have not yet reached the surface of the ice, which is now wet, but still hard and solid. The result is that anglers in north central Minnesota have a lot more options today than they did just a couple of weeks ago.
As the photo left shows, one young angler was enjoying the warm weather, fishing on the ice in shirt sleeves. That’s one reason I expected to see running water in some of the area’s smaller feeder creeks and rivers, but I didn’t. Even larger rivers like the Prairie and Mississippi River remain locked up and show little sign of breaking up soon.
On Pokegama, there were folks moving around on foot, using 4 wheelers, ATVs with tracks and even some in pickup trucks. I’m not sure I would suggest driving pickups off road, but everybody I could see did appear to be moving freely.
With the newfound freedom of movement, reports about catching fish began flowing too. One friend reported a great fishing trip for tullibees on Wednesday, another mentioned catching good numbers of perch on Leech Lake and panfish were biting in the southern portions of my “home territory”. Pike fishing on Lake of the Woods was going well too, and I’m expecting an updated report from there sometime this morning.
Thanks to the deep snow and crummy travel conditions that persisted earlier this winter, I’ve been around home more than usual. So, for me, the boat is here, my paperwork is done, and I have a little bit of free time on my hands. Family concerns will keep me away from the ice today, but after that, my ice fishing season is going into high gear. Tullibees on Friday, pike on Saturday, perch next week and big fat crappies after that; I hope!
On the KAXE Morning Show today, I offered my official prediction for this spring’s ice out. I wanted to pick a reasonably central location where folks in the listening range could check my forecast. For this year, I chose the south side of Leech Lake, at the Whipholt Roadside Park, near Walker MN. From that vantage point, folks can see across most of the main lake, so that’s where I will be on April 27, 2022, checking to see if the water is ice-free or not.
For many, open water fishing will soon take precedence over ice fishing, I know that. But for folks like me, who haven’t gotten enough ice fishing this winter, I’ll pump out as many reports as I can before the ice begins to fall apart. Please stay tuned. — — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Jeff Sundin March 16, 2022 "Lots To Look Forward Too!"
In nature, there are some rules of thumb that almost always seem to work out. Like finding crappies on their beds when the lilacs bloom or catching muskies on the full moon of July.
One rule of thumb that I use for getting ballpark estimates of seasonal transitions is to look at current conditions that exist further south in Minnesota. For every 100 miles, I’ll add 1 week to get a rough idea of what conditions will look like here, in north central Minnesota soon.
The photo left shows my nephew Chris Andresen's buddy Bill, standing on the ice somewhere in the Mankato area on Tuesday. The distance from Grand Rapids to Mankato is almost exactly 250 miles. So, if my “inner farmer” is correct, conditions you see in that image now, is what we’ll be seeing here in about 2-1/2 weeks. That means the idea of folks still ice fishing on Tax Day in north central Minnesota is not farfetched at all.
SWEET, that could mean that we still have time to get in on some decent ice fishing!
Flowing water usually gets the fish moving, that makes sunfish like the ones Chris and Bill caught yesterday, easier to locate and catch. With a daytime high temperature of 55 degrees, their ice was melting fast and runoff was robust. They found their fish in 10 feet of water and caught them using Lindy Tungsten Toads, tipped with spikes.
Chris didn’t mention the color they were using, but I’ve had very good luck using my favorite brown/orange (pictured). Green/black, coach dog and pink/yellow chartreuse are great colors too.
If current conditions are an indicator, then we’re on the right track in north central Minnesota. Daytime high temperatures were near 50 degrees yesterday, it’s about 38 and raining right now and the warm weather is forecast to last through the weekend. The warm sunshine put a serious dent in the snowpack yesterday and while the rate of progress will be slower today, melting snow will continue to not only improve travel conditions, but trigger early spring fish movement soon.
Sunfish, crappie and perch anglers should be particularly enthusiastic about the prospect of a late season pickup in ice fishing opportunities this year. Why? Because there’s another rule of thumb that always seems to work out for me. The sooner I pick up any new boat, the longer it will be before I get the chance to use it. So, since I picked up my 2022 Lund Alaskan yesterday, a solid month earlier than usual, you could read into that not to put your ice auger away too quickly. From my vantage point, it appears that you’ll still have a lot of time to use it. — — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Jeff Sundin March 15, 2022 "Recovering the Recover-Able"
"So, last night I was sitting with my wife, both of us decompressing from both a busy weekend and a hectic day on Monday. We’d been chatting for a while when she said, “this is the first time I didn’t see you write anything about the Northwest Sportshow. You always have reports from the show, what was going on down there?”
“Honey, I was trying to, I really was. I looked high, I looked low, I looked everywhere I know, but finding something new and exciting to talk about was a real chore,” I said. “From what I could see, most everyone is in the same boat (pun intended), holding on for dear life and hoping that rising prices, product shortages and travel restrictions will ease soon.
In terms of the fishing industry itself, there’s nobody to blame. How can anybody work on bringing new and innovative products to the floor when their hands are full. Trying to deliver products that they already produce, or are supposed to be producing is more than a full-time job for brand managers and sales reps. Until it gets easier to deliver a finished product, fresh ideas that are on the back burner will just have to wait.
There were a few items that piqued my interest and soon, some of them will find their way into the daily conversation. But let’s wait until the fishing season opens and the timing is better for mentioning some of those trinkets.
Fishing, or should I say dreaming about fishing came up a lot though. Like me, many are still chomping at their bits, hoping to get back on the ice for some late season panfish and perch fishing. Comparing notes with a lot of my friends, most agreed, ice conditions in north central Minnesota have forced many into laying low this winter. Deep snow and heavy slush have been a problem and feeling un-fulfilled, they hope for a meltdown, followed by a re-freeze. I know that every season is different, but historically, that combination of conditions does occur, offering folks a few more chances to ice fish before the spring meltdown.
Further north, ice anglers are finding better conditions and having more fun. Lake of the Woods seems to be the best game in town. But this winter, my honorary daughter Joelle (pictured left) and her POSSLQ Patrick have been tormenting me with photos of nice lake trout they’ve been catching. For most of the winter, they've been moving from lake-to-lake in hot pursuit of them. They haven’t had to worry about Canadian travel restrictions either, snowmobile trails leading into lakes near the boundary waters have provided decent access to good lakes. Some weekends are better than others, but they always seem to catch something.
Word on the street at the show was that some folks are ice-fishing on Lake Superior at Duluth. With warm weather coming, that opportunity might have already passed, but that is one thing I’ll be checking into today. If the ice has broken up, then shore fishing opportunities will replace ice fishing and that can be a lot of fun too.
Trout fishing seasons run until March 31, 2022 on inland lakes, so anglers looking for something to do still have plenty of time to plan a trip." — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Lake of the Woods, LOW Tourism March 15, 2022
"Ice conditions, snowpack and cool March weather are all combining to lengthen the duration of good ice conditions on the south end of Lake of the Woods. Lake of the Woods enjoys an extended season with fish houses allowed on the ice overnight through March 31, 2022.
Pike activity is picking up. Using a tip up with a quick strike rig, live sucker or frozen bait has been the most successful in 10 to 20 feet of water. Set tip ups in varying depths until you figure out the best depth and duplicate it. Dead smelt and live suckers have been hot.
Have pike release tools (needle nose, jaw spreaders, camera) ready to roll so pike get back into the water quickly and safely. Pike limit is 3 fish in possession and there is a protected slot limit, any fish between 30 to 40 inches must be released. Regulations allow anglers to possess one northern pike over 40 inches from Lake of the Woods.
Ice anglers are reporting a mixed bag of walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, tullibee and even a few crappies. As some resorts start moving fish houses closer to the south shore, fishing is happening from 17 to 33 feet of water, a big spread. Mixed reports across the lake. Most believe as days lengthen, snowpack melts and water starts entering the lake, fishing will improve.
Electronics are a big help showing suspended fish and assisting in being more effective for fish below you. Keep lures moving to get walleyes and saugers to commit. Jig one line, deadstick the second with a live minnow. Gold combined with glow colors, wonderbread, red, white and green glow colors have been good.
Walleye and sauger season remains open through April 14, 2022 and a pike season that does not close. Lodging and fish houses are available.
Some anglers are still ice fishing on the Rainy River, but but most are looking forward to open water. There is slow progress being made but with 40's in the forecast, optimism runs high. The open water mark is a number of miles east of Loman currently. Only Mother Nature knows, but when the river starts to open up, it can happen fast. Stay tuned.
The snowmobile trail is groomed and staked from Baudette up to the Northwest Angle. Up at the angle, there is still over 3 feet of ice, along with heavy snow cover and snow. Some great walleye fishing with most fishing taking place in 19 to 26 feet of water. Orange, gold, pink and bright green productive. Keep lines active. Jig one line, live minnow on the second line.
There are various ways to travel to the Angle.
Drive through Canada (vaccination and COVID test currently required). Groomed and staked snowmobile trails (stays in MN). LOW Passenger Service (bomber and charter boat service across the lake staying in MN) Lake Country Air.(stays in MN)" — Lake of the Woods Tourism, (800) 382-FISH
Lake of the Woods, Border View Lodge March 15, 2022
"We have moved closer to Pine Island and are now around the 4-mile mark North of Pine Island. As of today, we have an abundance of snow cover, the forecast for the week shows some daytime highs above freezing which should reduce the amount of snow. There is still 3-4 feet of ice which will last a considerable amount of days unless the weather is different than the current forecast.
The bite has slowed and its success is with those who are actively fishing non-stop to catch passing Walleye and Sauger. Electronics are important to have during this kind of bite. Reminding Anglers to have a noisy lure to work the water column and a lively minnow on a deadstick is also important.
Most days of this week show temps up to 40 and overnight lows in the 20's." — 1-800-776-3474 Border View Lodge
Jeff Sundin March 12, 2022 "Raptor Project, A Show Worth Catching at the Nortwest Sportshow"
"I had a few minutes to walk the show floor on Friday and found a few fishing related exhibits that piqued my interest. But for me, the coolest exhibit I found didn't have much to do with fishing. Instead, the highlight was chatting with Jonathan Wood from the Raptor Center Project.
It's one thing to get a nice closeup of a Bald Eagle from 100 feet away, but holding one in your hand is a whole new ballgame. Live birds of prey, some rescued and others born and raised in captivity are the stars of the show and if you want to, they'll even pose with you for a photo.
The Raptor Project's "learning sessions" are scheduled for 11:00 AM, 2:00, 4:00 and 6:00 PM on Saturday. On Sunday, you can catch one of the half hour sessions at 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM. There's a $10 charge for the private photo sessions, but to me, that's cheap. I don't know where else can you get your picture taken with a live Great Horned Owl, Bald Eagle or Crested Caracara? I have a feeling that there's a new social profile photo in my near future!
For more information about what's happening at the show, click here >> Northwest Sportshow March 10-11-12-13, 2022
Lake of the Woods, LOW Tourism March 8, 2022
"The weather is holding up great and anglers should to be able to ice fish through March on the south end of Lake of the Woods. Here, we enjoy an extended season, with fish houses allowed on the ice overnight through March 31st. The walleye and sauger season remains open through April 14. 2022 and the pike season on LOW does not close. Lodging and fish houses are available.
It's a mixed bag on LOW as anglers are catching walleyes, saugers, jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, tullibee and even a few crappies. Electronics are a big help as they show suspended fish, how fish are reacting to your offerings and simply when there are fish below you.
If fish are in a neutral mood, downsize your presentation. A small jigging spoon with a minnow head or small piece of tail section, a smaller live minnow on a plain hook, etc.
Ice fishing for walleyes is taking place in various depths from 18 to 33 feet of water. Gold combined with glow colors, glow red and lures with rattles have been helpful.
Pike activity is picking up. Using a tip up with a quick strike rig, live sucker or frozen bait has been the most successful in 10 to 20 feet. Set tip ups in varying depths until you figure out the best depth and duplicate it.
Have pike release tools (needle nose, jaw spreaders, camera) ready to roll so pike get back into the water quickly and safely. Pike limit is 3 fish per day, 30 - 40 inches must be released, one can be kept over 40".
On the Rainy River, some walleyes are being caught during the morning and evening. Gold, glow and glow colors working the best tipped with a minnow. Always use extra caution on the river.
The snowmobile trail is groomed and staked from Baudette up to the Northwest Angle, where there's been some great walleye fishing this week. Most fishing is taking place in 22 to 33 feet of water. Gold, glow colors, chartreuse or a combo of these colors productive. Keep lines active. Jig one line, live minnow on the second line.
There are various ways to travel to the Angle.
- Drive through Canada (vaccination and COVID test currently required).
- Groomed and staked snowmobile trails (stays in MN)
- LOW Passenger Service (bombardier service across the lake staying in MN)
- Lake Country Air.(stays in MN)" — Lake of the Woods Tourism, (800) 382-FISH — Lake of the Woods Tourism, (800) 382-FISH
Lake of the Woods, Border View Lodge March 8, 2022
"Cold weather and lots of snow cover give promise to late season Anglers. We continue to have our houses around 14 miles from the Pine Island area. Fishing success is based on traffic and timing. Actively fishing when schools go by is critical to success.
We have openings for this Spring to go Guided Sturgeon fishing on our boats with our Coast Guard licensed Captains check out our special package rates. Summer rates are also out, booking early helps with the opportunity to pick dates. We still have some space on Charters in May.
The forecast has some overnights below zero this week and daytimes above zero and into the 20's." — 1-800-776-3474 Border View Lodge
Jeff Sundin March 4, 2022 "Tulibees; More Than Just Something To Do"
"Earlier this week, while we were on Lake of the Woods, we caught some Tullibees while we were fishing for walleye, and I recalled how much fun I used to have not only catching them but cooking them too.
That reminded me that last week, I fielded an email question from Travis Verdegan about ice fishing for Northern Ciscoes, commonly known as “Tullibees”. At the time, I referred him to a couple of “how-to” videos that we produced about 10 years ago. Viewing those videos myself, I realized that it wouldn’t hurt to provide a few extra details about fish locations, presentations, and a tip or two about the Tullibee as table fare.
Last point first, Tullibees are delicate and a little bit on the oily side. So, pan frying them, while it can be done, doesn’t produce the best results. But if you love broiling or air-frying fish, you can use them to whip up a healthy meal that tastes great. It’s simple, lay the fillets on aluminum foil, brush with a thin coat of olive oil, sprinkle on some Minnesota Fish Seasoning and a little lemon pepper. Air-fry or broil at about 400 degrees for 10 minutes and they’re done.
For me, smoking the ciscoes has always been my favorite, but that’s because I grew up eating Walfred Johnsen’s smoked fish from the north shore of Lake Superior. Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around arriving at the cabin, untying the string from the rolled-up newspaper, (AKA "The Fish Wrapper" wink, wink), peeling open the freshly smoked ciscoes and serving with sliced cheese on saltine crackers. Jeez, I just made my own mouth start watering!
Pickling the fish is also a great way to utilize ciscoes. Because they are a salmonid, they'll turn out with a more delicate texture then gamefish like pike or panfish. Pickled tullibees remind me of pickled herring for example. There good recipes for both pickled fish and smoked fish on my website, located here. >> Fish Recipes.
Folks who fish big water are accustomed to catching bonus tullibees while they’re fishing for walleye, pike and panfish. Mille Lacs, Leech, Winnie, Lake of the Woods; in fact, most of Minnesota’s ‘walleye factory” lakes have decent populations of them. But you can find them on smaller waters too and some of the smaller lakes offer the largest ciscoes.
When I want to explore new lakes, I open the recreation compass on the DNR website, then I click on lakes I’m interested in and check the fisheries surveys for statistics. When I see lakes that have larger fish, I’ll check the map to see how easy it might be to locate them.
At the lake, finding them is almost always easy because the pattern is typically the same for every lake. Tullibees move a lot so pinning them down on structure isn’t the secret, that’s the bad news. The good news is that they cover so much territory so anglers who get anywhere close to the right spots will eventually find some fish. Deep water, commonly 25 to 35 feet deep and usually over the lake’s mid-section, is the starting point.
Flashy, eye-catching presentations are the trick to calling them into the area. An attractor, or “flasher” is used to entice fish into the territory under your hole, but necessarily to catch them.
Lindy’s ¼ ounce gold or chrome finish Rattl’n Quiver Spoon (photo left) makes an ideal, attention grabbing “flasher”. Now that we’re into March, walleye and pike fishing is closed on inland lakes. So, unless I’m fishing a boundary water lake where the season remains open, I’ll take off the treble hook just to be sure that I don’t unintentionally hook a walleye or pike.
Work the "flasher" using a long lift-fall-lift-fall motion. Tullibees are constantly roaming and can be located anywhere in the water column. So, work the spoon at a variety of depths ranging everywhere from just below the ice, all the way down to the bottom.
Once you see fish on your electronics, lay down the 'flasher" rod and trigger the fish to strike using a separate, light action rod, rigged with a small ice jig. Typically, the jigs are tipped with a waxworm, but the head pinched off a small minnow will work too.
A Tungsten Toad works for me, the combination of a small size profile and heavy weight allows me to get the lure into the strike zone fast. Tiny spoons are good too, the 1/16-ounce Frostee Jigging Spoon for example will trigger lots of strikes. White, glow-blue, and glow-chartreuse are all good colors, and so are chrome or gold-plated spoons. When your school of fish moves on, pick up the flasher rod and start working it to call in a fresh school of fish.
For some, tullibee fishing has often been considered little more than a remedy for boredom. But for others, tulibees provide a lot more than just something to do, they provide a fantastic opportunity to add great tasting protein to their larders. Either way, with warmer weather on the way, they provide everybody with a good excuse to get outside! — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Reader Comments March 4, 2022 "Leave Politics To Politicians, Fish To Biologists"
An email message from Ken Seufert says; "(I) Read this article ("Voice Of Experience: The (walleye) Limit Is Just Fine") posted on your blog.
The retired DNR official spells out why the legislature and politics needs to stay out of fish management. The whole concept of the legislature managing the fish population is absurd. What happens when this legislature plan causes problems? Do you go back to the legislature to fine tune the regulation? How long will that take?
Keep the politics out of fish management. Leave it with the professionals. I guess the next thing will be to determine which fish are left leaning and which are right leaning and depending on your predilection manage to promote your favorite." Ken Seufert, a Missouri tourist who fishes two weeks per year in Minnesota.
Ely Area, Arrowhead Outdoors Fishing Report March 3, 2022
"Lake trout fishing has been up and down for angler this last week. One day trout are on the graph all day. Next day, same spot, it’s the dead sea. When trout are on the graphs, anglers are catching them with 1/2 to 3/4oz bucktails and tubes. Best colors have been red/white, blue and pink.
Interestingly, when anglers fishing humps and point are struggling, anglers fish deep water are marking lots of trout. Seems to be little rhyme or reason to when this happens, but it’s happening. If your not marking at you usual spots, try deeper.
Eelpout activity has slowed as we have passed the February full moon. Eelpout continue to be caught, but the bite has largely been at night or very early in the morning or late in the day. Heavy jigs and spoons loaded with minnow chunks have been the bait to have for eelpout.
Rainbow trout have been active on area stream trout lakes. Best times have been very early in the morning. Small flies, tipped with wax worms has been very effective on these trout. Anglers have been finding trout very close to downed trees." — Arrowhead Outdoors, 218-365-5358
Reader Comments March 3, 2022 "Voice Of Experience: The (walleye) Limit Is Just Fine"
An email comment, along with this shared link to the recent Star Tribune article about walleye possession limits says; "With so much bad going on these days, (it) made me happy reading Dennis Anderson and Gary Barnard's essay (in the Star Tribune). Thank you GB, well done." Read Article and Learn More >> DNR Fisheries, Retired Manager Gary Barnard; "Current Walleye Limits Are Fine"
Jeff Sundin March 2, 2022 "Lake of the Woods, Fish Like You're Mad at 'Em!"
On Lake of the Woods this week, the secret is that we’ve gotta fish like we’re mad at the walleyes. If we let our baits sit idle, or try to fish using subtle, finesse style presentations, the fish will swim in, glance casually at our bait and then wander off without striking.
I’ll get back to that in a minute, but as you can see by the accompanying photo, travel conditions on the ice are worth mentioning first.
I can’t speak for all the resorts and rental operators, but Nick Panovich and the crew at Zippel Bay Resort have been working overtime this winter. Rough ice, drifted snow, and “slushy” ice heaves, like the one you see pictured, have dictated not only where they can open roads, but how well they can maintain them as well. “With all of the wind that’s blown this winter, we’ve moved the same snow so many times and it’s settled so hard, that we can’t get them opened wide enough again,” Panovich says. “We’re steering around rough spots and opening new territory every day, but it’s a struggle,” he added.
The rental house we used on Monday was in some of that “new territory”, I mean it had been placed recently, within a day or two of when we arrived. So, that could partially explain why we had better luck than many of the anglers around the lake who were reporting slow fishing.
Sometimes in past seasons though, we’ve noticed that moving west, east, or north from Zippel has made a difference and we’ve found either more fish or at least more aggressive ones. So, why couldn’t it work the other way? Maybe this winter, that stretch of water out front of Zippel is just holding more fish than usual? Both questions that could only be answered by someone who’s fishing everywhere and using the same techniques every day; a monumental task under these circumstances.
That rough ice I mentioned is one reason nobody can cover that much ground. Snowmobiles would typically offer us an advantage because we could strike out and fish un-tapped regions along the shore. Right now, though, travelling away from established trails would be slow going at best; uncomfortable, sloppy, and possibly treacherous at the worst. So, your best bet now is to stick with the operators like Zippel, the ones who keep chipping into fresh territory and have the fishing shelters moved frequently.
You’ve probably heard a hundred times already how important it is to bring good electronics on your ice fishing trip. So, I will only add this, the more accurately your graph shows you the fish, the more often you’ll be able to catch one. On this trip, watching their reaction to our presentations and adjusting based on their behavior has been key, it has made a huge difference for us, here’s how.
I started with comments along the lines that we needed to fish like we’re mad at the walleyes. What I meant is that we’ve been hearing from friends on the lake that they see a lot of fish but have problems getting them to strike. We noticed that too and at first, attributed it to the fish being in a negative mood. But through trial and error, figured out that the complete opposite was true. The more jigging and aggressive rod wagging we did, the more often we could trigger a strike.
It reminded me of a comparison that could be made to fishing during mid-summer when the spinner bite heats up and finesse presentations fade away. Even the lures we used fit the profile. The Lindy Quiver Spoon, flashy and slow falling, but fished with an aggressive rod shaking motion to squeeze out every extra drop of flash that they could produce. Like using a spinner during summer, the flash of the quiver spoons helped fire up their attitudes.
For me, fishing Lake of the Woods during winter is always fascinating. How anybody figures out where to fish on sprawling and seemingly structureless flats is amazing. I know that there a folks who fish there a lot more than me, but I have learned one thing, it’s not a lake where you can be a lazy fisherman. Any angler who wants to catch fish, especially on the expansive flats at Lake of the Woods’ south end, needs to maximize efficiency. When the fish do swim through, getting their attention and triggering them to strike is paramount.
I know that everybody who fishes almost always “feels” like they’re doing their best work. But occasionally, I’ll catch myself relaxing a lit bit too much. A lot of times, I still get some fish, despite my lack of maximum effort. There are times though, when a more intense combination of persistence, presentation, and persuasion makes a big difference for me. This trip especially, fishing hard, sitting on the edge of my chair, paying attention to every mark on my graph and working my bait like my life depended on it was the only way to get a bite. So, if you’re headed that way, it might be worth keeping in mind.
We didn’t do any pike fishing, but word on the street was that some of the big ones are showing up along the shoreline in front of Zippel Bay.
Zippel Bay Resort's own Alex Reinert loves to chase pike himself. I remembered seeing him flashing some recent photos yesterday and this morning, I called to ask if he was willing to share a couple and he did. The image of his wife Desire Reinert, (left image) with a 42 inch pike offers a good example of what pike anglers expect to find when they show up at Zippel Bay. Seriously, if you can drill a hole and set a tip-up and have a few big sucker minnows, then you're in the game. Pike like these show up every day and as the spawning season approaches, your odds get better by the day.
The plowing crew has been plunging into the shallows, opening new roads and getting ready for pike anglers who will be showing up to test their luck this weekend. Watch for more news about the pike runs in the near future.
The good news about ice conditions on Lake of the Woods is that cold weather is keeping the roads dry. There are still a lot of wheelhouses parked in the staging area at Zippel Bay. Like I said, plowing crews are still punching new roads and looking ahead at the long-range forecast, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine good travel conditions right on through to the end of March. We’ll see what Mother Nature has to say about that, but with inland waters now closed for walleye fishing, I’ll keep my ice fishing graph charged up and my walleye gear ready to go, just in case.
Oh and by the way, if you're thinking another ice fishing trip or two sounds good, go ahead and call Nick and Deanna at Zippel Bay 800-222-2537. They really do a nice job there. — Jeff Sundin 218-245-9858 or EMAIL
Related Article >> Ice Destination, Lake of the Woods