Hardwater fishing?

[GreatRiverDucker]

So I'm lookin' through the fishing threads and I don't see any related to hardwater. Whats the deal? None of you northlanders like to talk about fishing in the winter? Anyway I've been out a few times in Brainerd, MN and near Duluth - mostly smallish walleyes( 10-16"), a few perch, and 1 very small lake trout(10"). The BIG lake is starting to freeze up, so I'm hopin' that I might get to try a little laker/looper/salmon fishing through the ice on the north shore soon.
Any local, well ok regional, reports are welcome!

 

[JB]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

Water doesn't get hard in Texas, Ducker, and boats don't work well on hard water.

When I lived in MN I did some fishing through holes. Caught a 9# walleye through the ice on Lake Waconia, west of the twins.

Bottom line, I just don't like cold so I usually trekked to warmer climes to fish in the winter.

 

[scurtis76]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

No body seems too keen on hard water talk in these forums. I'm up in the NE (Mass) and have been out a few times this year. Got a small (16") Atlantic Salmon and a little bit bigger brown trout last weekend but with this rain coming down today and the temps over the past few the water wont be so hard for long. Gonna have to wait for another deep freeze to get back out. In the mean time, maybe I can get some boat repairs done. Good luck out in the land of 10,000 lakes. BTW, how them muskie through the ice? DO they fight like hell or what? Are they tastey? We dont get much of the Esox aside a few pike around here. I'd love to tame a beast though.
SC

 

[scurtis76]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

Oh yeah, you ever get out to "The Lake of the Woods"? Man what a prety place and great fishing from what I see on Saturday morning ESPN. I'd love to get there for some Muskie or Lakers.

 

[JB]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

LOTW is my favorite fishing hole in the whole planet, SCurtis. Drive 1500 miles (one way) every June to fish for muskies and walleye with my son, and now my grandson for a week.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

Haven't been out in about three years. I took on a part time job (teaching electronics) that takes my Saturday's over. (The good thing is that it pays for my boating purchases and activities in the summer.) Plus the last few years the ice was questionable.

Given the cold weather, the ice is likely not questionable. Unfortunately, besides the part time job, I also have what is called a frozen shoulder and arthritis in it as well. I am afraid that cranking an ice auger would be the last straw for the shoulder.

Before we moved up here, I lived on a lake here in lower Michigan. (...well actually we lived in a lake front house, although my wife and daughter might say I lived on the lake.) I fished both seasons weather permitting.

I suspect that you are brand new to ice fishing. Best thing I can recomend is get a portable shanty. Mine flips open like a clam shell. I bought it at a year end close out at Gander Mountain. As I recall it was about 5 years ago at precisely this time of year. (hint, hint) It is perfect for one person and a Coleman lantern.

If you are ambitious and have a way to hall it around, you might want to consider a home-made shanty. I built one several years ago and it was great. 4 ft by 6 ft by 8 ft high. I used chip board for the walls because it was available free from another source. The frame was 2 by 4's. Mine was not colapsable but on the positive side, I insulated it with 1 inch styrofoam and the Coleman lantern would roast me down to my shirt sleeves. I painted the inside with dark leftover paint and as a result you could see the bottom really well. Great for spearing pike, etc. Also, I bent heavy duty electrical conduit to use as skis for it. Nailed them to the sides and tipped it up on the side to drag it off the ice.

Terry

 

[eurolarva]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

I spent three days at lake of the woods about 10 days ago and what a blast. I iced over 100 fish. Did real well on sauger, walleye and a 13 inch perch. If you havent already go to fishing minnesota then scoll to the very bottom and click on forums. The forums there are broken down by locations in Minnesota and have over 50000 members. Here are some of my LOTW pics.

I did the Brainard Jaycees tournament last weekend and there were around 10000 people there. As usual I did not catch anything but it was fun to watch.

 

[beerfilter]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

Water don't get hard enough around these parts much , at least in the last 15 years ,or , so .
In my younger years , I did plenty on our farm pond , lots of gills and crappie with the occasional bass .


I was born in Northern Illinois , and , remember (barely) , accompanying my dad and grandad on several hard water expeditions , before we moved south .

The water isn't hard right now , just pretty thick with the rains we just got .
I would like to try for some walleye and sauger today , but I don't feel like playing frogger in my tinny with all the trees and logs washing by .

 

[Don S]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

Why I don't like ice fishing Click here

 

[John_S]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

Only been out once this season. Drowned some sucker minnows on tip-ups, but we got about a doz perch on jigs. Many areas of NY lost their early ice during a late Dec/early Jan thaw.

 

[bouttime007]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

Why I don't like ice fishing Click here

Thats a good one Don. Ha Ha

There is about 14-16" of ice up here on my hometown lake, and the brownies are hungry. I made my own ice shack as well Terry, built on a 4X8 sheet of plywood. The studs from an (older) torn apart house trailer work excellent and keep the overall weight down. The aluminum siding is great to use too, less weight and can be cut with tin snips. I kept the height down to 6'-2" for less wind resistance and weight too.

I had planned to head out on the lake this morning, but woke up to the branch-snapping howling wind and figured it would be a pretty miserable day out there. Tomorrow is looking better, weather wise.

 

[DJ]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

When I lived in MN I used to ice fish all the time.

I built a fold up shack with plywood (base) and canvas. I would tow it out with an ATV on a ski carriage I made out of old snow skis. With all the gear on top, it beat walking.

I do remember a particularly cold winter though, I believe it was '92-'93'. I drilled a "dry hole" (never hit water) with a hand auger that would go 36" deep. I felt like filling the shack up with oxygen after that.

We used to do quite well on Mille Lacs, on the gravel humps, for Walleye. We also did well on some small private lakes around Aitkin for Crappies and Perch, Sunnies too. We hauled up some nice Pike with tip ups. The kids used to check the tip up lines on their ice skates or the ATV.

Lot's of fun!

 

[daniel2229]

Re: Hardwater fishing?

I grew up in NW Ohio and did a lot of hard water fishing with my Dad. We had the nice spoon to did the hole, ice creepers, and a custom sled for hauling all the gear. I remember filling a wash tub with yellow perch and the occasional walleye. In the 50's and 60's we scarcely ever saw a Canada Goose.

Now I live in the Dayton area, and although we do get enough ice, it is usually rotten because the geese keep it that way. Everywhere you go, you see geese. In all the ponds, in corn field, a person's yard -- they even have landed in our cul-de-sac thinking it was water. These super poopers are everywhere! The ice where they frequent isn't safe for even a dog to get on.

I do miss the days when you could easliy catch some of the best eating fish there are to have. Alas, those WERE the days!