MN fishing in the new rig

[mantis270]

A couple of months ago, I completed a rebuild of my 14' Lund and have had it on the water quite a bit. The decks make moving around much easier when working a fish in. Here's a few snaps of some of the luck my son and I have been having on some of the lakes we fish north of the Twin Cities here in MN....

A few Northern Pike ... these make really good fish tacos!

Another decent stringer...not bad for 2 hours on the water...

A nice bass...

And another...

 

[HAV2FISH]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

Thats some good eating there. Congrats.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

nice fish. just curious: is middle fish in that top photo one of those pike/pickerel crossbreeds? It sure looks that way.

 

[Snowfish]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

Hey! Bass are friends, Not food! LOL! Been pretty bumpy, here in the Brainerd Lakes area. The fishing has been a bit "off". Glad you've had success down by you. Fish on!

 

[jdsgrog]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

Those are nice looking fish. Which lakes do you fish in the Twin Cities? Used to live in MN. Miss the abundance of lakes with decent sized pike. Went fishing this past spring at Detroit lakes. Had a great time, caught a bunch of crappies in the 10-12 inch range (good eatin'), a lot of largemouth bass with a few sizable ones (catch and release), and a four or five pike (a couple of 30 inchers but all released).

I'm finishing work on my Lund s-14. I put in a front casting deck, a bow mount trolling motor, and cut out a hole in the middle bench seat for battery. Mine is tiller steer, but I may put in floors for between the bench seats. BTW, I'm the one who PM'd you asking about your trolling motor deck/plate a couple of months back. Thanks for the info, it was helpful.

 

[mantis270]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

Most of the pike I pull out of the local lakes look the same...dunno if that one was a hybrid. I can tell you, however, that it was realllly tastey fried with some southwest seasoning!

I only keep a few of the smaller fish for eating. The larger pike and few muskies I catch go back in the water to make more pike and muskie!

I live north of the Twin Cities and can usually be found on either Forest Lake, Big Marine or Bald Eagle. I was out on Forest Lake this afternoon...cloudy and the wind was blowing pretty hard but the pike were smacking crank-baits left and right. Boated 4 in an hour and a half...tossed them all back since I have some meat in the freezer already.

 

[jdsgrog]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

I fished Bald Eagle quite often. One of my favorites in the Twin Cities. Never overcrowded, overfished, or too many recreational boaters. Decent size too. Forest Lake is nice as well. Big Marine...never fished. Maybe I'll try next time I'm up there.

Pike is actually one of my favorite meats. I know it's a bit bony, but the meat in those 24-30 inchers are great.

Man, I miss MN fishing. The nearest decent inland lake here in Chicago is between an hour to hour and a half way.

BTW, how did the lund do in the wind?

 

[j_martin]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

That's a plain northern pike, a well fed one, along side a largemouth.

 

[mantis270]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

The boat handles the wind quite well...I tilt the motor down a notch when the waves are up and slow down a little and she cuts straight through without a problem. I do have to sit low while fishing because she will rock a bit. I have to stay on the trolling motor to stay where I want...I'm thinking about getting one of those drift control water sock things for the more windy days.

I was out a few weeks ago when a front came over and the wind came out of nowhere and whipped up whitecaps. I decided to head to a little bay surrounded with tall trees and pushed the throttle all the way down. I was skipping along pretty well then hit a DEEP wake I didn't see coming ... skipped the first wave then came down and speared through the second! Talk about white-knuckling a steering wheel! I got soaked but she recovered just fine with only a little water intake.

 

[mantis270]

Re: MN fishing in the new rig

Took the boat out for a quick trip on a lake called Big Marine after supper yesterday evening...was out for about 2 hours. Pike were hitting cranks pretty well all evening above submerged weed beds...here are a couple...

I also had several blow-ups on a scumfrog working through some bullrush but no hookups.