badger88

It was little. Maybe 30 inches. Has anyone had any luck at other lakes? I spent a couple days on 33 and it kicked my butt with the exception of a couple dinks

We got out to 35 on monday afternoon before the storms rolled in. The lake seems to be in good condition with clearer water and plenty of shad. We ended up with 16 small bass, 2 crappies and lost a muskie at the boat. I'd say 90% of the fish we caught were in 16+ feet of water with no cover or structure in sight.

just 4 small bass. The only place i had any luck was throwing deep diving cranks in 12+ feet of water around the brush piles. It seems all of the structure that was prime fishing last year is in about 2 feet of water now.

I went out to 35 on wednesday afternoon. Water temps were 49 in most areas. I was surprised to see how low it is right now. Hopefully this rain helps or it could be a long summer for that lake.

The only luck I have had for em has been on the dam end of the lake. I haven't spent much time on the south end but I would guess that it's too shallow and warm for any decent sized muskies.

What were you throwing?

I would guess the ice will still be plenty thick. It still gets down below freezing every night and snow acts as pretty good insulation. You may want to cut a hole and check the thickness 10' from shore just to be safe but anything over 3 inches is safe to fish on.

I don't know how hard it is to find live bait down here this time of year but we always vertical jig minnows or waxy worms on a bubble gum head jig. That usually keeps the lines pretty active which makes the cold weather a little easier to tolerate. We've pulled up everything from perch and bluegills to large pike with that method.

What was your setup?

The whole pond was great ice but I have a feeling it was pretty shallow as well. It ended up being a nice setup for an afternoon of pond hockey.

How thick was the ice? We took an auger out to a small pond in St. Peter's and found it had close to 10" of ice.

How has everyone done out there so far?

I fished 35 yesterday. The lake looks in really good condition with the high waters. Especially if anyone remembers last year. The water was 51 degrees in most areas so still a bit cold for a whole lot of action but there were a few fish moving.

i'll be out throwing for muskies as soon as the boats are in. The cold weather should push the spawn back and make for some decent fishing

I got out on 35 yesterday afternoon for a few hours. I had 2 follows in a about a 2.5 hour span but couldnt get anything to bite. I think with a full day of fishing one could have a pretty productive day with everything starting to cool down. I ran into the MDC in the spring while they were netting the lake and they told me their biggest fish was 52" so there are some nice ones in there if you have the patience to get em moving.