Trail Cam Giants...

Okay, I just got back from Vegas and wanted to have a new post, but I am a little strapped for time. So, I thought I would link to a current forum thread from Minnesota Outdoorsman that could be fun to follow along with.
It is a Big Buck Trail Camera thread, and everyone likes looking at Big Bucks!
I even threw in 'Beefy' from my most wanted list; just for good measure. Enjoy!
http://mnoutdoorsman.com/forums/index.php?topic=23444.0

~Swany

Fight the Slush

Chuck "Shooster" Hasse

I got in an ice fishing discussion with a Rack Pack buddy of mine, Chuck Hasse, over email the other day. Chuck fishes Leech Lake pretty religiously and definitely knows his head from a hole in the ice. He brought up some awesome points about how extreme snow and poor ice conditions can negatively affect fish activity. I felt the points were great, and also related to other lakes so well, they should be shared with everyone.
Below is Chuck's thoughts and approach to tackling Leech Lake, but as you read through, you will see that this information and tactics will roll-over to other lakes like Lake of the Woods very well. 

"I would say 90% of the fishing we do on leech is done on the sand flats. The key is to find the weed growth adjacent to sand/gravel bottoms. These are typically the routes that fish follow and are using to feed on baitfish, crayfish, bloodworms, etc. Each year, weed growth varies from spot to spot depending on temp change, snow cover, and sunlight. All of which have a direct result in an area being very good for active fish one year, but poor the next."

"The amounts of snow on the ice affect a number of things. Oxygen levels and weed growth are the main two. The less sun that gets through the ice, the faster weeds die off and faster oxygen in a lake becomes depleted. Once you start depleting the oxygen levels, the fish start to become more lethargic. Once they are lethargic, you need to do some massive searching to find some active fish."

"It’s a constant stream of searching for the most part, but once you find them, you can typically stay on a bite for quite a while, sometimes even for a month or two until conditions change. But this year is met with more challenges. Leech is 115k acres, so if that area is restricted by snow, slush, water and poor ice conditions makes it very tough on everything to be able to stay mobile."


"It’s just a chain reaction of all the effects snow and slush have on a lake of that size."


So, if you are struggling to find the fish on your favorite ice fishing haunt, whip out the lake chip, get mobile (if you can) and go on the hunt.

Mission Accomplished...sort of

Well, back to the grind this week after a relaxing weekend fishing Lake of The Woods. We were greeted Thursday evening with less than desirable snow conditions, and we weren't able to get the house pulled to my brother's preferred location. So, we chose to set up where we could and gave it the best shot we had.

Afternoon snooze...

We trudged through three slow days of fish activity, and although theVexilar showed a fair amount of activity below the holes, there were way more lookers than takers. The majority of our keepers were caught on just a plain hook and minnow setup. All those expensive jigs, spoons, darters, and whatchamacallits weren't a match for old school flair.
As normal, there were a few missed fish along the way, if we could have added the missed fish to the overall total it would have been a more gratifying number!
Listening to other people who were up there over the weekend, it did sound like other spots on the lake were more productive.

Pout Pride

The good news from the weekend: I partially fulfilled the "Burbout Quest", and he was delicious!. The bad news: I was 6" short of reaching my 30" goal. I ended up pulling in a chunky 24" Pout at 6:00pm Friday evening.There is always next trip!

One note: We ran into a guy at the Springsteel Bar who pulled in the biggest Eel Pout I have ever heard of, or seen. He had a picture on his smart phone and reluctantly let us take a peek. Cell phone camera's aren't the best and perspective in a photo can be questionable, but I would conservatively say the fish was 40" long, and probably topped the scale about 25-30 pounds. Easily the new MN state record...and he put it back down the hole! He wouldn't send the picture to anyone because he didn't want it plastered all of the web, but when it does start floating around (and it will), you can say you heard of it first on The Rack Pack!

Rock's 1st L.O.W Walleye

After it was said and done, it was another great trip that was filled with a lot of laughs, a little bit of adventure (who knew tailer lights on a fish house weren't optional?!), and a few bags of fish in the freezer. Thanks go to my brother Mike for making it all happen, my lovely wife for letting me go, and to Rock and Skeimer for spending time on the ice with me. If things shake out, maybe I can resurrect the 30" Burbout Quest one more time this year...


~Swany