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Post by trent on Apr 8, 2009 15:12:56 GMT -5
A while back, I posted about fishing in Canada. Some folks threw out some good suggestions of places to check out.
One of the suggestions by Les was to look into fishing in MN. After looking at it, my dad and I are going to be heading up to the general area where Les fishes.
We will be there in the later part of June. Who can give me a little help on what to expect and what to take.
We will have a boat and motor, but there is no guide service. I don't do much lake fishing and I pretty much know zippo about spinning gear. I am planning to fly fish as much as possible assuming that I'm getting into fish. Pops will probably want to spin fish, but he is not a master angler by any means.
So, what kind of gear should be take? Lure/fly suggestions? For that time of year, which species should we target and where would they be holding? Etc., Etc., Etc.
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Post by krebsie on Apr 8, 2009 18:35:43 GMT -5
Trent I'm jealous, I've always wanted to go North and fly fish for Pike. Maybe some day! For now I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with Fl. Feel sorry for me yet? Ha Ha. Anyways, I have an extra 9wt TFO If you'd like to borrow it and I'd even throw in some pike flies if you'd like. I know nothing about fishing the North waters, but I'm guessing that if you get into the warmer months you'll have to get down to get to the fish. Krebsie
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Post by phishphinder on Apr 8, 2009 20:13:32 GMT -5
Trent, The times I fished in MN. the pike were in the weed beds. I fished in both June and August. They seemed to be in eight to ten feet of water and you could see the weeds three to four feet down. You would see the fish come up and hit the lure even right up to the boat. We would go down to the shallows in the late evenings and the pike would come up to eat frogs. Through out a top water and hang on. hope this helps.
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Post by Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin on Apr 13, 2009 7:25:42 GMT -5
Trent what lake are you planning on going to?
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Post by trent on Apr 13, 2009 9:11:27 GMT -5
It's called Trout Lake (pretty original, eh?)
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Post by trent on Apr 13, 2009 10:33:21 GMT -5
Would someone that knows something about spinning gear do me a favor and go to the Cabela's website and look in the Bargain Cave. (I know, shopping online at an outdoors store can be such a burden). Anyway, click on the rod/reel combos and tell me if there is anything there that would do a decent job in Minnesota for walleye/pike. I don't want something that's a POS, but I don't need something super fancy either. I basically want something functional that won't break and that I can't hose up.
Thanks, T-
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Post by Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin on Apr 14, 2009 14:25:07 GMT -5
A zebco 33 - has caught more fish than most other reels
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Post by Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin on Apr 14, 2009 15:01:37 GMT -5
You are going to be really close to the place where I go in August. About 20 miles as the crow flies. I pulled up some lake infor for you. Here are the links. www.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/showmap.html?mapid=B0240PDF of the map files.dnr.state.mn.us/lakefind/data/lakemaps/b0240010.pdfThis looks like a great place to fish and man is it deep. The lake run NW to SE with a ridge on the E sides with steep drop offs. The steep drops and points are where I would start my focus. Looking for cover that will lead the fish from the depths to the shallows is always a good place to focus as well. I will drop my buddy up there a line and see what he has to say and if he has any tips. The lake also appears to have a marshy area and in the spring that is where the northerns will be feeding. As far as gear goes, I am generally fishing less the 20' deep and generally 12' the surface. However the temp difference might change the depths the fish are at. I know that the Walleye are really deep when we are there and over the past 8 years the only person to catch one in our group has been my mom and she was fishing for bluegill. The normal stuff that I catch fish on are Red Eye Wiggler, Rapalas, Power bait 4 " black rubber worm, Gulp! 7 inch night crawler. Last year my dad had luck with red rooster tails. Genearlly my wife and I lean towards white lures. The only reason is one year that is all they would bight on. We fish a bunch with just minnows and a bobber. That is a strike indicator for all those strict flyfishermen out there. Hope this info helps
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Post by Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin on Apr 14, 2009 23:24:03 GMT -5
OK Trent I have talked with my buddy up north and it turns out there are two Trou lakes nera Grand Rapids MN. One being actually closer to the town of Coleraine, which is the one the map and links are of. The other is closer to my buddy's place. He has only fished the one close to his place in the winter and has not fished the other one at all. If you let me know which one you are going to he will try to find out some info for ya.
Are you guys taking your own boat and motor, or are you renting something up there?
Another note about gear. I am not really sure how much spin casting you have done, but I am not really joking about the zebco 33 reel. Sure you can go buy something fancier and more expensive, but 95% of the fish I catch spincasting ar caught on a zebco 33. They will generally run about 30- 35 dollars. They hold up pretty well and are super simple to use. Alot of guys give me a hard time about using them, but you can catch fish with them.
Instead of using steal leaders, I have bought a spool od Spyder Wire line and have created my own 3 foot leader by attaching a swivel on one ind and a snap swivel on the other. This is cheaper then buying a bunch of steal leaders. i only use them when I am seriousally fishing for pike. If I am fishing for bass, crappie or blue gill I never use one. If you catch a toothy critter with no leader you still have pretty high odd of being able to land it.
Make sure you have a landing net with at least a 4 foot handle. This makes landing everything much easier when fishing two people in the boat. Shorter ones I have found are fine if you can run the net and your rod at the same time. A four to five footer though is generally within reach of both ends of the boat fairly easily. Always check for holes in your net. last year i had a pike swim through the hole and back again before we could get him tangled up enough to land.
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Post by rstaight on Apr 15, 2009 7:51:41 GMT -5
Trent,
I have to agree with Les on the reel. If you can't get your hands on a Zebco 33, another one that would do nicely is a Zebco 202 or 303.
I still have a Zebco 202 that I used as a kid. Still works fine.
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Post by trent on Apr 15, 2009 10:26:47 GMT -5
Les: thanks for all the info. Here's the link to where we are going. www.exploreminnesota.com/lodging/listing.aspx?EntityId=1127&stchr=mThis is actually a place that we were referred to by the folks at the place where you stay. In just looking at the orientation of the Trout Lake on the pdf you sent and then the one on the link for the lodge, I'm guessing that they are different lakes. Would you agree? I may have a spinning outfit at home that will work if I honestly don't need anything more involved than a Zebco 33. You are saying that will handle about any fish I'm likely to catch? I've had that rod and reel (I don't think it is a 33, but something that looks similarly designed) for probably 20 years. Will I need to change the mono on it? I'm assuming mono breaks down over time???
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Post by rstaight on Apr 15, 2009 14:27:58 GMT -5
Definitely change the line. You should change mono every year, especially if you use the reel a lot. What breaks down mono the worst are the UV rays. If you don't use the reel on a regular basis, and is stored out direct sun light, you may get by with every other year. But with a trip like this, change it!
You may also want to clean and lube the reel. Warm soapy water to clean of the gunk and a nice reel lube like Quantum Hot Sauce on all moving parts.
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Post by Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin on Apr 15, 2009 16:16:18 GMT -5
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Post by trent on Apr 16, 2009 10:19:44 GMT -5
Les:
you are rocking my world here with the maps and info.
So, if I'm looking at the map correctly, it looks like there is quite a bit of contour to the lake bottom. Where should one try to focus his or her efforts? (Don't say fish where the fish are!)
Also, looking at the species data, it looks like I'm probably going to be more likely to catch bluefill, crappie, and bass and less likely to be getting into a lot of pike and walleye. Is that how you would interpret that as well or is this just one test at one point in time and I might be into different species?
I'm going to bring my sorry excuse for a spinning rod and reel tonight for someone to look at and tell me if I need something different.
Sorry about all the questions (especially non FF related), but I really have no idea about these things.
T-
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Post by Tippecanoe Fly Fishers Admin on Apr 16, 2009 14:12:42 GMT -5
I will try to print out the map and bring it with me Saturday. I will also try to compare the fish stats to the lake I fish.
Here are some other things you will or might need. Basically this is what we keep in our boat during the week. Keep in mind I fish about the same week every year, last week of July first week of Aug. I have fished when has been 90 most of the week and when it was lucky to get 55 with wind and rain. I figure we fish about 8 hours a day for the entire week.
Fish Basket - if you don't have a live well. If they are really biting it helps to have one at each end of the boat. Empty Cat Litter bucket - make a great boat trash can because it has a hindged lid. Mini bucket Five gallon bucket - this is really only if you have females going with you. They just have a real hard time hanging it over the side of the boat. TP in a ziplock baggie Cooler - duh Can and bottle coozies Fish Finder- Extremely helpful almost a must. If the fish finder shows no fish what is the point of fishing there? MP3 player with small speaker - becasue some times it just doesn't matter if the fish aren't biting Camera Rain Suit Fly swatter Sun Screen Bug repelant Water Cooler Fish towel / rags
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