Ice Fishing reports 08/09

Ice Fishing around Duluth has been good with limits of crappies and walleyes coming on area lakes nearly every outing. Adam "Frenchy" Laporte and I have been out every other day the past two weeks battling either, cold (below 0 temps) or snow with good sucess. Crappies are coming in 18-25ft of water on plastic and small demon spoons. The crappies are running between 10 and 13 inches. Walleyes are coming in 10-25 ft of water on breaks and underwater structure, with small jigging spoons tipped with a minnow head. People are driving in some area lakes but caution in advised with ice depths ranging from 8-16 inches from lake to lake.

Pete Brzezinski
Northland Muskie Adventures Guide Service

Ice fishing in the Duluth area continues to be strong, despite snow and cold weather. Crappie fishing has been very, very good on area lakes. Mobility and staying away from other anglers is the key. Punch enough holes to find where the fish are at and set up shop! Once pods of fish are found they are not difficult to catch. Most of the crappies are suspended 8-15 ft down over 16-25 ft of water depending on the day. Jigging Plastic in combo with a dead stick and a crappie minnow has been producing using the best of both worlds.
Walleye fishing has also been very good, the eyes also have been away from crowds on underwater points and humps. Many numbers (5-20 per night)and some nice fish being caught with eyes up to 25 inches being iced. Jigging raps and jigging spoons in the shack on the outside edges of structure and tip-ups on top of structure in shallower water. Has been the ticket with fish coming on both.

Pete Brzezinski
Northland Muskie Adventures Guide Service
www.northlandmuskieadventures.com

Ice fishing in the northland has been great this season. Crappies and Walleyes are still being caught with consistency. Crappies are suspended over deeper wintering holes and still biting good. Moving away from other anglers and drilling holes until crappies are found. They’re willing to bite once their found.
Walleyes are starting to show up in the harbor with some nice fish being caught. Sturgeon are mixed in with the walleyes and more common on nights. Walleye fishing is not like two years ago, but it is getting better. Again, staying away from crowds and finding muscle beds are the key. Area lakes are putting out good numbers of walleyes deep weed lines and drops along structure have been producing fish.
Lake trout fishing has been good in the Apostle Island and early cold weather has froze in good ice. Dustin and I were are out there on Sunday and moved around a lot until fish were found. The group that we were with iced 11 lake trout most were 3-6lbs with one over 20lbs. Beetles and herring were the bait of choice.

Pete Brzezinski
www.northlandmuskieadventures.com
(715) 574-1813

More pics.

Well we’ve been everyday this past week. Adam “Frenchy” LaPorte has been hitting the St. Louis River in the evenings with mixed results. Fishing has been very spotting. One night the bite is good and there’s a flight of fish in from the big lake and you pick up quite a few fish. Then the next night you head out and you can hardly mark a fish. Current and current direction seem to be playing a role in the numbers of fish we‘re catching. No current, no fish seems to be the rule. It also seems that if you are not marking ruff on the vex you need to move. You don’t have to move far, last night I moved 10ft off the side of a muscle bed there they were.
#5 Jigging raps, rattle spoons and a dead rod have been the ticket. Hopefully as we get into February fishing becomes more consistent as more and more fish move into the river to stage before the spawn.

Pete Brzezinski
www.northlandmuskieadventures.com

Well, it took a while for me to get back on the ice after Adam passing, I wasn't sure how I would handle it. It was a little uneasy, lots of thoughts going through my head. But Jeremy and I were here to fish, and fish we did.

Walleyes were biting and seem to be back in the Harbor in good numbers. Also iced two eel pout which were delicious last night. 27ft of water jigging raps tipped with a fathead head. We'll be out the rest of the Walleye season beating them up. Hopefully tag a few nice ones.

Pete Brzezinski

Well I was out everyday since my last post. Walleyes were around but scattered. Caught eyes everyday but had to move around a bit. Saturday Jeremy and I where out and caught a limit and lost some others. We then went and check on the ice out on Lake Superior (walleyes are open year round). Ice was in good shape at the time. But with strong SW winds we weren't brave enough to head out. The ice did blow out and the wind switched back from the N. Sunday we fished in the Superior Entry caught some smelt but no eyes. Moved into the harbor in the afternoon to finish out the season picked up a eye and a pout. Next week I'm off to Manitoba after some GIANT Greenbacks with Stu Mckay at Cats on the Red. Should be a good trip.

Pete Brzezinski

Here are some pics from my trip with my buddy Nick.

Here's a pic Nicks 30incher, 9lbs. 13oz.

Here is a pic of my big Eyes from the trip. 31.5 inches 10lbs. 12oz.