Ely Guide Company Fishing Report

Here is a fishing report from the last few days:

I made it out fishing the last few days enjoying some sunshine and warm weather at times. I was able to fish with an old buddy of mine from the twin cities Mike R.

Saturday the 28^th of March: We went out on one of my favorite pan fish lakes and found our selves fishing in our tee shirts. We managed to catch some small crappies and blue gills that we decided to let go. We were using small Northland Gipsy Jigs with wax worms and crappie minnows fishing in about 10-15 feet of water on some weed lines. There was about 20 to 24 inches of ice. Remember to use caution this time of year on the ice; there are spots that are not safe. Current areas and sun beaten shorelines are opening up.

Sunday the 29^th of March: With only a couple of days left in the trout season Mike and I decided to go after some lake trout. My friend Mike had never caught a lake trout. I explained to him that lake trout can be challenging at times and not to expect a whole lot of action. We went out on Burntside Lake and searched for some Lakers. We fished with out success in three different spots for about six hours. We were using tip ups with ciscos, and we were jigging with spoons.

Monday the 30^th of March: After spending a day out on Burntside with no success I had to go out again. I wanted to end the season on a positive note. I went out on Burntside again with a friend from town. We had some action immediately with a couple hits. I was using a big spoon with half a piece of cisco. I decided to change to something smaller, so I went with an orange Rapala Jigging Rap. As soon as I let my lure to the bottom I had a fish on. I iced one Laker about 3-4lbs and dropped my jig back down and immediately caught a second fish about the same size. This was the fastest I had caught two Lake Trout thru the Ice! We were using Rapala Jigging Raps and tip ups with ciscos. We were fishing from 35 to 50 feet of water. There was approximately 24 inches of ice. We used a snowmobile to get around. Again we enjoyed the sunshine for a few hours until the clouds came in and it cooled down a bit. We managed to catch three lake trout which were a perfect eating size!

Tuesday the 31^st of March: Decided to hit a crappie spot on the last day of March. I thought with the snow storm approaching the slab crappies would be hitting. With the high winds and colder temps I brought along my fish house to stay warm. I’m glad we did! It was challenging just to get the portable fish house from blowing away. With the lack of snow on the ice there was nothing to anchor the house. Well we managed to catch a few crappies in the morning enough for a good meal, and then call it a day. We were fishing in 25-30 feet catching the crappies about half way down. We used small jigs with crappie minnows.