Archive for year: 2018

I have been busy the last 3 days with Christmas gatherings so have not been out a ton. I did a guided trip out on Big Stone and the fish did not want to cooperate. On Big Stone we covered around 3500 Acres of lake. Most Ice we measured was 10-12 inches. We did catch one 10 inch Blue Gill and a 12 Inch Jumbo Perch along with a few smaller perch. We had fish on the Camera and on the sonar they just would not commit.

I had another guided outing on Monday morning half day and the bite was a little on the slow side we managed 3 keeper walleyes, 5 crappies, one small mouth bass lost at the hole, one smaller large mouth bass that we released. Chartered Rentals Guide Service donated the proceeds of this outing for a Non Profit called Fishing For Recovery. I want to thank the customers who spend the time out on the ice this morning. They did get enough fish to make Fish Tacos with the walleyes and crappies. The next three days I can put 8 x 16 houses out in the Annandale are for those who want to do a few overnights. I am offering 25% off on guided fishing outings in the sno bear over the next few days when customers bring a kid fishing.

This week I will be in the Annandale area until Saturday we are doing my annual Family fishing trip we do every year. This year we are going up to Bow String Lake and going to chase crappies and walleyes. You can expect a report from Bowstring next Monday.

 

Here is what I am finding on lakes that we are fishing on. 8 – 13 inches of ice. I have heard reports that other lakes still have some open pockets of water on them. I was up on Suak lake up by Sauk Centre and the fish did not want to cooperate on Tuesday. Sauk Lake had some decent ice on the north end of the lake. Some guys started driving trucks out and saw a handful of 8 x 16 Ice Castle Fish houses out. We did find some crappies on Sauk Lake using the Garmin Panoptix but they would not bite. They were suspended out in 25-35 Feet of Water.

Wednesday I set up the guide shack for a father son outing on a lake in Meeker county and they ended up with 13 keeper crappies and had some fun hole hopping and caught 6 Small Mouth Bass and a large mouth bass. They fished 21 Feet of water on the Rocks and hole hoped out to 24-25 feet of water. Plastics and wax worms small tungsten jigs seem to be working for the crappies. The crappies are starting to moving out off the rocks into a little deeper water.

Thursday I spent all day getting the bigger ice castle fish houses ready. Friday I have two hook and go rentals one group is going to Devils lake and the other group is going to Mille Lacs. Friday Afternoon I am getting out in the Sno Bear to pre fish a few lakes.  I look forward to hearing the reports that the hook and go rentals come back with. In the Annandale area over the next few days we should be making about 1/4 – 1/2 inch of ice a day. So I anticipate the day after Christmas we will be setting up Ice houses on a few local lakes if they are not rented for hook and go rentals. Saturday I have a guided outing in the Sno Bear. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and stay tuned because the bite is about to heat up as we will be running the fleet of ice house rentals and the Sno Bear in full force starting the day after Christmas!

I have a customer who took out his daughter and niece ice fishing. I put them in the small Guide Shack and they are catching crappies and walleyes. He has kept 5 walleyes and 8 keeper crappies this morning. The bite was hot from 6:30 – 8:00 a.m. Walleyes are biting on Rainbows and shiners. The crappies are biting on crappie minnows. We are fishing in 22-24 feet of water. The Guide Shack opens up Sunday. I have some openings for guiding in the Sno Bear call for reservations 320-310-9089

Went out today and checked ice on another lake I have not fished yet this season. I brought my wife with and our two youngest kids Levi 4 and Paisley 1.5 years old. While checking Ice I put the camera down on a way point and boom Big Walleye chasing some perch around. I handed my wife one of the walleye rods with a Custom Jigs and Spins Slender Spoon tipped it with a fatty Rainbow Minnow. Down that spoon fell and I watched that walleye attack and my wife set the hook! She caught her personal best 26.5 inch walleye. She was a fatty too. We let her go to grow a few more inches. I saw a few more walleyes on the camera that we saved for another day and the next guided outing. I measured 8.- 11 inches of Ice on this lake.

This week I have the guide shack out on a school of crappies ready for rental! We also have Guided Sno Bear outings open this weekend to target multi species. Start with walleyes and transition into Perch, Crappies, Blue Gills, and Pike.

Over the last few days I have fished Upper Red Lake and down in the Annandale area lakes. Upper Red Lake I was finding 10-12 inches of Ice. There will most likely be resorts letting out trucks and wheel houses by this next weekend with the cold snap this week. While on Upper Red Lake I was working with my 3 year old and 7 year old teaching them how to set the hook on walleyes. This was a quick trip to Upper Red Lake with the Sno Bear. We stayed in one of Cookies Cabin Rentals on Upper Red Lake. We caught 25+ Walleyes. I did not get out to my favorite way points as we had a pressure ridge that was holding us back. Most resorts are bridging over the pressure ridge. Most walleyes being caught on a white Lindy Rattl’n Flyer. This trip was not so much about numbers of fish for me as it was about teaching the kids how to set the hook. I was plenty happy with 25+ walleyes. We fished in 6.5 – 7.5 Feet of Water. Fish Pictures below are walleyes from Upper Red Lake. I am running a special on Hook and Go ice house rentals for this weekend we are removing our 4 day Minimum down to a 3 day Minimum. Pick up your ice house Friday have it back by Monday morning.

8 x 16 Ice Castle Mille Lacs $405 for 3 days https://chartered-rentals.com/our-rentals/ice-houses/ice-castle-mille-lacs/

8 x 16 Extreme Ice Cabin $405 for 3 days https://chartered-rentals.com/2016-extreme-ice-cabin/

2016 Grand Castle $562.50 https://chartered-rentals.com/our-rentals/ice-houses/2016-ice-castle-grand-castle/

2018 Grand Castle $750 https://chartered-rentals.com/our-rentals/ice-houses/2018-ice-castle-grand-castle/

As far as the Ice report for down in the Annandale area Lakes are making ice this week! I am finding 4 to 8 inches of Ice and expect to see 8- 10 inches of ice on Friday on the lakes I have been checking ice on. We have our first guided Sno Bear Outing scheduled for Saturday. We will be fishing walleyes during low light hours and crappies and blue gills during day. I have the Guide shack available for rent for $100/24 hours starting Friday. It is booked on Saturday but open on Sunday. Vinny the fishing guide was out pre fishing on Sunday and caught 8 keeper crappies, and a few small mouth bass. He was fishing Mid Day. We have officially started the 2018 / 2019 Guided Fishing season!