unicat74

Oh dump! Gotta travel to Michigan!

(my report from another site) Fished lovely old Balsam Lake on Saturday, May 20, from 6:00 a.m. until approximately 4:00 p.m. Camped Friday night at the muni campground. The Holiday store wasn't open at 5:30, much to my surprise. The 46 Store wasn't open until 7:00, either (is he crazy? On a Saturday?) Got my bait later at the Sunnyside marina. Always pretty ladies running that place! Lotsa trucks and trailers at the ramp; some oldtimer comin' outta some cafe' told me there was a bass contest and that I'd be "riding the waves" from all the bass boats all day. Hardly. Yeah, there were lots of bassers, but people must think Balsam is a tiny lake that cannot accommodate a large number of boats. It's not. I had no prob's whatsoever in my old alumi Lund. Had it in my mind to catch some pike. Threw everything I could in all my favorite pike places, but did not see a single one. Jointed Rapalas, all manner and variety and size of Mepps 5's, bass spinners, crawler harnesses. I'm not a minnow fisherman, but maybe I gotta get on board with that this early in the year for pike. Boated lots of bucketmouths, some tiny, some big. Was trolling the west shore of Little Balsam just for grins and giggles, pulling a silver/flourescent pink Mepps Syclops and hooked into a huge largie, the biggest of the day. Did a lot of drifting across the large open portions of the lake and pulled in a couple decent sized perch. Had to use my drift sock. Later, while casting a downed tree near a boathouse, caught the biggest rock bass I ever saw! Had to go 1.5 lbs+. Kinda disappointed at not even seeing a pike on two successive trips to Balsam. Did notice some weed areas starting to emerge, particularly on the north shore from Ward's resort, and on east. Maybe that will help pikin' when they thicken up a bit. Got a little cool and sprinkled about the time I was putting away a pizza and two Leinie's at the Fox Den. The rain let up and I headed out to the main lake again, but the breeze was now much stiffer and colder. Gotdam northwoods Springs! When's it gonna get warm????? And where the h3ll are my northerns??? Safe fishing to everyone!!!!!

My report, posted on another HSOforum: "Hit the lake at approximately 10:30 Saturday morning, May 6, and quit at about 6 p.m. Put in at the ramp near downtown, no problems. Caught tons of largies, sometimes in successive casts. Pulled in maybe 13 or 14, all but one casting the docks and shoreline of that north end from the Rt46 ramp until the lake turns up north to Little Balsam. A couple were little bigger than the fluorescent orange Mepps #5 I was tossing at them, but most were good sized. At times, when I was able to, I dragged a crawler harness. Caught one rock bass that way. After a late lunch at Fox Den, fished the mill pond there and pulled in a HOG (at least 3.5 pounds) right along the road. There, too, a good sized pike hit the same Mepps right at the boat, but spit it out. Unfortunately, I could get no other pike to hit anything. Marked tons of fish everywhere I went, all in the 7 to 12 foot deep range. Drifted across the main part of the lake, dragging my driftsock (windy as hell!) and caught a really nice perch. Returned all to the drink. Except for the absence of northerns, it was a great day on the lake. Lots of boats out there, but not at all crowded. What a place! Saw several eagles, including one that picked up something right nearby and proceeded to a tree to dine on his/her catch. Can't wait for warmer water temps when the pike start a-hittin' Safe fishing, everyone!!!!!! "

Sick of the weather up here in Wisconsin. Need a 'Boji break. What's bitin' and where? Lookin' primarily for pike and bass! Likely, I'll spend most of my time castin' docks all over all three lakes.

Hit Balsam Lake at approximately 10:30 Saturday morning, May 6, and quit at about 6 p.m. Put in at the ramp near downtown, no problems. Caught tons of largies, sometimes in successive casts. Pulled in maybe 13 or 14, all but one casting the docks and shoreline of that north end from the Rt46 ramp until the lake turns up north to Little Balsam. A couple were little bigger than the fluorescent orange Mepps #5 I was tossing at them, but most were good sized. At times, when I was able to, I dragged a crawler harness. Caught one rock bass that way. After a late lunch at Fox Den, fished the mill pond there and pulled in a HOG (at least 3.5 pounds) right along the road. There, too, a good sized pike hit the same Mepps right at the boat, but spit it out. Unfortunately, I could get no other pike to hit anything. Marked tons of fish everywhere I went, all in the 7 to 12 foot deep range. Drifted across the main part of the lake, dragging my driftsock (windy as hell!) and caught a really nice perch. Returned all to the drink. Except for the absence of northerns, it was a great day on the lake. Lots of boats out there, but not at all crowded. What a place! Saw several eagles, including one that picked up something right nearby and proceeded to a tree to dine on his/her catch. Can't wait for warmer water temps when the pike start a-hittin' Safe fishing, everyone!!!!!!

Quickstrike is right about fishing the structure. Been there three or four times, last time two summers ago, hotter than h3ll, and slayed the pike in the early a.m and 6 p.m. to dusk, casting the shore and weeds/trees. Also, took lots of scrappy little bucketmouths, just placing a piece of worm on a simple hook and laying it on the bottom in almost any depth of water. 'Course, early season and late season are different!

Balsam Lake, Polk County. Campin' Friday and Saturday night. Fish all day Saturday. Lunch and Leinie's at the Fox Den. More Leinie's Saturday night. Pike, bass, others.

Guy at Shucks said musky don't open 'til May 20. He said northern are open year round there. Sheeeeit, wish I knew that for ice-out!!!

Ugh, tournament fishermen.............. That's OK. I'll stay over on East Okoboji. Catch every variety of fish over there casting that east shore! Plus, that's where dad-in-law has his cabin and launch! Good luck, everyone!

Alright, guys and gals - comin' down from NW Wisconsin to the Iowa Great Lakes - what the heck species are open May 6 weekend??? Bass open yet? Pike? Thanks for the info, folks!!!

Thanks!

Hi, everyone. I moved from Michigan a year ago and, back there, we had an excellent outdoors magazine called "Michigan Woods and Water". Maybe some of you have seen it. Is there a magazine like that which deals exclusively with Wisconsin fishing and hunting (fishing mostly!)? Any recommendations, would be very helpful. Thanks!

Where the heck is it? I looked around Amery on MapQuest and could not find it. ???

....you gotta go here! For those of you who DON'T know, Balsam Lake is a rather large lake with a very fertile fishery just north of Rt 8 on Rt 46, a few miles east and north of St. Croix Falls, WI. Been fishing BL regularly for about 10 years now and it has rarely let me down, including this past Saturday. Balsam Lake Map Put in at the launch on the far west side of the lake where Rt 46 crosses it right next to Ward's Resort. Had to get my boat in order, so I motored out to the middle of that west bay in about 28 ft of water, marking hundreds of fish. Absentmindedly threw a crawler on a harness, dropped it to about 20 feet and drifted northward toward the shore. While up in the front of the boat arranging all my dump, I heard a banging the back of the boat - it was my rod ready to get pulled in! I jumped to the back, grabbed it and pulled in a beautiful dark green northern pike going about 3.5 lbs. I abandoned my front-of-the-boat housekeeping and started to pay attention to fishing. I had drifted into about 14 feet of water and threw out another crawler harness and took another nice pike! Drifted back over the same spot two more times and caught one more - all in about 30 minutes. Wanted to work the docks for bass, as my brother and I have had great success in the past landing scrappy fat bucketmouths all along that north shore, so I drifted into 6-7 feet of water. Put on a smaller Mepps Musky Killer and took two more nice pike in about 6 casts. It slowed a little, so I put on a big bass spinner and caught a nice largie in some weeded flats just east of the docks where the shoreline takes a northerly jag. What was remarkable was how pretty the pike were - very dark green with bright white markings. Very agressive, too. Fished the docks a little more and took two more smaller hammer handles. Left that pike area to do a little exploring, including an area on the north side of the lake filled with stumps. Got skunked there. Worked the islands with a crawler harness while casting my Musky Killer and took two big rock bass on the worms. Too much fishing excitement for me so I did lunch and Leinenkugel's at the Fox Den Resort and packed her in. This lake is very highly recommended and it seems like the pike are on the autumn bite! Hope to see you out there!

Going up from Prescott early Sat a.m., wondering what's been going on in the last four or five weeks since I've been there! Thanks!