Info needed

[shortfatguy]

I am looking for info on deer lake near Effie Mn. I dont know what regional forum covers this area. Has anyone on here fished the lake and have any info? My family purchased a cabin there so I will be fishing it for the first time this weekend.

[panfishpounder00]

you could try the grand rapids area forum. from the looks of it,half the lake is taken out of the equation. try trolling cranks over the humps in front of the north landing, trolling will be a good option for trying out new waters, youll cover water faster and gives you a good look at where fish are stacked up. dont overlook the small points adjacent to the expansive flats areas, looks like alot of good transition areas. crawler harness slow rolled over flats would be a good choice too. jigs tipped with shiners over the transitions could be another good tactic... you have some options to play with on that lake, i would love a day out there, looks quite interesting!! hope this helps, good luck!

[Greg Clusiau]

I've done well on the walleyes, working the breakline in front of the old resort on the east side, also the humps in that general area. Also, work the weedline areas in front of the public access.

It's a neat lake. Congrats!

[GrizzlyAdams]

My boss has a cabin on that lake. Was up there last summer for the first time. Didn't catch much. Super hot that day and we pretty much sat in the same spots. He does really well in the spring and fall for eyes. The lake drops off in front of his cabin so he usually fishes that first drop off. He doesn't do that much fishing so not much help. It is absolutely beautiful up there and it is a beautiful lake. You should love it up there. I am a bit jealous.

[MJBaldwin]

I am looking for info on deer lake near Effie Mn. I dont know what regional forum covers this area. Has anyone on here fished the lake and have any info? My family purchased a cabin there so I will be fishing it for the first time this weekend.

ShortFatGuy,

This is odd too see this on a forum not many people go to this lake from what I have heard. I have been going here since I have been 8 years old an I am currently 22. We always go out of Camp Deer with (Ivy owner - and her son Norm Older people but very nice) going there again here in a couple weeks actually. We have hit this lake hard in the past years. Has great Walleye, Crappies, and Sunnies. Havnt done too much Pike fishing there but always snag a few. Nice big lake that you can choose your options on as well. If the water is high enough you should be able to get back to Pickeral & Battle lake as well. Smaller lakes but you can pound the eye's on battle.

[shortfatguy]

Thanks for the info guys. It is a beautiful lake and area. I plan on spending as much time as I can there. Opener was very windy and cold. We managed only an 18" largemouth before heading to the river to get out of the wind. We fished at little American falls and caught 8 nice eater walleyes and a 3-4 pound northern. This morning we fished the lake again and I caught an 18.5" eye. Talked to the warden and some locals and they said the lake is pretty slow on opener and doesnt really pick up until the end of the month. They attributed this to the deep water taking longer to warm up. I barely made it through the channel into pickerel and caught a few bass and northerns. The channel into battle is too small to get into. I really wanted to get in there since it is a much smaller and shallower lake I figured the water would be warmer and not as choppy. In front of the channel form battle to pickerel the water temp just over 62 degrees and the highest I had on the other lakes was in the low 50s so it probably would have made a difference. Is there an access on battle or do you have to take a small boat or canoe up the channel or carry in from the road? Thanks again for the info and hope to see you guys up there. I have a tan alumacraft competitor with a 60 johnson tiller. If you see me on the water say hi. My familys cabin is the 2cnd drive way past the dirt rd to the access.

[Greg Clusiau]

I was thinking of heading up there to try Battle with my little lightweight 14'er. Do you think I can get it through the culvert? I used to put a larger boat through there.

Also, I used to put in on the east side where there was a carry-in type access but think someone has purchased this property and it's off limits? Don't really know.

[MJBaldwin]

There is no public access onto battle you have to go through that channel that is there. All we have is a small 14' lund and even with that we will have to jump out sometimes with rubber boots in order to pull the boat through those channels. Its worth it and doesnt take too long just depends on how many people and how much gear you are pulling and of course how much water is there to help you out. Sometime I know that beavers will block that channel but havnt seen that in a few years since I have gone up. Its a fun lake I really enjoy it! Wish I could make it up more than I do.

[shortfatguy]

With a small boat I would think you could get in but you would probably have to get out and pull the boat through the shallow spots. What areas do you fish on Battle? Does it have good structure to fish? About all I know is it is a fairly shallow lake.

[fishtrapgirl]

My in-laws have 40 acres of land on Battle Lake. This is by far our most favorite lake to fish. Have caught some nice largemouth bass out of there, one of which is on the wall in our house. Usually don't see very many people at all on the lake, which is nice. We used to fish there a lot more when we lived in Grand Rapids, but now since moving to Wisconsin we don't get up there more than a couple of times a year because it's such a long drive. Planning a trip up the first weekend and June and getting excited. Talk about a peaceful place!

[chris63]

Wrong lake.I was thinking of Battle by Detroit Lakes.c63

[MJBaldwin]

From what I have noticed it has decent structure I cant remember exactly. Your correct about the shallow part though. Never hurts to give it a little try though.

[MJBaldwin]

Heading up there in about 2 weeks hopefully I come back and have something to show for it! O well will be a good time with cousins, Brother In-Law, Dad, And Grandpa. Cant complain and hey its always better than work. Ill let you know how we do. Keep the reports coming if you have any luck anywhere up there..

[MJBaldwin]

Well after being out there from Tues through Sat we hit the sunfish hole and crappie hole a few times. Got our limit easily of sunfish while we left and a few days during the week. It was a great time. Didnt go to battle but hit up pickeral and obvously deer lake.

[MJBaldwin]