Morson report for the New year!

[Wild Thing]

If the fishing wasn't so good, the New Year's weekend trip could have been very bad.

First, our cabin water system failed, apparently a stuck foot valve under the ice! We'll be carrying buckets of water out of holes in the ice until April ice-out now!

Then there was barely enough snow to run the snowmobiles. Then we got a half-inch of ice on everything on Saturday night. It seems everyone else got snow but Lake of the Woods. If you are running sleds up there, be warned. There's as much bare ice as snow covered ice.

THEN I ran into a long pressure ridge that blocked my way to my favorite reefs! I followed it south past Burnt Island and never found the end. It ran northeast up around Bouy 15 then curved east toward Brule. Not sure how far east it went. Some guys might be able to cross it, but not me. I saw headlights coming from up Miles Bay way so there must have been some way around it.

Now, to the good part. Caught a bunch of walleyes each afternoon. The bite started about 3:30 but was best from 4 to 5. Caught them in 14 feet of water on a reef I'd never fished before! 12-to-19 inchers with several in the 16-inch category. Never did get out in the morning so not sure how that was, but it definitely was a low-light bite.

Anyhow, with all the other guys up there we should see several more reports here.

[dnoz]

Not a very good report for us. We had to stay pretty close to the cabin since our sleds were overheating when we tried to travel any distance. We managed to catch a few walleyes off of one of the islands in about 18' of water. Plenty of ice on the lake we just need some snow. If nothing changes in the next couple of weeks will have to bring the 4 wheeler next trip.

[benelli_dude2002]

Hey WT! I never made it up there last weekend. I got home saturday morning and left again sunday night for the east coast. I was up there for Christmas eve. Coot was up on Whitefish for lakers opening day and they caught a few. He said the rain pretty much took care of whatever snow we had on the ice. I talked to him this morning and he was getting ready to head up again with some of his nephews. Said they were going for lakers in the morning and walleyes in the afternoon. He was posta call me and let me know how they did. Not sure when I will make it up there again. I took the week of the 15th off so I hope to squeeze a day or two of fishing up north plus close to home here. Still managed to get 200 miles on my sled so far this winter though. Let me knew when you make it up to the cabin. I am home most weekends. Hope all is well and tell the family I said HI. Brian

[Wild Thing]

Brian II,

Thanks for the report. Your dad stopped by to say hi on the way up to whitefish on Jan. 1. Glad he caught a few. I wondered if he was burning up his machine going up there on top of that frozen rain with no snow!

Not sure when I'll make it up to Morson next, but definitely Feb. 22-25 for the fishing derby. I've got a Baudette trip planned out of Schusters for Jan. 26-29, six guys and 600 beers. Just surviving that one is a victory, but it's our 15th annual contest and I have to go!!! I always win so get to keep the trophy!!!

Take care! Let us know when you get some decent snow up there!!!

[benelli_dude2002]

Hey WT! I hope to make it up for the derby too this year. I just showed up last year cuz I wanted to get some miles on my sled. It was just days old then and just a few miles where on it, now I got over 1500 on it and that is not kilometers either. Nice ride from Baudette I must say. Gonna fish the MN side this weekend at least Fri and Sat then not sure what is going to happen after that cuz I am home til wedneday. I know what am I going to do with all that time off. Oh yeah I do have a wedding to go to on Monday. My wife's dad is getting married. I think I am posta be an "usher". So you are gonna be up in the Baudette area at the end of the month huh. Cool! sounds like fun! 600 beers for 6 guys? Isnt that kinda light? Sounds like you are cuttin' back. Ha! Be safe and stay in touch! Brian 2

[nerdsbro]

any new reports for the morson area. i will be up for a few days this coming weekend and looking for any helpful hints.

thanks

[socount]

I heard corn niblits on a treble hook was working great

[nerdsbro]

thanks for the info socount

[WIllsdad]

Try Butterfingers on a barbless hook!

[nerdsbro]

NERDSBRO,

GOOD LUCK GETTIN INTO CANADA. I THINK YOU ARE THE ONE GOING O SNOWMACHINE ACROSS THE LAKE INSTEAD OF DRIVING..

[welfedted]

Fished out of Morson this past weekend. Caught lots of little saugers and eyes. Caught one that went 20.5 inches and my friend got a 28 incher on my rod while I was out of the house making the rounds We spent Sunday over at Nester Falls getting crappies. The bite was steady and the size was real good. Just wondering if anyone can tell me how to go from Morson to Nester by truck on the lake. We drove 1.5 hours each way by road. Made for a long day. Work didn't let me make the "extravaganza" last month. Sounded like a good time. I hope to be back up a few times between now and the end of March and maybe do some river fishing in April. I'll keep monitoring this site and hope to fish & meet some of you FM'ERS some day.

[Wild Thing]

WelFed, move this chat to the new Morson posting for late feb...

How deep were you fishing out of Morson for the eyes, and were you fishing reefs?

If the ice ridges don't get in your way, simply drive on at government dock in morson and head east to get to Hay Island and then on to Nestor. We did it back in 2003 and 2004, but the snow has been too deep the last two years.

[benelli_dude2002]

You dont have to travel too much further from Hay to get to the other road via Nestor Falls. You might be able to see the old tracks from other pickups that go that way. Depends if they are covered up from the snow blowing around. When you get on the highway you are actually north of Nestor Falls. I tracked it on my GPS, yup even I use one of them gadgets. It really cuts off alot of time scootin across the lake. From my dads ( oops I mean my mom's ) place in Morson it is less than one hour to where we fish lakers whereas if we took the road all the way you can easy at another hour or so. Not sure when I will up there again. Not going too far from home with # 3 kid due any day now. I hope to make it up in March sometime to go after crappies with some guys from work. Hope this helps. Good luck

p.s Wild Thing Dad says he going to fish at the derby.