More Laker/Burntside Bash EXCITEMENT!!!

[Lisa Almquist]

Hi everyone! My husband and I are getting really excited to attend the Burntside Bash in a couple of weeks in Ely. It's a Fishing Minnesota Get Together and you can get more info by clicking BURNTSIDE BASH DETAILS! We watched Sportsman's Journal this morning and Butch Furtman was hauling in the monster lake trout one after another. We were inspired! Time to go buy some TACKLE!

So here's what I bought to debut at the Bash: Air Plane Glider Jig "It flies, Circles & Dives Like An Air-Plane", Sting'r Bucktail Jigs, "THE STING'R GETS 'EM EVERYTIME!" and a Bionic Bucktail Jig "It Hooks 'Em and Holds 'Em!"

So what did I learn from all this tackle shopping (click on the show button)?

Warning, Spoiler:

The tackle doesn't always catch fish but it sure catches LISA!!!

[reelemin]

the anticipation is almost too much --

I bought a laker rod and put one of my good reels on it. Bought some jigs and white tubes.

Any other basic tackle I need let me know. I know there is a thread in the ice fishing forum on this. I'll check it out. But any info here would help

[Lisa Almquist]

White tubes!!! You mean that plastic bait that looks like a squid? Really? Butch Furtman had some of those. Calm down...calm down...there's still time to buy some...

[reelemin]

Yea - squid, looking. And the white ones.

I heard those are THE thing to have.

[Lisa Almquist]

Thanks for sharing Tami! I gotta get my little icefishing dude in my sig line too-gotta work on that! Yay I did it-there she is!!

[gatorhunter]

White tubes are extremely popular laker takers. If you can get some sucker belly to hook as bait, you'll be in business. Yes to stingers!

Lakers like action so you have to constantly work the water column. Bait casting reels are the best because you can keep your thumb on the spool when dropping the lure. Lakers are notorious for hitting a lure on the way down. AND set the hook with passion. They have a hard mouth and you need to stick them real good.

My favorite ice fishing fish bar none!

[Lisa Almquist]

Thanks for the tips gatorhunter! I've only trout fished one other time but was unsuccessful. But so was most everybody else for that matter! I do have a baitcaster reel but possibly think I need a new rod?! My husband just got a Jason Mitchell rod that has the eyes that spiral around! Super cool but they only had one left!

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: gatorhunter

White tubes are extremely popular laker takers. If you can get some sucker belly to hook as bait, you'll be in business. Yes to stingers!

what are "sucker bellies" and remind me again what stingers are. I think I know but not sure.

Thanks for the great info. I'll put my casting reel on tonight

[Lisa Almquist]

I think the stingers are those bucktail stinger lures. Sucker Belly I assume is a chunk of bait (sucker meat)? Wow Tami-sorry-I'm the blind one trying to lead??? I'll let gatorhunter clarify more! LOL!

[gatorhunter]

Sucker belly is just that...the belly part of a fish called a sucker. Your Minnesota bait shops will have suckers for sure.

My favorite stingers are treble hooks attached to a short length of mono (3 inches) attached to a rubber coated metal ring. The ring fits over the jig hook and the rubber keeps it from sliding off. Hook part of the belly on the jig hook and then hook a couple of the stinger's trebles through the belly. Belly chunk should be about 3 inches long and maybe an inch wide.

We've got custom made laker rods...approximately 40 inches, spiralled eyes, medium/heavy action. 30 lb spiderwire stealth on my reels. Any braided line will do. Mono stretches so much that I prefer anything else but mono.

[reelemin]

Awesome

Ok - suckers I use all the time, no problem. So I just cut a chuck of the bellie off.

Stingers I've used before, attached to jigs and etc. I think I'll wait to actually see the set up you are talking about, before I put it together. I'll try to have all parts needed, ready to go.

Already have 20lb braided on my bait casting reel, so am I good there? My rod is a heavy action 32" (?). Can't afford anything else this year, so I'll have to make do with this rod.

Does this all sound good ?

[Powerstroke]

It sounds perfect Tami. I use a 36" rod for lakers had did just fine last year. Its more important to have a great reel with a smooth drag.

Burntside lakers are pretty average in size and most will be caught with "walleye" size lures. I bought some airplane jigs and bucktails last year and ended up catching my fish on smaller jigging raps and jigging shads. Orange glow to be exact. Also the slender spoons were a big hit.

Tami- Sorry I didn't get a chance to say HI at Lake Sarah, but we will definitely see you in Ely.

[gatorhunter]

Sounds real good Tami. Good luck and slam some lakers!

[harvey lee]

The white tubes jigs can work. This past weekend fishing Lakers on the Gunflint lake the go to lure for me was a 1/4 oz Go-Devil tipped with a minnow head or whole minnow. I also used a white tube jig and a Nils jigging Shad. One can check out the Go-Devils here. Dont forget to also check out the Angel eyes as they also will flutter through the water on the drop and also catch lakers.

http://outdoorprostore.com/glow-devil.html

[reelemin]

Thanks all for the info

I am SOOooo looking forward to this. Sounds like I've got the basic to get rocking and rollin.

One last question.

Any good bait shops in Ely to hit on fri. of that weekend to pick up the last of what I need.

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: Powerstroke

It sounds perfect Tami. I use a 36" rod for lakers had did just fine last year. Its more important to have a great reel with a smooth drag.

Burntside lakers are pretty average in size and most will be caught with "walleye" size lures. I bought some airplane jigs and bucktails last year and ended up catching my fish on smaller jigging raps and jigging shads. Orange glow to be exact. Also the slender spoons were a big hit.

Powerstroke - yea, sorry we never connected. Us city folk will have to connect once we're up there. I'll be up Fri. afternoon and am staying at the Paddle Inn. If you're up there then, maybe we can a few to head out that afternoon and get an idea of the lake and what where in for.

Tami- Sorry I didn't get a chance to say HI at Lake Sarah, but we will definitely see you in Ely.

[reelemin]

 Originally Posted By: Powerstroke

It sounds perfect Tami. I use a 36" rod for lakers had did just fine last year. Its more important to have a great reel with a smooth drag.

Burntside lakers are pretty average in size and most will be caught with "walleye" size lures. I bought some airplane jigs and bucktails last year and ended up catching my fish on smaller jigging raps and jigging shads. Orange glow to be exact. Also the slender spoons were a big hit.

Tami- Sorry I didn't get a chance to say HI at Lake Sarah, but we will definitely see you in Ely.

Powerstroke - yea, sorry we never connected. Us city folk will have to connect once we're up there. I'll be up Fri. afternoon and am staying at the Paddle Inn. If you're up there then, maybe we can a few to head out that afternoon and get an idea of the lake and what where in for.

[Lisa Almquist]

My husband and I will be up sometime on Friday too! We should all meet up and scout around. I think there'll be more info about the final Bash details in BWCA,Ely,etc. during that week so we can all meet up.

[reelemin]

Sounds good. I think we need a pre-event laker scouting party, Fri. afternoon.

[Powerstroke]

I'm not sure what time I'm gonna be up there on friday. I have a work conference wed-fri and typically friday is a half day and I usually skip out anyway, but my buddy who's coming with may have work committments too.

We area staying at the Paddle Inn too, so I know we will cross paths this time.

I have a couple ideas of laker spots from fishing last year, but there are so many on b-side we could fish all day. The only transportation I will have is an SUV though and it doesn't sound like there is good ice for that. I'm trying to find some sort of ATV or sled to borrow to help things.

It will be fun to hang out with you guys and get some pre-fishing in. There are a couple great bait shops in Ely that should be open. I've been to Great Outdoors and Skube's. Make sure you have a trout stamp if you haven't bought one yet.

[mnfishingal]

Just rec'd my Feb issue of Field & Stream Magazine in the mail. The main article features the Best Fishing Towns in America: The Places to Live if You Love to Fish. Ely, MN is rated #12.

All of you who enjoy the Bash and fishing in the Ely area are living the dream!!

[Lisa Almquist]

Amen to that Denise...it's going to a weekend to remember!

[Steve Foss]

Golly, Bside Bash threads all over the place!

You can get an ongoing tutorial on winter inland laker fishing here.

Best bets for bait on Friday in Ely are Babe's Bait and Tackle (right on main drag on western edge of town) or Great Outdoors (right on main drag about half way through town). If you're there during odd hours, go to Lucky Seven (right on main drag a bit further into town than G.O.) L.S. is open earlier.

G.O. and Babe's are donating prizes for the Bash, so we're making it a point to recommend people go there. They both have great bait.

I tip all my laker lures with cut cisco, which is available frozen by the half-dozen at G.O. and Babe's. I just cut slices all the way through the bait crossways (they look like salmon steaks), and push the hook through both sides. Cisco have tough skins and they stay on a long time. Smelt also work very well, though they are harder to find in bait stores.

If you can buy smelt where you live and bring them along, they're even better than cisco. There are billions of stunted smelt in Burntside. They drove out the cisco 20 years ago, so smelt are the better bait if you can find them. And, since smelt are the main forage for Bside lakers, that ought to give you a bit of a hint for lure color/patterns.

Tube jigs will work. They're all the hot lure on magazines and such for lakers, but on Bside, most of the trout will prefer smaller lures. That's because their forage is small.

I'm not saying you'll get skunked using 4 or 5" tubes, just that the eaters on Bside probably won't hit them, although they will swarm all over them, and the larger fish will hit smaller lures, too, so the smaller lure covers your broader range of possibility on Bside. As Powerstroke said, walleye-sized lures are plenty on Burntside.

Have fun at the Bash, everyone!

[Kallista]

I will be there for sure

Grins huge

[Steve Foss]

Hey Kallista, cool. I'll look forward to finally meeting you there.