Tim Clutter wrote:

My Dad and his brothers and my Grandpa started going to Reed Lake in 1975. They decided in 1977 to start taking us boys on their yearly fishing trip. I got to go every year with 82 being the last year I went. Feeling homesick for the Lake and started looking for pics and came across your post on this forum. Brought back a lot of memories! I got my pike on the wall from 81. I sure would like to go back. Dad and my brother are gone now but would love to take my son. Thanks for sharing. Seems like not much had changed. Oh the stories I could tell about Reed Lake!

Our trip this year is planned for May 28th – June 4th. Going to need to keep a eye on ice out. We moved our trip up a week this year to try and get into better big pike and also catch the lake trout still in shallow water. The last 4-5 years the Walleye fishing has really exploded. It was good fishing prior but now is incredible for the walleyes.

Justin Donson wrote:

I’m very tempted to get a replica made cause it was such a beautiful fish, but feels a bit inadequate cause my friend caught a 46″ and a 47″ this trip that made this one look small

Nothing wrong with a 43.5 fat winter fish. You get any pictures of those 46 and 47″ fish. I’d love to see a fish of that length from winter waters. Pike of those size are rare anywhere. My best is 45″ and I kind of think I may never top it. It was a spring Canada fish so not real fat. Sure wish I could get one that size on our fall trip.

bigcrappie wrote:

How big is the hook on a 1/100th jig head? Pretty small I am guessing. How can it hold a 1.5″ plastic? Pictures please.

Here is a picture of the setup I’m talking about. The pink and white jig head is a 1/80. The white head is a 1/100. The other jig I believe is a 1/64. The other reason why the small jigs are needed is a 1/32 jig will start to stand the bobber up. It’s key to have that thing laying on its side to detect the often extremely light bites.

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LabDaddy1 wrote:

I can’t even imagine a 1/100th oz jig falling far enough down fast enough that I don’t grow four more gray hairs by the time it gets there, especially with a plastic and no split shot! Then again I’m mostly using flu-flus.

Not saying I don’t believe you, just hard to imagine. That’s tiny!

I hear that from lots of people. The fall rate on a 1/100 jighead with a 1.5″ bobby garland plastic is not real bad. With the bobber set at like 8′ I’d say it takes less than 30 seconds to fall. Often its on the fall that the crappies bite. Once its down to depth the process is a simply really slow reel of the line. The small size often makes a huge difference in cooler spring and fall water temps. There have been days where I’m fishing a 1/32oz jig and my fishing partner is fishing a 1/80 or 1/100 and he’s out fishing me 10-1 with everything else being the same. Just something we have done for many years and works really well for us.

I got the feeder loaded with jelly and oranges. Hope I can attract a few more this year. Only had a few last year. They were only around for a few days.

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Highbeeze24 wrote:

12-16 feet. I’ve got a sneaky suspicion I’m on the same water as you thumper. They were plenty active. 1/16 white jig with a 1″ chartreuse gulp shad. The wind made things difficult but they were up for feeding.

If it’s the same water they are now going in lots of different spots.my buddy was out yesterday and found active fish on 4 different spots. If same water it can be real combat style of fishing. Always happy when more spots start turning on

The St. Cloud Diocese declared bankruptcy in June 2020 to be able to avoid having to pay the many case claims against them for sexual abuse. Its sad that an organization with as much money as the Catholic Church was able to do this to avoid paying out damages.

Well I now know why the other post probably got dusted.

BigWerm wrote:

I wonder if this one will be Catholic? Anyway I bet this thread gets dusted before a new pope is selected.

I’d go with 100% on the Catholic I’d also bet heavy that its one from Italy. Of the 266 total popes Italy has by FAR the most at 217. followed by France at 16 and Germany at 6. Like I said in the prior post that got dusted, It would be great to see it be someone younger, but that will never happen. There was a time that the pope was considered to be one of the most important people in the world. Not so much anymore.

tim hurley wrote:

Thump, are you putting a split shot up from that 1/100th jig?

No. You want the slowest fall rate possible. Use a rocket bobber or old plastic pencil bobber that lays on its side. If that tip end even twitches, set the hook. Don’t wait for the bobber to fully stand up or go down. It’s the slightest lift of the bobber tip off the water surface you are looking for. The balsa type of bobbers don’t work as well as they are way lighter and don’t cast as well. I’m talking fixed bobbers not a slip bobber. When fishing 6-8 feet down you will need a rather long rod to be able to cast and swing the fish in. I fish a 8” but my buddies all fish even longer rods.

Just curious. What happened to the other pope post. Hard to believe a post about a pope would get dusted.

lindyrig79 wrote:

I just bought a bag from a local seed store (not a big box store) and the directions state 4-5 times a day.

You have to use some common sense. But the seed needs to make good soil contact. And get enough water.

Sounds good. Raked a little more lawn this evening and this part didn’t tear up near as bad as the prior part. I think that area was just more damaged and dead. Once I get it all detached I’ll get some quality seed and give the overseeding a try.

lindyrig79 wrote:

You should have the grass cut very short and rake it in. The seed needs to be in contact with the soil. Then water it 3 times per day (or more) depending on how much sun it will get and your soil type. (Keep it moist)

I read that one of the most common mistakes with grass seed is overwatering it to much. how much is to much I have no idea. 3 times per day seems like a lot but I guess it depends on how warm and windy it is

Great timing. I was going to post how soon to start the Oriole feeders. I guess now is a good time

Buzz wrote:

Its up to $890 for an agreed upon value of $39,500

At what deductible and with how much personal property? That seems rather high

Often some insurance boat policies are at agreed on value policies and not ACV policies. If they are based on agreed on value, and you want to save some money on premiums, Make sure to keep the value listed up to date as the Value decreases. I know people who listed their value of their boat as 60,000 ten years ago and the boat are not near worth that value today. If they don’t call the insurance company / Agent to adjust the value they will be paying higher premiums based on the original value given at the time the policy was issued. This is only the case if the boat is on agreed value.
Another way to often decrease the premium is to look at higher deductibles. See far to many people with 60,000-100,000 boats or pontoons that have a 100.00-250.00 deductible. I’d think if you can afford a boat of that value you could afford a higher deductible.

All good things must someday come to a end. And so will this site. When, no one knows. I keep expecting one day to go to log in and Poof – Its gone like a fart in the wind.

We are finding lots of crappies right now in 12-14 ft of water outside spawning areas or off the 1st break line. A ultra small jig with plastics or a rather small flu flu has been taking most our fish. By small I’m talking 1/100, 1/80, or 1/64 oz jigs.something about the SLOW fall rate that is deadly on these fish this time if the year. You been an extremely sensitive bobber to detect the bite as most days they barely inhale the bait and if not quick on the Hook set you will miss them.

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I’ve caught crappies on both a Lindy rig and a drop shot but can not see a reason why it would be a rig of choice. Crappies rarely really hug the bottom, at least not while they are actively feeding. Their eyes are positioned on their head in a way that helps them mostly feed above them. So although it may work, I feel there are far better options. Now a drop shot may offer some advantages. You can suspend the bait at almost any height off the bottom and keep the bait either at their level or slightly above them.

Jimmy wrote:

Teaching kids gambling at like 12 years old. Great parenting right there.

You must be a real fun guy to hang around with – Said no person every. It must be tough going through life with as much negative things as you having going on in your life.

Odd morning. Some are fishing in a downpour and others not.

My favorite golf event of the year by far. Would love to see Rory get a win. Actually going to hit the golf course for the 1st outing of the year after work today. That first Tee shot should be interesting. Have not swung a club since late last fall. I was hoping to go hit a bucket of golf balls yesterday after work but something came up and could not make it. Anyone on Blackberry Ridge golf course After 4:50 better have their head on a swivel, no telling where some of my shots may be going

We use the Pembina / Emerson crossing on our trips. The last few years we’ve had to do the boat livewell inspection most every crossing. If they are set up, all boats are being inspected. A few times we have been required to stop inside. Usually just a few questions to see if our stories match and we are on our way. To be honest I’m not sure we have ever had a auto or boat search done. Never had to pay Duty on anything. Had a few others who have been following us had a quick search done. I’m a bit surprised they don’t stop and search more people than they do.

Looks like several of the midwest guys are off to a decent start

Umy wrote:

My thoughts, random actions depending on mood or some other factor we are not aware of. My vehicle and the one that my sister was in both talked to the same agent about 3 hours apart.

Nothing new on this. We’ve had the same thing happen in the 10-12 years I’ve been going to Canada. Canadian friends say its the same on the US border side. Both sides have always did random stops and search.

I live 20 minutes away from and am on Tonka and Waconia frequently, and am yet to see a floater. So I do not believe you see floating musky’s “often” and you living in StC makes me think you don’t actually come down here “often” either.

Prior to moving to St. Cloud I lived for 30 years in the metro. I was probably on one or both those lakes at least once a week. If you fish Tonka and Waconia frequently and have yet to see a floating musky, then either you don’t actually fish those lakes frequently, things have changed greatly with the musky populations, or you are a blind fishermen.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I wasnt disagreeing with what you said merely pointing out the only way we can reduce or eliminate fishing related mortality is to not allow fishing in the first place.

I’ll agree with you on the Eliminate part. Not the reduce part, Decreasing the # caught, would decrease the # that die.

big_g wrote:

Yeah, other than the guy who’s business up there relies on us being able to cross easily, it wasn’t to over blown

Was that guys business ever effected by this? What was said to be going to happen never did according to the people who crossed the border since the original Information was posted. Now had all the hassle that was talked about ever really happened, I’d agree it wasn’t to over blown, but it never happened that I’m aware of.

CaptainMusky wrote:

April 8, 2025 at 1:45 pm#2328932
fishthumper wrote:
The long and short of it is more hooked fish is more mortality to fish.

This is a rhetorical question, but since fishing essentially leads to mortality regardless of whether the fish is released or not, are you going to stop fishing and pick up scuba diving and just take pictures of two fists full of largemouths

A rhetorical question back at you. Do you agree that with more fish being caught, the # of fish dying from hooking mortality is likely to increase? If so, what’s the problem with my statement? Now if you think with more fish being caught, the hooking mortality death do not also increase, then we have a different situation. I assume the primary reason one would purchase a FFS is to catch more fish, can we agree on that or do you disagree with that? If so, what do you think the primary reason is?

BigWerm wrote:

Yeah, they are called scientists and their conclusions are drawn off of studies. Except on Mille Lacs where they want you to believe that every fish in a net dies, but that is no comparison to the amount dying by Hooking Mortality.

You show me where many studies have been done by a reliable source on hooking mortality of Caught Muskies. In my time on the water I can tell you I witnessed many Muskies being caught by both Muskie fishermen and people who catch them while fishing for other fish. I can assure you that in warmer water temp months, more than a few of those fish do not survive after release. I fish both Minnetonka and Waconia often enough and often see dead Muskies floating dead. Not many other causes of this other than Hooking mortality. Once again I’ll state FFS are fully legal to use. If you want to use them to help catch more fish, go ahead. In a few years when more and more limits are lowered and other restrictions are put in place don’t be surprised.