Panfish and Northern Pike keep Biting Around the County.
The ice and lake conditions are looking very good around Otter Tail Lakes Country. While some anglers are still using ATVs for travel, most fishermen are using vehicles. If you’re new to Otter Tail Country, be sure and study lake maps of the lakes you’d like to fish and be sure you know where current areas are. Keep an eye out for narrows (which often produce current), and river inlets and outlets. Panfish and northern pike keep biting around the county. If you like angling for northern or like spear fishing then come to Otter Tail County and enjoy the bounties of our northern pike fisheries. It’s pretty easy to find pike near weeds, as a rule, but don’t forget about deep water area as well. I like to have deep sets for large northern that are chasing and eating the perch and panfish that I’m fishing. Often, the largest pike in the lake are deep-water fish so they are there. If I were to set up a pike fishing “station”, I’d set up near very deep water off the edge of a shallow weedy flat. That type of an edge provides easy access for northern that are feeding on suspending fish like tulibee and can also ambush shallow roaming schools of panfish, perch, walleye and suckers. Most
of my reports are similar when it comes to panfish. They don’t change a whole lot (location wise), between now and late February. I believe the main variable that controls their feeding and acute location are light levels which, in turn, determine when bass and northern choose to feed. If the pike and bass are active or “charged up” then they keep the sunfish, crappie and perch on the run. As normal, I’ll recommend fishing multiple holes to search for a tight concentration of sunfish. Don’t set up your house or portable until you’ve found a bunch. The more fish in the vicinity, the better your fishing will be. If you’re on panfish, especially on one of many of Otter Tail County’s clear water lakes, and they’re not feeding mid-day, then you’ll have to wait till near dark—like walleye fishing. Try to find a lake where the water has a reduced clarity for better daytime fishing. Walleye fishing around the county has slowed, which is normal for this time of year. Walleye will still feed and feed well in mid January but will turn off quickly if conditions aren’t right. This week’s full-moon phase has pushed many of Otter Tail County’s walleye into a night feeding pattern. By the end of the week the dawn and dusk feeding pattern should return.
My tip-of-the-week this week is about tackle. I’ve had a lot of customers out this season with nice tackle—rods and reels. But just because a rod and reel is nice doesn’t mean it’s suitable. The most common mistake I’ve seen this winter is folks are using too light of poles and to light of line with those poles. If you’re out to catch a walleye—use a walleye rod with a medium-light to medium action and then top the reel off with a no-stretch line like Fire Line. Good luck on the lakes this week.
By Ross Hagemeister, Meister Guide Service
