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Fishing Report

December 15, 2020

We finally have ice!  About 3″ in front of the shop, I ventured to the east a bit and the ice is pretty steady.  There is still open water around Marge’s Island and to the West of the shop so be careful if you explore past where people have been.  We should keep adding ice for the next few days but then we warm up for a bit.

May 19, 2020

We seem to be on the tail end of the Crappie spawn. The crappies are still out there and you can catch some nice ones, but I expect they will move out this week with the warm temps. Those warm temps should also be a kickstart to the bluegills moving into the shallows to spawn. With the water being low on the lake and the temps increasing as quickly as they are things are going to change fast. The bass and northern continue to bite, and topwater season is here! Stop in for the latest report.

February 21, 2020

I think we are starting to move out of the mid winter lull that we have every year. Although the fishing has been slow this week I expect it to pick up this weekend with the warmer temperatures. Some water running down into the holes is always makes the fish wake up some. Hopefully I get some good reports this weekend so I can give everyone an idea of what the bite going to be like.

January 30, 2020

We are past the Atomic Derby and onto Brice Prairie Conservation Association Derby this weekend. Unfortunately for the Atomic the fish had lock jaw that day and the catch from the lake was down. We are in the mid winter pattern for sure, with most guys picking up their fish for the day in a 1 or 2 hour window. The pike have started biting better, I have talked to guys who are catching them both shallow and deep. If you can’t fish the BPCA at least swing down and get a cash raffle ticket. They have in the past supported projects on the lake and donated a lot of money to the renovation of the landing last year!

January 16, 2020

The ice conditions continue to improve. I would say we are averaging 10″, but there are still a few areas of concern. The open water over by the sailboat club is still an issue, and there is a pressure break running east to west from the tracks to the tip of the small islands running off the south east corner of Rosebud. I would think that the cold weather last night and tonight will help those two areas tremendously. There have been ATVs traveling from here to the lights just use caution around the small islands previously mentioned.

As far as fishing goes the bite has remained fairly steady. The northern bite has picked up a bit, and I would expect it to take off at any time here. The big question so far has been where are the big schools of perch. There has been some success west of the lights but not what you would normally see this time of year. They will be in at some point and if you catch them right away you will have a day to remember. The dredge lines east of me continue to hold lots of bluegills and crappies, the key is figuring out their feeding windows. The colder and snowier it gets the smaller the windows are. Stop in for the latest news!

January 10, 2020

Ice conditions continue to improve with the average on this side of the lake around 8″. I saw some ATVs drive from here to the lights yesterday, please use caution if you are going to do that. The fishing has remained steady from last week with crappies biting the best. The bluegills have moved around some, don’t be afraid to try different areas. Northerns have really started to take off and some big fish are being caught. Perch have been harder to come by. There was a school off of the sailboat club but that seems to be over for now. Stop in and get the latest news!

January 3, 2020

Ice conditions aside we are starting off the new year on a good note. Fishing in general improved over last week, which was good to begin with. Guys have started finding perch again in the deeper water, and you will have a hard time getting away from bluegills there are so many out there right now. Checkout my facebook page for some pictures of big fish caught recently. https://www.facebook.com/schafersriverrentals/ Ice conditions continue to be on everyone’s mind, I would say over the dredged areas we are averaging 6″ with some places with more. The channel close to Rosebud Island across from the shop is thinner due to the flow. There are ATVs going out, if you are planning on taking yours just be careful and check the ice you are unsure of. Good luck and get out while the fishing is good!

December 26, 2019

I have been getting a lot of calls lately about ice conditions. The good news is the ice is holding up very well. Even if we get rain as forecasted we should have plenty left over with the lake averaging 7-8 inches. As far as fishing goes the bluegills have been biting well, check out my facebook page for a picture of a 10.25 in gill caught this week. The crappie bite has remained better than expected, and guys have found perch over by the lights. The only question mark has been the northern pike. We are off to a slower than usual start to tip up fishing, but I haven’t seen as many people setting flags either. Stop in for the latest report!

December 19, 2019

The ice season has started out well with lots of nice bluegills and perch being caught. Most of the action has been east of the shop in 10-12 ft of water. The early ice adage has held true this year, I have seen some really nice fish already this year. We are averaging 6 inches of ice and there has been a few ATVs out. I expect with this warm up in the next week ATV traffic will stop. We should have plenty of ice to fish through the warm temperatures if you are willing to walk.

December 11, 2019

Check the ice this morning and we are looking at 3 1/2 – 4 inches. Drilled on the clear ice over the dredge line and the ice thickness was the same. One guy out now I expect by the end of the day there will be people fishing all over the area in front of the shop.

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