"Otterly" Fantastic

[Mike Frisch]

I fished OtterTail Lake in western Minnesota over the weekend with my parents and we had outstanding walleye fishing. We fished Roach Rigs and Fire-ball Jigs tipped with sucker minnows or redtail chubs and caught very good numbers of fish between 14-18" long. These fish were weedline fish holding in 15-22 feet of water. Water temps were in the low 60-degree range. I expect the bite to continue until turnover, but then it should kick back in once that passes. Ottertail can have very good fishing in late fall all the way until freeze-up. After turnover, however, the fish can be very deep. One fall, my dad and I caught fish in 65-feet in November.

[Capt. Marty]

Great job Mike, long time no see, sounded like you had a great time on the water. It's important spending that quality time whether its family or friends. Both Becky and I, the "walleye labrador retreivers" Zach and Alex did the same this past week.
Good luck in your future adventures!
your friend, Marty
http://www.littlebaydenoc.com

[AquaMan]

Hey, Mike. Glad to hear you had fun. Ottertail is a nice lake. Where did you stay?

I am heading up tomorrow night to install a new chimney on the new wood stove. Gonna do try the night bite in the shallows as well as some weeds in the mornings. Thanks for the info. I was not sure if they had moved yet and it seems not.

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all begins and ends at the waters edge...

[Mike Frisch]

Aqua Man - I only live a 1/2 hour from Ottertail so I commute when I fish the lake. Good luck this weekend and let us know how you do.

[AquaMan]

Really, where at? Perham? Ya know Peter Babler or Mike Yokum?

AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all begins and ends at the waters edge...

[EAGLE EYES]

Mike Yokum sounds real familiar. Does he live right in town? I have a ton of relation in Perham, being it was my Dads home town.

I fished Big Pine this weekend (Sat.) for a couple of hours. (Nasty Conditions) The eyes were hiding in the shallow weed cover. I picked up a couple of 17-18 inchers but that's it. Wow,was it cold up there on Sunday morning! Whoo! Hoo!

[AquaMan]

I was on Ottertail on Friday night, Satuday and Sunday AM. We found that Friday night was the nicest although the eyes were not cooperating. It was a long haul for a few fish. We found them in the weeds right off the shelf in 15 feet pulling JB spinners and crawlers. Nothing in the shallows. We even caught a few frogs and tried them...nothing! Saturday was wet, windy and cold. A few in the weeds again with jigs and minnows. Shallows produced catfish and a mudpuppy...ISH! Sunday was just downright cold and windy. Pulled the boat and called it a weekend. We got the new woodstove and pipe installed. That was the bright spot in the weekend. Nothing better then returning to a toasty warm cabin after that bone chilling wind.

Mike's family was from Park Rapids. He now owns Perham Auto Repair and moved there at the urging of his old classmate, Peter Babler (Babler's Machine Shop). Pete is my wife's brother and we all own the cabin on Ottertail. My father-in-law used to work for M&O Farms (The potato king of the world) and that moved them around a lot. Wadena, Perham, Park Rapids and finally retired to Lake of the Woods. 3 of the kids remain in that area. If you are from Perham you might know the Dahls or the Schmidts? (Schmidts Ford) They are also classmates of the Babler family.

No big deal, just like finding people that know the area.


AquaMan~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all begins and ends at the waters edge...