Otter Tail Sunfish

[eyes guy]

Listening to a local Radio Show Sunday Night I heard Otter Tail has Some nice Sunfish in it. any help so as the kids can have some action?

[Matt]

I live about 20 minutes from Otter Tail but rarely fish it. I have seen some nice fish following spinnerbaits in the bullrush beds.

[AquaMan]

Ottertail would not be your best choice to locate the sunnies. The lake is very big and determining their location might take the better part of a day. There are three lakes that I have taken my kids on and consistantly caught panfish.

Try Head Lake in Richville (About 10 minutes north of Ottertail) Easy boat access and sunnies are very easy to find next to all the cattail floats or the lilly pad beds. Bass and Northers will provide the occasional intermission boost.

Another lake is Dead Lake. Not like the name implies, this little lake is very hot for panfish. It is near Head Lake and can be located on any map of the area. Again, look for the lilly pads and emergent rice or pickerel grass for best results.

The last one is a small lake with a little known supply of good crappies and Sunnies. Pickerel Lake (The small one) Located on the tar road heading south from Ottertail, this lake will thrill you in early AM and early evening. Keep close to shore and work the area near the north side.

Good Luck and have a blast.

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

[eyes guy]

Thanks so much for the help.. we are staying on the lake so looks like I will be trailering one day.


Eyes guy

[AquaMan]

What part of the lake are you staying? If you want to find some fairly decent spots, take a trip up the river on the north side of the lake and look for the slow moving pools up stream of the bridge. (Watch your running light and any rods, nets etc thet are sticking up) This will usually give up some panfish as well as some bonus walleyes. There are several nice spots as you meander up to McGowen. Nice morning trip. Watch your boat speed, too, the residence on the water frown, and rightly so, on wakes. They can get very vocal about it.

There is another spot that is little known. Just about 1/4 mile from the northern Boat Launch, you will see a canal that was dug by the Corps of Engineers in the 70's. It makes a "T" that provides lake access for some of the homes inland. At 12 feet deep with no current, the crappies and sunnies hang here on the cooler days and can provide a real treat if they are there.

Watch your motor at the mouth. In the Spring the ice tend to push snad up into the mouth and without a current to clear it, navigation can be tricky. But remeber, it is all sand. I have hopped out of the boat and walked it over the hump with ease.

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

[Matt]

DUH! Total brain cramp..... Take the boat up the river into Walker Lake! I've caught some beautiful Sunnie's in there. Big enough we were lipping them. Some nice bass too.

[AquaMan]

The mouth of Walker lake is currently un-navicalbe due to the ice damin that squeezed the other inlet I spoke about. The recent rains might have pushed it open, but word is that you will have to get out and wlk the boat in a ways.

You are right though. I have hooked into some amazing smallies that stripped line like a 30"+ northern. Have had mixed success on the crappies and sunnies on the north end by the river inlet. Dark buttom makes that a great spot in the spring and evenigs. But really only laid into them a coupla times.

Have at it!

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

[Eyes Guy]

Thanks for the additional info.. we are staying on the west side of the lake.. since the Sunnie talk has been so good how about some hints for some walleyes larger than 12"? i seem to get a few but i really have to work for them. maybe i'm to shallow?

again thanks

Eyes guy

[Matt]

My boss' father-in-law is a die hard Otter Tail man. I have only fished it three times. I did OK but not as well as I can do on other lakes. I assume you have a map and can see the incredible ammount of structure out there. Its kinda intimidating. Try shallow, try deep, they move a lot if the weather pushes them. 12'-18' is where I start. I've caught fish on a Lindy and a Leech working the break right out in front of Zorbaz. I've caught fish on the lone hump right out in front of Greystone. Once, when I wasn't catching fish and I was getting lazy, I decided to drift across a shallow (4') flat (SE of Amor point) so I didn't have to start the motor. It was calm and hot, about this time of year, and I drug a Lindy/leech and my girlfriend had a slipbobber/leech. We were moving really slow, she would pull the bobber next to the boat and let it sit until we were 25 yards away then repeat. We caught 5 'eyes, 14"-16". Actually, there was a tournament the same day and when we went down to look at the board we would have been in 3rd place! I've also heard that pulling Clown Shad Raps works mid summer. Especially from Amor point up to where the river is into Walker Lake. If my boss' father-in-law stops in this morning (he usually stops in 3 or more times a week) I'll see if I can get any info out of him.

[AquaMan]

Game Farm Hump in about 25' during the day and the north shore by the river mount in the evening. You won't be alone, so try to look for the weed beds with holes or pockets in them. Speed troll a worm harness or leech on a spinner with an inline bead weight. This will trigger the agressive ones to bite.

Nothing beats the bobber at night on the north shore in 8-15' on the shelf. Look at a map and you will see the shelf I am refering to. It runs out about 250 yards from shore before the depth drops right now to 60'+. If you get a lot of small pearch, move a little deeper.

Have fun and enjoy!

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

[Matt]

From the local paper: leeches and crawlers in 14-17 feet and 33-38 feet.

[eyes guy]

Any particular spinner color? I fish Mille Lacs frequently and the metal blades in a hammered finish seem to work the best. sometimes orange or chartruse. Thanks again fo all the help.. it sure helps out

Eyes guy