Otter Tail Lake MN August

[Lunddude]

Well we booked a cabin with Trevor at Vacationland Resort for a week. Turns out Vacationland Resort is just a few miles down the road from Uncle Ralphs cabin on Otter Tail Lake where my wife's family reunion will be taking place. I also reserved a slip/boat lift to keep the boat in for the week so I'll be able to just walk out the door in the morning and go fish.

Not looking forward to the humidity or misquotes but I am looking forward to the fishing!

[KTurner]

Trev is a good friend and one of the best sticks on OT. He usually knows what's working but OT is one of those lakes you need to figure the walleyes out on. I always enjoy the challenge regardless of whether I fill the live well. The lake is deceptive. It looks manageable but when you throw in the incredible undulation, it fishes very large. Take a look at the aerial photo in Vacationlands lodge and you'll understand what I'm talking about. Find a school and a technique and pick em apart. Good luck. OT is one of my favorites lakes. Right up there with Devils Lake, ND. So many miles of water for old marble eyes to hide...

[Locomotiveman1]

We....and others found this week it was Nightcrawlers. And to keep em' up above the cabbage weeds some guys were adding a little air to em' to avoid endless snags. I put a foam 'pill float' ahead of the nightcrawler to do the same. Bass and coupla big crappies hit em' too. The cabbage was surprisingly tall for Mid-June. Some 8' little humps had it within 1' of surface on Wednesday...the 24th. Off to way North this week..Vermilion and Kabetogema. Locomotiveman

[Lunddude]

Originally Posted by Locomotiveman1

We....and others found this week it was Nightcrawlers. And to keep em' up above the cabbage weeds some guys were adding a little air to em' to avoid endless snags. I put a foam 'pill float' ahead of the nightcrawler to do the same. Bass and coupla big crappies hit em' too. The cabbage was surprisingly tall for Mid-June. Some 8' little humps had it within 1' of surface on Wednesday...the 24th. Off to way North this week..Vermilion and Kabetogema. Locomotiveman

Any recent fishing reports from Otter Tail? Headed out next Thursday!

[slough]

We were there for our family reunion the second week of July. Fishing was pretty decent for our standards. Some slow days and some good. Stuck to the western 1/3 of the lake on mid-lake humps in 16-22 feet of water. Crawlers & spinners. You go through quite a few crawlers with the perch stealing your bait. Didn't try the night trolling with shad raps but that's a popular method this time of year. Fish were mostly 14-16 inches but pretty chunky.

[Lunddude]

Originally Posted by slough

We were there for our family reunion the second week of July. Fishing was pretty decent for our standards. Some slow days and some good. Stuck to the western 1/3 of the lake on mid-lake humps in 16-22 feet of water. Crawlers & spinners. You go through quite a few crawlers with the perch stealing your bait. Didn't try the night trolling with shad raps but that's a popular method this time of year. Fish were mostly 14-16 inches but pretty chunky.

Appreciate the update!

[slough]

How did you do?

[Lunddude]

Originally Posted by slough

How did you do?

It was a great trip but the fishing was pretty slow. The few fish we did catch on my boat we threw back to grow up. I personally never caught a walleye over 15". I did manage to catch a couple nice Northerns that I released to fight another day though.

Three of us fished with a local guide on Monday morning and managed to put 9 in the boat. Nothing over 15" and 3 of those should have been thrown back but were hooked to deep. We fished a different lake with the same guide on Tuesday morning but targeted smallmouth bass. We caught several in the 3-4 lb. range that we released unharmed. The great smallmouth action made up for the slow walleye fishing.

We really enjoyed our weeks stay at Vacationland Resort. Trevor is a great guy and I would definitely stay at his resort again.

[garage_logician]

Originally Posted by Lunddude

It was a great trip but the fishing was pretty slow. The few fish we did catch on my boat we threw back to grow up. I personally never caught a walleye over 15". I did manage to catch a couple nice Northerns that I released to fight another day though.

Three of us fished with a local guide on Monday morning and managed to put 9 in the boat. Nothing over 15" and 3 of those should have been thrown back but were hooked to deep. We fished a different lake with the same guide on Tuesday morning but targeted smallmouth bass. We caught several in the 3-4 lb. range that we released unharmed. The great smallmouth action made up for the slow walleye fishing.

We really enjoyed our weeks stay at Vacationland Resort. Trevor is a great guy and I would definitely stay at his resort again.

Can I ask which lake you were at for the Smallies?

Thanks!
-g

[Lunddude]

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