WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
January 26, 2006

With only a couple of days left in January, I can safely say that we went the entire month without below-zero temperatures. I must say, this is just unheard of, but for most of us, it sure makes the Winter much more enjoyable. From what I'm hearing, we may not be out of the cold just yet. As I sit here this evening, I hear the snow melting from my roof. Now, this beautiful noise really gets the blood pumping as I know those early Spring open water trips are getting closer. So as I look at the new boat each night in the Lund catalog and await the open water, its those days on the ice that keep me sane.

Fishing from the Grand Lakes Area just seems to be holding its own. Many of the small panfish lakes are holding consistent action. The bites are varying from lake to lake. As the Red Lake bite slows this year, we are seeing and hearing numbers of people getting back to those old panfish lakes and the numbers and size have shown themselves.

Winnie has started to see those magnum Perch in much better numbers over the last week, but numbers still are being found along the shallow shoreline breaks.

The Winnie Walleyes continue to feed, but one day it could be a hot-active bite and the next you will have a bunch of fish that just want to look. If one finds an active hump, try it for a day or two, but it typically shuts down after one good bite.

I have started hearing some better reports for Lake of the Woods, but those are just reports. I would be careful if you are heading up there, as the bite has been very slow to this point.

Good Ol' Red Lake...Next season at this time it will likely be the talk of the country again as the Walleye fishing will be untouchable. As for this season, the Crappie reports are slow at best. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens during the March thaw, as it has been typically the most consistent bite throughout the last couple of seasons for those slab Crappies.

If you haven't had the opportunity to get out and enjoy this unseasonable Winter, the next couple of days look great.

See ya out there,

Sean Colter
www.seancolter.com
member of the NMLOG's