Hotspotoutdoors

For those making early plans for the Burntside Bash. This is just an FYI that the Burntside Bash date will be March 13th, 2010 this year.
Traditionally the Bash was around the end of January.
Even though we've been able to get on the ice at that time the change to late winter will make for better ice conditions.

The Official Burntside Bash thread with details will happen sometime in the near future.

Here is last years event chatter.

This one is always a good time.

This is the weekend beofre my spring break starts, I think I will be coming up!

Planning on coming unless the wife has vacation plans I don't yet know about. And I promise not to talk about muskies . OR wolves .

Steve

I wouldnt miss it

i finish up a course on the 13th. might be able to catch the end of the bash.

It's beginning to look a lot like . . . . laker season.

I'll be waiting for your reports Steve. If I get a weekend away from hockey, I may have to make the journey north.

I think, unless we get some SERIOUS snow, people are going to be driving pickups out on Burntside for opener. There was a solid foot of ice on Shag today, and only an inch of snow or less on the ice, and Bside only froze over a couple days after Shag did.

With so little snow cover, we're making ice 24/7 even when lows are in the single digits and highs in the 20s, and we're cooling down again the next several days.

Af course, opener is nearly a month away, and a lot of snow can fall in a month. I'm actually hoping we get enough snow to make truck travel harder before opener. Cuts down on the traffic.

When was the last time anyone needed an auger extension on Burntside?

That'll be downright disappointing if we don't need to drag up the sleds for laker opener.

That's half the fun - and some of the story as you know.

Hoping, praying, wishing, wanting......

What is the general format of the bash? What time do guys usually show up/leave?

Folks generally have shown up about 8 a.m., looked at the map and made a plan of attack and then headed out to fish, but all the Bashes so far have been in late January/early February, so a Bash more than a month later may be different. Same deal with the ending. People start trickling back in by about 3 p.m. or so, and it tends to be over (or it moves into town) by dark or shortly thereafter.

But each Bash is its own Bash, and the first March Bash will be uncharted territory. Until we chart it.

Should be warmer, more daylight and that means more fun. Anyway like steve said tend to roam in about 3pm. Last couple of years been grilling on the ice afterwards. Good for big [PoorWordUsage] session.

Heck Gary that's half the fun - Shooting the breeze and getting to know one another while enjoying some food and drink.

Me and Lisa would not miss it.

If all goes well, I might be up for my first bash. My annual January B-side trip got cancelled this year so I'm looking for another excuse to get up there. The Bash in March sounds like the best opportunity for that. Where does a guy look for sleeping arrangements?

if you are talking about why it got moved from the bwca/duluth forum is because now if you look close....the bwca/duluth board does not include ely anymore...it is over here on this board now.

I used to be a timberwolf

March is a great time for lakers!
My favorite month!
Good time to start your summer sunburn too!
Cliff

I was wondering that too. Do most guys stsy at a motel in town or are there some resorts with winter rates in the area?

Well I started laker fishing last year for the first time. Managed to get one up to the hole, only to have it freak out and snap my rod!! From that point on I was hooked, and I am really looking forward to heading out the the Bash!! As long as I am welcome!!

PA and toughguy, most folks stay at motels. There are a lot of them in town, with the Paddle Inn being the most popular one among Bashers. There are a list of them at the Ely Chamber of Commerce Web site.

Rymann, why wouldn't you be welcome? We keep saying it's open to everyone.

I was just teasing!! I am an annoying college student, and many people find us undesirable around Ely!!

Ah heck, that's their problem, not yours. The ice is free for all.

Room is booked!!! I've been trying to get to one of these for about 5yrs!!!

So here come the questions...

I'm looking to get by with what I've got since this will be my only laker trip. I've done the reading so I'd like to confirm that my SC Premiere Hvy Action with a Sahara 4000 will work as a all around rod??? If this were going to be your only rod to use what line would you spool with? (second line will be a tip-up)

What would be the top 5 lures for Burntside? (I also plan on bringing the walleye box as I see a lot of you recommend this for the eater sized fish)

Extension for auger?

What else??? I'm so excited I could pass out!!!

Don't pass out yet! That'll keep for the actual Bash.

I'm not familiar with that specific rod, but on a med/hvy or hvy action rod, 12 lb mono is usually about right. The 4000 is fine, a bit on the big side, but not seriously so. I have a Shimano 4000 on a hvy spinning rod and spool it with 14 lb mono and generally don't take it out of the bag unless I'm on water known for bigger fish.

Top five lures. Well. Talk about opening a can of worms! I'm going to engage in a little heresy and say that the fine points of lure selection don't really matter much. A bunch of darters, jigging raps, slender or swedish pimple spoons, tube jigs in med sizes, some airplane jigs. All work well if the fish are on, none work well if the fish are off.

Bside lakers have a rep as picky fish, probably because all they have to do is suck in some water and they get to swallow some of those gajillion smelt swimming around the lake. Well, maybe there aren't that many smelt, but it's close!

And you don't need large lures for Bside. Traditional large laker lures will for sure catch lakers on Bside, but generally on that lake you are selecting out the eaters and targeting fish 5 lbs plus with larger lures. Walleye sized lures will allow the eaters to smack your lure, and the big ones eat the small lures too. This runs counter to what you see in a lot of lake trout ice fishing videos, but I've never seen one of those shot on Bside, and each lake is its own dog.

There are a couple regular Bashers who use ultralite gear and panfish jigs/ants and such, and when the fish are shut down they are the only ones landing fish. Lake trout are TROUT, after all, and sometimes smaller is better.

For a second line, I recommend a tip-up spooled with 12-20 mono. If you feel like using live bait, grab up some golden shiners or big rainbow chubs. Otherwise frozen smelt/cisco are good, but live bait is best. Put your tip-up out about 30 feet from your jigging line and about half way down the water column. Often enough, especially with live bait on the tip-up, a laker that eventually turns away from your jigging lure will smack the tip-up. Best live tip-up bait of all time in my experience on Bside is a fresh caught smelt. You do catch them sometimes. It's amazing how wide they can open their mouths, and they'll pop the smaller lures pretty often. If I catch one of them they go right onto the tip-up, and it's a rare day when a laker doesn't smack them.

And yes, it's illegal to transport live smelt off the lake, but you can catch them in the lake and use them alive in the lake for bait. I checked on that several times.

I doubt you'll need an auger extension. In the 7 years I've fished the lake, I've never needed one yet. But you never can tell in December if you'll need an extension in March. If you need one, we'll let you know.

Can you feel the fever building?