Blackstrap 2019/20

[speckspotter]

Thanks for letting me be the other guy today CR. It was a personal first to ice fish on crutches. I am moved nearly to poetry.......

"A friend in need, is a friend indeed.
So is a guy with an auger who fishes a hawger."

Like I said nearly.......

[Churchill River]

It was my pleasure S.S., glad to see you didn't have any problems with the cast/crutches.  Leads me to believe
I will be able to fish with my walker when the time comes.

And when it warmers up, we will do it again.

[Oleg]

Hello, Just got done fishing at the Blackstrap on the North East side beside Shields. 30+ Perch (between 2 ppl)8:30am-3:30p,  saw few Northern Pike, Walleyes. Lots of little Perch. Ice was exactly 12” did not drive on it yet. Had good day!

[CitySlicker]

Well it appears that I'm the only one with no skills. Fished by the boat launch yesterday and had bites before noon and then after 3:30. On the upside there was 15" of ice so she's plenty strong now. Gonna head out today and try a different spot.

[shawno]

@CitySlicker   @Oleg    Welcome to the forum!

Blackstrap is often referred to as “the Dead Sea”.

What you have been seeing on the forum lately has been an exception to this rule. 

Good luck!

[saskbucks]

Well it appears that I'm the only one with no skills. Fished by the boat launch yesterday and had bites before noon and then after 3:30. On the upside there was 15" of ice so she's plenty strong now. Gonna head out today and try a different spot.

Don’t feel bad.  I’ve spent MANY fishless hours at Balckstrap. I don’t move around enough when that happens. 

[EVAN NIM]

Did well in 22fow, likely 5 dozen or so and a few of these guys

Can you go across the lake with a truck now?

[Pollock fish]

Hey all,

Just had my third strap putting this year.

I was out yesterday on Evans road from 10-4 and I caught 4 perch. Not a soul around evans road... I Kept two and tossed two back...  I would see piles come and go on the sonar all day long. But getting any commitment was tough...  I tried 20 holes around the old road and went from 11’-23’ found a nice ledge even...

I have fished strap for 5-6 years and always done fairly well. Last year was my best fishing season on the strap hands down. I usually fish the park bot launches or north end... 

Seems like I’m not doing something right, lol as everyone’s posting all there catches. Good for you guys tons a nice pics so far.

I have tried the little wolfram tungsten miny jig heads, hanger spoons, and everything I have had luck with over the years...  topped with half min owls, perch eyes and meal worms.  Just can’t figure them out. 

As far as truck go I walked in and I’d say by Evans the ice was 14-15” and in the boat launch area through out the day I saw at least 5-6 half ton trucks on the ice...  About 2 weeks ago at launch it was 10-11” (be 15” now like Evans) last Monday I was in front of the park office and the ice was about 12” there...

Best regards and best of luck to all.

Hope that helps for ice thickness.

[CitySlicker]

Did well in 22fow, likely 5 dozen or so and a few of these guys

Can you go across the lake with a truck now?

Yes Evan I drove across the lake but took it slow. Had 15" at the boat launch and 12" in front of Thode.

[Majic_Fish]

Fished the north end today. Lots of people out. I must’ve parked on top of a pike colony cause I sure got my fill of them. 6pike and about a dozen perch. Kept a few perch for supper.

[Churchill River]

Men, make sure your wife/girlfriend see this:

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[Churchill River]

[uofshuskies]

Back ice fishing after about 10 years away. Been to Blackstrap three times now. We were in the North end by Shields. Lots of bites but only one perch in a short trip. I’m off all week so I plan on going out pretty much every day.

[DoubleHookSet]

That's funny CR!

Thanks for all the posts everyone and happy to see pictures of all the nice catches. I'm planning to take my shack out to the north end this coming Saturday.  Hoping the ice is good enough to drive out.

Hope to maybe catch a few and put up some pics as well.

Cheers,

[Churchill River]

I was driving all over the North end today.  Very safe to go were you want.

I had to find a new spot today, as the area were we were catching lots dried up.

I am only going to tell you all how many we caught as some people say they can't catch, and some are saying
that the Strap is no good and you can't expect to catch fish.  We really didn't find them until noon and fished until
4:30.  Two of us ended up catching well over 170 perch, one small walleye, and 4 small pike.

I have been a avid poster on here saying that you have to move around until you find them.  The last spot we fished
almost two weeks and were catching lot's....then today it dried up, so moved to another area.  I thought we might have
to try 2 or 3 different spots.  But got lucky as the first spot we tried, they were there.  We mostly fishing in 22 to 25 fow,
and were in 23 to 25 fow today.

So for the new comers to this site and new to fishing the strap, don't give up, there are a ton of perch in the lake.

Both of us today were using the chartreuse hawger spoons with perch eye.

Not sure what else I can say.....just don't give up and don't be scared to move around.  I know it was hard when we had to walk on
and we could try our regular spots or move around to much.  But now that it is safe to drive all over you should be able to get into them.

[ToonFisher]

Sometimes, one spot dries up simply means it's the wrong time at the right spot. You either wait to ambush them, or you go around to find them. OMG, since CR and the green hawger combo is so efficient, it might just dried up.

[CitySlicker]

.....just don't give up and don't be scared to move around.  I know it was hard when we had to walk on
and we could try our regular spots or move around to much.  But now that it is safe to drive all over you should be able to get into them.

I'm gonna take this advice and move around today (but in front of Thode). Wish me luck, and come visit!

[Churchill River]

Try 23 to 26 fow City.  Don't be scared if you are close to the middle of the lake.

[sparksNfishing]

Anyone else heading out this weekend? The temps look unreal and i would suspect a busy/crowded day on the lake. I think the ice was only 14-16 inches in the north end. Should one worry about driving on with a warm up in the forecast?

[Churchill River]

I am sure there is a good 16 inches plus, and this warmer weather (still nothing on the plus side), isn't going to effect the ice in anyway.  It
won't even melt the little snow on top of the ice.  Again, the only area to keep an eye open for is the rock island on the North East side of the mouth to the back bay at Blackrock, across from the South end of Shields.

I am heading out tomorrow, and the weekend. 

[uofshuskies]

I was on both the north and south sides. I’d say close to 18” on the south and a good 16” on the north. I had decent action off the boat launch yesterday but slow all around today.

[kfcandtanq]

I'm planning to get out this Friday & Saturday.
I've never fished Blackstrap before, always fished Broderick or North.
But I've been reading your guys posts this season as far as lures, bait, & depth.
I don't have any electronics, so I'll go old school & use a depth map.
With decent temps for the next couple of weeks I want to get the kids out with me too. Maybe some perch action will keep them entertained!

[Churchill River]

I had the pleasure today to fish with a couple regulars on ice shanty (speckspotter and Overunder).  You can't beat a
day on the ice with friends.  It was a blast today picking on each other and as a bonus we all had one of our best days fish wise.
The bite was steady as soon as we got there at 9:45 until 4 when we left.  One 5 lb walleye was caught and released.  There were 4 or 5
small pike that went back also.  As for perch, well you wouldn't believe me, so I won't say.

[speckspotter]

For those wondering what lures and bait to use on Blackstrap, I can offer the following from today's experience. But first, thanks once again to CR for doing the recon work and to DH for drilling the holes beside my truck.

The following lure bait combinations caught perch:

- Slabgrabber aka Russian beaded spoon (bronze) tipped with maggots and later a perch eye
- the famous green hawger with a perch eye
- a white perch talker with a minnow head
- a small Northlands silver - grey spoon rigged with a dropper chain and a very small jig tipped with  perch eye. (This combo provided the hottest action for a brief time around noon when a series of 11 inch plus fish took the bait as soon as it reached bottom.)
- a pink and white VCM tingler with a half minnow (This also proved attractive to the pike which periodically cruised through)
- a large silver - grey Buckshot rattle spoon with a half minnow on a single hook
- a hammered brass slender spoon with a half minnow ( small size was more attractive than the larger in the same pattern )

The only thing I tried that didn't catch a fish was an Acme Flyer.

My conclusion? The fish were hungry and wanted to eat.

[Churchill River]

See, we were picking on Speckspotter today for changing his lure so much today..  But like he just posted it was hard to find a lure that they weren't hitting today.  As for me.......I just used the one lure with a perch eye on all day....I think you all know what lure I was using.  Actually I was getting
picked on for not changing that one lure in the last 3 years.....lol  Someone once said....if it's not broke, don't fix it, or in this case...don't change it.

[OverUnder725]

I came late to the show this afternoon and still had a phenomenal day!  Good to see CR and Speck out again today.  Also great to meet a few new guys!  Side note, this is year 2 for the same lure on my line.

[Churchill River]

OverUnder, glad to see you are down sizing your tackle box. 

[uofshuskies]

Got skunked on the South end yesterday so tried the far north end today. Nothin but the other two up there seemed to be having a good time! Last day off while the kids are still in school tomorrow so I’ll give the south end another shot.

[BarryKidd]

How's the cidiot to fish ratio so far this year?

[CitySlicker]

I was one of the other folks at the north end today Husky. And I didn't do too well. Finally not skunked though and I have a small perch feed for the family. Thanks to Church.