May 11  MN Fishing Opener 2017

May 13-15 2017

Congrats!  We have made it to everyone’s favorite time of year, Soft water season!!!  Corn Belt Outdoors will be out opening weekend in search for the elusive trophy walleye.

We will have one pair of fishermen in the Longville lakes area (fishing multiple lakes) focusing on mainly the elusive walleye.  We will update you afterward for the presentations that worked well and the ones that made us shake our heads in frustration.

We will also have another group on a Emily local lake hoping to find success on large, early season walleye or pike.  This group will also be hitting the crappie spawn about perfectly so some good fishing will almost certainly be happening. 

In Emily, we are going to be trying our hands at many different presentations.  The weather outlook is calling for sunny, clear skies and 70 degrees.  This might make it a struggle on some of the clearest lakes in the region.  We will also have our fishing kayaks ready to go into the shallows to find the crappie spawn.  This year we will be trying our luck with Gulp Crappie Nibbles and BerkleyRipple Shads in multiple colors as well as the tried and true live crappie minnows.

Hope you all have a great opener!  Be safe and patient as opening weekend brings a lot of traffic (many who have not been out in the boats yet this year).  Remember that sometimes the memories of having a good time with friends are more important than the number of fish we can boat. 

Thank you for reading and GOOD LUCK!!

CDN

September 29:

MN Deer Archery season Week 2 update-
IA Deer Archery season Outlook-
Fall Fishing highlights-


Minnesota Archery season week 2 update:


Hunt #2 Sept. 22
 
Temp 70F Wind NE 5mph Barometric Pressure 30.05in (steady) Moon Waning Gibbous
 
I was back in the oak flat stand over looking my brassica food plot. Early in the evening a doe and two fawns fed in the the standing bean field to my west. After feeding on beans, the deer made their way to my stand. They were very wary in their movements, and I think they may have noticed me in the tree. They cautiously worked their way past me (in bow range) back to the timber. At last light, over my right shoulder, I saw one of the bucks that had been showing up on my cameras. I think this was the bigger-bodied 10 pointer but legal shooting light was fading fast. The buck started to walk in the direction of the big bean field so I gave a soft grunt to see if he would alter his path closer to my stand. It turns out that there was a smaller buck with the 10 pointer that I could not see. The small buck also heard the grunt and quickly pin-pointed my location making the 10 pt very cautious. Both bucks changed direction and turned back into the timber. So close, yet so far away!


Hunt #3 Sept. 25

Temp 61F Wind W 15mph Barometric Pressure 29.9in (steady) Moon Waning Crescent

Sunday night I again sat in the oak flat stand over my food plot. I got into the stand early as I wanted to move my stand higher in the tree to help with concealment since I felt I had been spotted in the stand during my previous hunt. The wind was a constant 15 mph with strong gusts as small rain pockets moved through the area. Deer movement was slow and I only saw a doe and fawn on a trail to the standing bean field the last half-hour of light.


Hunt #4 Sept. 28
 
Temp 60F Wind NNW 10mph Barometric Pressure 30.23in (rising) Moon Waning Crescent
 
With a projected north wind I sat in a new stand on the inside corner of an oak ridge that pinches down to another bean field. Mid-summer I also planted Big-N-Beasty into a small section of the overgrown pasture near this stand. This was the first time I had checked this food plot, and it has also exceeded my expectation. A doe and fawn were already in the food plot as I made my way to the stand. I thought their quick exit might make for a slow evening, but I would soon be pleasantly surprised. Around 6:40 a 3.5 year old 8 pointer quickly walked right under my stand heading to the bean field. This happened so fast, I didn't have time to get a real good look at him let alone get drawn for a shot.  Twenty minutes later, I saw a deer feeding in the bean field to my east. I quickly raised my binoculars and realized that this was a buck, and the big 10 pointer from the other night! The deer was slowly feeding my way. With bow in hand, I was ready.  At the same time, a small dark cloud moved overhead and it began to sprinkle very lightly. The wind that had been consistently from the north all night became prominent from the west with the arrival of this cloud. This wind shift caused my scent to blow right in the direction of the buck. He quickly became alerted, turned around, and fed back to the east instead of in my direction. Disappointing outcome, but very exciting evening in the stand.


-KK

Iowa Archery Season Outlook:


October 1st marks opening day of the Iowa Archery Deer season. I was fortunate enough to draw a tag this year, and I am eagerly awaiting the chance to head to my favorite hunting areas in Northeast Iowa to chase big whitetails. My first camera pulls from over the summer were not very exciting, but I did find a cool mature 8 pt buck that has a large brown tine and some trash on his right side. I think "Dagger" is a fitting name for him.  He is my #1 target buck so far. I will keep you updated on my hunts in Iowa, but I am really focused on trying to tag a Minnesota buck before the gun season opens in early November.


-KK


Fall Fishing highlights:

Friends of Corn Belt Outdoors had some great fall walleye fishing in Southern Minnesota. Here is the report!

9/26/16
Limit of walleyes caught in a S Central MN lake. A shallow (7 ft max) dishpan slough during a strong NW wind. Fishing the shore line in 1-3 feet of water with 2-3" rattling lures. Small wally divers in green were also effective. Jigs and twister tails were tried with little results, although a couple fish were caught with paddle tails on a black jig head. Color preference seemed to be blue and silver with orange belly. A fast retrieve was far more effective than slow.

The walleyes were from two year classes, either in the 7-9" range or in the 16-20" range.

All the fish were caught by casting into the shore right against the bank. The wind had stirred up the water to only about one foot visibility and the larger walleyes were taking advantage of the forage fish (mostly small sheepshead by what the stomach content showed). The fish were piled up in certain areas where the water was stirred up the most. They fed from dawn until about 10 AM, then shut down.



Tonight (9/28): Evening walleye fishing in kayaks on same lake…

Using 3 ½ inch soft ribbed baits, perch color, limits of walleye were caught next to shore in ½ hour or less.







-JK

September 8-Lac des Mille Lacs Recap

 Labor Day weekend found Corn Belt Outdoors on a fishing trip to Canada.  We fished Lac des Mille Lacs near Upsala, Ontario.  Pine Point Resort welcomed us as guests, and the hospitality of Bill, Kris, and staff was first class.  We struggled to find a consistent pattern fishing for walleyes but a sliver scale Smile Blade Slow Death Rig tipped with a half crawler in 14-18 feet of water put several eater walleyes in the boat.  Smallmouth bass and northern pike action was fast and furious with  #5 Mepps Agila spinners being cast into the rocky shoreline.  A gold/red-white blade seemed to be the hot color.  Lots of laughs and great company was the recipe for some life long memories!

Jason with an 18" Smallmouth

Charlie with his first pike.

Welcome to the Corn Belt Outdoors Blog! Thank you for following along as we bring you weekly updates on our outdoor adventures from across the heartland.  We hope you find this blog entertaining and informative as we our share stories, tips, and tactics.

September 1: Lac des Mille Lacs Outlook

Labor Day weekend will find Corn Belt Outdoors venturing outside of the Midwest and heading north to Canada on a fishing trip to Lac des Mille Lacs near Upsala, Ontario.  This trophy lake is known for excellent walleye, northern pike and smallmouth bass fishing.  On this trip we will be fishing out of Pine Point Resort.  Check out the blog next week to get a recap of this trip!


Upcoming Schedule:  

September 8: Lac des Mille Lacs Canada Fishing Trip Recap

September 15: Minnesota Deer Archery Opener Outlook

September 22: Minnesota Deer Archery Opener Recap

September 29: MN Deer Archery season Week 2 update, IA Deer Archery season Outlook

October 6: Iowa Deer Archery Opener Recap, North Dakota Pheasant Opener Outlook

October 13: North Dakota Pheasant Opener Recap

October 20: Archery Mid-Season Update

October 27: Iowa Pheasant Opener Outlook

November 3: Iowa Pheasant Opener Recap. IA and MN Deer Rut Outlook

November 10: RUT REPORT-Deer hunting updates from MN and IA

November 17: Deer Rut hunting recap

November 24: Thanksgiving reflection

December 1: Iowa Deer Shotgun Season 1 Outlook

December 8: Iowa Deer Shotgun Season 1 Recap

December 15: Deer Season wrap-up

December 22: Year end blog review.