The Outdoor Report

02/17/2025

Had the pleasure of hosting these 7 Gopher Football defensive lineman & a few others for an NIL visit to Otter Tail County, MN this weekend. My son & I started setting up earlier this week. We met former Minnesota Viking Willie Howard and his dad & buddy Tony at 10am on Saturday at the Corner Store on Otter Tail Lake. Then got everything set up. Met the players at Ben's Bait in Battle Lake at 2ish to get more bait & licenses. We were fishing by 3:30pm. Had 4 shacks set up at various depths from 10-20 feet of water. I told them if we were gonna get walleyes it would happen an hour before/after sunset. One shack caught 12 walleyes from 5:15pm to 6:15pm. All of them were small. The other shacks caught a handful as well. Everyone was catching small perch. Players included: DL - Lucas Finnessy a 6th year senior from the Milwaukee area. Deven Eastern from Shokapee, MN, Steven Curtis from Florida, Rhett Hlavacka from Fond du Lac, Wis., Adam Kissayi from Palm Bay Florida, Nate Becker from Maple Grove, MN & Jaxon Howard from Crystal, MN. Huge thanks to Barky's Resort on Otter Tail Lake, MN for the lodging, The Otter for the team meal Saturday night, and Vacationland Resort for the fish house rental, KLN Family Brands for the goodie bags Lots of local businesses & individuals helped make their visit one worth repeating. Every interaction we've had with a student athlete from the University of Minnesota has been a joy. These young folks represent their programs, school and state well. For reference, I'm 6 ft. 195, these boys are BUILT!.

01/27/2025

If you are looking for a late walleye season ice fishing derby, the Battle Lake Area Sporting Club derby on Feb. 22nd is cool.

ICE UPDATE 1•26•25: Otter Tail County, MN. We measured the ice on the easy side of West Battle Lake. We only drilled 1 hole, and as we all know, ice thickness can vary. The hole we dug had 23 inches of ice. Be sure to keep an eye out for ice heaves on area lakes. The 8th Annual Battle Lake Area Sporting Club Ice Fishing Derby location has been changed due to a heave on West Battle Lake. The new location will be on the east side of the lake near the access off County Highway 5, the address is 23269 Co. HWY 5, Henning, MN. There looks to be plenty of good spots over there. This ice fishing derby is scheduled for Feb. 22nd. It is a well run derby with tons of prizes. Very family friendly. You can even fish out of your fish house, which some derby's don't allow. Put it on your calendar and plan on spending the weekend on the ice.

01/24/2025

Same great event, new location.

Due to the ice heave/pressure ridge on the west side of West Battle Lake we are going to move our fishing derby to east access on West Battle Lake located at 23269 County Highway 5 Henning, Minnesota. More information to follow.

01/20/2025

Winter Trout Opener was rough. I knew the "suck factor" would be high, & that's kinda the point. Between hauling gear up & down the hill to frigid temps, Saturday took it's tool. We didn't even fish today. The good news is the MN inland trout season doesn't close until March 31st. So we'll be back. Some things to know if you find yourself fishing for rainbows, brooks, browns or splake on designated inland trout lakes in MN. You can only use 1 line, winter or summer. No live minnows are allowed. Frozen or dried are ok. Happy to report we did work in one campfire.

01/18/2025

Happy Minnesota Inland Trout Opener to those who celebrate. The boy has caught 2 so far.

01/16/2025

Well would ya look at that? The hub floor came up nice & easy. Didn't get froze in, stuck or nothin'. Also looks to still be in good shape. Improvements will be made. But the concept is sound. Pulled the 850 off Otter Tail. Gonna head to the Tiny Cabin this weekend for the Minnesota Inland Trout opener. Might even do some sight fishin'. Hope your ice fishing season is going well. Stay safe out there. ✌️

01/13/2025

Last night's moon over the lake made us feel like we were on the moon.

01/13/2025

Sundogs over the Eskimo 850. We only got 1 walleye tonight and a handful of small perch on Otter Tail Lake. Don't think the cold snap helped. Hoping to get back out midweek.

01/10/2025

The ice camping floor project. Done is better than perfect. Not quite done yet.

01/09/2025

Got to fish with Randin Olson of Lock Jaw Guide Service & Josh Nehk last night we caught 9 walleyes between 4:30pm & 6:30pm on OtterTailLake. Only 1 was keeper size, the rest were too small. I caught a couple more after they left. Had another smaller bite window this morning from 8am to 9am and caught a few. We were in 16-17 feet of water. A Buckshot with a minnow head outperformed a full minnow. The Snare Rod with a small shiner on a plain hook caught a few too. Lots of lookers as well. There is 16-17 inches of ice on Otter Tail Lake. It's slippery out there, so be careful.

01/09/2025

This is how we rollin' in 2025.

10/19/2024

It has been awhile since we've shared a Tiny Cabin build update. These pics are from August. We've made progress since then, just didn't want to jump from beginning to end. The Tiny Cabin is 16 feet wide by 14 feet deep. Our intent is to have a place where folks can go to enjoy some peace and quiet. We had to special order the last window because we weren't sure what the dimensions would be. Once again, huge thanks to Joe Holthaus, Aaron Ethan, Jeremy Carlson and crew for helping up make this a reality.