You can rent a simple boat, a pontoon boat, or a bass boat. This year Carl rented a Lund Rebel bass boat and the resort upgraded him to the new model with a 50 HP motor. It has a great electronic depth finder, live well, electric trolling motor and night navigation lights.

If you are serious about fishing a good boat makes a big difference. The trolling motor alone lets you spend more time exploring the shoreline and less time pulling on the anchor rope. I enjoy catch and release fishing, so I don't use the livewell - but I'm sure it keeps the fish a lot fresher when you collect them for dinner. The new Rebel design rides a lot smoother than the previous one. With the 50 HP motor it doesn't take much time to get to your favorite fishing hole.

 Walleye Pike

Pelican Lake doesn't give up too many Walleye but this year Carl took this one. It was about 17 inches. Carl put it back just after this photo was taken.

I didn't take too many fish photos this year. I caught a lot of bluegills, a few crappie, and some bass. Of course I also caught a bunch of Northern Pike. If you want to see photos of other fish be sure to check out the pictures I took last year (click here).

Northern Pike

 One thing you can always count on at Pelican Lake is that the Northern Pike will bite.

The locals don't think much of Northern Pike. They tend to be slippery and boney, and fishermen looking for supper more often fish for bass, crappie and bluegill. But when it comes to big fish with lots of fight, you can't beat Northern Pike.  .

 This year the largemouth bass cooperated...

Some years the smallmouth bass are seemingly everywhere, some years its crappie. This year it was mostly largemouth bass and Northern Pike.

Pelican Lake has "slot limits" on bass and Northern. This bass, for instance, is in the slot so it went back as soon as this photo was taken. Fish smaller than the slot limit can be kept, and fish larger than the slot may be kept, but those in the middle must go back in the lake. These slot limits have helped Pelican's fish population to grow dramatically over the past several years.

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