A good day of crappie fishing on Birch Lake near Babbitt

This crappie took a small ice jig and minnow on Friday, where I fished with Gene Dessellier of Babbitt on Birch Lake. (Sam Cook photo)

I had the pleasure of fishing for crappies on Birch Lake near Babbitt on Friday with Gene Dessellier of Babbitt. Gene, nearly 76, fishes for crappies almost every day during the winter, and almost exclusively on Birch Lake.

“I timed it once,” Dessellier said. “It was 12 minutes from my house to drilling holes.”

Crappie fishing has been good nearly all winter on many lakes, including Birch, although action seems to have slowed in the past couple of weeks. We caught 10 fish on Friday, all from 19 1/2 to 23 feet of water. We were pretty sure they ranged in size from 10 to 13 inches while we were on the ice. But I checked with a tape measure when I returned home and the 13-inchers had become 12-inchers. The 10-inchers, I’m happy to report, remained at 10 inches, and we had plenty of 11-inchers in the mix, too. Not a banner day, but a good day of steady fishing.

Several other anglers were on the lake as well, and their catches ranged from zero to five crappies each. Dessellier, a retired high school math and physics teacher, was a joy to be with. I’ll share the whole story of our day in next Sunday’s Outdoors section in the Duluth News Tribune.

Here are a couple more shots from the day:

Gene Dessellier holds a nice crappie he took through the ice of Birch Lake near Babbitt on Friday. (Sam Cook photo)

Gene Dessellier of Babbitt checks the depth and checks to see if any crappies are present before we start fishing on Birch Lake near Babbitt on Friday. (Sam Cook photo)

Gene Dessellier displays one of the 10 crappies we caught Friday on Birch Lake near Babbitt. (Sam Cook photo)