Outdoors Weekly Fish Tales Archive

May 25, 2007

ANNANDALE - B.J.’s Bait & Tackle, Bill, west side of Clearwater Lake, between the two public accesses (320-274-3730) The walleyes are snapping, jumping into the boat. A lot of 14 to 19 inch fish are being caught. Mainly in 8 to 9 feet of water, most slip bobber fishing on the humps in the middle of the lake. Lots of northerns are being caught too, in 10 to 15 feet of water on suckers. The sunnies are in the reeds biting on waxies and flu-flus. The crappies are around the reeds and off the humps. We are expecting a good bass opener.

ANOKA – Action’s Fishing, Jack, 809 West Hwy 10 (763-422-4890) Wish we could report that we received some much needed rain over the weekend, but the weather forecast was wrong again. The walleyes continue to bite on the Mississippi from Otsego to Mpls. Nice crappies from Green, Blue, and Elk lakes. Crooked and George will explode with Bass this weekend. The Rum and Mississippi river Smallmouth are done spawning and ready to entertain us. Let's go out and kick some Bass this weekend! Please continue to protect our resources - release those bass. Take pictures and e-mail them to actionsfishing@msn.com. We will send them to this newspaper to share with everyone.

BATTLE LAKE – Ben’s Bait & Tackle, Josie, Junction of Hwy 78 and 210 (218-864-5596) The walleyes are biting on Silver, Otter Tail, Clitheral and W. Battle Lakes in about 12-15 feet of water. Mainly using lake shiners on a jig or a Lindy rig. The crappies and sunnies are biting on East and West Battle, Clitheral and Elbow Lakes. Look for them to be suspended in about 10 feet of water. A lot are using little leeches or crawlers. For northerns, they are biting just about everywhere, just troll along the weedlines with a sucker minnow.

BEMIDJI – Bluewater Bait & Sports, Mark Cook, 1 mile north of the Hwy 2 & 71 Intersection (218-444-2248) The walleyes are still going on a long shank jig and a shiner. Most eyes are being caught shallow, up in 4 to 10 feet of water on Lake Bemidji. Cass Lake has been ok; Big Wolf has been a better option. A few guys are using crank baits after dark and starting to do okay too. Anglers are starting to use leeches now too and having some success. It’s been pretty quiet on the northerns. The crappies are biting ok.

BLACKDUCK - Timberline Sport & Tackle, Carl Adams, Junction of Hwy 71 and Blackduck Lake Rd (218-835-4636) The walleye bite has been good despite the changing weather. Out on Blackduck in the evenings with a jig and a minnow and some are starting to use leeches with some luck. We have a very good 17 to 19 inch class being caught. Guys are using cranks at dark now too. Island and Gull Lakes have been good too. As always, lots of big pike are being caught on Upper Red Lake, and the walleye bite is just crazy with many 100 plus fish days being reported.

BRAINERD – www.sandwbait.com & www.walleyedan.com - S&W Bait and Tackle - Home of Walleye Dan's Guide Service, 7 1/2 miles North of Brainerd on the East side of Hwy 371 (218-829-7010) Make sure you look through our new website at www.walleyedan.com

CHISAGO CITY – Frankie’s Live Bait and Marine, Brad, Corner of Hwy 8 and Co Rd 77 (651-257-6334)The fish are biting like crazy. On Chisago, the sunnies are going good on waxies. The walleyes are biting on S. Lindstrom and the south end of Chisago on fatheads and starting to pickup more on leeches.

CROSBY - Oars-N-Mine Bait and Tackle, Jesse Williams, 22640 Hwy 6 N (218-546-6912) Fishing has overall been good in the area. Walleye fishermen have been pulling fish out of Rabbit and Serpent from 18-26 during the evening hours on shiner minnows. Look to the mud/gravel transitions. A few walleyes have also been caught on Clearwater, right with the crappies in shallow water. Also, look to the Mississippi for good numbers of fish and a more consistent day bite. Northern pike have been very active on area lakes; everywhere from shallow water to 22 feet on most lakes. For panfish, look to Black, Blackhoof, Turner, Milford or Manhomen. Some fish will still be in shallow water spawning, while most have left their beds and have transitioned to the surrounding weedbeds. Stop in for the up-to-the-minute fishing report 7 days a week!

CROSSLAKE - Holiday of Cross Lake, Lee (218-692-2708) Whitefish, Pelican and many smaller area lakes are providing plenty of angling action. Walleye are hitting Lindy-rigs tipped with leeches or shiners in 12 to 20 feet. Try along sharp breaks during the early morning or evenings. Northern action has been good, with bobber fishing big sucker minnows along weed lines. Anglers also report spinner rigs or spinner baits worked near weed lines have produced fish. Crappie and Panfish action has moved to the 6 to 12 foot range with small jigs tipped with minnows or wax worms. Try along weedlines and submerged humps.

DULUTH - Fisherman’s Corner, Scott, 7 miles north of Miller Mall on Hwy 53 (218-729-5369) The walleyes are biting on Fish Island, Boulder Lakes on leeches and some crappies too. On the St. Louis River between the Boy Scout landing and the 79th bridge, the walleyes are biting really well. Try green spinners and crawlers.

DULUTH - Marine General, 1501 London Road, on the edge of Lake Superior (218-724-8833) The big lake has been good when we can get out. Cohos, Chinook and lakers have been biting on the top 15 feet of water, mostly on the Wisconsin side. Bright stick baits, bombers, Rapalas… pink or purple and bright metallic colors have been best. The River has been good with walleyes bigger then average being caught, mostly on big minnows and some crawlers. The shore fishing has been ok, guys are getting a few fish. We are getting some rain now so there is water in the streams, the brook trout fishing has been picking up.

ELY - Babe's Bait and Tackle, 451 W. Sheridan St., Ely, MN, first business on the left as you are entering town of Ely from the west on Hwy 169 (218-365-6930) Call us for a report!

FOREST LAKE - Mikes Bait on 8, 1/2 mile east of 35 on Hwy 8, Rich, (651-464-5150) It's been windy on the 13th biggest lake in Minnesota but the walleye bite is still worth it! Opener was fantastic... people that can't catch walleyes were catching walleyes. Everyone that I spoke to, except for a very few, were catching limits or close to limits. Even people fishing from shore were doing well. The walleyes are coming off the spring spawn, they are hungry and aggressive. They were biting on just about everything so my recommendation was to fish with what you like to fish with. If you like crawlers, use crawlers. If you like a jig and fathead, use that...and so on. We went through an even amount of everything. Shiners as night or shallow running crank baits were good as well. I went out at midnight and used a #11 floating Rapala (vampire) and reeled in close to 20 eyes. Nothing big but I kept 6 in the 15 to 16 inch range. There were many reports of people hauling in 4 to 6 pounders as well. I was out last night and caught 3 nice walleyes in 4.5 ft. of water after dark. There were walleyes breaking water chasing shiners all around me. There are a lot of great spots to fish on Minnewaska right now - too many to mention. Limits of crappies and sunnies are still being caught and I would expect the crappie bite to go into summer again like last year. Troo Floo with a minnow in 5 to 8 feet of water is working best right now. Pike and bass everywhere! The bass opener should also be fantastic and Minnewaska should be a favorite destination for many. As always, Fish On will have a great supply of crappie minnows, fatheads, golden shiners, suckers, waxies and much more. Stop in to get latest fishing updates. We are located two blocks south of the stop lights.

GREY EAGLE - Nancy’s Bait & Tackle, Rex, on CR 2, four miles east of the Rock Tavern on Big Birch Lake, four miles west of Upsala (320-285-2405) Little Birch Lake has had some good walleye fishing lately and the Mississippi river too. The sunnies and crappies are biting on Big Swan Lake. And the crappies are going on Moose Lake. Some good reports of walleyes being caught out on Cedar Lake at night with Rapalas. The walleyes are starting to bite on Big Birch, but it hasn’t really got going yet.

HACKENSACK - Swanson’s Bait & Tackle, Jim Tuller, Hwy 371 on the north end of Hackensack (218-675-6176) The fish are still biting, the weather just isn't as nice as it was last weekend! Mostly cloudy with highs in the mid 60's. Not a bad day to catch fish though, they should be biting during the day with the overcast skies. Most anglers are still reporting good action on a jig and shiner fishing the breaks, 14-16 feet seems to be the most productive. On Leech Lake, Pine and Stony Points have been the best. Trolling lures such as Rapalas are producing fish after the sun goes down. Run in 8 to 10 feet of water with a size 9 or 11 original Rapala with 75 to 100 feet of line. Panfish still inhabit the shallow water. The wind the past few days has made it harder to fish them; the action should get good now that it has calmed some. A small leech, waxworm, or crappie minnow under a bobber is the best bet. Keep moving until you locate the fish. The bass opener should be good. Quite a few anglers are catching bass in their attempts to land a walleye. Hopefully the action will still be hot when the season opens!

KABETOGAMA-NAMAKAN – Gateway Store, US Hwy 53 & CO Rd 122, 30 miles south of Int’l Falls-Canadian border, Phil Hart (218-875-2121) Anglers have found walleyes at various depths, northern pike aggressive and smallmouth moving in shallow. Anglers looking for walleyes have had success with jig and minnow and Lindy rig and minnow, using a short snell between 24-30". Harvest size walleyes have been taken at 30-38' deep and in the shallow sandy bays at 4-12' in the early evenings. As the water warms, leeches may begin to turn the walleyes on. Expect the scattered walleyes to school up and head to the reefs anytime. Northern pike taking lures, spoons and live bait, if you want to hone in on them try outside the weed edges in Tom Cod Bay, Daily Bay and Nebraska Bay. Smallmouth moving in to the shallows and responding to some surface baits. Mepps spinners and rattle raps working well. Saugers have been nice in size and have been taken with the deeper walleyes.

LAKE OF THE WOODS – Area Tourism Bureau, Denelle, near junction of Hwy 11 and Hwy 172 in Baudette (1-800-382-FISH) The start of the 2007 walleye season is off and running here at Lake of the Woods. Huge numbers of fish are being caught on the south shore. Anchored and jigging with a minnow in 20-24 feet of water seemed to produce the best numbers, along with some trophy walleye. The Lighthouse gap continues to be the hot spot, while anglers also had luck by Morris and Zippel Bay catching their limits of nice walleye. Mr. & Mrs. Price, from Williams, MN, reported great success around the Long Point area, catching their limit, and releasing several 20-27 inch walleye within an hour and a half. Wigwam Resort held their 3rd Annual North Star Spring Walleye Classic over the weekend. The first place team of Michael Axen and Tom Peloquin, both of Blaine MN, took top honors with a total of 46.25 lbs of walleye over two days. Up at the Northwest Angle and Islands the hot spot remains around the rocks and reefs of Oak Island in 12-15 feet of water using minnows or crawlers. For those in search of northern pike, the shallows in the bays have been giving up some nice fish. Northerns have been biting on spinners, spoons, and small mepps lures. Walleye fishing on the Rainy River is picking up; the smallies continue to move into the river with the larger fish sure to follow. Northern pike have been biting on Rapalas or daredevils. A fabulous smallmouth bass was caught May 5th in the Baudette Bay weighing 4 lbs 7 oz.

LEECH LAKE – Anderson’s Resorts, Tim (1-800-516-0077) Lots of walleyes to be had, Pine Point, Ottertail Point and Stony Point all very active, the Big Lake has fish but most of them are slot fish. We have seen many people very happy with the numbers and the healthy fight of the fish. The lake is definitely on its way back, come give it a try!

METRO AREA EAST – Blue Ribbon Bait & Tackle, Josh, Oakdale (651-777-2421) The walleyes, sauger and silver bass are still biting on the St. Croix; although the walleye bite has been tough. Some crappies are being caught on Big Marine and Big Carnelian Lakes. The sunfish are biting on Peltier. Some walleyes are being caught on Clear Lake by Forest Lake and on Bald Eagle in the evenings.

MILLE LACS LAKE – Chris Kuduk's Guide Service, Chris Kuduk (320-630-1761) The walleyes were biting all last weekend! On the sand, rocks, mud… everywhere. Everyone is getting them. Out by Malmo, bobber fishing has been good on the rocks. If a guy wants to book a trip where he’ll get fish, now is the time to do it.

MILLE LACS LAKE – Malmo Market, Lynwood Elliott, State Hwy 47 and 18 East, NE corner of Mille Lacs (320-684-2295) Another great week on Mille Lacs. Its looking like it is going to be another amazing year for walleye anglers as everyone is catching fish. The fish do not seem to be in any one spot. Anglers are reporting action from Hunters Point all the way across the north end to the Red Door. Anglers fishing the rocks out of Hunters are reporting good action in 19'-21'. Agate Reef has also been a great spot to bobber fish evenings. Start out at 22' and move up shallower to 12' as sunset approaches. Rainbows and leeches have been the best. Anglers are reporting better luck with slot fish, out in front of Fishers on the sand/gravel mix in 19'-23' drifting with lindy rigs (7'-9') tipped with leeches. The north sand has also been consistent from castaways to the Red Door. The best depth seems to be 22' drifting with Lindy's tipped with leeches. Don't forget, “if you forgot it we got it". Groceries, hardware, bait etc. Good luck, and have a great holiday.

MILLE LACS LAKE – Johnson's Portside, Kelly or Steve, 1 mile north of Isle on Hwy 47 SE side of the lake (320-676-3811) Wel, with an opener like this year, Memorial Day weekend will be even better. Walleye reports keep pouring in positive, from the deeper sand to the north to the shallow evening rocks. This looks to be a better summer than last so get up here and fish!

LAKE MINNETONKA - Wayzata Bait & Tackle, Tim or Bob, half mile west off I-494 on Hwy 12 (952-473-2227) The fishing has been spotty… take a variety of bait out for walleyes… crawlers, leeches, and minnows as they are changing what they bite on from day to day. During the day and bright light hours they are going into the weeds. The northerns have been good in the channels with rigs and suckers. The sunnies are biting in about 6 feet of water on waxies and ice jigs all over. The crappies are in 12 to 16 feet of water on a jig and a minnow. It should be a great bass opener.

LAKE MINNETONKA – Minnetonka Outdoors, Gary or Gregg, south frontage road to Hwy 7 between Vine Hill Rd & Old Market Blvd in Shorewood (952-470-8800) Call or visit our web site for a report!

NISSWA - Dave’s Sportland Bait & Tackle, Jason, 2 miles south of Nisswa at the Intersection of Hwy 371 and Cty Rd 77, next to Schaefer’s Foods (218-963-2401) The week has had its ups and downs here in the Nisswa area. The downside is the wind. It has been blowing everyday for the last 8 days. I think we deserve a break. The plus side is the fish are biting pretty well. We have had some great fishing on Gull, Pelican, North Long and Mille Lacs. Shiners have been the ticket here on Gull. We have been catching lots of nice 15-18 inchers along the weedlines in 13-15 feet of water. It has been mostly a Lindy rig bite. The night bite has been good in the shallows for anglers trolling Rapalas. On Mille Lacs the north end sand has been good in 14-22 feet. Long snells and a nice lively leech has produced very well. The rock piles are also producing some fish in the evenings. Our pike action continues to be fantastic on Gull. Just about all of our walleye spots are holding a few pike. So hang on when you are out there chasing walleyes. The pike are hungry and are just slamming the baits. The crappies are starting to move out of the shallow water and are heading out to the weedlines. You can still find a few hanging around in the bulrushes. Our guides still have a couple of openings for Memorial weekend so give us a call if you want to get in on this early season action. Good luck this week!

LAKE OSAKIS - Holiday Resort, Adam, 115 miles west of Twin Cities on I-94W, take 71N to Co Rd 10W to Falcon Dr in Osakis (320-859-4360) Some quality fish seen coming out of Osakis the past week. Many walleyes in the 15 to 18 inch range coming off the rocks south of Battle Point. Work the big rock pile and the tip of moon bar with a jig and minnow combination at dusk. Depths of 10-16 feet seeing the better fish. Lindberg Point also seeing some nice walleyes hitting leeches bobber fished at dusk. Holiday Resort's docks had some quality walleyes caught off of them at night this weekend, with a 31-incher caught and released Saturday night. Northerns are abundant but running smaller with lots of fish in the two pound range coming off the deeper weed beds all over the lake. For the bigger pike, go with the bigger minnows jigging on the deep drop-offs. Panfish action has been very inconsistent. Some big crappies being caught as they are staging to spawn, but nothing for numbers. Sunnies are pretty evasive on Osakis right now as well.

PARK RAPIDS – Delaney’s Sport Center, Kevin, East 1st St (218-732-4281) The weather hasn’t been the greatest lately, and because of that the fishing has been slow as nobody has been out. Potato Island has had about the best walleye bite in about 14 feet of water on a jig and a minnow. Eagle, Lower Battle and Long Lakes have been producing a few fish too. Big Man Trap has been good for northerns trolling suckers around in 7 to 9 feet of water. The bluegills are starting to move shallow in the Crow Wing Chain.

PELICAN RAPIDS – Park Region Sport Shop, Lee Brenna, Intersection of Interstate 59 and 108 in downtown Pelican Rapids (800-962-8553) We’ve been having some great walleye fishing on Lida when the wind goes down. Most are using shiners and some are now starting to move to leeches and crawlers. The panfish are starting to move up shallow.

RAINY LAKE – Rainy Lake Tourism (1-800-FALLS-MN) Walleye fishing has been good on Rainy Lake. Anglers are doing best with a jig and minnow fishing 10-15 feet deep earlier in the day and ending up fishing 20-30 feet by evening. Although Sand Bay has been fine for fishing, most anglers are heading east to Saginaw and Anderson Bay. Crappies have been biting in Black Bay, and large northern pike can be caught in the weedy edges around Black Bay and Cranberry Bay. Rainy River sturgeon fishing is closed now, but the big fish are creating quite a sight breeching the water near the dam at International Falls. Meanwhile, smallmouth bass are being caught in the slower bends of the river, with walleye tending to be in the deeper, swifter water of the channels. A minnow or leech on a spinner rig will work pretty well. The first weekend in June brings the Birder’s Rendezvous to Voyageurs National Park, a great opportunity for birders and other wildlife watchers, for information, call 1-888 381-2873.

RED WING – Ike's Bait & Tackle, Ken, 2109 Old W Main St, Red Wing (651- 388-2111) Lead lining at the head of the lake with Rapalas and main rock flats are picking up some walleyes and saugers. Also try long point pulling plugs, catching more saugers there.

SAINT CLOUD – Stop Light Bait, 8th Avenue SE, St. Cloud (320-255-9689) Walleyes are biting on Mille Lacs, Clearwater, Koronis, Grand Lake and Big Birch. Fish found in depths of 9 to 12 feet in our area lakes and leeches and minnows seemed to catch most of the fish. Mississippi River anglers are catching walleyes, catfish and crappies. We still have jumbo, lake run and panfish leeches available in bulk quantities.

SAINT PETER – Hermie's Bait, Brad, 43539 French Hill Rd. St.Peter MN 56082 (507-931-6875) Give us a call for a report!

SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA – Axel's Tackle Box, Axel, 2 blocks north of Hwy 60 on Hwy 13, next to Casey’s, on Lake Sakatah in Waterville (507-362-4444) Really good walleye and northern angling on both Tetonka and Sakatah. Custom crawler rigs have been producing some real nice fish.Panfish seem to be here also in the shallows.Reports of some big musky or northern have been going around; chubs have working on those critters.

STARBUCK - Minnewaska Bait, Larry Jensen, Hwy 29 near the Starbuck Marina (320-239-2239) The walleyes and northerns are biting well. The walleyes are out in about 20 feet of water and have been hitting on fatheads, shiners and leeches. Plain Lindy rigs seem to be the best. The best bite has been out in front of the High School. Emily has been picking up. Also try Long Lake for walleyes. Mary has been good for eyes too. The northerns are biting on spoons, red eyes and daredevils in 12 feet of water on a fast troll. A lot of 4 to 5 pounders are being caught. Tons of bass are biting too; it’ll be a good opener. The crappies have slowed up. The sunnies are still biting like crazy in the marina, the action is fast but they are little. You’ll need to weed them out.

STILLWATER - Jimmy's Bait and Tackle, Stillwater (651-430-2554) Guys are fishing above and below the bridge. A lot are using crawlers and fatheads. Some crappies are also being caught on Big Carnelian.

WACONIA - Mase’s In Towne Marine, Cindy, corner of Lake and Elm (952-442-2096) The walleyes have been biting on the lake, in the early evenings off Kegs, North and Pillsbury reefs in 14 to 18 feet of water. Fatheads and large leeches seem to be working the best. And at night moving up onto the reefs in 8 to 10 feet of water. Also try the weed edges by the beach and the clay banks. The panfish are biting on the north side in the reeds and bulrushes.

WINNIBIGOSHISH – Walleye Visions, Tom Neustrom, 21622 Airport Rd, Grand Rapids (218-327-2312) We had a great week of fishing on Big Winnie, and the walleyes were chewing pretty well in most of the spring shoreline areas. The weather has been the deciding factor on just where to go, but many of the traditional places where the shiners are spawning, were the places to concentrate the most. A Northland Fireball jig and a shiner or rainbow chub was the best choice, and chartreuse and lime green were the best colors. Many limits of nice eating size walleyes came off Raven's, Mallard, Stony and Tamarac Points. The best depths seem to be the 5-8 foot areas, and even the severe Cold Fronts haven’t bothered the bite. Water temperatures have been in the middle 50's and don't seem to want to warm up much. When it does, start to bring along some leeches. There have been many walleyes in the slot caught and released and it's nice to see people taking pictures and carefully releasing fish. Not much of a panfish report due to the lack of warmer weather to make them active. Get out and enjoy the good fishing, and have a great Memorial Day Weekend.