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Leech Lake Fishing Report Well the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament is a wrap and another huge success it was. Almost 1300 fish were brought to the scales with almost 80 limits of 6 fish brought to the scale each day. The best part there was a 98% live release rate which says a lot about the success of this tournament and its incredible workers. A huge thank you goes out to everyone involved who helped make once again the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament one of the best in the Midwest. Last but not least a big congratulations goes to one of the LOA team members Aaron Murphy and his partner Pete Miskovich on their 5th place finish and the largest bag for Day 1 of the tourney. The lake is changing by the days and week. Fish can be caught so many different ways and in so many different types of locations. During the tournament anglers had success lindy rigging, with a jig and minnow, and pulling spinners. The fish are definitely transitioning into their summer patterns and haunts and as June moves along it should really get good. For the LOA team, a jig and a minnow was by far our best producer when it came to putting fish in the boat. Depending on the conditions aggressive snap jigging along sand flats, breaklines in 8-12ft of water, or pitching jigs into cabbage was the best producer. 1/8th KenKatch Long Shank Jigs were the ticket and color was key. Changing up the color during bright conditions vs. cloudy or overcast was the key to putting more fish in the boat. Many anglers had a lot of success rigging leeches and crawlers along shoreline breaks and along transition lines of rock/gravel or sand and gravel. Having a longer snell with a smaller hook and glow bead, such as 6+ feet was definitely a key to success. Spinner fishing is starting to also pick up and one of our favorite times of the year..look for rock edges on the main lake reefs or shoreline breaks around Sand Beach and Two Points to produce fish in 12-16ft of water. Speed was the key, going anywhere from 1-1.5MPH depending on the weather conditions. June is one of our favorite times to be on the lake because there are so many locations and ways to catch Mr. Walleye. The Cabelas NWT tourney is the next big event on the lake in just a little over a week. It should be fun to see many of the well known pros in action. Get out and Set the Hook! Jason Freed Leisure Outdoor Adventures

Leech LakeFishing Report Thing have changed since the Opener and Mother Nature has had a lot to do with that. What we found this weekend was water temps had dropped in throughout the lake anywhere from 3-6 degrees due to the cold weather and rain we had last week. That played a role in the fishing this past weekend, but the name of the game was to adjust your game plan and get away from what may be the “traditional” early season walleye patterns. Walleye fishing was up and down at times during the weekend, but if you were willing to change up your routine and do some different things and fish different locations you were rewarded with less pressured fish and often times active biters. Main Lake Flats around Goose island such as West Goose and Grand View are still producing fish, but the fish have moved deeper especially when there is a lack of wind to push bait fish up shallow. The best fishing was in 9-13’ of water with either a jig and minnow or a lindy rig with a shiner or leech. Be sure to mix up jig colors and sizes. An 1/8th oz KenKatch 3D eye jig or KenKatch Long Shank was the ticket this past weekend. We did not spend as much time fishing the main lake points this weekend which had a lot more to do with fighting the fishing pressure. Instead we focused on wind blow shoreline breaks and breaklines that dumped into 10-16’ of water throughout the main lake. Obviously Leech has and always will be a wind driven lake, so using that to your advantage to make controlled drifts or using your bow mount such as my Motorguide Xi5 to work breaklines proves to extremely productive. When it is calm snapping jigging far out produced, by going 1mph to 1.5mph at times or long lining a leech and crawler is extremely effective and will continue to get even better. Don’t forget other tactics as well this time of year, there is always a time and place to slip bobber isolated weed pockets or rock piles as well as casting crankbaits at windblown shorelines or after dark. Crappies have begun transitioning but are still prime for the picking with some work. Boy, Headquarters, and Shingobee are all producing fish in 6-12ft if water along weedlines and flats with isolated pockets of cabbage. A jig and plastic or a crappie minnow under a float are great presentations. Perch are still being caught and mixed in with the walleyes, but there were reports of isolated schools of jumbos caught this weekend, just using a jig and minnow. Tight Lines!