Jump to content
  • GUESTS

    If You  want access  to member only forums on FM, You will need to Sign-in or  Sign-Up now .

    This box will disappear once you are signed in as a member.

Recommended Posts

Things are looking pretty rosy for Leech Lake in the next couple years. I will have to include it on the "must fish" summer and winter tours.

I just read that test netting found the second highest walleye lifts ever recorded on the lake and an excellent size distribution. I remember hearing about lots of big fish being caught this past year, and combined with the strong 2005 and 2006 year classes, there ought to be some pretty nice walleye fishing for size and numbers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just finished up two weeks on Leech. I share the optimism for the future of Leech Lake fishing. Most days we fished we limited. Fished for 3 - 4 hours each time out. Most of the fish were in the 16" - 17". We caught 8 - 10 slot fish with the largest at just under 26". The slot fish along with the 11" - 13" were released.

We had one day where two of us caught over 40 Walleye in the 16" - 17" size, for the most part, in a 2 1/2 hour window. This was a first-ever for me on Leech. I have had good days but never anything like this! I have to credit my friend who suggested we fish the area, one I do not normally fish.

This fall Star Point and Little Harwood were the most productive areas. Last fall it was all Pine Point and Little Stony. I didn't spend much time on the south half of the big lake. Most days we had south winds or south-east or south-west and the Walleye were on the moss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice report. Fishing really has been very good on Leech all year. What a beautiful lake, and now we even get good fishing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leech is Back for sure, I spent lots of time fishing this summer and fall, tons of fish in all sizes, personal biggest this year was a 27.5 and seen a 34, what a hog, we had been drifting the west goose flats, with a few boats, when the boat next to us tied into her, we were just moving out for a new drift and pulled up the view the beauty before they put her back in. The DNR had a public meeting near the end of Sept. to discuss the idea of stocking again and get imput, any word on their decision yet? I definately like the idea, I caught tons of 10" to 12" fish that I am suspecting are the stocked eyes. The interesting part is I have fished leech for many years and never seen as few boats on the lake as I did this year, I suppose some of it has to do with the number of resorts on the lake compaired to 10 years ago. The slot did hurt the resort/guide business but did wonders for the lake. Leech and Winnie walleye fishing is good and only going to get better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • Brianf.
      I'm not there, so I can't tell exactly what's going on but it looks like a large area of open water developed in the last day with all of the heavy snow on the east side of wake em up Narrows. These two photos are from my Ring Camera facing north towards Niles Point.  You can see what happened with all of snow that fell in the last three days, though the open water could have been wind driven. Hard to say. .  
    • SkunkedAgain
      Black Bay had great ice before but a few spots near rockpiles where there were spots of open water. It looks like the weight of the snow has created a little lake in the middle of the bay.  
    • LakeofthewoodsMN
      On the south end...   Thanks to some cold spring weather, ice fishing continues strong for those still ice fishing.  The bite remains very good.  Most resorts have pulled their fish houses off for the year, however, some still have fish houses out and others are allowing ATV and side by sides.  Check social media or call ahead to your favorite resort for specifics. Reports this week for walleyes and saugers remain excellent.   A nice mix of jumbo perch, pike, eelpout, and an occasional crappie, tullibee or sturgeon being reported by anglers. Jigging one line and using a live minnow on the second line is the way to go.  Green, glow red, pink and gold were good colors this week.     Monster pike are on a tear!  Good number of pike, some reaching over 45 inches long, being caught using tip ups with live suckers or dead bait such as smelt and herring in 8 - 14' of water.   As always, work through a resort or outfitter for ice road conditions.  Safety first always. Fish houses are allowed on the ice through March 31st, the walleye / sauger season goes through April 14th and the pike season never ends. On the Rainy River...  The river is opened up along the Nelson Park boat ramp in Birchdale, the Frontier boat ramp and Vidas boat ramp.  This past week, much of the open water skimmed over with the single digit overnight temps.   Areas of the river have popped open again and with temps getting warmer, things are shaping up for the last stretch through the rest of the spring season, which continues through April 14th.   Very good numbers of walleyes are in the river.  Reports this week, even with fewer anglers, have been good.  When temps warm up and the sun shines, things will fire up again.   Jigs with brightly colored plastics or jigs with a frozen emerald shiner have been the desired bait on the river.  Don't overlook slow trolling crankbaits upstream as well.   Good reports of sturgeon being caught on the river as well.  Sturgeon put the feed bag on in the spring.  The bite has been very good.  Most are using a sturgeon rig with a circle hook loaded with crawlers or crawlers / frozen emerald shiners. Up at the NW Angle...  Ice fishing is winding down up at the Angle.  Walleyes, saugers, and a number of various species in the mix again this week.  The bite is still very good with good numbers of fish.  The one two punch of jigging one line and deadsticking the second line is working well.   Check with Angle resorts on transport options from Young's Bay.  Call ahead for ice road guidelines.  
    • CigarGuy
      With the drifting, kind of hard to tell for sure, but I'm guessing about a foot and still lightly snowing. Cook end!
    • PSU
      How much snow did you get on Vermilion? 
    • Mike89
      lake here refroze too...  started opening again yesterday with the wet snow and wind...  very little ice left today...
    • Hookmaster
      A friend who has a cabin between Alex and Fergus said the lake he's on refroze. He texted me a pic from March 12th when it was open and one from 23rd when it wasn't. 🤯
    • SkunkedAgain
      I don't think that there has been any ice melt in the past few weeks on Vermilion. Things looked like a record and then Mother Nature swept in again.   I'll give my revised guess of April 21st
    • leech~~
      As I get older it's really not just about sending bullets down range.  Some of it's just the workmanship of the gun and the wow factor. The other two guns I have really wanted which I'll never have now because of their price, is a 8mm Jap Nambu and 9mm German Luger.   Just thought they always looked cool!  
    • jim curlee
      I had a guy hit me with a lightly used 1969 BAR, he wanted $1650 with an older Leupold scope. More than I think they are worth, I made an offer, he declined end of story.   You know if you look at the old brochures, a grade II BAR sold for $250 in the late 60s, $1650 would be a good return on your investment.    Why would anybody want a 50 year old gun, they are heavy, have wood stocks, and blued metal.  I guess mainly to keep their gun safes glued to the floor. lol   You can probably buy a stainless rifle that you never have to clean, with a synthetic stock you never have to refinish, is as light as a feather, and for half as much money, perfect.   I'm too old for a youth gun, although I've shrunk enough that it would probably fit. lol   No Ruger 10/44s.   Jim      
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.