cass lake 2020 Cass Lake Fishing Reports

[ducksnbucks]

When we got there Thursday morning I would say there was about 15-18" on the lakes we were fishing, more on the south sides I am guessing due to the NW winds blowing it over there. We got about 2-3" more on Thursday night and then about 5" more on Saturday night. I would say there is close to 2' of snow or maybe more in some cases everywhere right now. given the 30-40 degrees all of this week it should pack down some by next weekend but I am not sure that is good or bad for travel as it wont be as fluffy. Just watch out and be ready for slush pockets! Lots of weight on the ice right now.

[jlw034]

Fished a couple days last week south of Leech. Woman was slow, one walleye one northern. Enough snow to make driving a truck sketchy. Never got stuck-stuck, but had to rock a couple times. 

A small lake near Woman put out some nice gills. Like stated above, lots of slush on this lake. My bobber rod was floating a couple inches above the hole. 

This was before the most recent snows, and there was already a good foot on the ground in windblown areas. 

It was dang near knee deep in the woods. Checked my trail cams that got left up...first wolves on camera.

[Jim Panfish Uran]

Lots of snow still on the lakes and snowmobiles seem to be dang near the only option to get out where you want to go. Tulibee are going on Winnie, perch and pout seem to be the ticket on Cass. I plan on getting out tomorrow somewhere with my brother. Will report on what we find. 

[Jim Panfish Uran]

Went and fish pout mostly the last two weeks. It’s been hit and miss but fun nonetheless. Finding them lately with. Spawning marks and in depths from 15-36 feet, just depends on the night. My buddy even pulled up a nice whitefish last night. Lake travel is still tough, lots of snow and drifting that’s slowly getting melted down.  30+ inches of ice though  

[eyeguy 54]

beasts

[Wanderer]

Jealous...

[Borch]

I got out on the Cass Lake chain this weekend with a group of 10.  We found walleyes still hanging out shallow and scattered.   Jigging with shiners or gulp in 4-10 fow got several walleyes in the livewell.  With the heavy wind we also had a good daytime crank bite.  In the evening trolling cranks was productive as well. 

Saturday morning I stuck a 43" musky trolling for eyes.

Not a great photo but I was fishing by myself and wanted to get it released quickly.

Panfish were hard to pin down with them bouncing shallow and then disappearing with each weather change.  With wind gusting to 25+ miles per hour finesse presentations were difficult.

Water temps ranged from 53-60 degrees.

[Borch]

Day one...

Wind 16-25 mph out of the ESE made for some rough fishing so my wife relaxed back on shore.  Didn't get out until noon time and fished until 4 pm ended up with 2 nice walleyes and several small ones tossed back.  Jig and a leech in 17-19 fow was what they wanted today.   

Went out for a couple hours in the evening with the wind backing off very slightly.  Kept another 3 nice eaters.  Crankbaits up shallow did the damage.  Tossed back several small eyes as well.

[Borch]

Well here's a day 5 update I believe.

We've had sime oretty unstable weather with wind switching several times 180 degrees, storms and did I mention the wind?   Man it has just been howling.  Fish have been hard to pin down.  One day in 8-12 fow and the next 25 fow.  A jig and shiner have been the hot setup but shiners are in short supply.   A jig and leech or crawler have been effective at times.  The evening bite has been hit and miss.  One thing's for sure is that there are a lot of small eyes active with about 1/4 of fish catch being 15" or larger.  Tons of 13-14.5" eyes being caught.  

Today the wind was blowing 25+ mph and fish on the edges if structure were hard to finesse.  I noticed some significant mud slicks being formed and looked for a flat in a wind funnel area that was really stirred up.  I started trolling cranks shallow and made contact with hungry eyes right away.  I sorted for a couple hours and then got chased off by the weather.   After the storms passed I headed out for an evening trolling cranks.  The eyes were crushing the baits but most were under 15".  Although I did get in some nice ones as well.

[Borch]

Well time for one last fishing report for Cass Lake. Water temps are in the low to mid 70s.  Walleye fishing continues to go well.  During the day eyes are being caught in 8-12 or 15-21 fow.  Walleyes are biting on pretty much all livebait offerings during the day.  Key is that with the very clear water you need to get the baits far away from the boat as they are spooking away. Once you see these fish visually it is very hard to get them to bite.

In the evening trolling crankbaits shallow has been effective.  If you're not getting bit move to a different spot.  The fish are up and active.  Here's my livewell after a friend and I pulled cranks for a couple hours one night this week.

Here's a pic of a cute musky I caught on a gulp leech and 1/8 oz jig in 20 fow.

 

[Borch]

For those looking for some decent perch they seem to be hanging in the reeds chasing crawfish and minnows.   Some real dandies in there if you're in the right patch of reeds.  Not many out on the flats yet.

[Sculpin]

Does anyone have any info they might share on the ice conditions on and around  Cass. ATV travel ??  An perch bite to speak of ?? 

[Borch]

A quick report for Cass Lake.  Perch bite has been really good once you find the fish.  We found plenty of nice ones in the flats  especially in areas with some roll to the bottom.  We found concentrations of nice fish by trolling smaller cranks and then anchoring up and picking away at them with smaller jigging raps and rippin raps.  Ended up with a bunch Monday. 

 

Walleyes have been mixed in especially when they wind is blowing.  Otherwise the evening crank bite has been very good.  You'll need to do some sorting but nice eyes are there to be had in 5-8 fow.  Haven't target sunfish or crappies yet.

[Coach1310]

Nice fish Borch... never really targeted them in the summer time... might have to give it a whirl.

[Borch]

This weather is making it tough to get out and pinning down a consistent bite.  Wind had blown out if every imaginable direction in the past 5 days along with frequent storms keeping us off the lake.  With that said this us what I know.

 

Walleyes are still going at night on cranks in 5-8 fow.  During the day can be found on 16-25 fow and are biting on crawlers,  leeches and shiner minnows.   Perch are still on flats in 4-8 fow and you'll need to sort to get the nice ones.  Sunfish and crappies are still in the reeds in Allen's Bay and Kitchi.

 

Water temps have been up and down a lot this week. Currently we have 67-70 degrees in the spots I fished yesterday. 

[Borch]

Well we just finished our annual fall trip on Cass Lake over MEA.  Water temps hung around 48-50 degrees.  Walleye fishing was tough as we often could visually see them swimming up shallow at night but they didn't bite real well.   What we lacked in quantity and we made up for with quality though.  Several eyes between 20-28 inches.  We did manage to get quite a few nice eaters as well.  Here's some pics of the nicer ones. 

 

We did really well on perch and kept a bunch of 10-13" for eating.  Found these in 8-14 fow and caught in fathead, jigging raps and plastics.   Also got into some really nice crappies in basin/hole areas.  These fish are deep so it's a catch and keep situation.

 

At night the eyes are easily shore accessible.   We saw one 15 ft out of the harbor we were using that was easily 30" long and in less than 2 feet of water.

[Rick]

Nice outing Borch!

[Borch]

Thanks

[poliwhirl18]

That is truly impressive. 

[Rick]

Cass Lake Lodge Report

Chris was out checking ice conditions today. We got a new 6” of snow yesterday but the ice is finally setting up. Ice thickness is 14-16” with 4-6” top layer of bad ice. Four wheeler traffic is still possible with not much slush.

[Rick]

If you're planning to head up and need info, let us know. If your coming back, please share your pics and report.

[Sculpin]

Just returned from three days of perch fishing at Cass and Pike Bay. Both are kicking out ALLOT of perch, but more sorting is required at Pike. Ice is in great shape, and you can drive full size trucks anyplace you want to go.  There were lots of folks on the shallow flats around the big island on Cass, all the way up into 5', but the shallows were better very early, or late in the day. We caught fish all the way out to 32' on transitions, and in the 15' 20' range on many reefs. Minnow heads, euro's, waxies, all seemed equally effective, couple 12'' were our best fish.

I think it'll just keep getting better in the next week or so, as the temps ramp up a bit, and the weather stabilizes. 

I owe a very belated shout out to Borch who steered me in the right direction on Cass last year. THANKS !

Good luck if you can get a couple more trips in.    

Edited March 1, 2020 by Sculpin

[Rick]

A special Thank you to @Borch from @Sculpin. Pics from assorted contributors on FM. Nice report Sculpin.

Pike Bay is not part of Leech Lake. It is just south of Cass Lake. Both are close to Cass Lake, MN. Sucker Bay on Leech Lake can be dynamite for perch as well.

[Borch]

@Sculpin. Glad the info from earlier worked out for you.  Wish I could have made it up that direction this winter.   But the lake conditions kept me away.  Should make for more quality perch this summer when I get up there. 

[black otter]

Hey, just wondering how much ice there is, and shorelines? Wheelhouses still ok to bring out there? Thanks for any info!

[BobT]

I've never fished Leech Lake. Just to get my bearings, I tried to find Pike Bay using Google Maps but was unable to locate it. Also looked for it on my GPS with no luck. I did find Pike Bay on the southern end of Cass Lake. Can someone clarify?

[Rick]

49 minutes ago, BobT said:

I've never fished Leech Lake. Just to get my bearings, I tried to find Pike Bay using Google Maps but was unable to locate it. Also looked for it on my GPS with no luck. I did find Pike Bay on the southern end of Cass Lake. Can someone clarify?

Pike Bay is not part of Leech Lake. It is just south of Cass Lake. Both are close to Cass Lake, MN. Sucker Bay on Leech Lake can be dynamite for perch as well.

[Rick]

1 hour ago, black otter said:

Hey, just wondering how much ice there is, and shorelines? Wheelhouses still ok to bring out there? Thanks for any info!

Right now it's fine. 

 

Hopefully a few of you who head up will enjoy and report back.

[Sculpin]

1 hour ago, black otter said:

Hey, just wondering how much ice there is, and shorelines? Wheelhouses still ok to bring out there? Thanks for any info!

As of Saturday afternoon, ice conditions were excellent both along the public landing at Pike Bay, and the resort landings along the south shore of Cass, and the public landing at the rest stop.  I'm not one to promote ice thickness, but I drilled for 3 days on both lakes, and I guess I never saw anything less than  25" of solid clear ice, with some long frozen white/slush on top. Shorelines had not deteriorated at all, and there were in fact numerous wheelhouses on both Cass and Pike Bay on Sat. I drove a Ford F150 everywhere. Call the local resorts for updates. Cass Lake lodge, Sah Ka Tay etc. they will steer you appropriately. As you know shorelines can take a beating quickly, and can make access challenging. There is also a good crappie, gill bite going on some the of the area lakes up there. Portage, Pimushe, Big, etc.  Winnie is also kicking out allot of perch, but they average smaller. Again, call ahead, and talk to the resorters.

Good luck if you go !!

[black otter]

Thanks a lot. I’ll call resort Friday. I’m hoping Saturday still looks good with the warm up.