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.

2020 Leech Lake Fishing Reports - Hackensack, Longville, Walker MN Also


Recommended Posts

Any certain colors or jigs that tend to work better on leech? This is my first trip up in 5 years or so and only 2nd trip of my life so- any info is helpfull thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If fishing shallow I like some flash like silver or gold. If fishing deeper the 15 I like somthing with some glow on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fishing this weekend was a little up and down. Friday it seemed everyone I talked to had at least a few keepers, and our rental group did very well during the late afternoon hours. It seemed that things were really picking up with the brief warmup.

I had a group of 4 on Saturday that wanted to stay mobile and it paid off. As of 9am we had not yet caught a single fish, so we decided to take off and hit spots until we found some active fish. This was not real easy as temps in the mid-morning were still at -18. At high noon I found a school of fish that were semi-active on a small hump that had not yet been hit this year. We moved the entire group and it was "game on" for the next few hours. We ended up just shy of our four man limits of "13-15.5" inch fish.

Yesterday, the wife and I decided to hit one of the rentals with the TV to watch the Super-Bowl and try to catch a few walleyes and maybe even a Pout. It was pretty slow, 3 keeper eyes and more importantly no pout. I will be out chasin pout over the next few evenings in hopes to find something to set up on over eelpout weekend. Good luck and look forward to seeing everyone out on the ice in another week or so for the big festivities. Stop in and say hi if you get a chance, I will be working the weigh in and running the "Gong" show!!!!!! (best part)

5626842.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

It will be my very first time up here in Leech and with all the snow report you guys have that means I should bring a extension for my auger?

Hows the perch bite or tulibee bite any info will be great for a Leech lake first timer thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was there yesterday at stony point. Snow was high. Recommend trucks with 4X4 and shovels. Even with trucks, couldn't go off the plowed road. Probably more than a foot of snow. Ice thickness is about 28". Barely made it with my auger with no extension. Fishing was ok. I only managed to get one tullibee but my brother did well as he hops more than I did. He got nine total. Overall, not a bad trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

So how much snow did it get after this storm? Will the auger be needing an extension? I know traveling will be hard but driving on plow roads and pulling a sled is okay with me. Will be there this wknd. Any reports will be great. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

So how much snow did it get after this storm? Will the auger be needing an extension? I know traveling will be hard but driving on plow roads and pulling a sled is okay with me. Will be there this wknd. Any reports will be great. Thanks

No Extention needed on walker bay but I would bring it. The perch have been biting near Pine point!

Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm looking to know how travel is after the most recent snow. Looking to come up Saturday in search of Tulibee. Any recommendations on resorts that plow roads that might lead to them?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got this response from someone in the walker area, it helped us decide to cancel our trip.

Traveling on any lake in the area is bad especially after the 10 inches we got monday and tue. You will need snowmobile for access any where off of the plowed road. There are resorts along the way but dont know if they are open anymore with walleye season over best would be to call. When i drove by this morning i saw a couple of houses still out and one guy with a plow trying to get to his and he was stuck so if you have a snowmobile and portables would be the only way to go.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Keep in mind you can travel most places via Pine Point Resort roads with a vehicle but getting off the road is gong to be the biggest challenge. Taking sleds is a good option BUT to inform you though the snow is deep it's also very crusty and choppy and hard on your portable and auger an auger mount is highly recommended... wink

MR

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

First open water trip for me on Leech last night. First let me say the lake appears to be completely ice free except for a small amount that is piled up on a coupe eastern shorelines. We fished a few different areas where water temps ranged from 45-47 before landing on the "hotspot". Water temps in this area were a solid 50-51 degrees and the fish were stacked up, waiting to be fed after a long winter! Most females looked as though they had spawned, but a few were still holding eggs.

full-2997-33182-7430326.jpg

full-2997-33183-6325480.jpg

full-2997-33184-6863942.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hit Leech in search of walleyes and it didn't take long. We focused our efforts on shoreline breaks and flats. The fish were scattered throughout the depths, but our best action seem to come in 7-11ft of water most of the day. We did catch fish however in as shallow as 5 feet at times. A jig and rainbow or jig and shiner was the best presentation for the day. It seemed though that the standard drift and vertical jig wasn't nearly as affective, you had to get the jig and minnow out away from the boat so when we drifted we would cast out and work the jig back, but what produced the best was backtrolling with jigs and snapping them, this produced the most aggressive fish. A good mix of walleyes and perch all day long.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Was up for three days this weekend and we found fish primarily hanging out either on large sand flats, shoreline breaks, and windblown points with rocks. Depths really ranged from fish being caught in 5 feet of water to 20 plus feet of water. A wide variety of fish were caught, but it seemed that most of the fish found in the shallower waters 5-12ft were your smaller males, but they kept our clients happy all weekend tugging on their lines. Larger walleyes were also caught mixed in at times with those males, but the bigger fish in the mid to upper 20s were found out deeper more often than not in 12+ feet of water. The wind has played a huge factor on Leech of late, not sure when the last time it has blown from the East almost two weeks. 1/8th oz jigs and shiners were the number one producer, but we also started getting fish on Lindy rigs with leeches and even crawlers as well. Alot of our biggest fish came on jumbo leeches this weekend, and I forsee that bite picking up even more. The wind was perfect for making long drifts, but the speed was the key, with .6-1.0mph being the best. The bite should continue to stay strong in the coming weeks. Looking forward to the Leech Lake Walleye Tournament held next weekend.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the report. Any off shore structures starting to produce fish? Or is it all shore line and then the deeper breaks still?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My tournament partner and I, did some prefishing yesterday on main luck structures and managed to find some fish, but it didn't seem to be a large population yet at all, it won't be much longer though as the water temps begin to warm and we get some bright sunny days to warm up the rocks and such on the lake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Was up on Leech since last Friday and the fishing was pretty good once again. The fish are definitely transitioning towards their summer haunts and getting away from the shoreline breaks that were so good early on. Water temps are starting to creep to 60 degrees and the warmest I saw all weekend was 62. Fished all over the lake, but mainly focused my efforts around Goose Island, Sucker Bay, and the north end of Portage Bay on the weekend. Wind, like always is the key on Leech, so with that I set out for those places. I found fish sitting on transitions especially where it transitions to sand or gravel to mud because of some of the bug hatches that are happening, also pay attention to the rocks as the water begins to warm up more. The best bite came in 12-18 feet of water either snap jigging a jig and shiner or a lindy rig and leech or crawler. Leeches became the best bait as the weekend went on, but when the skies got high and blue with the sun beating down a #4 or #6 hook with a half of a crawler was the ticket to get some of those less aggressive fish to bite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Had a couple call at the last moment last night that wanted to get out on the lake. The evening started a little tough as there was not much wind paired with high bright skies. Water temps were right on the 70 degree mark. After a couple quick passes through some spots that produced just a day or two ago with no luck, we headed quick for shallow water. It wasn't long and we had a couple fish in the boat. About 7:30 it was lights out action the rest of the evening. We did not, however, catch any fish in the slot yesterday, which has not been usual. Clients went home with our keeper fish and an evening on the water that couldn't have been better temperature and scenery-wise. full-2997-34372-img_20130619_223010.jpg

full-2997-34373-img_20130619_223855.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The weather up here in the northland is still cool and rainy but the fish just do not seem to mind. I have been hitting leech and fishing just North of where you come out of federal landing. I have been fishing in 7-13 ft of water depending on the wind with a 1/8 oz gumball and shiner. It has been a good presentation as long as you get it away from the boat. There are also fish on five mile and around two points.

good luck fishing

Jason Boser

Fishing Fever Guide Service

http://www.mnfishingpros.com

218-999-5591

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Getting quite a few requests lately to fish afternoons or evenings lately. This is not my preferred time to fish, but it is usually nicer weather. Usually is the key word.... Yesterday we had to dodge a couple rain storms but all ended well. Had a family from Texas who wanted to try their hand at catching some walleyes, something they had never done before. With the wind blowing pretty good from the WNW we fished some shallow sand/grass spots and found fish actively feeding in 5-7 feet of water. Jig and a leech was the ticket yesterday for limits of keepers and some nice slot fish of all sizes. full-2997-34616-img_20130627_193753.jpg

full-2997-34617-img_20130627_224950.jpg

full-2997-34618-img_20130627_222159_470.

full-2997-34619-img_20130627_225222.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was on Leech for the last three days battling the wind, and boy did it rip on Friday and Saturday. Needless to say it limited where we could go and fish effectively. A majority of my weekend was spent in Walker Bay. Fish are still being found on shoreline breaks. If the wind is blowing into them active walleyes, perch, and pike were all found in 13-16ft of water, when things died down, the pike and perch stayed there, but the walleyes slid off into 18-20ft. Also found fish on a couple different bars and points within Walker Bay in 17-20 feet of water, including some big ones. Lindy rigs with crawlers and leeches or pulling spinners all worked for these fish. Guide Jim Ernster and I were out on Saturday doing some scouting and caught a 29" and 28" walleye back to back within 5 minutes. Pretty awesome moment.

Fished the main lake when I could and am finding the fish are on the move to the rocks and summer haunts. The mayflies are starting to hatch, as evident yesterday morning. Don't them scare you off, there can be some great fishing to be had. Main Lake rocks like Annex, Sub, and Pelican are great places to lindy rig with a slow death and crawler and pull spinners over top of. I had good luck yesterday slowing trolling spinners at .8-1mph over top off rocky flats(9-12ft of water) when the wind was blowing and on the edges when it died down.(14-18ft) No big ones, but some good eaters and nicer slot fish.

Been hearing good reports of largemouth and panfish being caught in Boy and Headquarters Bay, and the pike are going strong in the cabbage in Steamboat, Portage, and Sucker Bays.

full-407-34729-ernsterandfreedbacktoback

full-407-34730-shaneimsland.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Have been up on Walker the last five days doing trips and the fishing was in all phases from hot to pretty tough. Right now the lake has a huge bug hatch going on and when we get those flat calm and high sky days combined with the bug hatch it has made for some tougher fishing conditions. On those days trolling spinners or long lining a crawler with a slow death or split shot and hook seems to be the ticket in 14-20ft of water. When the wind picks up the fish have gotten alot more active. Spinners have seemed to rule the day, but lindys with a leech or crawler is still catching fish. When the wind is blowing, the walleyes are moving up a shallower into 10-14ft of water. I focused my efforts on main lake rocks such as Annex, North Bar, and Fletchers as well as some transition areas where it turns from sand to mud. We also had some success slip bobber fishing on the rocks as well as in the cabbage for walleyes. Like always the key has been to stay on the move and pay close attention to your graph. I have been using my down imaging my Lowrance alot when fishing in the rocks and on the mud to pick out those fish, and it has helped immensely. When it comes to pulling spinners, .8-1.2MPH is where I have been working with a #3 colorado blade in hammered gold or chartreuse combined with a 2oz Wing It bottom bouncer. If you haven't checked these bottom bouncers out, you are missing out! Mornings have been the best bite, but we have also been finding an active period in the afternoons as well.

Walker Bay is producing a mixed bag of walleyes lindy rigging with crawlers and redtails in 15-20 ft of water.

So get out and enjoy the lake!

Jason Freed

Leisure Outdoor Adventures full-407-34930-ashleigh26inchwalleye.jpg

full-407-34931-schrodelboysandwalleyes.j

full-407-34932-coreyhafner27walleye.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With all the talk about the rocks I thought I would give a little "weed" report. Walleyes are in many locations and structure types on leech lake right now. I have been doing well in a weedy area near a slow break to deeper water. Have been just using leeches on lindy rigs in 10 to 12ft. Its been a week or so but I have got some eyes slip bobbering leeches in the cabbage as well. Just about any where you go you will find a good mix of size also. 50/50 slots & keepers for the most part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

The fishing on Leech Lake has been tougher of late, with the heat, bug hatches that happened around the 4th, and changing weather conditions the fish have not always been the most cooperative, but it has also depended on the day. The main lake rock bite that was going so well, as really dropped off and I haven't had much luck with that. Instead I have focused on Main lake humps that top out anywhere from 15-25' and have nice steep breaks on part of them. These have been a good producer for a mix of both eater sized fish as well as fish in the 20-27" range. A lindy rig with a crawler, slow death and crawler, or slow trolling blades on the edges or tops of these humps have put some fish in the boat. The other tactic that has worked very well for us of late for putting keeper walleyes in the boat is slip bobber fishing. Now some may think this is a lesser tactic, but when times get tough a slip bobber, #6 hook, a couple of split shots, and a fat leech can out produce anything else. We have focused our efforts on humps, holes within flats, and cabbage to find these fish. The best part if you catch a great mix of bass, perch, walleyes, and pike doing this, and heck, who doesn't like watching a bobber disappear?

Walker Bay has been very hit and miss. Some fish are starting to show up on the humps that top out at 20-25' and have a mix of gravel and boulders, but the walleyes that we have found are still being found off the shoreline breaks in 18-24' of water rigging redtails and crawlers.

All you can do when you hit this part of the summer is cover water, fish alot of spots, and try tweaking some of those standard presentations by changing up color, adding a bead, size of the hook you are using, bait, etc. This is what makes the hunt so much fun.

Good luck out there. I will be up on Leech again for the most part all of this week. Until next time...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was up on Leech for the last three days. Walleye fishing has been tough as a whole for me this week. The best concentration of walleyes have been found in isolated clumps of cabbage. I have targeted those fish using slip bobbers with a plain hook and a leech. Simply just fan casting until you find one and typically there will be another two or three near by. Once you catch them, you have to move a little ways and locate them again. Best depths have been 8-12ft of water, but I have found some walleyes slip bobber fishing on the humps in Walker and Agency Bays that top out anywhere from 14-20ft of water. For those cabbage fish look to places like Sucker Bay, Agency Bay, and Steamboat Bay. All those places have great looking green cabbage right now.

The Pike are starting to show up on the humps in Walker Bay and shoreline breaks. Try rigging a creek chub or casting a crankbait on windblown shorelines.

Also spent some look for an action bite and found some nice gills on Leech Lake and big crappies on a small local lake in the area. A slip bobber and panfish leech or an 1/32oz jig and panfish leech in the cabbage or on top of weedy humps did the trick for the gills. For the crappies a 1/32oz jig and any colored tube did the job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Fishing the last week or so has really picked up. Water temps have cooled back into the high 60's and fish are being found a little more concentrated in specific areas. Rocks, Sand, Weeds and suspended over deeper water, walleyes are being caught almost everywhere you look. The nice thing about the bite right now is you can catch a fish using just about ANYTHING. Spinners, jigs, lindy's, shad raps, plastics have all worked recently. The highest concentration of fish I have found have come from the 12-17 feet depths. Mornings and evenings have still been best, but decent numbers are being caught in the middle of the afternoon as well.

We have also been on a HOT panfish bite recently, with some very nice crappies being found in and along weedlines and steeper cabbage breaks. Pitching 1/32 to 1/16 oz tube jigs in and along the cabbage has been putting some great looking panfish in the boat recently. Now is a great time to get out there and take advantage of some of the last few weeks of summer.

full-2997-35590-walleyeresized1.jpg

full-2997-35591-walleyeresized2.jpg

full-2997-35592-netresized3.jpg

full-2997-35593-leisure_outdoor_adventur

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How about an update! Have not fished Leech since mid-June and did well then with fish shallow. Headed to Stony Point. Expect that we should see some more mid-lake action out on the humps but curious if you are still seeing fish shallow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok Rocstar! Had a quick afternoon trip yesterday. Fishing was pretty dang good and has been now since the water cooled a couple weeks ago. The fish right now are being caught on just about any tactic you can think to throw at them. Leeches, Crawlers, Minnows, Artificials....you name it. Main lake areas are holding numbers of fish again similar to what we saw in June, and Walker Bay is getting hotter by the day for keeper fish. I have not been able to put very many big fish in the boat, but numbers have been good. Here's a pic from yesterday afternoon's trip.

full-2997-35725-2.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Similar Content

  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

    • leech~~
      Nope not me.  May want to go nextdoor and ask around?  
    • smurfy
      Looks to me like Leech brought his chair home!!😅😆
    • 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
×
×
  • 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.