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

[gimruis]

I can recall a couple times when the Sheriff would announce that the ice was too unsafe for vehicles, which would cut participation in half.  Most people just want to show up with their trucks and wheel houses and party and get drunk there.  When they can't drive on the ice, they simply don't go because they don't wanna get a hotel and its a lot more work to go out there on foot or with an ATV than it is to drive out there with an overnight sleeper.

[Wanderer]

I think the participants made their own bed on this one.

 

I attended it once, sometime during its first 5 years when it was still a novelty.  Some fun things for sure but I’ve got no interest in full blown drunk fests that trash the lake.  

[Rick]

Trappers Landing Lodge Report

Leech Lake Fishing Report

Fishing pressure has remained low for the past few weeks. The anglers out fishing walleyes are seeing a low light bite currently.

 

Set lines with a colored hook and a minnow have been how a majority of fish are being caught. Look for a break line in 15' -22' of water to find the most active fish.

 

During the day the perch bite has been surprisingly strong with a majority of the fish coming in 12'-16' of water on Northland jigging spoons tipped with a crappie minnow or a set line with a smaller minnow are bringing fish topside.

 

With the low fishing pressure right now the early season ice spots are still catching fish.

[Joe]

The Walleyes are in their full summer patterns now. Our Leech Lake Fishing Guides are finding the walleyes in a few different places using a few different techniques. The key times of the day are the low light periods which has been an important factor for catching these fish on calm sunny days.

 

Trolling the flats has put mid summer Leech Lake Walleyes in the boat. The main idea here is to cover ground using crank baits and find the active fish. Aim to move the boat at about 2 mph and getting your lure of choice within 2 feet of the bottom. Don’t spend too much time on on spot even if you are marking fish. Our Leech Lake walleye guides have had the best luck running # 5 Rapalas in the bleeding copper flash or bleeding hot olive color. If you are finding the fish a little deeper switch up to a #7 to keep that lure in the strike zone.

 

When using this method be sure and target the flats where there is weed and gravel mixed in. Duck point and goose island are great spots to start when pulling these cranks. 9 to 12 feet of water has been the most productive area for us.

The other technique that has put walleyes in the boat is lindy rigs and moving slowly on or near break lines. Walker Bay has plenty of structure for this method and we have been focusing on the south end. Leeches and crawlers have been working the best in the 10-16 feet of water range. With the crawler a green or brown floating jig has worked well. Try to keep the boat moving under 1 mph and closer to .5 the better.

 

Have fun....

Leech Lake Guide Service

[Joe]

Much of MN has been seeing strong storms every couple days over the last week but that hasn’t slowed out Leech Lake Walleye Guides from getting on the fish. Not a ton has changed since last week fishing Leech Lake out of Walker MN. However, we did notice a pattern change in the bait of choice. Both Lindy rigging and pulling cranks have changed a bit.

 

Much like last Week we are still focusing on Lindy rig fishing. The water temp has dropped back into the lower 70s which has the fish looking for leeches again and less likely to hit crawlers.

 

The humps of Walker bay have been producing numbers of Walleye but not the best for size. Most of our fish have been coming in the 10-17 feet of water.

 

One tip we did pick up on is using a pink hook for your leech rig. This set up has been out fishing others 3-1. Try to keep your boat in the .5-.7 mph range. This can be tough on the windy days but the new Ulterra has pulled its weight on the guide boat.

 

Our Walker MN Walleye guides are still pulling cranks with success.

 

 #5 Rapalas in perch and Bleeding Copper flash have been good for us as of late. As you can see from the picture the perch are ripe for eating and the walleyes are chasing them.

Target the 9-12 feet of water range and just about 2 mph has been a sweet spot for us.

Like always the lake and the bite is the best when you have cloud cover or a breeze. This time of year the fish spook easily when the viability is good similar to calm and sunny days.

 

We do have a few openings left for August and September so give us a call to book your next trip or to stay up to date with our latest reports

 

Visit LeechLakeGuideService.com