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Heading up to Big Lake this Sat. Any one been on the lake lately? Will have several grand kids and nieces and nephews so will be looking for some pannies. Also do quite a bit of bass fishing.

Thanks for any help.

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said I'd post a report so here ya go. Fished the 14th - 19th on Lake Bemidji. I thought the fishing was pretty poor. Had some version of an E wind for several days, big bug hatch, straight up wind advisory one day, you name it.

Found some walleyes during the evening hours and lots of little perch but the daytime bite was very slow. Tried jigging, rigging, slip bobbers, shiners, fatheads, leeches, trolling cranks, casting cranks, mainly focused on shallow ( 5 - 11 ft) based on all the reports but also spent significant time deeper too.

We got enough for a family fish fry but it was slow. Talked with quite a few people up there and nobody really had a good report on the lake. I can count the number of times I saw another boat with a net out on one hand. Some better reports from smaller area lakes.

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Lindy, sorry to hear of a tough report for you. Walleye fishing has been very good on the lake, I think you got stymied by the weather! One of these trips (if you haven't) you need to get a guide if even for just 1/2 day at the front end of your trip, there are some great ones around, and you'll not regret it to improve your catch the rest of your stay.

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Been a very busy couple of weeks around here, and it's been a diverse little stretch as far as species go. I'll try to touch on it all...

Leech has been decent with fish always biting somewhere. Size is still the fun part, as clients are almost guranteed some fish over 20", usually a few in that 23-25" range. With the last hatch fishing slowed down some, but fish were still willing to bite on harnesses mid-day. Twilight hours were still very good for those we heard of hitting the lake...

Walleyes are still cracking on Bemidji despite some mayflies still on the hatch. We had clients limit out in 45 minutes after they got sick of chasing muskies on Tuesday night (saw 3 decent fish, no eaters). Salmo Hornet's in 5-12' of water.

NCGS took some soldiers who are home on leave out for a 4 hour trip where they were able to take home their 18 walleyes and got some amazing footage of a giant sheepshead... wink Lindy rig and a leech over mid-lake structure.

Smallies have been on fire on any lake containing them. Shallow rocky shorelines with Senko's, or deep rock humps with leeches under a float or on a split-shot rig.

We even had a guest out for trout where we pulled Salmo Hornet's until he was able to take home a limit. We fished 17-30' of water running baits down anywhere from 5-7' on mono to 17-24' on lead.

Pannies are moving into their summer haunts and are beginning to pile back up. Deep cabbage or deep rice edges are putting out crappies and nice bluegills. A lot of sunfish have yet to spawn...

The weather has been wonderful the past 4-5 days, couldn't have asked for better days to be on the water!

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The weather has been wonderful the past 4-5 days, couldn't have asked for better days to be on the water!

That will change just in time for the weekend. Darn weather!

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I hope it's not as bad as they are saying for Fishing Has No Boundries on Sat and Sun. I have the clothing for it, I just don't have enough for all the people in my boat.

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I hope luck is on your side and the weather-people are wrong yet again, Chris! Great thing happening, and I hope it isn't spoiled by Mother Nature!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well... there hasn't been a report in quite some time. I know people are fishing, because I see many of you either parked at the accesses or on the lake!

Walleye fishing remains quite good on Lake Bemidji as well as several other lakes in the area. We're finding the best bites on either lindy's with leeches or spinners and crawlers. Into dark and after the crank bite is still hopping, and it's even good during the day if you're working the right area. The cabbage is still where it's at, as fish are roaming in 4-10' of water in the thick stuff. Perch, pike, and muskies can be found in these areas as well. Running spinners at 1.6mph seems to be capturing the attention of all sepcies on Lake Bemidji....

Panfish are also biting well on many area lakes. The bluegills have finally dumped most of their eggs and have moved off to the deeper weeds, and the crappies can be found sliding off the cabbage edge adjacent to deeper water.

Great fishing still going on in the Bemidji area!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Got the neice and nephew out from North Carolina and managed some perch. Great to see them get some fish. full-845-246-img_0697(medium).jpg

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Nice work, Scotty!

I had clients on Bemidji today from 11-3 and they kept their limit of walleyes and 9 nice jumbos. We tossed back 10 walleyes or so and roughly 20 perch. Middle of the day, dead calm, bright sun... the bite is still hot!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Stop in at Bluewater and talk to Mark and the boys. They'll get you set up with bait and lead you in the right direction.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Go to Mark at Bluewater south end of town just north of Hwy 2 on 71. [Note from admin: Edited - please read forum rules before posting again. Thank you.] Easy to deal with and nice to talk to.

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Went out for about an hour and a half tonight till around 7. Jigged a point and the bar out in front of the river, ended up with 5 or 6 little foot longs and about that many bites.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 'we have more fun' FishingMN Creators

Has anyone been out fishing on bemidji?

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Been out on Bemidji 3 or 4 times. Caught a few walleyes each time along weed edge and drop offs. Nothing big. Will be out there this weekend on a yellow Can Am ATV fishing in a blue Clam Jr. Swing over and say hi if you see me and we can trade fishing lies.

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Can anyone get us a update on the ice thickness? Looking to put my house out tomorrow but don't know the thickness to drive out of the south shore. Seen cars out last weekend and one truck out? [Note from admin: Please see forum rules before posting again. Thank you.]

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hey walleye inn why are you on Low? i have never seen you post on here just on the low forum welcome to the bemidji site

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Koster...im walleyeinn's son actually. been too lazy to make my own name on here.. i moved to bemidji in june for work. been fishing this weekend. one decent walleye a night and one this morning. out of cameron i fished on 9inches of ice last night and over on the east side of the lake i fished 8inches in one hole this morning. i had SUV's and trucks driving by me...ATV for me still. fishing in about 24ft. anyone else have luck at diff. depths? not looking for spots as i like to fish off alone anyways...just a depth.

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Last night fished in 18 caught some perch and an eye, this am fished 24 caught some perch. Had a buddy in 21 and also caught some perch. We had lots of lookers both days. Measured 8" black ice and 2 of white ice! Had an suv drive about 100 yards from us and man was it cracking. THe North End is not as thick as the south end!! shocked My nephew was in 18 tonight in another spot and caught two eye's one nice 23 incher, took a pic and put it back! grin

BE careful out there, I can't believe all the big rigs and houses out on the lake this early!

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yeah...wow...thank gosh nobody has taken a swim yet with all the vehicle traffic on the lake. I was in 21ft with 8" of ice today and travelled by snowmobile. Few perch, certainly not a heavy bite, lots of lookers this morning.

Be careful out there, I know everyone is chomping at the bit to get the big perms out there (us included) but no fish is worth turning the truck into a submarine. Lots of season left! Good Luck to all!

Buck

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We are putting our houses out today. Pre-fished one day over 33' of water and took home a limit of eaters. Nothing bigger than 15". Also one nice jumbo. I'm hearing anything from 7-13" of ice. Where I've checked I've found 8.5-11" on the most recent drilling. It's spotty and nerve-grabbing...

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Drove my Dodge Dakota on Lake Bemidji. Pretty scary. Fished in 30 ft. of water and caught nothing. Lots of fish on the Vexi but no bites.

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We put the houses out yesterday and to our surprise we found 14-15" of good clean ice. We set the shacks down on glare ice patches. I fished the eve. bite and had 9 bites, 5 were keepers, one too little, lost one and missed the other two... Another shack was dead and moved today. Only 1 walleye and abour 8 perch.

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