2020 Bemidji Area Fishing Reports

[Chris Haley]

I've been waiting for them to show. Have not been out since Mon. My boat is in the shop. Hope to get back for the weekend. They should be there when you come.

[lindy rig]

Sweet - thanks for the reply!

[bemidjibasser]

The new boat is in the shop already??? What happened?

[Chris Haley]

Hit a rock on the east side of Bemidji taking off. Chipped the skeg, bent the shaft, and tore up the prop.

Picked it up at noon and am ready for the weekend!!!

Will have plenty to report next week as I have Monday off also.

[cluelessfisherman]

The panfish have been crazy on some of the local lakes lately. We seem to be behind on the weed growth for this time of year on some of the lakes I am fishing, so we are finding the fish waiting just off the drops in the deeper cabbage waiting for the reeds & pads to green up. Crappie minnows on a 1/16 jig under a float or gulp larvae or maggots for gills/sunnies have been working for us.

The bass are falling victim to both live bait and slow rolling spinner baits in the shallows.

Pike have been slow but consistent on twitch baits over the decaying reed beds with fish up to 30" boated in the last week.

I also made several trips up to Red last weekend and had no problem filling out our 4 keepers with many throw backs - 3 guys in my boat landed well over 100 eyes in an afternoon. The key was getting away from the crowds as best you could - which usually meant a 2-3 mile boat ride to find a spot on the break.

Good luck out there guys!

Hurry up and get that boat fixed up Chris!!

[lindy rig]

Not much for new reports? Hopefully everyone is busy fishing!

Anything going on Lake Bemidji?

[Matt Breuer]

Lake Bemidji has been slow for the most part. It's been a tough bite out there, but a guy can manage to scrape up some fish if he puts in some time. Evening into night is the best chance to pull out a limit. The crankbait bite has been decent, with eaters being pretty easy to find on some of the good trolls...

OTher lakes in the area have continued to be stellar however, and if you're into big water, lakes like Cass, Winnie, and Leech are all unreal right now.

Pannies are still holding in shallow waiting for water temps to rise so they can get their business done, and the bass are thinking the same thing. Pannies and bass are easy targets right now, and are a ton of fun!

I don't think there's a lack of reports, I just think people are too busy to post them! Tournament season is here, and that makes people a little tight-lipped as well....

[lindy rig]

Thanks Matt.. That's what I was looking for!

[Quackaddict9]

Matt- hear any muskie action in the Bemidji area??

[thrax]

I personally was out Saturday evening in the rain and put a few hrs in last night. Moved fish both evenings, had one quite hot last night that came in nose almost touching the bait and she hung in for me thru 2 complete fig 8's, but finally bailed. Fish I've found have been on inside weed edges. Cabbage is looking awesome in many areas. Going again in a couple min. Most fish I've seen have been mid 40's, no pigs yet but surprisingly not little guys either. Lots of smaller pike no big ones also. Have also briefly tried a little open water but my bait schools have at least temporarily disappeared.

[Quackaddict9]

I personally was out Saturday evening in the rain and put a few hrs in last night. Moved fish both evenings, had one quite hot last night that came in nose almost touching the bait and she hung in for me thru 2 complete fig 8's, but finally bailed. Fish I've found have been on inside weed edges. Cabbage is looking awesome in many areas. Going again in a couple min. Most fish I've seen have been mid 40's, no pigs yet but surprisingly not little guys either. Lots of smaller pike no big ones also. Have also briefly tried a little open water but my bait schools have at least temporarily disappeared.

That's better than what I did out on Saturday morning for about 6 hours on Forest Lake but put 3 small pike in the boat and that was it. Hopefully things will turn on soon. Keep the muskie reports coming. Thanks!

[Matt Breuer]

Two of my guides were out together trying to hash out some spots and info on Sat., they raised one very nice fish and that was it. They were running and sharing info, so I don't know how much fishing they got done. Hopefully it'll be a good season for you muskie chasers, I'll be listening for your cowbells on those calm evenings....

[lindy rig]

Was up on Lake Bemidji from 6/10 - 6/14 you guys weren't kidding it was pretty slow out there! We were mainly fishing walleyes. When I finally started marking fish in the daytime, they were 25-30' of water and not in the "usual" spots. We didn't stay on the lake the whole time, but only ones we caught were between 9-11pm at night when they finally came into the shallows. I did catch one smaller muskie.

Talked to a bunch of people at the landing, the resort, and bait shops and they confirmed the same thing. Hopefully it picks up soon, we'll be back in July.

Really curious to see if the Kraus walleye tournament guys did any better (I'm sure they did) anyone know the results or where it's posted?

[Chad711]

http://www.kawalleyeclassic.com/Results.html

[Chris Haley]

OK where to start.

Fishing has been steadily picking up in the Bemidji area. I've been out everyday for the last two weeks. Fish on Bemidji have been scattered in just about every depth possible. I've caught them in 4ft-40ft. The shoreline breaks are holding plenty of fish, with my best two bites coming off the south end of the pines and off Reese's(sp) point. If you have the lakemaster chip, there are quite a few fish up around mandy's bar on the north side.

I've also fished Plantagenet a half a dozen times. Jigs and shiners were the ticket with crawlers and live bait rigs starting to heat up. The break line south east of the long point is going great. The break line in front of the "yard" is also holding great numbers. Plantagenet is full 12"-14" fish and if get on the right school, a limit of eaters will be your reward.

Panfish are up shallow on most lake's at this time. Spend a little time looking and bluegill's and crappie will not be that hard to find. And no don't ask.

Things should continue to pick up and just about every technique will catch fish.

Good luck out there and be safe.

[thrax]

One of our "area lakes" kicked out the muskies below Friday night. 53x22 and 47 respectively. Caught on topwater just over an hr apart. On Wednesday night, had at least 6 separate fish swimming around the boat like a shark pack. At least 3 of them were 50+ and the others were nothing to sneeze at, all others were mid to upper 40's. Got 2 to turn on baits and one full follow thru an 8 but they wouldn't pop. Left em for an hr and tried em again quick for 15 min after dark but couldn't wake em up and had to quit, alarm clock for work at 5:40 am doesn't help on a weeknight.

[Matt Breuer]

Nice fish BJ!

[lindy rig]

Nice 'skis dude!

Coming back to Lake Bemidji July 10-13 and staying in the State Park this time. Has the walleye bite improved? Have they concentrated better in any particular depths?

Or are we better off fishing an area lake again?

Thanks again

[thrax]

Lindy Rig, walleye bite on Bemidji has improved of late. Finally. Have gotten on schools of them in shallow, between the inside of the cabbage beds and the reeds. Sometimes during bright sun. You'd think they'd be easy to catch but at times it takes dropping leeches and bobbers. Bite on leeches using spinners and lindy's deeper has also improved, check around the bases of some north end humps as well as some shoreline breaks. Evening bite pulling cranks has also gotten better. As far as other area lakes, been some crazy hot action on some north of town one day but then the next day it can be just dead.

Have heard guys are catching some ski's out over open water on Bemidji and other area lakes, but they are also showing up in predictable spots on weeds now also. Including some big mama's. Moving multiple fish each night out and overall activity levels have improved. My best action has been on topwater.

[lindy rig]

Good report Thrax - thanks!

[thrax]

Lindy, I am still finding schools of walleyes up shallow. Find the cabbage beds in the north end even right up at the state park, although there are better areas over near Northwoods landing, get on the inside edges and go shallow if you have decent conditions for visibility, slowly creep back out to the cabbage. Keep your eyes glued and prepare to cruise a little moving shallower then slowly sliding back to the inside edge of the cabbage, kinda weaving back and forth. You'll for sure find some nice schools. They are more bait shy than boat shy so you can get right up on them. Think of shooting pool with a rod for a cue and walleyes the balls. You can get that close. Back off a little then start bombing some slip bobbers. Avg size has been very good, with some really nice fish mixed in. Plenty of reasonable eaters though also.

[Quackaddict9]

Thrax- any new muskie reports? I was out a few nights ago and saw a few follows on rubbers and double 10 marabou, nothing hot though.

[lindy rig]

Nice, thanks again thrax. Sounds like I'll have to get the slip bobbers out and try a little stealth approach. Heard there's another tournament there this weekend. Lucky us I guess

[thrax]

Lindy, yes, there is an "event" on Bemidji on Saturday. Lake is getting hit pretty hard right now for walleyes. I like events and participate in enough of them so don't really want to speak badly about any. If nothing else, you'll pick up a few good spots to work for Saturday evening or the rest of your stay, there will be many good fishermen out there so think about marking some of the spots you concentrations of boats in on Friday or Saturday, lol.

Quack - muskies have slowed a little for me last couple trips out. Still seeing and moving some fish, but triggering has been tougher. Not coincidence, I am spotting walleyes in every location I am moving muskies in, and bait has been very thick in those same areas, no surprise. So much that it seems the muskies have too many easy pickins right now. I still personally am doing best on topwater and lost about a 50 the other night 15 feet out from the boat, bugs still hatching a little on Bemidji, more on Plantan, but seeing lots of fish blowing up on forage vs my baits. Thrown lots of D10's though also but they are just not working for me right now, fast slow or inbetween speeds. Plantan was a bust for me on Tuesday, stayed as late as I could but only moved 2 and both were low and slow. Look for me on the water sometime and say hello, Alumacraft Navigator with white Johnson 70 on it.

[lindy rig]

Nope, nothing against any of the tournament guys. In fact it can be kinda fun to watch. It's just that our last two trips to Bemidji have been on tournament weekends. Shootin 3-3

I'll post up how we do.

[Matt Breuer]

BJ, you're not kidding on the bait! I was out with a few buddies who fish the FLW on Monday afternoon and we had the camera down and saw 3 muskies sitting low on a break with hundreds of perch above their heads. All they had to do when it was time was lunge and settle back in. The minners were thick above the perch, who were schooling them all to the top doing the same. Amazing cycle to see on the camera and below the surface. It's a feeding frenzy out there right now....

[thrax]

Muskie bite is slow. Only moved one fish tonight but she was super hot and t-boned a topwater at lightspeed fairly close to the boat. Came out of nowhere. Awesome fight, took me on a 360 degree run around the boat. Even though she is ugly and missing half her tail, she was tons of fun. Thanks to "DJ" who was nearby and came over to take some photos for me. 50in and didn't girth. Last 4 fish averaging 50.25 inches. Lots of fish surfacing still but not on lures.

Matt, I tried a bunch of stuff right on the weed edge, and no luck. But when I switched to topwater, I stayed inside and casted out based on your tip of seeing them lying low and on the edge. Figured maybe that would work better to give them more time to see the bait, and wala it worked.

[cbrooks]

The only muskies I've caught have been on topwater and shallow for the most of them ,four feet or less.Hey thrax, that looks like the muskie I saw caught last year on the north shore of plantan.

[Quackaddict9]

The only muskies I've caught have been on topwater and shallow for the most of them ,four feet or less.Hey thrax, that looks like the muskie I saw caught last year on the north shore of plantan.

that would be neat to see a pic of that and see if its the same fish!

[thrax]

All I'll say is that it being the same fish is highly unlikely if you get my drift. Would be pretty tough for that to happen. Sad part of that is there are nearly matching really roughed up fish around here. Sad to report my brother found a 52.5 inch floater on Lake Vermilion tonight about 6pm. Some people really got to work on proper equipment and release skills.