brainerd Brainerd Fishing Reports

[mdgoebel]

Going to Gull this weekend. I have 4X4 truck, but my tires are not the best. Is there much snow or is it down from the warmth and rain a couple weeks ago? Are there paths to most places? How is the access off 371, NE side? Any general tips for walleyes and crappies? Thanks!

[JConrad]

Not sure about the 371 access but you can get around pretty well in most areas since we had the rain. The government point access is good.

Most of the fish we are now taking are in 32 to 36 ft of water. Deep edges of good structure are working for both walleye's and large perce.

[Traxxx]

Fished Gull 3-6pm tonight and getting around was no problem. Two of us ended up getting 18 walleyes with 5 being eaters. Jigging small buckshots tipped with minnowheads caught all but one. 20 Fow midlake.

[Sportland_Bait]

Like Traxx said the north end of the lake is in great shape. Not too much trouble getting around. We have had a good bite for about a week now. Good luck out there!

Jason Erlandson

[Traxxx]

Fished one of the smaller lakes in the area tonight. Drilled around 20 holes, found a nice school of really active gills, in almost the last hole. 17 Fow, bottom of the break, soft bottom, small jig and waxie did the trick. Towards dark, moved back to the house. Best gill action started around 4:30pm and lasted til' 6pm. That's when the crappies really started to heat up. The crappie aggression varied from negative, to nuetral, to very aggresive. The aggressive ones were easy. Drop it down, just above them, jig easy and let em come smack it. Nuetral fish, seemed to respond to a subtle upward jig & keep away approach. The negative fish are the real fun ones. These fish, you need to try every trick in the book. Good electonics with zoom are a huge help in determining how the fish are acting. Once you spend enough time playing with and reading your flasher, you'll actually be able to see the tail of the fish moving. A spring bobber is a must when dealing with negative fish. Very, very subtle jigging, holding the bait still, re-glowing, bouncing the bait off the bottom, being able to reading the speed of the fish as it approaches, pulling the bait completely away from the fish for a few seconds, are some of the tricks I use, to make those finicky crappies open their tight-lipped paper mouths. Good Luck and Good Slabbin!

[jwmiller33]

trax were you out on the lake we were on last time i was up?

greg tells me he is coming up this weekend. wish i could come but i'll be in miami at the superbowl!

[Traxxx]

Have fun at the Super bowl you lucky dog! Kick Drew Bress once for me if you get close to him. I was out on that spot where we took the sleds, last winter. Super bowl or super fishing? Hmm...I'll take your place if you want to trade.

[LipRipper!!]

JW,

Give em a swift one for me also!!!

[Sportland_Bait]

Had a decent morning on bluegills plus ended up with a couple of bonus crappies. The first hour we fished never had a bite. Couldn't even see a fish on the flasher. Just about pulled the plug but just then a couple showed up on the Vex. The were a bit finicky. Had to downsize to a #10 shrimpo tipped with a spike. Hole hopping usually produced one and if we were lucky two before they would disappear. It was a real cat and mouse game. Spring bobbers are a must have right now as these bluegills are just not very hungry.

Jason Erlandson

[Traxxx]

Had pretty good action for most of the day with the gills. The best spots lately, have been inside turns at the bottom of the break. Sometimes it's just a subtle little turn in the contour line, that makes the difference. Like Jason said, spring bobbers definately are helping, even with the walleye we have been using them.

Found some gills on Lower Cullen in 8'-10' up in the weeds, during the day.

Gull was good again tonight. 1/16th ounce Northland forage minnow spoons tipped with a crappie minnow head did the trick. Super small baits have been getting hammered lately. Big walleye of the night was a fat 20"

JW, Greg caught that walleye. Hugo and the Mrs. even caught a few. That Hugo is a good little fisher dude.

[jwmiller33]

Traxx,

thats great to hear Greg got into a nice eye. Huge can be a handful at times too.. That kid can talk a mile a minute if you let him... great kid tho.

I keep starring at this little lake behind where I'm staying here in Miami and can't help but wonder what kind of fish it holds!

[kingfish689]

Jw I was in tx. one time with a friend and he saw a pond like that and wondered the same so went to wal mart baught a cheap fishing pole and some tackle rigged up a bait rig and stuck a piece of a hot dog on it and 5 min had a 13# cat fish and about twenty people standing around saying never knew there fish in there.turned out to be a pertty good fishing hole while we were there

[Walleye #1]

Have gotten out the past three weekends in search of gills and crappies and have been fairly successful. The action has been both hot at times and slower at times, but with some persistance, hole hopping, and a subtle presentation fish can be put on the ice with some clipping that 10" mark. I had one on late afternoon yesterday, five minutes after I had just caught and released a 10" gill, that was bigger and peeled some line. The hook got caught on the bottom of the hole and for a few seconds I could see the width of the fish's back, it was a sumo! I have had luck with both waxies and powerbait for the fish, but waxies are a must it seems. Focus on the fish in the suspended basins and look for the funnels within the contours of the lake. Most fish have been coming within 14-17ft of water, with the biters usually being suspended in 10-15ft depending on the depth. Obviously the last key is to stay away from the crowds. You can see the fish scatter on the depth finder when a lot of noise is nearby. The crappies have been biting periodically during the days, but the best bite coming at night, just past sunset. Focus again on being subtle with your presentations, but also mix it up to trigger their interest. Sometimes they will bite out of pure predatory response and watch that Vexilar and spring bobber. Waxworms have out performed crappie minnows, but fish have been caught on the dead stick and minnow as well. GLOW is the key, almost all of my crappies and panfish have come on lures that have some glow to them.

The last thing I will add is if you need to rent a fish house at all for a few hours or a day I strongly reccomend Traxx. His houses are great and the guy is extremely knowledgable and will teach you what he knows and give you a great experience. He took my father and I out a week ago, my father had never ice fished before, he put us on some fish and took great care of us and more importantly my dad had a great time and learned a ton.

Until later Tight Lines

Jason

[JP Z]

Got out on Saturday for a few hours for Gills. Did quite well catching 50 or so in the few hours we fished. Even kept a few for a meal. Was fishing a main lake weed flat in 13-15 feet of water. Using small gold baits, and spikes. Definitely was nice to finally get out, even though the wind was a bit nippy at times.

[Traxxx]

Sunday was a great day of fishing. With the storm in the area, the panfish were very active and aggressive. We had schools of both crappies and gills coming by every few minutes, chomping everything we threw at them. Monday slowed way down as the front pulled away. We had to really coax them into biting and they mostly ran on the smaller size. Today they picked back up quite a bit. The size of the gills today was really good, with most gills averaging in the 8-9 inch range. Heading up to Big Trout Lake tomorrow. Going to give the lakers a try for the first time.

[maddowg1192000]

Went out to sight fish some northerns today. We set up in 12-13ft of water and had some nice fishing coming thru this morning. Saw close to if not the biggest walleye I have ever seen and i saw a 31x17.5 this spring plus a couple northerns that were pushing 15+, heading out again tomorrow and trying a little different approach to try and get them to bite....good luck to everyone that is fishing these last few days of the season

[Traxxx]

Hit up Big Trout for the frst time today. We started out in a saddle between two humps. Caught a 12" laker right off the bat in 45 Fow. Marked a few more but no biters. Moved out to another saddle in 56' caught a tullibee and another 8" laker. Moved out again to 66' and caught a small tullie. Moved back shallow towards dark on top of a hump in 33' Fow. Caught three more small lakers, a nice walleye and another couple tullibee. We had on and missed a few more bites during the day, all in all a fun trip. Fish came on Lindy Rattlin Flyers or small perch glow Northland buckshots tipped with smaller minnowheads. Really fast aggresive jigging and keeping the bait moving, was key to getting them to strike. It's alot like muskie fishing where they will follow along way, before commmiting. Sometimes we could pull them from the bottom almost all the way up the water column. Most of the bites though came within the first 15' from the bottom. Ice was 13"-18"

[jwmiller33]

nice report traxx! how big was that eye?

[Traxxx]

It was about 15" Had something on just after I caught that one. Guessing it was a walleye but it could have been a laker. Just never know out there, makes it fun.

[jwmiller33]

thats sweet. how far is that lake trout lake from nisswa? ive never caught a trout thru the ice before.. im really hoping me and greg can get up to nisswa again in a couple weeks.. as long as my hockey team doesnt go to nationals, i will be up there

[ozzie]

trout lake is a mile north of cross lake. so from nisswa go to pequot lakes east to breezy point north out of breezy on 11 to cr 3 north thru cross lake to manhattan beach and you will be on the shores of trout lake 35 minutes at best from nisswa to trout lake...the access is right off the road.

[eyes4you]

I have a question... I have been fishing Round Lake for a couple of years - where do all the gills go in the winter?? I have fished so much of the lake in the winter and come up with some good perch and some good eyes, but no gills... I was up with my dad last weekend and fished shallow 4' to deep 20+' and nothing but perch - fished the landing - the hump on the north - the weeds on the southwest... still - no gills..

[shadow5y7]

SW is the best, Also some of the weed edges around the lake, You can find them some day and other they are not there.

[Traxxx]

Fished Hubert from 1-3pm today, found the gills up in the weeds, in 6'-8' Fow. Small jig and waxie worked.

Fished Gull from 4-6pm this evening. Fished a 20' ledge off a knob on Grassy Point. Ended up with four walleyes from 13"-18" one tullibee and a few perch. 1/16th Northland forage minnows spoons tipped with a small minnowheads did the trick. Off road travel with 4x4 was fairly easy. A fishhouse in tow would be a bit tougher, but possible. There are some bigger drifts to watch out for.

[gigidy]

traxx my wife and i would like to come up and fish gull lake this weekend ,just wondering if we could acess with a wheel house and 4x4 truck ?is there plowed roads ? where do you recommend going out from ?prefer north side maybe grassy pt, area but anywhere with a decent acess ,thank you

[Traxxx]

Not much for plowed roads on the north end. South end usually has a few. Off road with a house is going to be tough, but possible. Bring a shovel and watch out for the drifts. I used the Koob's access on the west side. It's a bit steep getting on the lake. I'll be on the lake all weekend. Get ahold of me if you need or want any help. Good luck

[buddah7]

I just got off gull on the south end and I'm very frustrated! I got set up and must of seen at least 30 walleyes on my camera but couldn't get anything to bite. Besides that anything I dropped down would have perch swarming it and the walleyes couldn't even get a chance to get at it! I used crappie jigs, shiners, rainbows, crappie minnows but nothing!!! I hate to end my walleye season on that note!! I know they are finicky right now but geez I"m ready to give it up if its that hard!

[gigidy]

did any of the perch have any size to them? is there jumbo perch in gull?we had similar walleye results at leech last week ,found some jumbo perch by snake pit flats and couple big pike off rocky pt ,saw walleye at both spots on camera but only caught 1 15" eye after many stopped and gave the bait a look over,i geuss thats feb. walleye though like another f.m. post i read said "trying to get the walleye to bite now is like trying to wrangle a majic rabbit!"

[buddah7]

no real size to the perch, did see a couple of nicer ones but didn't catch any. I have seen some nice jumbos caught on gull but they are far and few between.

[jwmiller33]

there are some nicer perch on gull, however, just like the walleyes, you have to weed thru the small ones to get them.