brainerd Brainerd Fishing Reports

[smalliehunter]

Any body been to serpent in crosby? Water temp? Are the bass on beds? Visiting my folks in emily tomorrow and I'm bringing the boat. any info on area water temp would be nice.

Thanks

[20lbSloughShark]

I went to upper mission lake today. I got out around 1 pm after the rain, and started casting. Almost anything would get bass in shallow. I noticed pike would sometimes would come up and follow my bait as I kind of loop it at boat side. I decided pike were out deeper as the water was about 72 degrees. I started with a gold husky jerk and trolled in about 12'. I got 2 on that lure, then the hooks were bent. I'll have to replace them with some eagle claw 774's. I then put on my trusty 6" jake and continued to get about 8 more pike until the rain was coming in. They seemed to like about 2.5 mph. Nothing was big, the largest was 27" the rest were right around 24". A little time before the rain hit everything went calm, and the fish stopped biting. At about 6:15 I felt I should head in. I wasn't even done loading and the rain hit. It was an interesting drive home, that's for sure.

[20lbSloughShark]

I went to gull today around 2 pm. Not much happened until 5. I threw everything at them, and nothing. Then they started biting. The best lure I found was a sucker colored jack penny spoon. I got 9 northern, all under 25". I also had countless missed strikes. Eventually I could see them, they were small bass. The northern's just happened to be big enough to eat the lure. I did not find one big northern the whole weekend. I was mainly fishing 10'-12' which was the weedline. Water was 72 degrees.

[sartellangler05]

Sloughshark, I was on Gull a week ago and caught 5 northern out in front of squaw point 12-15 fow. Slip bobber with minnow. Biggest was nice 31" and fat. A few bass mixed in...no walleye...if you go back out there try right in front of Craguns resort 12ft on the drop off...tons of pike.

[DrH]

Anybody Know the condition of Alex? Is it no wake? Are the launches blocked by the floating reeds?

[AaronTC05]

Was out on a pontoon on Washburn Sunday from 10 until noon or so, casting spinners in the shallows and caught a few small LMB and a couple nice sized ones using a medium sized yellow beattle spin type lure. Caught one small northern on it as well.

[gophergunner]

New to this sight, and hoping for a little help here. Going to be staying in Emily next weekend and planning on spending a day on the Whitefish Chain to knock this location off my Minnesota Bucket List. Can anyone point me to some spots to try? I'll be fishing from my 14 ft. Lund. Most interested in walleyes, northerns and smallmouth. Thanks for any input here guys.

[jjz]

Just search past threads on Whitefish, Gull, Pelican, North Long etc... all the popular lakes have tons of info on general patterns for non locals.

[rayguy]

4th of July weekend is really a bad weekend to hit Whitefish. More boats and pontoons than you can believe. That said I would stay on Trout lake. Smallies hang out near the reed beds. Troll a lure that gets down to 15-20 ft for Walleyes. Have found blue is a good color out there. Fish early and late and you may get a bonus lake trout. On the main lake it won"t be hard to find where people are fishing as the armada will be out. Good luck, let us know how you do.

[gophergunner]

Thanks for the info, and I'll check for those stories.

[icefishinmike]

Any walleye tips on gull? Going up next week for the week and lookin to catch a few. Havent found many this year the two times I was up there. Is the nite troll on yet?

[icefishinmike]

also, has anyone had experience fishing the reeds on the north end by grassy point? any bass luck there? thanks guys

[Igor Drackenwolf]

Mike, I was just up there this past weekend and fished hard for both bass and walleye. The grassy point is usually a good go-to for some reliable bass action, and the deep weedline there can hold all species. But this past weekend I got zero action there. One rock bass.

I found moderate success with all species trolling the weedline on A-Frame Bar. A few walleyes and northerns, as well as a few crappies, sunnies, and rock bass, just trolling a fathead and a spinner in about 16-22'.

As I was working that weedline, bass were jumping on the other side of the boat, in about 30+ feet of water. For some fun, I threw topwater at the deep water, and that is where I hooked up on some largemouth.

[icefishinmike]

thanks for the response! interesting on the bass being that deep and hitting topwater bait.

id like to get into some walleye and northern too. what color spinner bait were you finding the most effective? ill be heading up Friday and ill report back next week!

[leech~~]

I have been doing fairly well on Walleyes fishing deep on an area lake. The last one I got last weekend was suspended 30' feet down over 53' feet of water trolling with a dive planner and small rap. Fun stuff!

[Igor Drackenwolf]

thanks for the response! interesting on the bass being that deep and hitting topwater bait.

id like to get into some walleye and northern too. what color spinner bait were you finding the most effective? ill be heading up Friday and ill report back next week!

LOL, I gave more detail than a lot of guys on this board would approve of!!! Start off with your favorite color, and go from there!!!

That topwater bite was a new thing for me. Usually when I've gotten a topwater bite, it's been either up shallow, or right next to structure, whether it be rock, deadfall, sharp shallow-deep breakline, etc. These fellas were just hanging around in 30+ feet of water out in the open. I didn't move over them with my locator to see what was holding them there. Probably a swarm of baitfish. It was good fun.

Best of luck!

[leech~~]

Bait fish is the ticket to look for in deep water! Find the bait balls and you will find suspended fish. I have also caught Bass out at 42'-48' suspended with the Walleye's.

[pathogen]

I've caught walleyes while trolling a shallow running rapala over 90+ feet of water at night. The tip-off for me was when I saw ciscoes jumping out of the water in the moonlight. I figured the only reason was because some predator fish was pushing them up. Ran some rapalas about 3' down on planer boards and the walleyes were there. I was pleasantly surprised and delighted.

[mnvikes32]

Any reports on Gull? Will be hitting the lake on Wednesday. PM if you wish. Going for panfish and walleyes.

[Tom Sawyer]

Walleyes have begun to transition to deeper water with this recent cooler weather. I don't think they are setting up for winter yet, since water temps. are not in the mid-50's. Depths to 40 feet are holding reluctant fish as of now, but by Wednesday I'm sure the bit will improve and fish will again slide back up near the deeper weed edge with temps. getting back to the normal range again. Next weekend should be lights out, as it was previous to the cold snap.

The switch to minnows may be rather soon, although leeches and crawlers were putting more fish topside last week and again may rule the bite if temps. moderate again. Bring a little of everything during this time of year, or until water temps. fall south of 60 degrees.

If your looking for panfish, they have started to suspend and are sliding off mid-lake structure in the 20 foot range; making them easy to find with your electronics.

[zepman]

Any current reports...Water temp, turn-over on any lakes, what's going on up there??

[gunner55]

Not Brainerd but I've been on URL,Winnie,& here(Sand) in the last week.All the surface temps have been running about the same.I saw 61 last week on URL & 59 here/Winnie yesterday.With this coldfront & big winds the lakes will be getting churned up.I never saw much for a thermocline here as we had several big storms with high winds in late July which busted up the ones that were starting to form.

[Tom Sawyer]

It is really hard to believe that no one has posted an area report for sometime. The only reason I haven't is because I don't have internet access at my summer place in the Nisswa area, and I've been to busy catching fish anyway. To say this fall has been stellar in the area would still be an understatement. While I mainly target walleye and smallmouth during the months of September, October, and November; the panfishing has also been outstanding. Only recently tapering off some, but the locating of nice fish has become easier as they stage for their long winter ahead.

Large marble eyes have been suckers for big minnows, either Lindy rigged or dragged along bottom with minimum vertical movement along steep breaks with deep water near by. Red-tailed Chubs or Creek Chubs, along with big Rainbows. I would even resort to medium Suckers if jig dragging. If you can find that type of steep break, along a bar that comes off the shoreline and comes up shallow on top, say 10 feet or less, it's a structure I've found to draw fish like a magnet in fall.(Northland stand-up Jigs, heavy enough to pin the size minnow your dragging to the bottom have been money for this jig dragging approach, since the minnow is always in a more vertical position, which I thick the walleyes can pick up off the bottom easier; and also showing a more natural minnow feeding along bottom profile)

Fish deeper on windless days and follow the fish up the break as darkness nears, or if the wind starts to blow. Best depths to start your search as the water temps drop in the low 50's have been between 50-35 feet. Remember though, just because they were deep yesterday doesn't mean you will find them there today. I fish the most aggressively feeding fish every time out, so my approach changes constantly, day to day, hour to hour. Learning where and when to search out different areas, or change tactics completely comes with time on the water and learning to "think like a fish"; as my friend's put it. I want to also mention that I have not once ventured out at night and that my biggest eyes have been taken in less then 15 feet of water, but only when conditions were right.

The weather has also played a huge role in success this year. Only one major cold front that was between the full and new moon. That is incredible for a Minnesota fall. November isn't looking as nice, but if there's a decent opening in the weather, the fishing is even better; especially for monsters.

Bundle up fellow fish heads and don't winterize that boat yet...........

Please harvest selectively and release the big girls, under 20's are better for eating anyway........

[Traxxx]

Great report!

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks, we released 13 fish over 22" last week, with 4 that were very close to 30, 26 1/2 I know it's not close , but worth mentioning, a 27 and there was at least 1 more in that range. The boat pic was a solid 28. Total fish (eyes) was in the 20's, close to 25. And that's no fish tails either. Got lucky following them I guess, (don't own any side image electronics).

Fantastic fall for eyes. November full moon might be much tougher to find the same weather envelope, but if it opens, I'll be posting again I'm sure. Those fish won't be far from where I left them, with much bigger fish moved in.

[leech~~]

Nice catch!

And you did very well at keeping the back ground shots hidden! Thanks

[Rick G]

Great report and beautiful mess of fish, Tommy!!!

Can't wait to hit the hard water with you

[eyeguy 54]

Tom really loves ice fishing!

[Tom Sawyer]

Total fish (eyes) was in the 20's, close to 25. And that's no fish tails either. Got lucky following them I guess, (don't own any side image electronics).

Noticed this in my post and had to edit. We never had any 50+ days, but I don't know what I was thinking when I originally posted this, we did catch close to 50 for the week. Hope to be back next Saturday to give it a good last outing.

Yes Royce, I can't wait to get out on first ice.

[joewb]

Wow did you say 50 plus ?? Great fishing I would say....Keep us posted.