Grand Rapids Fishing Reports MN

[catfreak]

Hey Jason. Seems like you fish the area a lot. I am coming up on Wednesday with my girlfriends family. I have never been to the area so I was curious if you ever fish bass lake in cohasset. Not looking for any secret spots but I would love to get some fish in the boat for everybody. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And that goes for anybody that has fished the lake. Thanks in advance.

[Jason Boser]

I really do not fish bass I hear the perch are shallow in the bull rushes and the sunnies are in the cabbage and lots of little northerns that's as much as I know

Jason

[Jason Boser]

Grand rapids-Deer River Mn. Area Fishing report

With the last 30 days or so of hot weather has kept the water temps in the mid 70’s or higher. So don’t be looking for fish in to much of there normal fall patterns. Walleyes action on Bowstring the past week has mainly been on mid lake structure, pulling rigs tip with a crawler has work well; crappie action has been good at times. Sand Lake, look in 20+ foot range for walleyes or pull spinners in the weeds 9 to 10 ft. Some crappies are showing up as well. Big Winnie has been hot and cold, just depending on the day your there, some fish were being taken on mid lake humps as well, east side held some fish in 12 to 14 ft range, as long as you had a good south wind, perch have ran small, some crappies showing up in cut-foot, but nothing like it should be for this time of year. Leech lake walleyes also have been slow over all, crappies action in 8 to 12 ft has been fairly good, pike action been the best bite with some in upper 30 inch range. Ball Lake pike action has as hot as the weather lately.

Be safe and enjoy a great day on the water, This is area full time fishing guide Charlie Worrath www.mnfishingpros.com

[northernfishin]

Fished split hand lake New Year's Eve. Gotta love the new otter thermal shelters. Frigid temps but we were still able to fish comfortably and ice some nice jumbos. Went off from the landing in 20' and marked a lot of fish but only got a few good fish. Given the weather it was a fairly nice outing. We were targeting crappies but needed up getting perch which was ok.

[skiinglady]

My friend has had 2 bouts of cancer in the last year. She told me she would like to catch a laker while she is 'on this side of the green grass.' She has a cabin on Wabana and would like to try lake trout fishing on Bluewater. She has a 14' boat that can make it through the channel between the lakes. I am going up to her cabin May 16 - 18 and would like to get her a laker. I have only ever ice fished for lakers so I really don't know how to fish for them in open water.

What techniques and tackle do you use? Any spots on Bluewater that you would recommend?

Or, does anyone know of a lake trout guide in the GR area?

Thanks!

Jane

[Deet]

Like you, I only fish lakers in the winter.

[Please Read Forum Policy Before Posting Again, Thank You]

That time frame in May sounds perfect for trout fishing in open water. Good luck!

[bmc]

Skiinglady,

Bluewater does have some nice lake trout in there, but it is a tough lake to fish in my opinion.

Caribou on Hwy 38 would be your best bet at lake trout success in my opinion.

Troll some type of deep diving Rapala or similar stick bait that runs 10-20' deep.

The trout in Caribou aren't big, at least in my experience, but there's plenty of them.

Maybe hit Caribou 1st and if you have success, then head to Bluewater to see if your friend can hook into a big laker.

Brian

[yoppdk]

If in the early spring before water warms, you have a chance of finding lakers in relatively shallow water. Once water warms, the lakers go deep.

I've not fished Bluewater lake, so this isn't expert advice. But I have targeted and caught lakers on the MN opener before by using deep-diving rapala-type lures and also white tube jigs fished along shorelines, looking for 10-20' of water.

[MNSlaunch]

You never know what you're going to catch rigging with big creek chubs, but odds are it's going to be fun!

Fish were really scattered, coaxing a few in to biting anywhere from 14 feet all the way down to 40+. The largest number of fish seemed to be in the 25-30 foot range. The water temp was 55 degrees. The best presentation was pulling large creek chubs on a 5-6 foot snell and 3/4 oz weight.

Caught quite a few bonus smallies, northern and even a super-chunk of a whitefish. Big walleye for the day went 27". Of course we missed and broke off on way too many bites but that's the name of the game!

[northlanderZ]

Had great fishing around 3pm today. Found the crappies and it was game on. Limit of 14's and I call that a great start to the new year!

[eyeguy 54]

do you guide?

[northlanderZ]

Sure, it's a 280 acre lake that doesn't have crappies. I'm here for one more day!

[eyeguy 54]

[northlanderZ]

Just when you think you've got them pegged, maybe the DNR is right, couldn't find the biggns on day 2. Must have caught the only 10 crappies in the lake. Can't wait until next time!

[searching4slabs]

Heading up next weekend, havent fished the area too much, I would appreciate any help finding the crappies. Also im just getting into trout fishing,do you use the same spoons as in summer and how high off the bottom should I jig them?

[gunner55]

Talk to the baitshops.We do most of our bait business at Fred's Bait just outside Deer River.They say Itasca Co has 1000 lakes so there are a lot of choices.I know there's 1 in GR right on highway 2 called Ben's Bait that been around a long time & should be able to help.Up by us Bowstring Lake gets quite a bit of hardwater slab action.I personally haven't fished it.

[yoppdk]

Lots of folks fish Splithand for crappies ... but there's a fair share of walleyes, pike and perch in there, too. There's a resort on Splithand that maintains plowed roads, although this year we don't have enough snow to warrant plowing. Most folks fish crappies on the same side of the lake as the resort ... you'll know the spot by all the houses and activity in that area. Splithand has some special regs for crappies (smaller limit) and walleyes (slot). The fish you would catch there would likely be quality.

Regarding trout ... they can be found anywhere in the water column from the bottom to right below the ice. Most folks start at the bottom and watch their depth finder. Jig at the bottom for a while, then slowly work your way up the water column to just below the ice. If you see something appear on your depthfinder, go for it.

hope this helps ... and good luck.

[JBMasterAngler]

Check out the thread in the Duluth/BWCA forum about inland laker gear. Read up on a few pages and you'll learn anything you need to know about ice fishing for lake trout.

[searching4slabs]

Ok cool I wil check out those threads and also look into that lake. Have a few lakes lined up but backup plan is always nice

[gunner55]

The MNDNR Lakefinder can be helpful too.

[searching4slabs]

That site has helped me find my favorite lakes but its also made me overlook many. My best crappie lake netted worse than many so so lakes.

[Guest]

Sure, it's a 280 acre lake that doesn't have crappies. I'm here for one more day!

Birch Lake by Remer

[jskeff]

any new ice reports? im headed up there in a couple weeks. just wondering how things are forming in the grand rapids area.

[smurfy]

just a heads up for anyone interested. this Saturday july 20th there is a fishing tournament on pokegema lake at tioga beach, starts at 9 am. 

 

come support the Lets Go Fishing group of the Grand Rapids area. good prizes.

[PRO-V]

Fished a small lake up by Togo this weekend. Just a bit in mornings and evenings. First nights crappies but a walleye never bit. Watched a beautiful thunderstorm at sundown that just scraped us a few minutes.

[JBMasterAngler]

Spent a few days in the Marcell area. Fishing was nonexistent! Fished Turtle, Wabana, Spider, and Caribou lakes. Everyone I talked to at each lake weren’t catching anything either. First 2 days the weather was hot, sunny, and not a hint of breeze...how do you catch fish in lakes that exceed 20 feet in clarity, when the water looks like a sheet of glass? Next 2 days were cold front conditions, gray and gloomy. Didn’t even catch 20 fish total! Still a fun trip though. Fall colors were at their peak. Had nice sleeping weather in the tent. And I accidentally ate pine sap might be the worst tasting thing ever!