Alexandria Fishing Reports by H & H Guide Service

[hhguide]

Well folks its been an extremely busy spring and summer with some of the best fishing in the lakes area that we have had.

The walleye bite has been good for the most part. People are catching them in all different types of ways currently. There are alot of guys out lindy rigging with leechs and crawlers on the edge of the weed line. Depending on that lakes anywhere from 18 to 22 feet of water is the weed line. Others are pull cranks up shallow in low light periods and late into the night. The best cranks have been shad raps, salmo hornets or strike pro cranks. Yet there are others that are jigging with minnows and suckers or minnows and fat heads on the deeper weed lines and pitching in the shallows.

Northerns are being caught a few different ways currently. some people are trolling big cranks over the tops of the cabbage beds others are lindy rigging with big sucker minnows on the weedlines to get the bigger fish.

Crappie fishing has been both good and bad... Its really a hit and miss game right now but most of the fish are setting up in that 12 to 14 foot range on the cabbage beds. The best two ways that myself and others are getting them are through trolling twister tails white to chart in color seem to work best.

Here are a few pictures of the walleyes we have been catching or the past month or so. I wish I could post them all! As always if people have questions about certain lakes or every want to get out feel free to call or email.

[Chad Peterson]

Nice report Drake! Walleyes are going well and the panfish are great. It is location of where to get them this time of year.

Looks like a lot of smiles and that always makes for a very happy customer.

Sniffer

[hhguide]

Well its been a few weeks since I have posted a report with those cool water temps the fishing was unreal for a few weeks in a row after the heat. Now with the heat showing back up during the full moon look to be fish at two times... all night and the other option that seems to throw everyone off is the noon bite. The major time periods have been during the middle of the day thus the fish are snapping at those times too. Its been a great time to pull spinners on bouncers and the minnows bite has started to kick in while the minnow bite has been catching much smaller fish that normal. Thats why I would suggest sticking with crawlers still. Also the crappie bite has been hot in the cabbage weeds on any lake that you seem to go to. I would throw on a white twister Tail in the 2 inch size. As for the walleyes for colors has been the tail of two stories again... either really bright colors or the other option is natural. I havent yet figured out why they bite on one thing one day and the other on a different day with basically the same weather.

For some reason my camera is struggling to attach photos to my computer so all I can post is the biggest fish for the week but not the biggest for the year. This one touch the ruler at a hair under 29.5 inches.

Almost the biggest fish of the year so far but 2 others are bigger even yet. It was probably one of the fatest of the year though as it had the feed bag on.

Here what she was eating:

This picture was about 30 seconds before the fish bit... You can see the arcs down there of them feeding on the fish.

[MNMUSKIE50]

Thanks hhguide. Im heading to Miltona with my wife and kids this wknd. I've got some good cabbage spots for crappies, but how deep should I be lindying for the eyes? I've never fished for them this time of year, only spring. I dont need specific spots, just depth and presentation. Thanks for your help!!

[harvey lee]

Great report Drake.

I have not been up to the Alex area for about a month but it won't be long now before I get back up for 4-5 days of fishing.

[hhguide]

Well its been a crazy Fall and now with the storm coming today we cancelled the trip for today with not knowing how much the ice can take the weight of the snow. But before the storm what a few days did we have early ice. Capped off by a few monster fish also. Great time to get out fishing but make sure to be safe with this snow and thin ice.

If you do get out on the lake the fish have been really concentrated in a few spots. Keep punching those holes until you run into a school. We must punch around 25 to 40 holes before we start fishing. Try to get that out of the way before fishing as to not spook the fish. The crappies have been in the cabbage in that 11 to 14 foot range seems to be the hot ticket. Bigger baits seem to be working before the storm with lots of motion and jigging. Buckshots worked well along with kastmasters. Color didnt seem to matter much. Chad can probably tell you more about the crappies than I can. As for the walleyes they are biting in that 15 to 16 foot range on the lakes that we have been fishing. The best baits seems to be bobbers with jigs under them. Whatever people like for jigs seem to work. We tried all different kinds and they all caught fish. Then we would jig with swedish pimples or kastmasters for the other rod. The jigging for the walleyes wasnt as hot but more of an attractant to get them to come in and then they would bite the bobber. Each day was different one day they bite suckers the next they would bite fatties and goldies. Good luck to all those heading out. As always if anyone has any questions or concerns about certain lakes feel free to email me to call as many of you do.

Double on at the same time both released healthy the big one was 28.5 inches smaller one 23

[Chad Peterson]

Nice report Drake, it is to bad that the snow had to come this early. Cold weather is coming and hopefully we get some thicker ice.

[CJH]

Great fish + pics!!

[peachey]

Do you know is there any ice on the west end of Miltona yet. Thanks

[hhguide]

West end is froze but it could be a mess with the snow maybe not though. I know some guys were fishing out there last weekend.

[hhguide]

Just giving you guys a new 1st of the year fishing report while the fishing is still hot. The Walleyes have been biting in that 18 to 24 foot range seems to be the best depth. Jigging and Slip bobbers have been about even as far as fish catching numbers. It does seem however that downsizing the bait seem to be working best. We punched around 30 to 40 holes and just kept jumping around to catch the fish. If you didnt have a fish in your hole within 10 minutes we kept moving. The walleyes that we kept most seem to be coughing up blood worms and smaller minnows.

As for the crappies they have been suspending over the deeper holes. The guys that are catching the crappies seem to be in 25 to 30 feet fishing about half way to 2/3 the way down. Others seem to be finding the crappies in the thick cabbage beds in that 12 to 14 foot range. Most guys that are catching them have been using dead sticks or wax worms (ie smaller baits) to catch them. Charts and oranges seem to be the best colors. Good luck to all those who are heading out. I will be at the Chicago Musky Show this weekend if anyone is going see you there. If anyone wants questions about lakes or wants to get out on a trip feel free to call or email at anytime

Here are a few photos of the bigger fish we caught over the weekend:

Just over 29 inches

Just over 22 inches

Just at 22 inches.

All big fish were caught and released successfully!

[hhguide]

Late Ice Walleyes

Just giving you guys and gals the latest reports for walleyes. The fishing around the Alexandria Area has been hot and fast for late is walleyes along with some big fish coming and a number more that we would have had had they not gotten off! Thats why they get big though I guess. We considered them long distance catches and releases.

The fish have been biting primarily in low light conditions while the big fish seem to be biting. The best colors have really varied on the day but it seems like brighter colors seem to work best. More fish have been coming on the jigging rods more than the dead sticks. We did a ton of hole hoping but it seemed that once you found a hole if you would pop back to that hole every so often you would catch another one. Under water points seemed to be where most of the fish were and not inside corners. The best points were holding on real steep breaks. We would move up and and down the point to find the fish.

On a side note we did get a good chunk of snow and could make traveling interesting on the lakes. Bring shovels! I would guess we got between 10 and 12 inches.

I had a great group of guys this past weekend just a few of the fish we caught and I'm hoping to get a few more pictures from them!

As always if people have questions or concerns feel free to call or email at anytime! Good luck to all those heading out the last few weeks should be good action.

[Poutmaster]

Thanks for the good fishing Drake! I'm eating those tasty walleyes right now. We should also let everyone know all the bigger fish in the pics were released. And like you mentioned, a few more piggies "released" before they made it through the hole!

[Chad Peterson]

Nice report Drake. Looks like some happy customers!

[bturck]

Is there a walleye slot in place on Waska? Just curious, not tying to say anything other than what is written........nice fish guys, looks like a great trip.

[bturck]

Forget my post above, went to the other thread and found the answer, no slot

[hhguide]

Well folks,

Its going to be a tough opener this year I think. I hate to be the barer of bad news but I doubt many of the lakes in the area will be open. I drove around the lakes area today and didnt see anything very encouraging at all. Anything that is big will not be open... Examples Ida, Chain, Miltona, Osakis, Reno, Mary I just cant see them opening up this week and by the weekend. Unless something drastic changes. I will be giving daily updates as the weekend gets closer. As far as fishing goes many of the rivers in the area will have fish in them. Here is the problem. When walleyes are in the rivers and creeks they usually aren't biting and are spawning so they wont be biting, Any of them that do bite will be spewing eggs or milk. Try to let any of these fish go.

Baits of choice:

This year I will be focusing on a few different options. First a jig and minnow. Always a good option for early in the year. Don’t be afraid to try plastics such as ring worms or gulp can be good in cold water. Second would be casting cranks. I would recommend stick baits more so than shad style baits. Many of the rivers and creeks in the area wont have shiners or perch or any shad style forage. So more subtle presentation would probably be a good bet. 3rd which is my dad's favorite is lindy rig, many of you know this is a deadly method earlier in the year. Finally slip bobbers would be my last bet. If you find that the fish are really concentrated. I would let a bobber soak. A great option for when the fishing is slow.

Area's to fish... I hate to say it but this year any water that is open... Look close to spawning areas or right outside of bays as those walleyes that have already spawned will be right outside the bay's eating any crappies or panfish moving in or out. Don’t be afraid to move up shallow like a foot of water or less and don’t be afraid to drop off the break line to the deep water in that 13 to 14 foot range. Any green weeds that you can find will hold fish this time of year.

As always if any of you have any questions on lakes or areas feel free to post questions on here, email or call. I will try to answer as best as I can. Its going to be a different type of year. Be respestful at the access and on the water as alot of us could be fishing together this year. And like I said earlier please let those big females and males go that are spawning or haven't spawned yet.

Here are a few highlights from last year.

[Hallsie]

Thanks Drake. Hope you have a good year on the water.

Greg

[harvey lee]

THanks for the report Drake.

I was thinking of calling Dave Hartmann and going to his place on reno, guess we will have to wait until we get back from Rainy Lake for memorial weekend.

I believe you know Dave.

[beer batter]

Harvey, if his place is along the south shore of Reno, he probably has a pile of ice on his shore right now. Looked like a miniature version of the Mille Lacs ice pile up.

[MBRAGuy]

Chad, what's on the menu for the Muskie opener Saturday.....what type of lures will you use with the cold water and temps in store this weekend??? Spinners?, Plastic's??? Slow??? We are on Miltona maybe we'l see you there....Good Luck!!!

[Wayne Ek]

Hi MBRAGuy: We fished a small tourney on Lobster this past Tues. for bass. Two muskies were caught and a number seen. Every one seen and caught came from pencil reeds and extremely shallow. Water temps. are still only in the mid-50's.