What species should I look for?

[Guest]

Now that I know I should not plan fishing muskie up there, what should I plan. From reading the MN DNR website, it sounds that Walleye fishing is not to hot either. Is that true? I have fished Little Pine twice before, not hard, but all we kept pulling out were Pike. How is the Bass fishing?

Thanks, TJ.

[Guest]

The bass fishing is great! If you want to go after walleyes, you can travel out to Cross Lake, or some of the other lakes in the chain. Otherwise, pike are abundant, Upper Trout Lake has smallmouth and lake trout. Whitefish has just about everything except muskie.
Good luck,

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Adam Johnson
www.adamjohnsonfishing.com

[Guest]

Thanks for the info... Looking forward to heading up there....

TJ

[Toad]

TJ,

The big question is, when's your trip? Hot bites for different species happen at different times.

Actually, walleye fishing can be phenomenal on the chain-- at times perhaps the area's most overlooked walleye water, especially for big fish. Best bite typically takes place in June and again in October; early July can be a producer too. Better areas earlier in the season include structures relatively near the Pine River inlet on Upper Whitefish Lake and narrows areas between lakes-- the first drop off near these narrows are best. Cross Lake offers fair walleye fishing, but all year long, you'd be hard pressed to beat the main lakes (Upper, Middle and Lower Whitefish). As summer progresses, look for walleyes to migrate more toward Middle Whitefish around the Foley's Bar area. Lower Hay Lake is also full of nice walleyes, though they can be tougher to catch.

Largemouth bass are abundant in Upper Whitefish, Bertha and Clamshell, Big Trout and Cross Lake. Try the dock bite in summer. For crappies, try Little Pine, Clamshell and Daggett. As for pike, nearly any weedline is worth a try, though you'll be dealing with small fish in most cases. Finally, smallmouth bass are not nearly so abundant as advertised. Habitat loss in Big Trout as well as overharvest has cropped the population back in a big way over the past 20 years.

All in all, Whitefish remains one of the most interesting and fun lakes in central Minnesota. The walleyes and bass are always biting somewhere on the chain. Feel free to shoot me an email if you'd like to talk in greater depth.

-a friend called Toad