Nisswa Area Fishing Reports! With Pics!

[Sportland_Bait]

We ended the week with an all day rain-shower but it cleared up just in time for a beautiful fathers day. The walleye action has been spotty on our lakes right here in Nisswa, but Mille Lacs has continued to be red hot. On Mille Lacs we have been catching most fish on live bait rigs or spinners tipped with leeches or nightcrawlers. The edges and tops of the mud flats are just full of hungry walleyes right now. Close to home the best reports are coming from North Long, Edwards, and the Whitefish Chain. Redtails are producing the best results along the weedlines from 13-22 feet of water. As the lakes are becoming busier, concentrate on the morning and evening hours for the best walleye action. The bass and northern pike bite is tremendous all day long on most of our lakes. Fish the weed flats with spinnerbaits or Senko style worms. 4-12 feet has been very productive this week. Crappies are starting to bite in the evenings in 10-12 feet of water. Try Northland Thumper jigs or crappie minnows for the crappies. Sunfish are also biting in deeper water. You can catch sunnies on small leeches in 10-15 feet just outside the weeds on most lakes.

Check out these Gull Lake Walleyes:

http://www.sportlandbait.com/brainerd_nisswa_fishing_pictures.html

Jason Erlandson

[mrwalleyee]

Nice reports jason. I haven't been up there in a while, and probably won't get to the rest of the summer , but when you mentioned senko's, it brought back some memories. I haven't actually used a "Senko", but I prefer Strike King's "Zero" in the color of white with a red 4/0 worm hook. Rig it weightless on a 12" snell with a swivel to reduce line twist and hang on. The bass can't resist those things. I prefer the Zero because it is from their 3X line of soft plastics and lasts forever. When Kevin Van Dam says that her caught "32 bass on one", he isn't full of BS. They really do last a long time.

If anyone is interested in fishing a small lake with a good population of bass and northern, take the kids out to Lake Gladstone. My father in law lives on the lake and I fish it a lot. Awesome lake for the little one's. Plenty of action. Do me one favore though, please keep your limit of pike whenever you go there. I'm talking the smaller 18-24" slimers. They are great for pickling and actually taste very good in the fry pan also. The lake is just so overrun with them that it takes forever for these fish to put on any weight. Same with the pan fish. Keep the average size sunnies, but please let the bigger one's go. They are few and far between. Bass, well, just let all of them go. There is plenty of other fish to put in the pan.

Man, I can't believe that I am missing out on this Mille Lacs bite. Only made it out there once this year. We'll see if I can sneak up there late in July. Might be my only free weekend. If I do Jason, I'll stop in for some crawlers and leeches before we head over to the pond. Later, Paul

[Saint Paul Dan]

I have been hearing a lot about these senko worms lately. What makes these baits unique or special? are they just real heavy? I saw someone mentioned to use a worm hook and rig it weightless. Is this the main way to rig it? also is it fished like a texas rig where you let it hit the bottom and jig it off? or is it more like a tube where you swim it along? Just trying to add a new technique to my bag of tricks.

[mrwalleyee]

Hey Dan, the bait that I was refering to is very bouyant. The weight of the hook and swivel is the only thing that makes it sink. I use it much like a twitch bait. A couple of fast rod twitches and then let it slowly fall. Most of the time I'll see my line jump when it is falling. I love to throw this bait right up in the thickest cabbbage weeds that I can find. When the bait hits a little clearing, I'll let her fall and they usually pop it there.

I believe Senko's are very dense and sink pretty fast. I have seen them mostly used as a "swim bait". Because they sink so fast, I don't think most guys are using weights with them. Same technique that I was using, only you can run the bait much deeper because it is so dense. Twitch and fall.

[Sportland_Bait]

Senkos are the hottest bass bait going the last couple of years. My favorite are the Senko style stickworms made by Outkast Tackle here in Minnesota. I rig them both weedless or wacky style. They are deadly all season long for bass. One of the reasons they sink is the amount of salt that is cooked into them. It makes the rubber more dense and heavier. Perfect for casting weightless.

Jason Erlandson

[Saint Paul Dan]

Thank you for the responses. I will be in Nisswa this weekend. What time does Dave's open on Saterdays? See you then.

[Sportland_Bait]

We have some fishing guide boats going out Saturday morning so the store should be open about 6:30 am to get everyone set up and ready for the big ones.

Jason Erlandson