Report from the Dock
Mid-day walleyes have become increasingly hard to consistently catch in most areas. Anglers doing best are covering water with a spinner and crawler on mid-lake structure and picking off a few active fish as they go. The early morning and evening hours have been more consistent, especially on big flats or thick weedlines. For the most part, many areas reported excellent fishing for a variety of species along established weed edges or weed flats. This is even more true for bigger panfish, bass, and pike, and walleyes – they are tucked in the weeds so fish tight to them. If the wind blows, you’ll still find active walleyes on some shorelines and points that are being hit. In these conditions, slip bobbers and leeches seem to be most productive this week. Smallmouth bass continue to be caught in many areas, but most have pulled off the shorelines and now being found on deep rock or sand. Muskie reports continue to be light, although there are plenty of fish being seen, getting them to commit to a bait has been tough.
Leech Lake Report
The key to catching walleyes most days is to cover water with a spinner and crawler or live-bait rig and leech on main lake structure in 16 to 22 feet. The shoreline breaks in Walker Bay also are producing some daytime walleyes in 14 to 20 feet. With a good wind, a slip bobber and leech will turn walleyes on the points and weed beds in 9 to 12 feet and there’s a night bite with leeches and bobbers off Sand Point in 10 to 15 feet. Muskies are more rock than weed-related, look for smallmouth bass on the 6- to 10-foot rocks off Diamond Point, and largemouth bass in the cabbage areas of most bays.