Leech Lake Fishing Report for December 20th, 2023
December 20, 2023
Report from the Dock
It’s rare that anglers have to worry about finding ice to fish on as Christmas approaches, but that’s going to be the case this year in some areas. Despite a couple of colder nights earlier this week, ice conditions really haven’t improved much since last week. In some cases, they’ve actually deteriorated due to strong winds and significant rain last weekend. Without question, the state’s better ice depths are being found in the northern half of the state, from Brainerd and points north and east. Reports indicate plenty of ice thick enough to walk on, along with limited ATV use in some northern locations. With that, there still are large lakes with open water in these areas as well, so know where you’re going. Generally, there are options to fish through the ice statewide, but in other areas it’s foot traffic only and even that is limited. Unfortunately, more rain and warmer weather were forecast this week, which won’t improve ice conditions.
Leech Lake Report
While there is some activity on the area’s small lakes, there isn’t much happening on Leech. There is some foot traffic out of the Whipholt Beach area, Agency Bay, and Horseshoe Bay, but there isn’t much happening. There have been a few spear houses set on parts of Steamboat Bay, while Walker Bay remained wide open early this week. Despite a couple of nights of cooler weather, ice depths have not improved much at all since last week.