Leech Lake Fishing Report for March 20th, 2024
March 21, 2024
Report from the Dock
You can probably still find a spot to fish through the ice this weekend, but you’ll have to go even farther north, likely near the Canadian border. The ice-out line slid to the north during the past week with strong winds taking care of any ice that remained in a lot of locations. Many lakes are now wide open north of Brainerd and if ice did remain, a lot of it was floating and being chewed up by strong winds early this week, even on the big lakes.
A large chunk of the state is now ice-free – much earlier than most years. With that, there hasn’t been much for open-water fishing activity, mainly due to continued poor weather conditions. Panfish were being caught over a week ago in a few areas, but not much has happened over the past seven-day stretch. Cold air and winds are expected through this weekend in much of the state, and measurable snow is expected in some parts as well, so fishing options will likely remain limited.
Leech Lake Report
Last weekend’s wind chewed away at the ice, opening big stretches of the lake. Early this week, Agency Bay was mostly open with some floating ice. Steamboat Bay is ice-free, and parts of Walker Bay, along with portions of the main lake, were open as well. Any ice that remains is moving, being pushed by the wind, and expected to be gone soon.