Late Summer Leech Lake Muskies on the Prowl

I've been a bit too busy chasing the walleyes, bass and muskies of Leech Lake to post lately. Now that peak season is winding down, I'll hopefully have a chance to catch-up on my blog. 

Here is a sample of some recent muskie catches from my boat.

Paying attention to seasonal patterns has been crucial to my muskie success. Action typically peaks on the "community" rock reefs around pelican island and the south shore in early-to-mid August. This bite doesn't last long these days as an army of bait-throwing muskie fisherman take turns giving these fish an education starting in July. 

Joe's personal best muskie crushed his topwater lure mid-morning. 

Getting follows and getting bites are two very different things by mid-August. I like to get away from traditional spots that hold tentative fish, and look for less-pressured fish. Most of the 250 miles of shoreline on Leech Lake has potential for holding a "hot fish". 

Flashy bucktails, and topwaters like the Lake X Fat Bastard have been great tools for finding the most aggressive fish in the lake, and getting them to bite. 

Mark scored his first muskie shallow, and at mid-morning while the sun was still behind the trees.

We can't always pick our weather, but clouds and a little wind sure help to keep fish shallow and active throughout the day. Only on sunny, calm days will I focus on finding fish in deeper than 6 feet of water. 

 The muskellunge bite should just continue to improve as the leaves change, and the water cools. 

Be sure to check back and look for updated walleye and muskie reports in the near future.

Cheers and hook-sets!

Captain Phil Bauerly- Leech Lake MN

outrightangling.com

Has the Door Closed for Open Water?

The 2014 open water season has been a great one, I'm sad to say that it is quickly coming to an end. I am truly grateful to have been able to share a boat with so many great people; guide clients, family and friends. Nothing against ice fishing but I'll be dreaming about the ice coming off of Leech and our other great fisheries up-north, all winter.

November fish are special!

Get it while you can!

Cheers and hook-sets!

October - No Surprise

Without waxing Dickensian, I'll just say that Leech lake fishing has been slow one day and lights out the next. Walleyes have been stubborn on one spot and suicidal...well you get the picture. For avid fall anglers this news would come as no surprise. Often touted as the best fishing month in the northland, October fishing can be fickle but the payouts can be huge.

  I would again like to thank Leisure Outdoor Adventures for letting me pinch hit for them!

It's an awesome time of the year to be on the water.

Walleyes seem to be concentrated around schools of Shiner minnows and the larger Pike are bunched up and holding on green cabbage weed edges and inside turns.

                                                       Cheers and hook-sets!

Muskie Shootout = Good Times

I had a blast fishing the 3rd Annual Leech Lake Muskie Shootout with my bro this past weekend. It felt good to get into the money though it's hard to be satisfied after all of the big Muskies we had follow and miss our lures on Sunday. That's Muskie fishing...there is always next year.

Cheers and hook-sets!

Fear Not Fall Fronts Jedi Angler

Well I'm no Yoda...more wookie-like actually but I do know that April through August cold fronts can mean lethargic fish but after the new moon in August, something magical happens. Autumn cold fronts seem to give fish a little wake up call...a shot in the arm so to speak. Cooling water combined with shorter photo period (hours of daylight) triggers activity in Geese, Deer and yes predator fish.

 

 

 

Cheers and hook-sets!

 

 

Tullibee...or not Tullibee...

What a silly question! With leech lake water temps in the lower 40's it's all about the ciscoe spawn. Here is a plump pike and a plump-er muskellunge that hit on a figure-eighted crankbait.

throw 'em a dead ringer.

I also lost a really big one trying to net it.

Real men also cry. Real men also cry.

Jeffrey Lebowski

cheers and hooksets!

Bring-Yo-Bling For Leech Lake Walleyes

What do shallow woman and leech lake walleyes have in common?

They both LOVE shiny things.

With the lake full of forage options right now, get a walleyes attention with flash and bling.

Here are some of my best patterns from the past few weeks. Mostly silver combos with a little gold here and there. 1.7-2 mph is a good speed to start out at right now. I use planer boards for fish shallower then 20' or when fishing multiple lines. For breaklines, try sending a shallow diver behind a planer board up-top and run a deeper model straight behind, keeping the boat in 15-25 f.o.w. Run Husky Jerks or Bomber Long A's with a short lead (40'-60') behind the board when fishing over weeds.

 
                                                                cheers and hooksets!

1/29/13 Findin' Big Floppa

What is it about Crappies? Pure Joy I tell ya! If reeling in a slab doesn't put a smile on your face well...I wonder if you have any love for yourself at all?   Anyway, I have a few ideas about how to ice the big floppa this winter.

                                                   A 2# chunk from Sunday.              


First, one must fish lakes where big fish are. With most lakes it's: survey says......nnnngggggtt. Sadly, there just are not that many lakes left out there with catch able numbers of big-uns. Ninety percent of the lakes around have either been over harvested and contain stunted genetics or just don't have the habitat and forage base required to sustain big specs. Comb the MN D.N.R. Lakefinder website for lakes in your area that hold decent numbers of larger fish. Unless you have some great local intel (may require waterboarding) you could spend years finding your own honey hole. These surveys don't lie. Eventually you will find the lake that is more like: survey says....ding, ding, ding!  Granted, there are lakes out there with huge crappies that just don't show up on the surveys but if they are on the survey, and it's a current one, then they are probably in the lake.  And, the smaller the lake, the more faith you should put in the survey in my opinion.

Secondly, finding the fish in the lake. I believe the old adage that ninety percent of the fish are in ten percent of the lake, especially with crappies.  So?..get maverick-ie and drill-baby-drill! Hole hopping is usually necessary, especially if you want big fish. Early in the season, a deep weed edge can be magic. As O2 depletes from the shallows weeds will die off. Unless you have really nice clumps of green coontail, the fish will eventually move out over deep water. If it's a deep lake, I would look for "confined open water" from 25'-50' deep and search there. In lakes with the deep basin topping out at 25-40 f.o.w., I would check the core of this basin first and then move toward the rim. Either way, the fish might be tight to the bottom or suspended, maybe even half way up the water column.  Another place to check is the first real drop-off into deep water outside of a spawning area. Crappies will stage in these areas, especially in late season.

Finally, getting them to bite. Some die-hard crappie anglers will swear by the minnow while others prefer jigs or spoons tipped with waxies or plastic. I say, you really need both. For searching, a spoon or jig tipped with larva or plastic is usually the way to go. However sometimes a minnow is the only way to make old paper mouth open up. You might even have to experiment with weighted hooks, plain hooks, and split shot combos to seal the deal.

When you finally hit the mother-load, consider putting most of the big fish back in the lake. It's pretty satisfying slidin' a donkey back into the soup, knowing that next year you could have 15 or 16 inches of big floppa on the end of your line.

Cheers and hooksets!

12/23 Leech Lake Area Donkey Slabs

I tried a new lake today for some Crappies. I'll just say it exceeded my expectations. I got to lip multiple fish (like 8) over 14"! The biggest went 14-1/2" and all went back in the drink.       

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Crappie new year!

Man we have some great fisheries in the north country!

9/22/12 More Cowgirl!

I am tormented by several active giants today. I'm learning that it is best to play smashmouth with these pre-turnover coldfronts. I got a small one on a figure 8 this morning. Fish are moving but turnover could put a damper on that soon, at least for a few days. Water was 58 today.

4/15/12 Rainy River Trip To Remember!!

The following report was done by Jim from Sartel who was kind enough to let me join him on this amazing trip. Jim has fished the river with good success in the past but neither of us new what to expect when we drove up to the Rainy river that day.


Quote Jim:
Well, this past week I posted an "Open Seat" offer for anyone who was interested in going to the Rainy with me on Friday and Saturday. To my surprise I only had one call about the offer?? Fancaster, a member of  Lake State Fishing, called me on Tuesday night and excepted the offer. I picked Phil up on Thursday night in Walker and we headed north with HAWG WALLEYES on the brain.
I received a few reports from some friends of mine who had been fishing there for a couple days and others who had just fished the river on Thursday.....it sounded really promising! We were on the water on Friday at 8:00, near Birchdale. The first fish of the morning was a 27" that I hooked using a "Live Target" rattle bait. It was a skinny fish that was spawned out, but never the less, it was nice!! We didn't really get into the fish very heavy until about 10:00...this is when Phil had put on a 4" - pearl colored swim bait with a paddle tail. The rest of the day was an absolute "BEAT DOWN" on the walleyes!! I have only fished walleyes with plastics a couple of times in my life.......wow was I surprised at the way these fish were "SMASHING OUR BAITS"!!! It was the most fun I've ever had catching walleyes in my life!! Phil and I went back and fourth netting each other's fish and laughing about the comment, "Oh, just another cookie cutter 23''!! We caught 175 eyes in a day and a half on plastics alone! I put a minnow on Saturday for a few casts and then went back to plastics or the Live Target rattle bait. We had some rainy weather role in on Friday afternoon, but the fishing only got better!
Phil is one heck of a good stick, and on Friday, I had to have my "A" Game on so that he wouldn't mop up on me in my own rig!! On Saturday he pretty much showed me what an
"A_ _ - Whoopin' is really like.....I think he caught 45 or 50 of our 75 fish!!
We pitched plastics up into three feet of water and drug them back with hits in every depth up to 8 foot! Five feet was the best depth for us overall.
The trip was one for our record books, and I got to meet another great fisherman in the process!! I'd like to thank Phil for coming along and making the trip a total blast!!
The biggest fish of our trip is the last fish pictured. It is my pig that tipped the JUDGE at just over 29". This is my personal best walleye! It does not look that big in the picture....I know!! That's because of the beast holding the fish !! My fish get no justice with me holding them for pictures!! Phil was my witness though, so I'm covered on the lengths of my fish!!
The rest of the pictures are of some really nice 27" thru 28" slobs!!
I'll end this post by saying......"UNBELIEVABLE"!!