The Walleye of July- Stretching Strings

With July almost gone, I thought I would put up pics of some of the more memorable fish in my boat from the past month for all of you fish heads considering a trip to Leech Lake.

It has been quite an experience on the walleye front, with fish coming to the net on any number of presentations, and from 3 to 30 feet of water.

 The more productive methods have included: pitching light jigs and leeches, slip bobbering, rigging redtail chubs on humps, snapping jigging with jigging raps, trolling crankbaits on leadcore line and trolling stick baits with segmented leadcore behind planer boards.

We have been putting some very big bends in my trolling rods lately, I hope to continue this into August. 

I have to say that I do miss May and June fishing at times, when I pretty much know that we will be fishing 1/8oz jigs and minnows in 5-13 f.o.w. on main lake points and flats during virtually every outing.

 In fact, I have had 16 rods rigged and ready with various tactics this month, and some days we use them all to get our bites.

In my opinion, there is no silver bullet for July and August walleyes on Leech Lake, but being persistent seems to pay off more often then not.

Cheers and hook-sets! 

Apex Time- Leech Lake Muskies

 Now that it's July, I'm starting to do more muskie trips. Did you know that typically the muskie action gets better-and-better as the season goes on here at Leech Lake?

*Now offering muskie marathon packages. Buy 2 days and get the 3rd day free!

We are moving a lot of fish and boating a few now, the action should really pick up this month. 

Cheers and hook-sets,

Captain Phil Bauerly- Leech Lake

outrightangling.com

Catching (our breath) in June- Leech lake *Pic Heavy*

Wow! With 30-45 mph gusts today, I find myself with an afternoon off of the lake. June has been a whirlwind of meeting great folks, netting fish and staring at electronics. Not every day has been uber-productive, but overall, the fishing has been great here on Lago Leech. The big walleyes stole the show this week with 9 fish covering 26 inches or more of my bump board, and 30+ fish over the two foot mark. As always in late June, we have some ideas where they will show up tomorrow and what they will bite on. But most likely, we will have to try several presentations/locations this week to really get dialed in.

Here is a great slip-bobber fish caught in 4' of water earlier in the month. 

Limits are great, and when the keepers are averaging 17-18 inches, it's hard to beat. 

A healthy looking portage bay fish.

Smile blades are well named.

"Day off" slip bobber fishing with my boy.

Another great slip bobber fish.

Windy days usually mean limits for all.

One of 5 bigger fish this day. 

Thick fog? No problem. A 29" gravel lizard from Walker bay.

Regular client Jeff  and company went on a tear before their Canada trip, boating a whole bunch of 23"-27" walleyes.

26"er

25"

Here is dad, scouting and helping me get dialed in before a trip.

Even the guide gets to land a nice one. 

Dad strikes again!

1st Muskie hunt of the year, we moved some really nice fish but couldn't seal the deal. Action plus pike made it fun though. 

The spinner/crawler bite has been hit or miss, this fish did hit on a post frontal, sunny day. 

Cheers and hook-sets! 

Captain Phil Bauerly- Leech Lake

Do the tighten up- Leech Lake walleyes in May

We have been catching fish on spots all over Leech Lake this week with the best bite still coming on a light jig and minnow in 9-14 feet of water. 

We are seeing a really healthy average size with most fish being in the 17"-25" range.

Dragging a light jig along at .6 mph can be really effective. 

Limits and many slot fish each day has been the standard. 

We actually ran through all of our bait one day after boating 40+ fish. This was no problem though as Chris wanted to catch some smallmouths on artificials to end the day. 

This competitive Nebraska group mopped up on the 'eyes on Wednesday.  

The fish didn't cooperate quite as well on Thursday but the quality of the fish coupled with perfect weather made up for it. 

Cheers and hook-sets!

Fort Knox, Minnesota

With the dawning of a new walleye season on Leech Lake, the bite is coming together. We are sampling again that almost unbelievable mix of sizes and year classes available in this healthy fishery. 

Some days the catch is dominated by 15"-20" eating sized fish.

While other days the 20"+ slot fish rule, with enough keepers still coming in for a nice fish fry.

Either way, my goal is simple: to help you bring to the surface...

..what is just lying down there like gold bars stacked up at Fort Knox.

Cheers and hook-sets!

Warm-Ups

Don't get me wrong with this title, I do enjoy early open water fishing for crappies, bluegills, suckers, perch and stream trout. However, big water walleye fishing is in my veins and the grand tradition of "walleye opener" can't come soon enough for me. To build on the anticipation, Leech Lake is one of the best early season walleye lakes anywhere with loads of 15"-20" fish right now with just enough bigger fish to make things really interesting for fisher folk. 

The next 3-4 weeks should be silly good for crappies if we can pry ourselves away from the walleye haunts.

Bluegills picnic in the shallows on warm afternoons, they will start making beds and staying shallow as long as water temps continue to rise.

We have a few trout streams in the area as well, if you don't mind bush whacking a bit. 

Cheers and hook-sets!

Last Call for Pre-Spawn Walleyes- Rainy River

Well, it has been a great start to the open water guiding season. I just wrapped up three awesome days on the Rainy River with two great guys who made the most of every minute out there.

Our bites were split evenly this year between a vertical jig and minnow presentation and a pitched jig and bright colored plastic. 

                                                            "Not bad...not bad."

It's certainly nice to get back into practice with boat control and netting fish.

I even got to catch a few myself. 

Larry tied his personal best for length, but this fish was heavy!

With MN Walleye season still three weeks away, I'll be doing C&R Sturgeon trips on the Rainy River (many dates are available). Also, it's looking like Leech Lake Crappie and Perch trips in the first half of May are going to happen this year!

                                                      Cheers and hook-sets,
                                                      Captain Phil