LOCAL REPORT

It is hard to believe we are already into the month of October... Fall is flying bye! If you are thinking about putting your boat away for the winter, reconsider because the fishing has been great! Walleyes and crappies are biting right now in 25-40 feet of water on shoreline breaks and deep holes on Big Pine, Little Pine, Ottertail and other area lakes. Sucker minnows on a lindy rig are still producing well for the walleyes, and Jigs with a fathead or small sucker are producing both crappies and walleyes as well. Bait has been relatively tough, and it appears redtails and creek chubs are done for the season.  The fishing will remain good all the way until the lakes freeze!

We are also hearing good reports of muskies being caught on the area lakes that have muskies. Throwing lures and trolling big suckers are both producing, and this bite also will only...

As we turn the calendar to July the fishing remains very good! Big Pine, Rush, Little Pine, Star, Ottertail and many other area lakes are producing a very good walleye bite right now. The summer heat has pushed a majority of the walleyes out into the deeper water, and most good reports we are hearing are coming from 17-30 feet of water on mid lake humps, 

 mid lake points and shoreline breaks. Bottom bouncers with spinners and slow depths have been working extremely well, and will allow you to cover more water to find those fish! Lindy Rigging a leech, crawler or minnow has also been extremely productive when you locate the schools of fish. Casting or vertically jigging a Rapala Jigging Rap or a Shiver Minnow is also producing fish , and this presentation will only continue to get better over the coming weeks! Fisherman are still getting fish in under 10 feet...

Summer is finally here to stay and the fishing remains good, although rapidly changing. With the water temps finally warming up and the shiner run over, now is a great time to head to the deeps in search of walleyes. Big, Pine, Little Pine, Rush, Star, Ottertail and other area lakes have been producing a good walleye bite as of late. The key presentation now seems to be lindy rigging on shoreline points and breaks as well as mid-lake structure. 15-25 feet has been a good starting depth to try, and leeches, crawlers and minnows on a rig are tough to beat right now. The bottom bouncer bite has also really picked up, and pulling either a spinner with a crawler/minnow or a slow death rig has been working well. There are still plenty of fish shallow and light jigs with a minnow or plastic will continue to produce fish. The beauty of this time of year is that so m...

June is here, and the fishing remains very good! Big Pine, Little Pine, Star, Ottertail, Rush and other area lakes continue to produce good walleye fishing right now. As the water temps continue to rise, fishing patterns and locations are just starting to change. Majority of reports we are hearing are that the best fishing has been in 7-10 feet using a 1/8 ounce jig and a shiner or soft plastic. Back trolling these jigs with a good amount of line out at .8-1.0 mph has been producing walleyes, and you are sure to get some bonus northerns, bass, and big crappies with this presentation . Fish are really to starting to scatter, and every day we are hearing more reports of anglers having good luck on shoreline points and mid-lake humps in the 13-22 foot range (depending on lake and structure) lindy rigging a minnow, crawler or leech. As the spottail shiners are s...

We hope everyone had an enjoyable and safe Memorial Day weekend!  Fishing in the lakes area has been very good, and that might even be an understatement! Walleyes are being caught on Big Pine, Little Pine, Rush, Ottertail, Star, and other lakes in 4-10 feet of water. The presentation of choice is still a jig with a shiner or a soft plastic. We are hearing reports that anglers are having luck in 10-18 feet of water Lindy Rigging a leech, crawler or minnow, and this presentation will only continue to get better as the water warms up.

 With the late, cool spring, however, we are still seeing cold water temps and majority of fish are being caught in that magic 4-8 foot range. Pay attention to wind and sun, for we are hearing the best reports on windy, cloudy days in 4-6 feet of water, and on calm, sunny days closer to 8 feet of water. Fishing has been good a...

It is finally looking like summer is here! After what can only be described as a terrible winter, we are anxiously looking forward to some nice weather and open water fishing! Opening week has come and gone, and the fishing was similar to previous openers, with less than ideal weather we heard mixed reports, but most anglers were able to put a few nice walleyes in the boat over the weekend. 

Similar to nearly every other bait store in Minnesota, bait was tough to come by. We were lucky enough to have a decent supply of bait over the weekend, and with the warm weather we are hoping our bait supply picks up. Right now we are sitting good on spottail shiners and leeches, and also have nightcrawlers, fatheads, and crappie minnows. 

Fisherman had the best luck over the last couple days fishing shallow (5-10 feet) and either casting or trolling 1/16 or 1/...

It's been cold out here in lakes country but the bite remains hot.  If you have braved the cold and made your way out chances are you were rewarded with a decent bite.   We have been finding fish relating heavily to healthy green weeds.   I've been utilizing small tungsten jigs tipped with waxies or eurolarva under a ultra light rod with a steady pounding cadence.   When working a tall patch of cabbage remember to drop the jig all the way to the bottom and jig your way out.   A lot of times fish that are buried in the weeds will follow you up out of the weeds.   This will trigger a strike more times than not as once you get that fish above the weeds he is now out of his cover and protection and is now prone to other predators.   He will try to grab that bait and bury himself back down in the cover.   If you find a good solid green weed edge chances are you...

Happy New Year! Hard to believe we have turned the calendar to 2019 and we are already creeping towards the middle of January. Although we got 12-15 inches of snow early this month, the lakes are surprisingly still in good shape. We are starting to see some pockets of slush, but severity varies from lake to lake. For the most part it is fairly simple to get around the lakes with a 4WD Truck , but make sure to bring a shovel!

Walleye fishing has slowed down a bit, but fish are still being caught in the  early morning and when the sun is setting on Big Pine, Little Pine, Rush, Star, and Ottertail. Fishing in 16-22 FOW on shoreline breaks, points, and mid-lake humps has been producing the best. Running shinners or suckers on a dead stick is working well when accompanied by jigging a jig with a fathead on it. We are also hearing reports of the bite picking up bet...

We hope everybody has had a great start to their ice fishing season. We have been staying busy here at Gene's, and the fishing and weather have been great! With warm weather the past several days, we are still sitting at 12-14 inches on most area lakes. We are seeing alot of ATV traffic, and trucks are starting to drive onto most lakes, but as always, please make sure to use caution when driving.

The walleyes have been biting very well on Big Pine, Little Pine, Rush, Star, and Ottertail on the midlake humps and shoreline breaks during low light conditions in 14-20 feet of water. We are still sitting good on minnows, and currently have golden shiners, rainbows, sucker minnows, fatheads, crappies, and waxworms. Jigging spoons and lures tipped with a fathead is catching walleye accompanied by a shinner or sucker on a dead stick or rattle reel.

Panfish are also bi...

It sure was a busy weekend here at Gene's Sport Shop. We were lucky enough to sneak out during the middle of the week and put our fish houses out, and were even able to put a few walleyes on the ice! Most area lakes are seeing between 8-10 inches of good, black ice, and ATV travel has been going on almost everywhere. Most anglers are having success in 14-18 feet of water on shoreline breaks and mid-lake humps in the low light situations of early morning and evening. Big Pine, Little Pine, Rush and Ottertail have been producing f