Fishing Report 5/17

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 1/8 ounce jig with a shiner or a plastic. We have also heard good reports of people catching fishing using a lindy rig with a shiner, leech or crawler on the weedlines in 10-15 feet of water. Big Pine, Little Pine, Rush and Ottertail have been the best for the walleyes, and with each warm, sunny day the fishing should continue to get better.

With the late spring we had the sunfish and crappies are also really biting well right now. They are being caught either casting a small plastic or a simple bobber and jig tipped with a crappie minnow or nightcrawler in 4-10 feet of water in tall weed patches. To find panfish right now , start by searching in the shallow bays where the water temps are the highest in the lake.

There is a lot of good fishing coming down the stretch, and every warm, sunny day we have will produce a better and better bite. We look forward to seeing all of you over the course of the summer. Happy Fishing Everyone!