Leech Lake Area Muskies

If anyone has ever told you that musky fishing is easy they would be telling you a lie.  Sore arms, wrists, back and/or body is what it's all about.  I love it!  The endless hours of casting is all about the trill of seeing the mouth of a monster eat your buck-tail boatside or having a fish push a wall of water behind your topwater bait and crushing it out of the water.  But, and a big but, you have to be prepared for the long haul.  There are days when musky fishing can be easy but those days are not too common.  With many hours and long days on the water I always believe we have a chance to catch one...ALWAYS.  The past few guide trips have been just that, long days with some heartbreaks but a reward at the end!

Guide Trip #1

I set sail with Chris and Todd in search of the elusive musky the other day.  The first spots we had follows right away but no takers.  We pushed on casting away through the day.  I kept telling the guys keep at we will get these guys to bite!  We pulled up to a new area and out of the depths Chris had a fish crush the bait but didn't get hooks.  Bummer!  Opportunity #1 was there and gone.  I just looked at Chris and said, "That's musky fishing!" and told them to keep casting.  This game of musky fishing can mess with your head as the boys had been working so hard all morning to get a bite.  So we pushed on.  It was getting late in the day and I was praying for a good feeding window to open up and it did.  We pulled up to an new area and the fish started coming out of the wood work.  It was Todd's turn as he had a fish push that all to exciting wake behind the topwater.  BOOM!  She nailed it but no hooks again.  Holy Buckets!  Todd looked at me and asked, "What did I do wrong?"  A question I have asked myself so many times.  I replied, "Nothing...That's musky fishing".  The boys still pushed on and soon after Chris sets the hook and lands a small, but fun.  Slime in the boat and we were on the board.  Soon after I had a small fish eat at the boat and off to the next spot we went.  Chris again sets the hook and nothing!  "Keeping reeling!", I exclaimed and he did and as the Blue Fox Musky Buck neared the boat the fish that just hit decided he wanted another shot and it was fish on.  Chris did battle and landed a nice fish!  What a day of musky hunting!  The boys stuck with it and we ended up putting some nice fish in the boat.

Here is Chris with one.

 

Guide Trip #2

A few days later I had the pleasure of fishing with Father and Son team of Steve and Jared.  The boys were primed and ready to put a hurt bag on the ol' spotted fish!  The forecast called for rainy condition, just perfect weather, after a long hot streak, but that all changed in the morning.  It was flat calm and sunny.  Crap!  I was little worried but I knew we would get a chance!  With sharp hooks and fresh arms it was game on.  We started the milk run and fished five of my money spots with not a sniff.  By this time the sun was up and it was starting to get hot!  Nervous?  A little!  I made a move and started fishing some deeper secondary structure and we had two follows.  One was a big one!  Spirits were lifted and the casts kept flying.  Then nothing for the next few spots.  "Boys keep at it!" I said as things were looking down.  As mentioned above Musky Fishing is not easy most days, and this was one of those days, but we were bound and determined to get our hands slimy!  We pulled up to a spot we had been seeing some nice fish with the previous guide trip.  Jared was throwing one of my favorite topwater lures called a Pacemaker made by Sennett Tackle and out of the depths the water erupted.  "You got her!" I kinda yelled, but not too loud, but that wasn't the case.  She didn't get hooks!  The boys had again been working so hard.  Jared asked the same question, "What did I do wrong?" I replied with the same answer, "Nothing...That's musky fishing!"  Bummed about missing a pretty good musky the boys were still pumped knowing they had a chance.  We fished on in the heat with sweat dripping down our backs, sore arms and hands but knowing we had another chance!  I looked at the weather on my phone and it said there was rain moving in towards the evening and thought here we go.  We fished throughout the day with little to speak about until the winds from the south arose and the clouds from the west covered the bright blue sky.  The muskies noticed and once again the Blue Fox Musky Buck got chowed at the end of the cast!  Steve did battle and landed his largest musky to date and not too long later another one found the bottom of the net.  Both Steve and Jared didn't miss a beat even in the tough conditions and they were rewarded for their efforts.

(Steve doing battle and Jared ready with the net)

  

 

(The reward from a hard day of fishing!)

"That's Musky Fishing!"  I can't wait to share the good and bad times of musky fishing with the next group.  

"Make a Memory and get hooked!"

Jeff "Breezer" Andersen

 

Gull lake and Leech Lake Multi Species Fishing Report posted by Leisure Outdoor Adventures at less than a minute ago Tags: Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye, Minnkota, Ranger Boats, St.croix, Trolling, Rigging This past week brought cooler temps to Minnesota. The slight drop in water temp really helped with the walleye fishing on Leech Lake!The past week had me on leech for two different walleye trips. The first was for Monster Walleye and the 2nd was for keeper fish for dinner! Walleyes on the main lake seem to be the most consistent thing going right now. Walleyes on the rocks seem to prefer spinners with crawlers and leeches moving fairly fast in the 1-1.5mph range. Best colors for the blades are gold, Chartreuse, and Green. Rig the spinners behind 1.5 oz bottom bouncers and start moving. Fish this week preferred a slight jigging motion to the spinner, often hitting it while the anglers were dropping the rod tip back towards the fish. Steamboat bay was the best thing going early in the week with limits of fish coming from 9-11ft of water on the windward side of shoreline points. Sand grass is well developed and the fish are feeding on crayfish. Bouncers or split shot rigs work well in these area's because of the amount of weeds on the bottom. A standard slip sinker will keep you frustrated with constant weeds. For bait, crawlers and leeches are working here too. Same rigs as described for the rocks are what we used Monday to catch a beautiful limit of leech lake walleyes for a fish fry later on. Fishing on leech is good and you can expect to have plenty of action with the Leisure Outdoor Adventure Team. Gull Lake Minnesota I had a chance to take a crew out on Gull Lake yesterday for a Multi Species "Action Trip". The fish were on fire down on the south end of the lake. Bass, Northern Pike and pan fish were biting! In the course of 6hrs on the water, our crew caught and released over a 100 fish of various species. There's nothing special about our technique here. Find a weed line near deeper water, mark a fish or two, and drop a minnow or cast a jig worm into the deep weed edge. The action is fun and non stop action. If anyone is looking for a day of NON STOP action, this is it! Get Hooked and and wore out with Leisure Outdoor Adventures on Gull. 855-LOA-HOOK Email & More Edit

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Map of Gull lake and Leech Lake Multi Species...

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Terrain

Hardwoods ( Minnesota, United States, Cass - 47.213, -94.488 )

Duck ( Minnesota, United States, Cass - 47.200, -94.463 )

9-12ft

2nd duck ( Minnesota, United States, Cass - 47.227, -94.432 )

10-12ft

Submarine /Annex ( Minnesota, United States, Cass - 47.160, -94.380 )

Rocks 12-14ft

Brainerd / Mille Lacs Area Fishing Report

Brainerd / Mille Lacs fishing Report posted by Leisure Outdoor Adventures at 37 minutes ago Tags: Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Walleye, Minnkota, Ranger Boats, St.croix Rods, Lowrance Depth Finder, Light-tackle Fishing, Live Bait Catch of the Week Peggy Ford with a 29" Walleye fishing with Leisure Outdoor Adventures Gull Lake Fishing Report It was a busy weekend on the water with the beautiful weather in vacation land. Fishing in the Brainerd Lakes area has transitioned into summer patterns. The lakes have finally developed heavy weed lines and fish have transitioned into their summer locations. Water temps have reached the mid 70 deg marks and rising. Water levels continue to be higher than years past due to heavy rainfalls from the spring and early summer. Gull Lake is a fabulous walleye lake but even better multi species fishery. This time of year the walleye fishingtypically slows during the daylight hours. The Bass and Northern fishing is as good as it gets. Big bass andNorthern pike are well established on weed lines all across the lake in 10-15ft of water. The south end bays are where we fished with the Erickson family July 5th. The morning started out with a quick scan of possible walleyewaters. The walleyes on gull lake have been holding in the 18-25ft range off of the deep weed edges. On this morning very few fish were located, so without dropping a line we moved on to multi species. This proved to be the right thing to do. Our action was non stop for 3 plus hours. Jig worms, Crankbaits, Spinners, Slip Bobbers, and Top Water are techniques that will work when targeting these fish that are located on top of weedy/rocky flats on gull lake. The pike seem to be located right on the deep weed line waiting their prey. With 4 anglers in the boat, casting safely was not really a safe option, so we stuck to live bait rigging minnows on the weed lineand were rewarded with multiple catches of Pike, Bass, and panfish. The biggest Bass of the day was 19"s and our largest pike was just over the 30" mark. For constant rod bending action, it doesn't get any better than Gull Lake MN for multi species with Leisure Outdoor Adventures. Mille Lacs Lake report The Leisure Outdoor Adventure (LOA) guide team made a trip to Mille Lacs lake earlier in the week. With a steady SE wind we decided to launch the boats at the Red Door resort in the NE part of the lake. Fishing the north end of the lake always starts with a quick scan of the north end sand. To our surprise, the fish are still holding in this area. Night Crawlers on long leads are producing keeper size walleye and slot fish in the sand. Our best luck on this day occurred in 21-25ft of water just east of the Red Door resort. As the morning progressed and the fish become less active in the sand, the mud flats come to life. A quick boat ride out to one of our favorite flats proved to be the right adjustment. Within minutes, fish were located on the Lowrance depth finder. Mud flat fish are easy to find as they suspend 2-3 ft off the bottom consistently. They are usually located on top, on the drop, or off of the flat. On this day, the walleyes preferred the deep edges to slightly off of the flats. For this location, 1.5oz bottom bouncers and spinners tipped with night crawlers proved to be deadly. Speed and boat control are critical components to walleye fishing and its no different when fishing for spinners. Out walleyes wanted the spinners slow, .8 mph. Anything faster resulted in little action. Email & More

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Map of Brainerd / Mille Lacs fishing Report

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Mille Lacs Lake ( Minnesota, United States - 46.335, -93.647 )

Fishing out of the Red Door Inn on the NE part of the lake

Leech Lake (Walker MN) ( Minnesota, United States - 47.185, -94.432 )

The big fish are biting!

Gull Lake MN ( Minnesota, United States - 46.407, -94.386 )

Multi Species Capital of the world. Bass, Northern, Pan fish, and Walleye.