http://mnfishingreport.com/ Minnesota Fishing Reports en Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:57:45 +0000 http://mnfishingreport.com/topic/leech-lake-fishing-report#post-32 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:35:06 +0000 mnfishingreport 32@http://mnfishingreport.com/ <p>Leech Lake is a huge lake with many bays, some of them shallow and some of them deep. Anglers fish the tops of humps in the deep bays and along the weed edges or along the breakline in the shallow bays and main lake.</p> <p>Leech Lake has more rock than most lakes in the Bemidji area. Anglers have the option of fishing the chara-covered sand flats, the rocky humps, the shoreline breaks or the weed edges for walleyes and perch. There are also a few areas of mud in Leech Lake for the fish to search for insects.</p> <p>Perch fishing has been tough in most lakes this winter, especially for larger jumbo perch. Part of the problem is poor age classes of large fish in many lakes, but there also may be a food issue. The mayfly hatches were spread out and sporadic this past summer with the cold weather, which may have reduced the amount of insect larvae in the mud.</p> <p>Perch are voracious feeders and it takes a lot of food to feed a school of fish. If perch can find a good mound of insects in deep water, they may stay in the same areas for weeks. If there is a poor crop of insects in the mud, there isn’t much else out there for the perch to eat.</p> <p>Shallow perch tend to wander the flats in a constant search for schools of minnows, which can make them more difficult for anglers to pattern. Anglers may hammer the fish one day and then find the same area nearly void of fish the next day.</p> <p>Crappie fishing can also slow down in January. Anglers can get on the crappies early in the season, but the fishing pressure and too much noise on the ice eventually scatters the schools of crappies and makes them more spooky.</p> <p>Anglers may have to move away from the heavily pressured areas and find new schools of crappies in areas with less fishing pressure.</p> <p>Paul A. Nelson runs the Bemidji Area Lakes Guide Service. He can be e-mailed at <a href="mailto:panelson@paulbunyan.net.">panelson@paulbunyan.net.</a> </p> http://mnfishingreport.com/topic/lake-winnibigoshish#post-10 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:53:18 +0000 mnfishingreport 10@http://mnfishingreport.com/ <p>LAKE WINNIBIGOSHISH The ice that remains is being pushed by the wind. As of Tuesday morning, the lake was about half open so with any amount of wind or rain it could be completely open by this weekend. </p> http://mnfishingreport.com/topic/leech-lake#post-7 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 20:50:20 +0000 mnfishingreport 7@http://mnfishingreport.com/ <p>LEECH LAKE AREA Most of the small area lakes and the bays and narrows of Leech Lake are ice-free. The main-lake ice is limited on Leech and should be completely out by this weekend. There hasn't been any panfish action reported, but most anglers have just started hitting the shallow bays. </p>