Header Image Caption: Dylan Elhardt caught this nice bass on a lake located north of Grand Rapids.

This week’s Grand Rapids Fishing Report brought to you by: Andy Walls. You can find Andy at Thousand Lake Sporting Goods for bait and all of your fishing equipment and gear.

With summer’s heat swinging into full force, it has thrown the greater Grand Rapids, Minnesota area into mid summer patterns rather quickly. Fishing for all species has been flourishing to say the least, and they really seem to be starting to school up for the summer.

Panfish like crappie and bluegill have been coming topside frequently, and the warm weather seems to be pushing them to the deeper grass edges in 8-13 feet of water where they will position most of the summer. Artificial presentations under a float or on a jig casted and retrieved can both prove to be effective techniques to trick these fish when they are active. When things are slowing down, anglers have been having the best success with a dressed jig (hair or feathers) under a float with either a crappie minnow or leech.

The walleye fishing is certainly changing with the warm weather setting in. With the fish moving off shoreline structures and shifting out closer to the deeper summer haunts, it has them grouped up more and easier to find. Most anglers are locating these schools of fish in 14-30 feet of water depending on the weather (shallower in the wind and deeper when it’s calm). A jig and a minnow is still producing good results for a lot of the area guides, but we are also hearing some great reports with lindy rigs, spinners, and bobbers paired with a leech or nightcrawler.

Bass fishing has been pretty typical for the time of the year. They are mostly done spawning now, but there are still some hanging around in those same areas as well as some moving out to deeper structures and grass beds. Topwater and plastic worms are a staple when the spawn is over. We typically have good success by starting out working the outside/deeper edge of the emergent vegetation quickly with a topwater to find areas of active fish, and moving deeper with the plastic worm as the day progresses. We have seen the best success on falter areas in 4-8 feet of water.

As the early summer heat is upon us, it’s time to make sure you are spending time on the water, Walleye fishing has been excellent on area lakes and it only seems to get better as the weeks roll on. There has been miner bug hatches occurring and paying attention to locations walleyes are starting to occupy can make a difference. Leeches and crawlers fished on a slip sinker rig can be your best option in the coming weeks and the jig and minnow bite will decrease. Hair Jigs moved quickly can trigger strikes and one of the best is the Moon Tail from VMC. Some of the lakes that continue to offer good walleye fishing are Trout Lake in Coleraine, Big Winnie, Bowstring, Round, and Big Splithand. Because of low water conditions and lack of rain, check the launch ramps before putting in as not to possibly damage you prop or skeg.

Northern Pike have been providing good action on area lakes and many times are mixed in with the walleyes. Jig and minnow produces bites from the toothy critters but applying a slight change can help you not lose additional tackle. Change up a modification on your leader by going to a section of 17# mono which will help you not get as many bite offs. It will be a handy option when fishing jig and minnow combinations and most often doesn’t affect your walleye options at the same time. Casting spoons or jerk baits over new emerging weed beds also is a good presentation.

Bass fishing has been excellent and as the weather warms up, both species largemouth and smallmouth will be very active. Female smallmouth are still on the beds so make sure you take a photo and release them right where you caught them. Largemouth Bass will soon going shallow to spawn as the water temperatures get into the upper 60’s to near 70. Ned rigs and Hair jigs are great ealy season baits to fish for Smallies, and top water on calm mornings can be lots of fun. Throwing light spinner baits and shallow crankbaits can be very effective especially with early season bass fishing when the fish are shallow. Many lakes in the Grand Rapids area offer good bass fishing and some for both species. Wabana, Deer, Pokegama, and Trout lake give you best options for both.

The weather is heating up and so is the fishing. Get out on the water in the weeks to come and be safe.

This Week’s Grand Rapids Fishing Report brought to you by Tom Neustrom, owner of professional fishing guide service: MN Fishing Connections.

We have begun the march into the season and so far fishing has been good but a mixed bag with weather. All in all the reports have been encouraging and several species have been cooperating for anglers. Walleyes have been rather up and down especially with the weather changes we have been experiencing. Water temperatures have been up and down but realistically the fish still have to eat. Many lakes have seen a complete change in the walleyes location and bait preferences can readily change as well. Normally jig and minnow is the stable presentation early in the season, but not this year totally. In the last several days leeches have also been a good choice. Whether slip sinker rigs and a leech or crawler it will be soon the better choice over jig and minnow. Some of the lakes with great opportunity to catch walleyes are Big Winnie, Big Splithand, Round, Bowstring, Wabana, Trout, and Big Jessie. All of the mentioned lakes have a good population of walleyes and different presentations to catch them. Memorial Day weekend always projects good fishing.

Panfish are spawning and crappies especially are beginning their annual movement shallow. A small jig and minnow or plastic action tails below a lite slip bobber can be the ticket to terrific early season crappie fishing. Look for emerging pencil reeds and gravel to hold numbers of crappies spawning.  Many times they can be as shallow as 2 feet, but watch for cool down from a cold front that can push them out to 4-6 feet temporarily.

Bass fishing will continue to heat up and this season, because of the early ice out and warm temperatures, we are about 1-2 weeks ahead of schedule. Smallmouth are on the beds in most area lakes and should be caught and immediately released after a quick photo as to let the spawning continue. A small tube jig, Ned Rig, or 4 inch Whacky Worm all produce this time of year. Some of the good Smallmoth Lakes in te area are Pokegama, Deer, Wabana, Trout, and Turtle.

Memorial Day weekend is a great time to get together with family and friends. Please be safe and enjoy the time together.

This week’s Fishing Report is brought to you by Tom Neustrom, owner of professional fishing guide service, MN Fishing Connections.

The 2021 Fishing Opener has come and gone with positive reviews from most anglers. Saturday’s weather was spectacular and many fisherman came off the lakes with nice catches of walleyes, northern pike, and panfish. Some lakes, like always, produced better than others and depths walleyes were caught varied. Big Winnie, Bowstring, Jessie and the Mississippi River were the best choices to put walleyes in the boat. Big Winnie and Cutfoot had a lot of traffic and the fishing was excellent most places. The traffic at the landings kind of reminded people of days gone by with boats and vehicles lined up at the accesses and parking places few and far between. The bait shops were especially busy and the excitement was very evident around Grand Rapids and Deer River with traffic backed up many blocks heading to the lakes and resorts. It was good to see!

Jig and minnow combinations were the best option for walleyes, but leeches and rigs were also catching lots of fish. The warmer then normal spring weather at times pushed the spawn ahead this year and on many of the lakes the walleyes had left the shorelines and moved out a bit deeper. It should be a good season the next few weeks, Look for walleyes to move off into summer locations earlier than normal in the next couple weeks,

Panfish were especially cooperative and crappies on some of the area lakes were in 2-3feet of water getting ready to spawn. Many anglers found mixed groups of crappies and bluegills in the same locations and the action was steady. A slip bobber with a small jig baited with a minnow, small leech, or chunk of worm put fish in the boat. With new emerging weeds starting to grow with the warmer water temperatures it was pretty easy to find productive locations.

Northern Pike also were biting fairly well and it added to a mixed bag with a few walleyes. Northerns were mixed in with the walleyes and the jig and minnow was hooking them pretty consistently. Pokegama, Big Winnie, Bass, and Round had steady action for northern pike .

The fishing will continue to get better in the coming weeks and people are getting out and enjoying fun on the water an getting together.

This week’s Grand Rapids Fishing Report is brought to you by Tom Neustrom, owner of professional fishing guide service, MN Fishing Connections.

The clock is ticking down and we have less than 1 week until the 2021 Minnesota Fishing Opener. Hopefully you have had time to do all your yard work and get things ready to go fishing. This year we are ahead of schedule and the ice has been out for over a month. The walleye opener looks like it will be a good one, and with spawning ritual completed the fish should be in their post-spawn feeding mood and biting. I would pay attention to the shallow depths unless a cold front descends upon us as most openers have in the past. The smaller males most often will stay in the spawning areas and shallows for several weeks and are vulnerable to being caught. Concentrate on points, inside turns, and flats associated to deeper water. If you get a little wind that blows up on these areas, so much the better. Pitching, trolling or drifting jigs with a shiner or a chub can be a very efficient method of putting walleyes in the boat. If you contact several walleyes in a specific area, make sure you mark it on your GPS so you can return to the same area and try to replicate what you did previously. In shallow water I try to use as lite of a jig such as an 1/8th or even 1/16th ounce again with a shiner or chub. When you detect a bite, give them the rod tip for a few seconds before setting the hook. Many times a good search bait can be a Shad Rap trolled along the same area at about 1.75 mph. Many times you can contact fish using this method and document exactly where you caught the last fish. . Return back to that general location and fan cast the area with a jig and minnow or soft plastics. This run and gun approach can put additional walleyes in the boat.. Pay attention to water clarity and utilize water that is not relatively clear. It can make a difference early in the season and also not wanting to spook walleyes in the shallows. Trolling at
night makes a whole lot more sense if you have to fish a very clear body of water and the boat traffic is at a minimum.

As the water begins to warm into the 50’s, leeches can be a good choice on a slip bobber or jig. Most often this is a better option a week or two after opener. Pay attention to water temperature and that can tip you off when the leech bite will be a good option. Mid to high 50’s most often is what I look for. There are always other choices to entice a walleye or two.  Slip sinker rigs with a fat juicy night Crawler can be just the ticket to entice a walleye with lock jaw.

Some of the good opening days lakes for walleyes are Big Bass, Bowstring, Big Cutfoot, Winnie, Sand, Big Splithand, and the Mississippi River. Any of these choices can be good to excellent for the opener. Bait shops in the Grand Rapids area should have ample supplies of live bait, but it doesn’t hurt to call ahead to be on the safe side. !000 Lakes Sports, River Rat Bait, Fred’s Bait, Winnie One Stop, and Max Minni Store are all good locations for bait and good information before you set out on opener and after.

Make sure you remember to put your plug in the boat before you launch and remove and drain when you trailer your boat at the end of the day. Assist the AIS inspectors at the landing to clean any weeds or other contaminants at the landing. They are there to help keep our lakes clean from invasive species.

Opening Day is a wonderful ritual in Minnesota. Be safe and have a wonderful 2021 season.

This week’s Grand Rapids Fishing Report brought to you by: Tom Neustrom, owner of MN Fishing Connections guide service.

The warm weather and early ice out made for conditions for panfish like we have not seen in several years. If you remember the past 2 -3 years the ice went out1-3 weeks before opener and the good panfish bite occurred late into May. Even though much of the attention in the next couple weeks turns to walleyes, the Grand Rapids and Itasca County lakes are full of nice crappies, sunfish and jumbo perch. For many of the anglers that are residents, they have known the panfish opportunities that have existed. They are not spawning yet, but are in several depths searching for food prior to the spawn. With the cooler water temperatures of late, it may delay the spawn a couple more weeks or until the water warms into the high 50’s and low 60’s. Crappie and sunfish locations can vary from 20 feet to 5 feet with each day being different. The pencil reeds from last season are locations that show hard bottom and these can be key areas to concentrate once the spawn occurs. Many times the crappies and sunfish will search these places for early bug hatches which they will go to for additional food sources.

Small jigs with plastics or a small chub will be the best presentations to start. Slip bobbers or stationary bobbers(ones that don’t slip) are your best options. Always remember to keep the bait above the fish for crappies, sunfish and other panfish species feed up ward, not downward. If you are in 5 feet of water, set your bobber at 3 feet and even many times just 2 feet. Slip bobbers can sometimes not work as well in windy conditions as well as a clip on style. The wind can allow the slip bobber not to stay at the precise depth needed as opposed to the fixed bobber that stays at the same depth constant. Use a bobber or float that takes a minimal amount of resistance to sink not one that floats like a beach ball. If you don’t geta bite in one area, move to another spot close by after 15-20 minutes. I prefer a 6 1/2 to 7 foot ultra lite rod like the St. Croix Panfish Series. 1000 size reels are perfect and 4# test monofilament is ideal. Targeting wood, new emerging weed beds, rocks, and pencil reeds will give you some good choices to try for early season panfish.

Some of the lakes in the Itasca County area that are known for good early panfish are bays on Pokegama Lake, Big and Little Cutfoot, Big and Little Splithand, Bowstring, Wabana, and Big Balsam Lakes. All have great opportunities to produce nice panfish this time of year and all through the season.