How We Start

Typically, I meet clients at 8:00AM at the public boat landing at the Walker City Park on the east edge of the city. If you are staying at a resort, then I can also pick you up there. The way we fish depends on the time of year and the species we are fishing. I guide primarily for walleyes, pike, and largemouth bass.

Walleye

The walleyes on Leech Lake are caught with a variety of presentations. Primarily, I use a jig and minnow by drifting the shallow, windblown flats. This is especially true in the spring and fall. As the summer season progresses, it is common to use live bait rigs with leeches or to troll spinners with night crawlers.

Long line trolling with crankbaits like the famous Normark Shad Raps can also be effective when the fish prove to be scattered and it is necessary to cover more water fast to contact the "biters." I like to use planer boards when trolling in 12 feet or less or running more than two lines. There is also a good walleye bite in the deeper 20-35 feet of water using lead core line. When this presentation is implemented, I will provide the rods and line-counter reels needed.

Besides Leech Lake, I also guide walleyes on Cass Lake, Lake Winnibigoshish, and Lake Bemidji.

Largemouth Bass

The Leech Lake area is loaded with several good bass fishing lakes. If you want a lot of action, then you might consider fishing for them. Bass mostly run from 12" to 16" long, but in a full day of fishing, it is not uncommon to catch several larger bass too.

The best presentation seems to be fishing some type of plastic on a light jig or a "jig worm." Since we have clear lakes, 4-6 pound test line is recommended for jig worm fishing using a spinning rod. Another plastic bait I used with great success last summer was a Slurpies Brush Beaver placed on a 3/8 oz. Jungle Jig-Loc head. Both are from Northland Tackle Co.

A wide variety of crankbaits also work well for bass and have the added advantage of producing violent strikes by pike that also roam the weeds looking for an easy meal. Spinnerbaits can also be good producers and allow you cover a lot of water in a hurry for finding fish locations.

Pike

Pike are usually caught incidental to walleye or bass fishing. However, if you want to target northern pike, then our area lakes have a plentiful population and I will guide for them. To be most successful, we will fish the emerging weed beds in the early season. The best presentation is a jig with a larger minnow worked along the weed edges. I often use a thin wire leader made of Sevenstrand to prevent "bite-offs" so we can get all the biting fish into the boat.

Later in the summer, I have had good success trolling deep diving crank baits or large spinner baits in deeper water. Since there are several lakes in the area more noted for pike than Leech Lake, it may be that if you want to maximize your catch, we would travel to one of these lakes. The pike generally range from 3-5 pounds depending on the lake fished, but catching a trophy over ten pounds is not uncommon if we specifically target them and fish accordingly.