With another wonderful week in the books, one that gave us mid July type weather in August. Temperatures have risen back into the 90’s and water temps have shot back up into the mid to upper 70’s. Walleyes must like the more summer-ish weather we’re having since they have decided to cooperate and bite some hooks.
Last week Aug 17-24 was one of the better weeks for fishing on Leech in the last month or so, limits of Walleye have been steadily coming in, Perch have continued to show themselves in the area’s we all tend to look for them this time of year and Pike are also tugging on people lines.
Walleye have really begun to bite everywhere, from weeds to rocks to sand, anything you throw at them has been working too, though, most are still flat-line trolling for them with crankbaits. Area’s of weeds in Sucker Bay and down into the Goose Island Flats have been giving up Walleye and Perch with jigs and minnows, this area is a little harder to troll since there is plenty of weed growth, but if you can find the edges and work your Rapalas there, you’ll have success. Area’s of rock near Submarine Island, Annex Reef, Mokey Reef and Big Rock Reef have also been giving up walleye, the north end of Pelican Island has also been a good spot to pull plugs. I had the chance to do some trolling and I went out on Big Rock Reef, used #5 shad raps (perch color) and trolled mid day in the upper 80 degree heat and had a very good time, fishing with Ryan Thompson, in about 3 hours we had 6 keeper Eyes, 3 eater Pike and easily 8-10 Walleye we threw back, goes to show that fishing in not so “prime times” is still worth the effort. We primarily worked area’s off the main shallow rock piles in 10-13 feet of water, fish tended to be suspended off the edges 3-4 feet off the bottom.
Pictured above from L to R: John and Jen Fletcher and family from Prior Lake, MN with a nice batch of Leech Lake Northern Pike, father and son duo Vern and Russ Havlik, from Cedar Rapids, IA. Vern (on the left) hasn’t been to Big Rock for about 6-7 years and the picture shows he still knows how to catch them Walleye! and Ryan Thompson (I helped catch these) with a nice stringer of crank-baited fish that came off of Big Rock Reef.
Perch continue to bite, with many aggressive small ones getting a nice meal of 10 inch plus will be a job, take extra minnows and work the weed beds in Sucker Bay, Miller Bay and Uram Bay, into the Walker Narrows there are also decent numbers of Perch being caught.
Muskies are continuing to be seen, though no one from the resort has really been chasing them very much (I haven’t either) the reports from local guides have been good, fish are moving on topwater chopper-style baits and the old reliable bucktails, jerk baits have also had their share of action. Reports of fish being caught at Pelican Island, Diamond Point and Cedar Point in the norther end of Walker Bay.
Pictured above from L to R: Nick Pesta (Marty and Mary’s grandson) with his girlfriend Jordan, from Long Prairie, MN with a nice 33 inch Pike he caught with throwing spinner baits in Uram Bay, Russ Havlik with a dandy 28 inch Wally, and another days catch from the duo from Cedar Rapids. The Featured image up top is of Jerry Emery from right here in Walker, MN and Jerry Sloniker from Graettinger, IA with a days catch of Walleye and Pike.
Fishing is really starting to heat up, book your reservations and come and get in on the action, I’ll even clean your fish free of charge!!
Thanks for reading
Come see us at Big Rock Resort
Ray
