Howdy,
Just spent the week on Spirit Lake south-east of Aitkin. The water is still pretty cool and the weeds aren’t up yet. The cabbage starts at about 5 feet and the junk weeds aren’t up so there’s a very well defined inside weedline, almost like you see in the fall. The Bass were using these areas and hitting a variety of presentations including Spinnerbaits, worms, and top waters. The secret was to slow down because the water was cool for this time of year. We caught fish up to 22 inches and had a ball.
The panfishing was a little strange too. During the day you’d see a ton of fish suspended out deep and nothing I threw at them got there attention. During the evening they’d head into the cabbage and bite aggressively. I even caught a few on a Bass Bug (fly fishing) with a 1/0 hook!
We spent some time on Farm Island. We found active Walleyes along the bar off the west end of the big island in 18 feet of water using leeches. The are a couple of humps between the two islands and we found Walleyes there too. Along with a lot of Rock bass.
One last note: I had a problem with my ouboard, and the guys at Hanson’s Outdoors were great about getting me back on the water. I was impressed with their knowledge and service. They’re on Highway 6 just west of Bennetville.
Keep your lines wet!
Rootski
