Fishing in the Bemidji area has been nothing less then Fantastic. The pan-fish are in their spawning patterns and the walleye have moved into their summer patterns. Pike have been very active in the shallow waters both in the weeds and just outside of them.
Our water temps are just approaching the low to mid 60 degree mark which is prime pan-fishing temps. When targeting the pan-fish look for bulrushes with pockets within them. The deeper the bull rushes are the better. Most of the pockets will hold several fish. Using a bobber and casting longer distances is an excellent way to approach them. By using longer cast they are less likely to become spooked by the boat.
Cast the bobber with a small crawler or wax worm tipped jig past the pocket and slowly reel the setup back into position. After several fish have been taken out of these pockets the fish will spook. Just move to the next pocket. This provides LOTS of action for the young fisher-people.
For the walleye in our area look for steep drops adjacent to shallow water humps. On the windy days again a slip bobber set up drifted up the breaks can be very productive. This method is often over looked by walleye fisherman but can be deadly at times. Use your trolling motor to go over the hump and mark the top of that hump using your GPS units. Once the water depth on the top is known you will know how deep the top of the hump is and how deep to set your bobber rig set up. When fishing a bobber set up for walleye I almost always use a 1/16th oz feather jig tipped with a jumbo leech or shiner. The leech is hooked one time lightly through the sucker and the shiner is hooked underneath just before the tail.
Some of the best fishing is still to come as we are just approaching summer in the Bemidji area.
~Tara~