January 13, 2002
FROM: Leech Lake Guide Coalition
SUBJECT: Leech Lake Area Report
PHONE: 218.547.3212
The great news is that if you don’t like cold weather and you like to ice fish, this is your season. The unseasonably warm weather has made for some wonderful conditions to fish in. There is plenty of ice on most of the area lakes to move around either on ATV, Snowmobile or foot. The warmer weather has not created much new ice, yet we certainly don’t seem to be loosing ice either, as most areas have 7-13″ of ice.
For the perch anglers, well plan to move a lot. Some nice fish are being caught both off Sand Point of Leech and again in Agency bay. However, schools of them seem hard to find. Anglers moving often are consistently catching fish. This past week two presentations in depths of 12-18’ produced most of our fish. First, a 1/8 oz perch colored Northland “Buck Shot” rattle spoon tipped with a minnow head caught some Jumbo perch, yet most fish seemed not to be too aggressive. The really HOT presentation was a Northland Forage Minnow Fry, tipped with two wax worms. Even the jumbo perch preferred the wax worms over the minnow heads this past week.
Walleye anglers report continued success in the evening hours on the humps in Walker Bay. Again this week depths of 20-35 ft. seemed to be best. Actively jigging a “rattle spoon” tipped with a minnow head or a live shiner on a Northland “Ghost Grub” produced the majority of the fish. Walleyes reported in the 24-27″ class this past week with the bulk of the catch in the 16-19″ class.
Enjoy the warm weather, ice fishing and family too!!
Leech Lake Guide Coalition
218-547-3212