Leech Lake Trip Countdown…

Hey folks,

I’m brand new to the InDepthOutdoors community. I can’t say how much I love watching the videos and picking up a few tips here and there.

I’m taking my dad and son up to Leech Lake Jan 2-6 to knock off one of my dad’s bucket list items. He’s always wanted to spend the night on the ice fishing in a sleeper house. Camping on the ice!!!! I’ve done it once before for 1 night, but this is going to be an awesome experience for 4 nights. We’re from the Chicago suburbs and I have amazing memories of ice fishing with my dad when I was a kid. I’ve taken my son out with a few of his buddies ice fishing, but they easily get distracted. Hopefully this won’t be the case on this trip. 8.5 hour drive should be worth it if we get on some good Walleyes and Perch.

We’re gonna be in Walker Bay if anyone has any tips or insights how to fish that area. We’ve never been on Leech so any help would be appreciated. If anyone is going to be on Leech in this area the 2nd – 6th, I’ll have a beer ready for ya!

I’m getting more and more excited by the minute!!!

Tight Lines!

Joe

Hi Joe, welcome to In-Depth!

Have a safe trip and enjoy all Minnesota has to offer….minus the mosquito!

A quick stop into Reeds right on the main drag of Walker will get you answers as to whats happening with the bite. Those are good people up there.

Welcome to IDO and soon to Northern MN! Leech is an amazing lake with trophy fish of a lot of species, but it can be tricky to ice fish. You generally have to stay on the move during the day to continue catching, and I’d bet your sleeper house is going to be setup in a spot for good fishing during primetime (sunrise/sunset). So I’d strongly recommend getting a guide early in the trip to learn a few spots and techniques. Phil Bauerly from OutrightAngling.com (or Facebook Outright Angling) has been on IDO a few times, and is an excellent guide who has been posting some really nice fish this winter!

X2 on what BigWerm said. If you’re gonna be in a sleeper the day bite is probably going to be pretty slow so you’ll for sure want to move around if possible. The last 2 years I’ve done a 3 day ice trip to Leech and hired Phil for a day. Very reasonably priced and he takes care of everything (rods, tackle, bait, transportation, portables.) He had us on fish both times, even during a brutal cold front last year when it was like -20 for a few days straight. Ended up catching my pb walleye at 26″ in that weather. We did perch and pike on our first trip and walleye on the second. If we hadn’t hired him, both trips would have been busts. Well worth it. Book him early in your trip and it will help a ton the last couple of days.

If its in the budget I would reccomend Phil Baurely-he put me on a bunch of fish in that area (not leech-but he guides leech)
Also if you want to eat fish Eelpout is supposed to be delicious and you may bump into some overnight. They might be one of those fish that you should not let freeze. Look into it