My fall notes and pics- Leech Lake

The perch are very hungry and some larger fish in the 10″-12″ range are being caught each time out, with several fish in the 13-1/4″ range coming top-side today. A decent perch bite should last through september, but be prepared to do a little sorting if you are not on the best water. It’s typical for the perch bite to kick in a week or so before the walleyes start to bunch up, so this is a welcome sign on several levels.

The walleye bite is showing signs of turning the corner, but is still a bit hit-or-miss with fish being scattered throughout the system, and at many depth levels. Shallow wind-blown rocks and sand/weed flats have given up the most fish for me. I am looking forward to the big number days we experienced the past few years in late september and october.

Muskie fishing has been very consistent with some big fish being caught as well. Shallow shoreline structure and reeds have been the most productive areas as of late.

Here are a few pics from the past couple of weeks.

Cheers and hook-sets!

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For walleyes and perch, a jig and minnow is hard to beat right now. I’m also hearing reports of productive crankbait night-trolling more regularly. The best muskie presentations have varied by the day, though any shallow lures are worth a shot.

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Looking very good Phil nice fish and great pics! Looks like Leech has got it all…looking forward to when I can finally get up there!

Great report as always Phil! I’m heading up Friday, and will hit you up on our way up. So many good options right now, it’s going to be tough to focus on one species…so we probably won’t!

Be up Friday night for the weekend. Hope to put my bro’s twin 9 year old boys on some fish…Any fish!

Water is 54-57, we saw a decent fall walleye bite again today. Jig and minnow or slip bobber in 4-7 f.o.w. was the ticket. Main lake points and rocks are producing.

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Again, impressive report and photographic evidence!
Bigwerm, RR, how’d you guys do there? Just wondering how it went? Without professional help I know I’d be clueless. Always the “walleye student”.

We experienced legit fall weather and bite this weekend. Wind blown rock shorelines and reefs in 5-10 f.o.w. were very productive.

Cheers and hook-sets!

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I’ll be on the water Friday midday, countdown begins

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

Again, impressive report and photographic evidence!
Bigwerm, RR, how’d you guys do there? Just wondering how it went? Without professional help I know I’d be clueless. Always the “walleye student”.

Saturday was WINDY so it was tough to go too far with the 9 year old boys. We hardly caught a thing! Had to stay pretty close to the entrance of Trappers. Sunday was a bit nicer and we found some off the edge of one reef that had some weed growth and kept a few for the pan. I just wish Saturdays weather would have been a bit nicer!

We were up Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Our best bite was Friday night landing 6 in an hour back trolling in to 3 footers pounding the shoreline in 8-10 feet. Saturday caught 6-8 fish before evening (lost a few in the morning) and Sunday popped a ski right away at 39 inches and 4 other eyes leaving at 11am. Wind drove the bite, calmer areas didn’t get bites, and drift sock was needed Friday and Saturday but not Sunday.

Walleyestudent Andy Cox wrote:

Again, impressive report and photographic evidence!
Bigwerm, RR, how’d you guys do there? Just wondering how it went? Without professional help I know I’d be clueless. Always the “walleye student”.

There is a reason Phil is a guide and I’m sitting at my desk right now! Lol we had a tough weekend, but a great time. Between two boats we caught about 20 eyes in 20 hours of fishing Leech Friday night and Saturday. Only one picture fish in our boat. Scratched out 2 limits. We found fish a LOT deeper than anticipated 17-30 fow, but we were on a totally different part of the lake. Thanks for the reports leading up to the weekend, and info this weekend, Phil! Looking forward to another visit to Leech and your fishhouse this winter! Hit a small no name lake on the way home and caught a 17.5″ LMB along w some decent northern and a bunch of bass. No target species.

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We are seeing slow fishing so far last night and this morning. Just a few fish here and there, only 1 fish in the slot and the biggest 26″.

DaveB wrote:

We are seeing slow fishing so far last night and this morning. Just a few fish here and there, only 1 fish in the slot and the biggest 26″.

Not sure if you are still up but I sent you a pm.

BigWerm wrote:

Lol we had a tough weekend, but a great time. Between two boats we caught about 20 eyes in 20 hours of fishing Leech Friday night and Saturday. Only one picture fish in our boat. Scratched out 2 limits. We found fish a LOT deeper than anticipated 17-30 fow, but we were on a totally different part of the lake. Thanks for the reports leading up to the weekend, and info this weekend, Phil! Looking forward to another visit to Leech and your fishhouse this winter! Hit a small no name lake on the way home and caught a 17.5″ LMB along w some decent northern and a bunch of bass. No target species.

It sounds like you did alright to me. Nice fish in the pics and good report! I’ll have to check some deeper water out there too.

It was a great fall weekend out on the lake! Water temps are ~47-50 on the big lake and ~52-54 in walker bay. Walker bay will probably turn over with the cold nights forecast later in the week.

Walleyes bit very steadily for us, but we did move around a bit to stay on good bites. The best action came in 5-8 f.o.w. with jigs and minnows.

Muskies are still shallow and chasing, but I do expect them to slow down and slide into areas with basin egress as the water cools into the 40’s.

Cheers and hook-sets!

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Looks like you’ve got em’ dialed in Phil!

Well, the forecast looks stellar for at least another week of fishing here on Leech Lake. Water temps are still in the mid-to-upper 40’s with some 50 degree water yet in Walker Bay.

Walleyes have bit very well on days with wind and clouds, and not so good on sunny, calm days. Main lake points and rocks are producing but it takes almost perfect conditions to get steady bites. Even on most good days we get the majority of our bites in a one or two hour window, but it has been some very fast action. This is all typical for fall fishing. There are some fish in very deep water (not my cup-o-tea) in Walker bay and some fish very shallow, in areas you might think of as more appropriate for duck hunting than walleye fishing. A jig and minnow is a good bet but we are getting some fish casting crankbaits as well, which is a lot of fun. It is a good idea to sit and grind on a spot that you think is holding fish, as they seem to turn on-and-off very quickly, and at random times of the day.

Muskies are starting to slide into typical fall locations, usually with a little deep water near by. However, don’t overlook your shallow spots later in the day as the shallows warm up a few ticks. Also typical for fall, we might fish all day for a very short bite window. Luckily, there is a very good chance that that bite could indeed be your biggest fish of the season.

Cheers and hook-sets!

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