Birch Lake, Cass County Multi-Species Report

This year for our annual family vacation, we chose Birch Lake in Hackensack MN. Hackensack is located on the eastern shore of Birch, 50 miles north of Brainerd and 10 miles south of Leech Lake. The resort we chose was Birch Haven Resort (http://www.birchhavenmn.com/). Birch Haven is located right in the town of Hackensack, about 2 blocks from the public access and about 2 blocks from all the great stores of down-town. Yet, the resort is on a very quiet street and you would never know you were in town! Birch Lake is a very clear body of water with visibility of 7.7fow and a maximum depth of 45fow. Several types of weeds grow, which the majority reach a primary depth of 15fow.

Now, on to the great fishing!
WALLEYES!
But not your typical walleyes, Weed Walleyes! The top honor for big fish of the week goes to my wife on this 24 incher, taken out of the deep cabbage, working the edges with a leech. The fish are primary “minnow” orientated, such as a redtail and they can be found on your typical points and normal walleye waters, but don’t over look the weeds.

Fishing the weed edges will also find plenty of Large Mouth. The lake has a HUGE abundance of bass and it is a treat to chase them on the lake. My boy even got in on some quality action (with a little help from mom). Reports of multiple 4lbers, a few 5lbers, and a 6lb came out of one boat at the resort. Pitching worms/soft plastics at the weed edges with deep water access brought most of the quality bass (same type of location where you find the weed walleyes). However, cranks and spinnerbaits provided plenty of action as well.

The crappie and sunfish population on Birch are fabulous. It is hard to not catch a quality sunnie. You do have to sort through the smaller fish for your keepers, but quality fish are to be had in nice numbers! Live bait or plastics will equally take nice fish. To catch 50 crappies in a later afternoon-early evening outing is not abnormal, even for the younger generation. Deeper weed edges hold more of your quality fish numbers during the day, while working shallower as evening approaches.

Smallies???
While the DNR denies it and Dave at the resort never saw one during his 16 years owning Birch Haven, we found a nice one! This healthy 18incher fell victim to a leech/slipbobber rig on a deep water rockpile. Being the rock pile was full of crawfish, no wonder this beast chose to reside on a smorgasbord! All credit goes to the niece for the perfect hookset and battle!

If you are looking for great fishing at a family orientated resort, Birch Haven is it! The kids can walk 2 blocks to town for ice cream, while mom shops at one of the many stores and dad catches the big one! Dave and Carol of Birch Haven are one of the most hospitable owners I have ever met. Our week long stay was a true treat for the whole family. We’ll be back next summer as a family. However there is a strong “rumor” that the September / October walleye bite is nothing short of phenomenal, so I just might road trip back to fish with Dave a few days this fall for those big walleyes that inhabit the lake!