Like us on face book for daily fishing pictures and reports!
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 6-12-13 The fishing
action is heating up in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Water
temperatures are in the high 60's on many local lakes. (It's
about time!) The best walleye action has been happening on
North Long and Round Lake. Key water depths have been 10 to
14 feet. The walleye have been feasting on the spawning
shiners. Search out large shoreline structures that extend
well out into the lake. These are prime shiner spawning
locations. The walleye have been even shallower on windy
days. The best bait has been an 1/8 oz jig tipped with spot
tail shiner. The crappie action has been strong on
most local lakes. The best locations have been shallow.
Search through the newly emerging reeds on the calmer days.
It takes a little work, but you'll be amazed when you find
the fish. The best crappie lures have been small tube jigs
suspended below a casting bubble. Fan cast likely areas on
the windier days and then anchor when you make contact with
your first decent sized crappie. The crappie are grouped up
now. Find one and you've found a bunch. Keep the 9 to 11
inchers for the frying pan and let the larger females (12+
inchers) go for seed. The smaller ones taste better. The
bass are in the shallows. The inside weed edge is where the
action is at. Don't be afraid to crawl up into 5 to 7 feet
of water. There's far more bass relating to the inside edge
right now than the second weed line. The best lures have
been 1/8 oz jigs tipped with rubber worms. Make sure the jig
has a stout hook with a large shank. There's nothing worst
than hooking a 5 lb+ bass and then have the hook straighten
out because you were using a light wire hook. Life is Good! JOHN
|

That's a Big Crappie! |
|
The Fishing Action is Heating Up!. |
Nice mess of Walleyes |
Family Fun on the Lake |
That's a Big Smallie! |
That's a Nice Walleye! |
Nice mess of Walleyes |
The Daily Double! |
Nice mess of Walleyes |
Life is Good! |
|
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 5-29-13 The daytime walleye bite has been
spotty. The deep hole near Zorba's restaurant has been
producing the most walleyes during the daytime hours. The
hole is located in the Narrows of Gull Lake just north of
the bridge on county road 77. The best times have been between
5:30 am and 10:30 am. The hole is within 100 yards
of the public access on the north end of Gull and
consistently produces good numbers of walleyes each spring.
The best bait for fishing the hole is a lindy rig tipped
with a spot-tail shiner. The best walleye action has been occurring after sunset on Gull Lake. Long line trolling in 6 to 8 feet of water with a floating Rapalas has been the most effective technique. The best speeds have been 1.3 to 1.5 mph. Good
lure colors have been blue/silver, black/gold, and black/silver in
sizes 11 & 13. The largest underwater bars on the main lake
have been producing the most action. Look for structures
which connect to the shoreline and then extend well out into
the lake. The best bars will have huge sections of 2 to 4
feet of water. The edges of these large "table tops" are
where the walleye are being caught. The wind blown sides
have been the best. Bring on the summer. I'm ready for
a little heat. Life is Good! JOHN
|

Nice Mess of Gull Lake Chain Walleyes |
|
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 5-23-13 Local water
temperatures have been cooler than we would like to see this late in May, but hopefully the weatherman will help us
out in the weeks to come. There was frost on the ground this
morning. I can't remember the last time I saw frost the day
before Memorial Day Weekend. The local crappie fishing has
been strong the last week, especially before the recent
cold snap. The cold front pushed most of the crappie schools
out of the shallow water and back to the first break.
Key locations have been in 6 to 8 feet of water. Small jigs
suspended below casting bubbles have been accounting for the
majority of the fish. The walleye action on Mille Lacs has
been great. The majority of the walleyes are holding on the
sand in 12 to 14 feet of water. Numbers and size has been
the rule for the last 10 days. Keep thinking those WARM thoughts.
It will be June soon. Life is Good! JOHN
|

The Crappie are in the Shallows! |
|
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 5-13-13 Bring on the heat.
The weatherman is predicting a high temperature in the upper 80's
tomorrow.
The best news is he is predicting four more days in the
upper 70's after that. We could use a whole week of it. There's still a
bunch of ice around, but its going fast. Pelican, Gull, and
the Whitefish Chain still are 90% ice covered. The only open
water areas on these lakes are in their upper reaches. The
best walleye action is coming from current areas. Casting
from anchored locations into 2 to 4 feet of water with small
swim baits is accounting from the majority of the walleye we
are catching. The best retrieve has been slooooow. The local
crappie bite has been slow too. This should change with this
week's predicted heat wave. Search out small backwater areas
which heat up quickly. The best locations will have mud
bottoms. Keep thinking those WARM thoughts. Life is Good! JOHN
|

Nice Mess of Opener Eyes! |
|
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 5-06-13 The 2013 walleye
opener is rapidly approaching. Too bad the local lake ice
didn't get the message. It's going to be close this year,
but I think the majority of the area's ice will be gone on
all but the biggest lakes by this Saturday. The good news is
the weatherman has predicted highs in the mid 70's for the
next several days. There's also a good chance for measurable
rain on Wednesday. This would be a bonus. Nothing eats the
ice off a lake quicker than a nice warm spring rain. The
Ranger boat is really to go. Think WARM thoughts and think
of Spring. Life is Good! JOHN
|

Breezy Point Resort |
|
Pictures of Local Ice Conditions. |
371 Access of Gull Lake |
Jones Bay Access on Pelican |
Lake Hubert Access |
Round Lake |
Merrifield Access on North Long |
Gilbert Lake |
Access on Lake Edward |
Clark Lake Access |
|
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 4-18-13
The weather hasn't been cooperating this spring in the Brainerd Lakes Area. We currently have 12+ inches of snow on the ground and there's another weather system moving in tonight. The prediction is another
6 to 8 inches of snow accumulation before the storm ends. The good news "might" be here next week. The weatherman is calling for highs in the 50's by midweek.. The key will be the lows at night. The ice will start disappearing fast once the evening lows stay above 40 degrees. The panfish action is starting to pick up throughout the region. Key locations have been 9 to 12 feet of water near good healthy stand of cabbage weeds. If you can find good, green, healthy cabbage right now. The panfish will be close by. Today is the start of the first turkey season in Minnesota. It sure doesn't seem like spring, but look on the bright side. We won't have to worry about wood ticks for a little while. :) JOHN
|

The Last Fishing Outing of February! |
|
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 3-28-13
I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last fishing
report. Local ice conditions have kept me from ice fishing
since late February. The 30+ inches of extremely wet snow
we received over the period has caused tough conditions
throughout the area. There's currently 1 to 3 inches of
standing water
beneath the snow on most lakes. I must be getting older, or
wiser, because the slush has kept even me from thinking about ice
fishing. It's not a pretty sight when your snowmobile hits
one of those wet spots! I've spent the majority of my
free time watching my son's
high school basketball team. What a season! The Warriors finished the year with a 28-2 record and a trip to the state tournament. Go Warriors!! Today's forecast calls for highs in the lower 40's. Hopefully the trend will continue. With basketball over, and almost three weeks without catching a fish, I think I'm starting to go through withdrawals :) :)
JOHN
|

The Last Fishing Outing of February! |
|
Pictures from Gull Lake. |
Brainerd defeats Buffalo (Section 4AAAA
Semi-Finals) |
Son's Buffalo Game Interview! (Jake scores 20
pts) |
Brainerd defeats Elk River (Section 4AAAA
Championship) |
Elk River Clipping Honors (Jake scores 24
pts) |
|
|
|
Brainerd Fishing Report: 1-31-13 The temperatures
have turned bitter cold throughout the Brainerd Lakes Area.
The weatherman says we can expect the lows to drop down to
-27 degrees F tonight. I don't know what the current
temperature is outside, but I can tell it's getting pretty
cold when I can start hearing the sound of the rafters of
the house shrinking due to the cold weather. The beginning
of the week was warm and fogging. We had several days with
temps in the mid-thirties. Those days are now just a
pleasant memory. Kyle and Bob took advantage of the warmer
temps and moved a few darkhouses to a new breakline they've
been wanting to try. The work was hard, but their determined
efforts paid off big time. The last two days have been
fantastic in the spear shacks. The last two groups reported
seeing multiple pike in the mid to upper thirty inch range,
plus an abundant number of smaller pike, each day. The
weather always seems a little warmer outside when the big
pike are swimming through the hole. Life is Good! JOHN
|

That's a Nice Pike! |
|
Pictures from Gull Lake. |
Hard Work = FISH! (28 inches of ice) |
The New Multi Shack! (Darkhouse & Angling) |
Nice Thirty-Six Inch Pike. (Taken in the Morning) |
The Daily Double! (One Happy Customer) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brainerd Guide Service is the foremost provider of
Brainerd fishing reports.
|