Lake Bemidji Fishing Report

March 14, 2012

Accesses are all in excellent shape right this minute and are good-to-go for trucks and vehicles. With the tropical temps, things could change in a heartbeat and Cameron Access is usually the first to break up along the shoreline. It's wet out there, but anglers are finding good numbers of some beautiful jumbo perch on top of the deeper bars, many using Lindy Rattlin' Flyers and Northland Macho Minnows tipped with minnowheads. Jigging tops of mid-lake humps anywhere from 18-32' has been the rumor! For all you pout-pounders out there THE BITE IS ON!! Keep a Tight Line!

March 7, 2012

What a crazy year and why should it change now? Instead of fishing for perch in 30-40' where they'd normally be feeding off the bottom on bloodworms, anglers are finding them in 11-27' using minnowheads on larger spoons, such as Suttons, Buckshots, Macho Minnows, or Slender Spoons. Another successful method has been jigging with drop hooks with a spoon such as a slip drop spoon by Custom. Anglers using this technique report having to do less sorting because the smaller perch are chasing the spoon as the lure is lifted from the lake bottom, at which point the minnowhead is being scarfed up by the larger perch. Eel pout are on the verge of their spawn, and this weekend, with all the warm weather, could be a turning point. Prospects are high to be pounding the pout on Bemidji! The pout bite's been turning on about a half hour before the sun goes down and it's been slowing down about 1-1/2 hours past sunset. Some are reporting catching a few throughout the nite. Pout-pounders have been using large fathead minnows with Big Nasty Pout Spoons or XL Buckshots, pounding the bottom, creating a "poof" of mud, and then teasing their way up. Pout have been hitting on edges of mid-lake humps in 17-28'. Back straps are excellent boiled in Sprite and then dipped in melted butter and garlic. Delicious!!! Speaking of pout, a big congrats to Aaron Guthrie on a state record-breaking Lake of the Woods pout!! Crappies and sunnies are going strong on many area lakes such as Little or Big Buzzle, and similar-sized lakes that are hidden and off the beaten track. Most popular bait for crappies has been crappie minnows, tipping your favorite small jig, while for sunnies euro larvae and waxworms have been working the best. Some anglers reporting major sunny bite on glass jigs tipped with three euro larvae. We're seeing numerous pictures of some awesome fish--and the feedback we're getting about which lake is usually the same, "an area lake" or "Lake X". THE BITE IS ON!!! Keep a Tight Line!

March 5, 2012

Yesterday's Kid's Perch Derby on Bemidji was a huge success with 1192 kids registered and an estimated crowd of 4000+ people out on the ice with kids, parents & grandparents! Over 125 bikes were given away, 115 rods & reels and much much more! A huge thanks to the Paul Bunyan Chapter of the Minnesota Darkhouse & Angling Association and to Bryan "Beef" Sathre, main coordinator of the event along with Nate Porchardt, and so so many other businesses and individuals who helped bring everything together to provide an awesome day of fun for the kids out on the ice!! Great job guys! For pics & more "like" Paul Bunyan Perch Derby for Kids

February 14, 2012

WOW!!! What a phenomenal ice fishing season it's been so far! Great fishing, excellent ice conditions, and tropical temps!! Could use a bit more snow for banking—we'll see what happens in the coming week. South end of Bemidji has been producing both perch and walleye. Hot spots have been out in front of Ace or out from Paul and Babe in 10-17'. The north end has been producing walleye on the edges of smaller lake humps in 22-28' with an evening bite turning on about 4:30pm. Most anglers using glo jigs tipped with fatheads, and for the evening bite some are reporting better numbers and sizes switching over to sucker minnows on a plain jane hook. Perch bite on the north end is scattered from 11-32'. Hot spots for the perch have been out in front of Ruttgers and in front of the State Park. Pout are going! Find any hump and most are holding pout. It's not peaking just yet but you'll catch some numbers out there. Keep a Tight Line!

January 2, 2012

Best ice we’ve seen in years! 10-14 inches of clear blue ice. People are starting to drive trucks pulling larger houses--BUT absolutely check out your route before attempting to drive it. It’s great to be out there and not walking around in all kinds of slush. Beware when crossing pressure ridges. The walleye fishing can’t get much better than this, Folks! The magic depths have been 19-28’. Anglers are producing walleyes using a shiner on a dead stick, and jigging a Northland Macho Minnow or Buckshot tipped with a minnowhead has been deadly. Walleyes are biting around the clock with the biggest flurry of activity between 4:00-6:00 pm. The perch seem to be getting larger and anglers are finding better numbers. We’re catching some beautiful perch out there!
Keep a Tight Line!

December 13, 2011

Hello Folks! Hard water fishing is upon us! Ice thickness on Lake Bemidji is varying between 3-1/2 to 7 inches. Quite a few people are venturing out on 4-wheelers staying away from the deeper waters (40' plus which seems to have thinner ice). Most of those heading out to spear northerns are using 4-wheelers staying close to the shoreline. Anglers walking out to fish walleye and perch are finding fish in depths from 18-24'. A glow jig tipped with a shiner on a deadstick, while jigging a larger spoon next to it seems to be doing the trick. Good numbers of walleye are being produced using this technique. Early mornings and early evenings have been producing better than mid-day. Lake Irvine now has a substantial amount of ice (9-11 inches). Some reports of vehicles on the lake (even full-size pick-ups), just as many are holding off a bit and walking out or using 4-wheelers for now. People are catching fish—both walleye and perch. Walleye numbers have dropped off a bit, but still producing a safe fun day of fishing. Depths producing have been 10-18'. Tip-up fishing has been phenomenal! 3-7 p.m. has been prime time for producing the best numbers. One of the hotter lakes in the area has been Plantagenet. Many folks have been driving both vehicles and trucks on the south bay (ice depths 6-10 inches of good ice). Many others deciding to wait it out a bit and using 4-wheelers or walking for right now. Walleyes being produced from 12-23'. Also an early morning and early evening bite. Here you're either on 'em or you're not. Big Turtle has been another hotty, which is now starting to slow down just a bit. Ice thickness from 5-8". Anglers are fishing 11-20' and still catching more than a couple. In general, on most of the smaller lakes in the area ice conditions are good and depths are varying quite a bit from lake to lake (3-13"). Lakes we have heard people taking vehicles on include Irvine, Plantagenet, Andrusia and some of the smaller lakes. Would we? No – not yet. All ice thicknesses given are on the conservative side. Be safe out there! Keep a Tight Line!

August 23, 2011

What a fishery!! Even with all the heat we've had this summer Lake Bemidji has only been down for a slow bite for a couple of weeks throughout the entire season. Right now Bemidji's still producing good numbers of both walleye and perch. The leadcore bite has not turned on yet. Anglers are pounding midlake structures from 12-19' and producing limits of walleyes rigging with leeches and crawlers. Anglers are also producing good numbers of walleye jigging with minnows in the shallows fishing the shoreline cabbage. Perch are being caught in the same areas using mostly jigs tipped with smaller fathead minnows. So you'll want to try midlake structures as well as in the cabbage along the shorelines to find the jumbo perch. Rumor has it—limits of perch are being caught as shallow as 6' along the pencil reeds on Reese's and out in front of The Pines. In the muskie world—heard of a 51-incher caught this week and a lot of follows are going on out there. Seems like Bemidji has recently become an after-dark producer. Keep a Tight Line!

August 16, 2011

Lake Bemidji still the best producing lake in the area! Lots of nice eaters are being caught out there. The bite is taking place on any mid-lake structure such as Grassy Island, The Rock Pile, Diamond Bar, or the DNR Bar, fishing from 5-9' pitching jigs tipped with larger minnows such as small redtails, sucker minnows, or large fatheads. Fish still lingering in the thicker cabbage. Also, dragging a leech on the deep side of the weedlines off mid-lake structures producing high numbers of walleyes (9-16'). The thermal cline is approx 25' and anglers are finding the closer they fish to the thermal cline, the smaller the fish. Lake Bemidji has a great year class coming up. Your nicer eaters are being found at 15' and shallower. Excellent perch bite – 6' or less using jigs tipped with smaller minnows fishing the pencil reeds. In the musky world, some monsters are being caught using smaller bucktails. Top water baits producing a lot of follows. Keep a Tight Line!

July 12, 2011

Unbelievable bite! How does Lake Bemidji keep producing the walleyes?!! Probably one of the hottest lakes in the area. Walleyes are being caught in the weeds using jigs tipped with minnows or rigging with leeches or crawlers along weedlines. What more can we say? UNREAL fishing! The perch are in the same areas including the big Diamond Flat, the east side north of the outlet, out in front of the State Park, and fishing the reed beds along the west side. Angers are producing best numbers of larger perch using jigs tipped with fathead minnows. Some are even bobber fishing. Depths from 6-12' for both walleye and perch. Same techniques for Lake Irvine are producing walleye on the Center Bar. Musky bite continues to be difficult during daylight hours. Keep a tight line!

July 7, 2011

Lake Bemidji walleye fishing continues to be excellent even with the may fly hatch. It's awesome fishing – still with a shiner and a jig – shallow (6-9'). Anglers are having the best results working jigs at a medium pace – meaning – not vigorously reeling in right away. Trolling with Beetle Spins is also working at a slower troll (1.3-1.4 mph). The leech and crawler bite has turned on as well. Anglers are using leeches and crawlers fishing in deeper water (9-18' using a snell, blowing up crawler and dragging quite slowly). Toward dark anglers are beginning to produce good numbers of walleye pulling crank baits (4-7') along Diamond Bar and also on top of the Rock Pile. The musky bite seems to be slow during daylight hours. Anglers are seeing a lot, but not many aggressive hits. Musky heads report they're having more action after dark. Keep a Tight Line!

June 13, 2011

Unbelievable bite but a little more difficult fishing because you're fishing shallow with a long shank jig tipped with a spot tail shiner, pitching into the vegetation or cabbage. Either swimming your jig back or finessing it on the bottom through the vegetation seem to be producing best results. Limits are being caught using this technique. When we speak of shallow on this lake we're talking as shallow as 2' where you can sight fish the walleye you'd like to try for. The walleye are that shallow feeding on spawning shiners. Average depth for anglers has been 6-8'. Midlake structure not producing as well as shoreline structure. Anglers reporting not even marking any fish on or around midlake structure. The leech bite still producing fishing weedlines with a snell. Crawler bite is still slow. Keep a Tight Line!

May 26, 2011

Up until last Sunday jumbo leeches were producing big numbers of walleye rigging 4-6'. With the water temp dropping a few degrees with the cooler weather, the leech bite has decreased. The bite on Lake Bemidji is excellent right now using jigs tipped with spot tail shiners, (4-8'), fishing cabbage beds. Either let your jig drop to the bottom using a little finesse to work your way through the cabbage, or if it's too thick, swim your jig back. Yesterday late afternoon four of us went out and produced our limit using white jigs with red eyes tipped with spot tail shiners. Best areas for numbers--Diamond Bar and out in front of the State Park. Keep a Tight Line!

May 17, 2011

Walleyes are shallow coming out of their spawning stage (4-13' shoreline structure). Jigs and shiners have been producing best, but there has still been a good leech bite pulling in the 11' range. White and Chart. Jigs 1/8 or ¼ tipped with spot tail shiners or rainbows has been producing well for area anglers. Irvine same story but northern going like crazy so bring plenty of extra bait & jigs. Keep a Tight Line!

March 30, 2011

Great perch bite out in front of Lavinia, State Park, Ruttgers, and so on (10-42')!! Northwoods access holding up well and many still driving trucks off Lavinia. Great crappie bite on many of the smaller area lakes! Keep a Tight Line!!

March 24, 2011

Perch bite picking up steadily. Still surprisingly fishing 25-35'. Current hot spots include Grassy, out in front of State Park, Ruttgers, Lavinia, and Northwoods Access. Custom Slip Drops & JR Rattling Jigs have been popular. Tell you what, folks, some nice perch are being caught! Eel pout starting to go-finally. Keep a Tight Line!

March 15, 2011

Lake being hit quite hard for the perch anywhere from 10-36'. The deeper the water - the higher the numbers but also more sorting thru to get the keepers. Lake still driveable. Accesses seem to be holding up. Not quite sure what happened to the pout bite. We'll wait and see what happens in the next few days here. Keep a Tight Line!

March 9, 2011

Accesses and ice conditions are excellent – NO SLUSH!!! Lots of anglers out there fishing for jumbo perch and finding schools at varying depths. Perch are being found at 10-13’ early mornings and later afternoons using smaller jigs such as Kastmasters and Macho Minnows tipped with minnowheads. Anglers are noticing with the past few brighter days they’re doing well fishing deeper mid-day (24-38’) using larger spoons tipped with minnowheads. With the current warm front going on the perch bite has turned on significantly. Many anglers reporting limits of 10-12” perch. Eel pout have been showing up mostly between 7:00 and 9:00 pm - but it’s been hit or miss with only a few numbers being caught.

March 9, 2011

The crappie bite continues to improve on favorite lakes such as Turtle River, Little Grant, Grace and your secret little crappie holes. Perch bite on Blackduck has been hit or miss. It's a little early before the big ones turn on out there. Keep a Tight Line!!

March 3, 2011

Good numbers of perch being found on the north end (23-26') out in front of Ruttger's, 34-38' out in front of the State Park, and 22-28' out in front of Library Park. Some anglers producing perch as deep as 50' fishing various spots. With warm up and then colder temps slush problem no longer exists and lake is drivable all over. All accesses are in good condition except for Cameron. For eel pout lovers – some are being caught out there (18-42') although the bite has been sporadic. Irving producing good numbers of perch but need to weed through for the keepers. The crappie bite has been improving in the evenings, and both crappie minnows and wax worms are producing fish. Keep a tight line!

February 23, 2011

Walleye bite has grown finicky but people are still getting a few--less numbers but larger sizes being reported. Spot Tail Shiners seem to be the bait of choice for the walleyes. Perch are going 30' and deeper with an occasional walleye mixed in. Minnowheads on a jig working well for the perch. Keep a Tight Line!

February 16, 2011

Cameron Access temporarily (we hope) closed. Truck broke thru ice earlier this afternoon-still walkable. Fishing has picked up. Nice perch 12-22' and 34-36' on orange swedish pimples. Walleyes scattered-no rhyme nor reason. Shallow water for the walleye bite sunrise and sunset--and we mean shallow (5-11'). Keep a Tight Line!

February 10, 2011
Ice Conditions

February 10, 2011
Fishing Report

February 3, 2011

Hearing of major slush/water/flooding problems on many of the lakes in the area (i.e., Turtle River, Plantagenet, Big Turtle, Beltrami). ATV's experiencing more trouble than sleds. Anglers getting away from roads to auger, and not crowding is being very helpful to the situation. If thinking about setting up and augering along or on a road--DON"T DO IT!

February 3, 2011

Talked with Aaron Guthrie and Schmitty of bigboysfishhouserentals.com earlier today. They said the warmer weather is turning things on again. Perch are starting to become more aggressive and chasing jigging spoons tipped with fathead heads (28-32'). Walleyes still doing better on set lines using plain hook and sucker minnows (22-26'). Northerns can also be found 22-26'.

February 1, 2011

January 27, 2011

Perch are starting to school up in deeper holes. Look for depths 35-40' north end of Bemidji. Small glow jigs tipped with fatheads and small shiners on dead sticks and jigging spoons tipped with small minnowheads jigging. Walleyes can be found in 28-32' in early afternoons or late mornings and 18-24' dusk and dawn. Keep a Tight Line!

Travel pretty limited to roads. A lot of slush is being found off the roads on both the north and south ends. Trying to get to the Rock Pile could be particularly dicey. Make sure you have a shovel with you if you're trying to get off the road. Thanks to the guys keeping the roads open - couldn't do it without you!