Spring Fishing Reports
Fishing reports for the lakes area are provided by Joe Scegura's Guide Service. Contact Joe at big.walleye@jsguideservice.com or 320-260-9056.
May 16, 2018
The Alexandria area arguably produced the best "Opener Walleye Fishing" in the state this past weekend. There were numerous lakes, big and small, that treated their anglers very well. Limits of 15-20" walleye were had by many, along with a decent number of fish going 25-30". Our group was among the fortunate and were able to catch enough for an afternoon feast in just a few hours! We also had a tremendous finish to the day, boating around 150 walleye for the day.
With the mild weather we've had so far the water is warming fast, water temps are already nearing 60 degrees. These temps are pushing the majority of the walleye to slightly deeper water. We found most of our fish in 12-18' of water and they were hungry! A lindy rig and a minnow or a jig and a minnow trolled at .30 - .75 mph has produced a lot of fish! The panfish bite has also been red hot. There were many anglers that skipped walleye all together to target some of the states best panfish lakes. They found a lot of crappie and sunfish in 3-6' of water. A small hair jig and a minnow or wax worm is all that was needed to put a bunch of nice fish in the boat. Remember these fish are very vulnerable, so please release the bigger ones to do their job and spawn. Regardless of your target species I'm confident in saying that you shouldn't have a problem finding what you're after in the Alexandria Lakes Area. The bites noted above will continue into early June before things start to transition to early summer techniques. So, grab some minnow and come on up to get in on the action! May 4, 2018
This late ice out has to have broken some records. Believe it or not we were on the ice sleeping over night with a truck and an Ice castle only a couple weeks ago!
Now with the ice gone for the most part, we have just over a week to wait until the MN walleye opener! I will be looking shallow the first couple weeks for my fish. Throwing a jig and a minnow in 6-10' of water with rocks and gravel should produce plenty of walleye. Also don't forget the areas with moving water. These areas attract plenty of bait and the walleye won't be far behind. A shallow diving crank bait thrown in these areas after dark also works great! The crappie will also be in shallow water, but in different areas of the lake. The crappie prefer a soft bottom in 1-5' of water. This bite should be kicking into high gear here very shortly. No matter the type of fish you are after there are many places around the area where you can find fish right from the road. So, if you don't have a boat don't worry. This time of year allows the shore fisherman nearly equal opportunity at some very nice fish. I look forward to another great season with all of you! Good luck to all! April 25, 2018
It was another great weekend of ice fishing but we are definitely nearing the end of our season. If you would have asked me a week and a half ago if we'd be ice-free by opener I would have said definitely not. The ice was extremely solid and over 30 in. thick. Now with the strong sun and warm temps we are losing ice faster than I've ever seen it. We are melting inches a day! I think we now have a great shot at being ice free in the Alexandria Area by opener.
The edges of the ice are pulling away from shore on nearly every lake. If you still plan to get out you'll need to be cautious and find a solid place to get onto the ice. This time of year I'd recommend not fishing by yourself and it's also a great idea to wear a life jacket. There is safe ice on some lakes but you will need to check it as you go. I'll probably get out a couple more times, but my ice season will be wrapped up very soon! At this point, I'm just hoping for warm weather, rain or wind... all of these things will bring us closer to open water. If we continue to melt ice at this rate we have been I expect many lakes to be ice free by opener around Alexandria. Some of the deeper/bigger lakes may not be open completely but there will be plenty of small lakes open. Due to the late ice out I'd recommend fishing one of these smaller lakes for opener. They will be the warmest and will most likely have the best fishing. April 20, 2018
Giant Alexandria Crappies!
This is going to just be a quick report. In fact, I'm on the ice right now! We have close to 30 inches of ice everywhere I've checked. The ice is very solid and we had the wheel house out last weekend. The accesses are getting a little beat up now but you should be able to get out easily with a snowmobile or four wheeler most everywhere. We've been having out best luck in 8 to 16 feet of water for sunfish and crappies. During the day we are just using Euro larva and a #12 Lindy toad. After dark we're using the same presentation tipped with a minnow. We will have good fishable ice easily throughout the weekend and I will post another update the middle of next week. This is some of the nicest weather and best fishing of the year! If you still have your ice fishing stuff out come on out and enjoy some great fishing. If you don't have your ice fishing stuff still out, get it out! They're biting! Good luck. April 6, 2018
Plenty of Ice and Lots of Fish!
We are a couple weeks into spring and it appears we are still making ice in the Alexandria area. In fact, as I type this the thermometer reads only 15 degrees! There is still 30" of ice in most areas and the edges that were melting have all refroze. Keep in mind it is spring and there is still snow melting, so there is moving water near inlets and outlets. The sun is also very strong which can melt ice near sandy shorelines and shallow rocks. I'm not trying to talk you out of fishing because the fishing is great and so is 95% of the ice. I'm just reminding you to use your head and respect the ice, especially if you are headed out with a large vehicle and wheel house. I plan on heading out tonight to sleep over a couple nights and I have zero concerns, but make sure you know your lake and check the ice before you drive out just like any other time of the winter. Up until recently I have seen very little fish movement. We have been catching fish in the deeper midwinter areas for the past couple months. However the shallower areas are starting to finally produce some fish. I think over the next week we will catch fish both shallow and deep. If you can find green weeds shallow there will most certainly be fish keying in on them. My plan for the next couple days is to set up in deeper water for the crappie night bite in about 18' of water. Then fish as shallow as 5-6' in the early morning hours for both sunfish and crappie. I think the fish will tell me what they want to do from there quite quickly. The fish have been very aggressive so keeping on the move until you locate them is very important. A small #12 jig and a Euro larva has been all I've needed most of the winter. There are dozens of lakes right now putting out some great panfish in the Alexandria area. That said, there are relatively very few anglers out there going after them. The few guys that are hitting the ice are getting rewarded quite well for their efforts. I expect there to be vehicles driving on the ice at least until next week when the forecast mentions a slight warm up. At that point I'm sure it will be ATV's and walking for the rest of the season. If you're looking to get out on the ice one or two or three more times yet you're in luck! Even with the warm up forecasted I expect there to be fishable ice yet for weeks! Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions otherwise come on up and do some fishing! March 23, 2018
Extremely Good Panfish Bite in Alexandria
Right now the fishing is as good as it gets for bluegill(sunfish) and crappie. We have around 30 inches of quality ice on most of the lakes and vehicle travel is quite easy right now. The 10 day forecast shows below freezing temps at night and low 40's to low 30's for highs, so the ice is going nowhere fast. I expect we will have fishable ice for weeks yet. Many of you may be more than ready for spring to come but, if life gives you ice, you better just go fishing! We're consistently catching eater sized crappie and sunfish in very good numbers. Including a decent number of sunfish 9-10"+ and crappie 13-15" that we are letting go. In fact, just yesterday we let go a pile of sunfish around 9.5 inches and some crappie as big as 14 inches. It sure is a great day when you can keep a bunch of medium sized fish to eat, get a tan and still let go a good number of very large fish to spawn another day. The sunfish and crappie are still holding tight to their mid-winter locations. I'm sure some fish are moving shallow but I haven't had to chase them yet. There is still a very large number of panfish in 15-20' of water and they have been very willing to bite most of the time. The past couple weeks have been some of the best panfishing I've had all season and I expect them to just keep biting until ice out. The best technique has been a small horizontal Lindy Toad (#12) tipped with Euro larva during the day and at night I like to use a small jig or plain hook tipped with a crappie minnow. Generally I like to be very active and look for fish during the day. The more holes I drill and the more I move, the more fish I normally catch. Whereas at night, I try to locate an area holding a few fish and then set up with bobbers and minnows to simply wait for them to come to me. These two strategies are very different, but they both work very well when used at the correct time of day. If you have any questions feel free to send me an email or for the fastest response shoot me a text. See you out on the ice! March 3, 2018
The walleye season has left us once again, but not before we were able to put some final walleye on the ice! As many anglers have a tradition to fish the opening of the walleye season, I also have a tradition to fish the last day of the walleye season. We were able to catch some very nice walleye and finish off the season with a great meal of walleye! As sad as I am to see the walleye season go, it does free up to concentrate on fishing panfish. Late ice is one of the best times of the year to catch big panfish!
I will be hitting the ice hard over the next month in search of the big sunfish and crappie the Alexandria area is noted for. Currently, the fish are in relatively deep water, but once the snow starts to melt fish will start to move shallower. I'm finding most panfish 2-3 feet off the bottom in 15-20 feet of water. The edges of deep holes or sand flats with weeds have been holding the majority of the fish. Over the next few weeks the sunfish and crappie bite will just get better and better. Couple that with some mild weather and it's tough to find an activity more fun than watching your kids pull fish through the hole! The ice fishing season is far from over, so if you have questions about fishing in the Alexandria area just email me and I'll do my best to help! See ya on the ice! |
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