Fly Fish Minnesota

Our fly fishing guide, Tanner Stofferahn, was the featured angler in the Smallmouth Bass segment of “Fly Fish Minnesota” by Bluff Line Media.

Enjoy this incredibly well-done feature on the fly fishing opportunities Minnesota has to offer. If you are interested in spending a day chasing smallmouth bass on the fly, please contact Tanner.

Fall Harvest

Fall fishing and hunting has been a tradition for many in Northern, MN. Nature is offering up her bounty before the cold, crisp December days creep in. The Lake Winnibigoshish area has been offering up it’s bounty, and it has been plentiful.

Crappies are traditionally a focus for many anglers this time of year. Cutfoot Sioux and it’s connecting arms and bays have been producing great crappie fishing for those who are targeting them more traditionally with trolling techniques and vertical jigging. Anglers who have implemented forward facing sonar into their arsenal are capitalizing on schools of fish using both bobber techniques and other forms of casting with soft plastics or 1/16 ounce jigs and minnows. A noticing that I made over the weekend was the amount of crappies finding shelter underneath my boat that weren’t there when spot lock was activated. There are obviously many reasons as to why this was taking place so frequently, but one large takeaway was, the boat doesn’t always need to be positioned on top of the school right away. Crappies like other species move and move often. Putting yourself in a prime location and waiting it out for that cycle of fish to push through can be an effective method. Think fishing in an ice house. When they show up, you are ready! A few other lakes in the area have been heating up, and ones not to forget about it. Sand Lake near Squaw Lake and Bowstring have been kicking out nice numbers of crappies as well.

My fall guide season is a wrap, and it’s time to start preparing for this winter along with enjoying some hunting opportunities with my family. Grouse numbers are up and hunters all over the north woods are experiencing large numbers of birds.

If you are looking to book a guide trip for this winter you can reach me on my cell at 218-259-8893. It will be here before we know it. As of right now the initial plan for this winter season will be guiding on Upper Red Lake Mid November through early December. My operation will then make it’s way back to the Lake Winnibigoshish area focusing on perch. As spring begins to creep in most of my winter guide season finishes up in the Grand Rapids area with a focus on crappies and bluegills. Take care and tight lines everyone!

Captain Jeff Johnson

Minnesota Fishing Report, June

Minnesota lake fishing report:

Our lake guide Jeff Johnson has been catching walleyes, perch, and crappies well so far into the season. We had ice off very close to opener this year, so a lot of fish were still in their spawning patterns or just transitions to post spawn depending on the lake size. As always, water temperature is the name of the game. As we move into June and water temps increase with weed lines forming, the walleyes are moving into their summer spots. The value of fishing with a guide like Jeff, is he know where each lake in the area is at, dependably on weather and fish behavior. If you are on your own on a giant lake like Lake Winni, and only have the weekend to fish, don’t waste the time searching for where the are. Contact Jeff for a guided fishing trip.

Smallmouth Bass on the fly:

The 2023 season started with most rivers in Wisconsin and Minnesota flowing dangerously high. However we got lucky that in mid may most of the river flows came down not manageable levels for fly fishing for bass. The water being closer to an average flow, allows for better fishing for most anglers. The fishing can be amazing in high water, however you need to have great casting accuracy to put it where the bass are. The Northern Drift Outfitters fly fishing guides Collin and Tanner have been on the water a ton, from the Mississppi in the twin cities metro, to the up st.c roux, to the upper Mississippi. Our early season fly patterns and trips have been phenomenal, however the summer fun is just heating up, so send us to message to book your Minnesota guided fly fishing trip. Bass, Pike, and Musky on the fly, we can do it all.

Fly fishing guide Collin Cody reflects after an amazing day on the water:

As summer gets underway here at Northern Drift Outfitters, we find ourselves revisiting nostalgic moments with old clients, while developing new relationships with folks along the way… it certainly is everything that we enjoy. No, it doesn’t always come without days that aren’t as good as others. We always point out is that part of the experience is being on the water. What it is about is getting off of the couch, getting off the screens and getting after the fish is something we all need need to prioritize. This life becomes way too short when we just sit at home wondering… if we focus on making life changing memories, we end up fulfilling, some dreams that we may have had one day as a child. Even though we might not remember those, our inner intuition certainly does.

The river this year is full and content, fish seem to be cozy and willing to eat.

As summer ramps up, and our guides have the luxury of being on the water daily on guided fishing trips. This combined with our knowledge of walleye fishing on lake winni, and fly fishing for smallmouth bass , allows us to stay on the best bites for our clients. If you are interested in getting out for a fun day of guided fishing in Minnesota, don’t hesitate to contact us here.

Spring Ice Conditions - Grand Rapids, MN

Tioga Landing on Pokegama Lake, March 27, 2023

This week’s report is brought to you by Jeff Johnson. Jeff is a local fishing guide during the winter, spring, summer, and fall. If you are interested in a guided fishing trip around the Grand Rapids, MN area or the Lake Winnie area check out Jeff’s Page for more information.

Most anglers are highly anticipating open water fishing opportunities in Northern Minnesota. However, there are some anglers who love the ice just as much. They know this time of year can produce some of the best fishing of the entire winter season. One key thing I have noticed over the years is when the downspout on the gutter begins to run hard, there are panfish biting. Might be one more reason or excuse to leave a little extra snow on the roof next winter. 

This weekend for me personally, was dedicated to my daughter Winnie. She has been actively waiting for the father daughter dance that takes place at the IRA Civic Center in Grand Rapids, MN every spring. Saturday was all about her. The fishing would have to be put on hold. Along with this, the arrival of my new boat also created a list of chores that needed to be done in the garage that has accumulated way too much ice fishing gear, even for a winter ice fishing guide. Time to organize! 

Winnie and I did get a chance on Saturday before the dance to take a drive and check out some of the ice conditions on our local lakes around the Grand Rapids area. Our first stop was Bass Lake near Cohasset. My family has enjoyed many days ice fishing on this body of water this time of year. From our view of the lake, we noticed a few anglers out and about. One interesting thing I noticed was that I didn’t see any type of vehicle, snowmobile, or atv on the ice. Did everyone walk out? I can’t answer that for sure, but it sure seemed that way. 

Our next stop was Tioga Landing on Pokegama Lake. Here we noticed a few anglers out, not a lot, but once again there was no vehicle, snowmobile, or atv traffic happening on the lake. Everyone that I saw out, was walking. I don’t have the boots on the ground information to be able to say for sure, but maybe, finally this winter, traffic on the lakes is not so great. From the landing and the picture posted above you can see that there has been some recent traffic. I know one thing for sure, if you are planning to get out this week I would make sure to have the snowmobile ready to go. Vehicle traffic was non-existent. With the absence of wheel houses and permanents, people are not keeping up on roads that had been maintained all winter long. The snowpack is definitely receding, so I can't imagine it will be too long before the conditions will improve and give anglers a little more flexibility before all is said and done. 

The landings this time of year are what take a beating and can often create dangers or limit anglers' abilities to have access to the lake. As we drove a little farther past the landing we noticed a very interesting site. Open water along shore! Once these open areas begin, they spread out in size very quickly. The movement of water caused by wind and currents can eat away at the ice pack pretty fast. I wouldn’t expect it to be too long before the access at Tioga starts showing signs of weakening ice.

I plan to get out on the ice a few more times yet. However, with the new boat needing to be rigged I have a feeling I am going to be pretty tied up over the next month. We will do our best to keep posting weekly updates on ice conditions for the Grand Rapids area and the Lake Winnie area this spring. 

Ice Fishing Report Northern Minnesota

As a kid I remember March being a lot warmer. I used to kind of put it into the category of spring. Maybe I was too young to notice the cold, or I never really understood the difference between actual temp and windchill. This March in my opinion falls way more into the category of winter than spring. Snow continues to fall and temps are remaining pretty cold.

Traffic on most of our area lakes remains good. I can always judge travel conditions for a wide variety of lakes based on my view of Trout Lake in Coleraine each day. If things look like they are going well out there, then I can almost bet travel on most of our area lakes is good as well. Trucks were making their way around on Trout this weekend to my surprise. The snow didn’t have too much of an impact. The warm parts of our days are cutting back on the extra snowfall we have received, and the top layer then has an opportunity to freeze hard at night, making for a nice hard pack on the lakes. When I’m out with my young boys however, they enjoy the snowmobile ride just as much as the fishing. I also like to limit the chances of getting stuck and making the day way less enjoyable for the young ones. So snowmobile it is.

My oldest son Duncan pictured with the nice perch above, got to play the role of guide for our latest adventure. He chose species to target, location, and jigs. Trout Lake offers young ice anglers and opportunity at lots of bites, especially when targeting perch. Duncan knows this. Him and I have spent many days on this body of water during the spring, summer, fall, and winter. Many of the shallow flats on Trout during the winter months can provide tons and tons of bites for small perch. The kids love it though! Vexilars are not needed, but these tiny perch are what taught both my sons, even Decker, now age 2 how to recognize fish on the vexilar. and where to have your bait. 

After an hour of taking off perch after perch after perch, I kind of geared the boys up to try a new spot that I have been wanting to try. Thinking we might run into some bigger perch possibly, bluegills or even crappies. Many of the shorelines on Trout lake have broken trees that have fallen into the water. Some of these spots where these trees lay also have deep water. You might only be 20 ft from shore, but in certain locations you can be in 16-20 ft of water with flooded timber. Sounds cool right. The bite was not on fire, but what we did find was a much better class of perch. Most of the fish were 8-9 inches with a few pressing that 10 inch mark. Put it this way, I think we will be giving this spot a try again in the very near future.

Northern Drift Outfitters Tullibee Rigs

So no tullibee this weekend, or eelpout for dad. However, lots of smiles and hook sets were had. If you read last week’s post I mentioned that I would post some pictures of my Tullibee rig that I have grown to love. Here are three examples or variations that have worked well for me.

This week’s report is brought to you by Jeff Johnson. Jeff provides guided fishing trips on Lake Winnie, Pokegama Lake, Trout Lake, Leech Lake, Red Lake, and many more. If you are interested in an open water or ice fishing trip you can reach Jeff at 218-259-8893.

Tullibee Fishing Report

Tullibee season is on. Tullibee season for me, marks the end of winter guiding, warm spring days on the ice, family, friends, and a chance to clean up the smoker. It has been a tradition for me for quite some time. I can remember floating a boat out of Tioga beach a few years back just to get to the ice pack. How could one fish, make one person, want to go through so much effort this late in the ice season? Well, after a winter of chasing sometimes finicky crappies and bluegills, the rush of watching a school of tullibee chase you 40 ft in the water column on your flasher is as close to ice fishing therapy as you can get. They are electric when they are on, but tricky enough to make you stay focused. 

My tullibee ice fishing rig has changed over the past few years, and I am sure it will continue to change and evolve. I could go on for days about the different tactics I have used over the years, but for today’s article we are going to focus on my new favorite. A tactic that at this point in time I trust more than any other when targeting Tullibee.It all starts with the rod. St.Croix’s custom pan dancer has the perfect amount of backbone and a light enough tip for detecting bites. I like 4lb test monofilament tied directly to a UV colored buck shot rattle spoon. The color and size of the rattle spoon can change depending on the tip of your rod. You don’t want it to be too loaded when working the rig in the water column. I then proceed to take off the treble hook, and replace it with a dropper chain with quick change clips. You can find different length dropper chains. Personally, I think the longer the better. Simply clip one end to the bottom of your spoon, and the other end clips onto a tungsten jig. The bottom of this rig needs to be heavy, or it will be prone to twisting as you jig through the water column. Another consideration to keep in mind is the size of the line tie on your tungsten. It needs to be big enough to accommodate the quick change clip on the chain. Unless you are going with extremely micro tungstens you will be fine. Bait up the tungsten with wax worms or euro larvae and your rig is ready to rock and roll. You can substitute the dropper chain with a 6, 8, or even 10 lb test fluorocarbon, or monofilament line. It will eventually twist up on you, but it has worked for me in the past quite well when I didn’t have a chain dropper.

Check back next week, for a detailed report on locations for targeting March tullibee. I will also be posting some detailed photos of my tullibee ice fishing rig.

- Jeff Johnson (Fishing Guide)