Grand Rapids Area Fishing Report

Grand Rapids, Minnesota Area Fishing

This week’s fishing report is brought to you by Grand Rapids, Minnesota fishing guide Jeff Johnson. Jeff will be highlighting local fishing opportunities in the Grand Rapids area every week. If you are interested in booking a trip with Jeff, you can reach him at 218-259-8893.

Crappie fishing in the north woods has remained one of the most stable bites for anglers throughout the years. This year is no exception. Crappies' location in the winter months make them an easy target. Most anglers with today’s technology can find a school of crappies, and then begin implementing tactics to get them to bite. Some days are easier than others, but with a little bit of try and a little bit of luck, crappies can provide even young anglers an awesome introduction into the sport.

By Saturday evening temperatures in the Grand Rapids area finally broke free and allowed many people an opportunity to break free from the cabin fever that was beginning to set in. I think the cold had the biggest impact on the children over the past week. No recess, no outside activities in general, made it a tough week for every parent and every educator. My son Duncan pictured with the nice crappie, was one child in particular who needed to get outside and explore.

Duncan loves the action of perch fishing and the shallower water that we usually find ourselves in makes the overall fishing experience a little bit easier. I explained that for this evening trip,we would be targeting crappies, and it was not about catching, but about the adventure and enjoying some outdoor time together. I could tell he was a little bit skeptical about my plan, but we pushed forward. This was also going to be a brand new spot that left myself a little skeptical of the outcome. 

Holes drilled, bobber set, snacks in hand our evening crappie adventure began. It didn’t take long for the first few biters to show themselves, and a few were also lost during our ungraceful hand-offs that have plagued my son and I over the years. But, before long Duncan’s bobber disappeared down the hole and low behold a nice adult size crappie showed up. I could tell by the look in his eyes, that success was not something we would be searching for the rest of the evening, it was already had.

The overall action remained pretty slow, but enough fish chose to play to keep us engaged. The smaller tungstens that have played a huge role for me over the past few years found themselves in the bottom of the fish house. Large tungstens with plastics, or plastics and wax worms worked much better. The old school bobber rig and minnow gave way to the biggest fish of the night, and I honestly can’t remember the last time I had some of my old frostee glow jigs tied on. I know it’s been awhile, but it brought back some good memories. The bigger tungstens and plastics made those stale marks on the graph show some kind of movement. 

Overall, many memories were made, and a great fish fry was had the following day. One mistake also led to an interesting find, but that’s for another time. Get outside with the kids when you can and remember patience, patience, patience. Success doesn’t always have to mean a pile of fish at the end of the day.

Lake Winnie Fishing Report

This week’s report is brought to you by Grand Rapids, MN fishing guide Jeff Johnson. Jeff provides ice fishing guide trips on Lake Winnie, as well as other lakes in the Grand Rapids and Deer River areas. For those wanting to book a trip with Jeff, you can reach him at 218-259-8893. 

 Anglers in the region were treated to the first real cold front of the winter season. Temperatures in the region began falling as of Friday evening, and many lakes received a break from the heavy angler traffic they have been receiving. Many anglers on the big lake are experiencing a tougher bite overall. The fish seem to be scattered and when they are found, only small bite windows are appearing. Capitalizing on these small windows throughout the day can lead to a decent bag of fish still. 

Most anglers are still needing to approach the lake with a multispecies approach, and they cannot be afraid to take what is given. A guaranteed evening walleye spot might produce good action for bigger perch, while proven perch spots are randomly kicking out nice walleyes and pike. The cold temperatures over the weekend and heading into this week will for the most part keep a lot of the angling pressure down. I am one that is thankful for this, and I do hope that this week provides a bit of a reset on the lake. Everyone needs a good nap once in a while, and if you have been familiar with Lake Winnie over the past few years, she never seems to sleep. 

An old but very effective rig has led to more bites than many other gadgets, gizmos, and thingamajigs over the past week. The tried and true split shot and plain hook can lead to more bites on a slow day. Don’t waste your time on draining the vexilar battery either. Tipping the rig with different size fatheads throughout the day is the most technical you will have to get. Simply drop the rig to bottom and lift up slightly. Personally I like to hole hop with this rig, and I don’t carry a rod holder system with me. You can usually find a sweet spot for the reel to rest on the ice while the tip of the rods is able to move without having much resistance. Let it sit and let the rod give you all the information you need. Give it a few minutes, rinse and repeat a small distance away. Unlike all of the jigging spoons a person might utilize, this rig will not call that many fish into you. Making small moves to holes nearby cannot be overlooked. There is something about this rig that brings me back to my youth, before the world got so crazy. Everyone needs a little break from screen time as well.

Lake Winnie Fishing Report

Today’s report is brought to you by Grand Rapids, MN fishing guide Jeff Johnson. Ice fishing on Lake Winnie has remained steady since the start of the ice season. Perch fishing continues to be the primary focus during the daylight hours. The temperatures that we have had in January have allowed anglers to get outside and hole hop. The mobile angler is having more success on average than those who are camping out in their houses for the day. Shallow flats in the 6-8 ft range have led to larger perch overall. These fish are very nomadic though. When a hot hole is found, it is extremely important to be efficient with your approach to capitalize on the school.

Perch talkers loaded with wax worms, minnow heads, full minnow bodies, or plastics are extremely versatile and work well when you are fishing fast and needing to capitalize on the fish below you. Perch talkers work great for walleyes and pike as well. Large schools of perch can also be found on 11-13 ft flats as well. These depth ranges have led to more walleye bites as well, during primetime hours.

The Pines Resort on Lake Winnie offers a great access point to Tamarack Bay. The road system will allow anglers to have easy access to spots in Tamarack Bay. Anglers who are willing to get off the main road systems via snowmobile, utv, or atv can often find flats that have not received as much pressure and often lead to better quality fish. Large drifts on the lake can make travel a little difficult. Visibility of these drifts is poor. It is important to take it slow.

There are still open dates, for those that are wanting to book an ice fishing trip this winter. Please feel free to send me a text or give me a phone call at 218-259-8893. Our guide service can accommodate large groups as well. Anglers only need to have their valid MN fishing license and appropriate clothing for the day. The rest is taken care of. Anglers are also allowed to bring their own gear if they would rather do that.

August and Fall Horizons

As fall starts to slowly make her presence felt the fishing in northern Minnesota stays hot. Whether it’s bluegills sipping poppers on Lake Pokegama, smallies smashing streamers in the rivers, or the phenomenal multi species days on Lake Winnibigoshish and surrounding lakes, there is certainly fun to be had all across the great North.

One chase I’m particularly excited about heading into fall is large toothies (northern pike and musky) with the fly rod. We have already started to run into more as water temps start to shift back down a bit. The lazy days of summer seem to be fleeting slowly, while overnight lows help the big bass find their zone.  Drop us a line if fly fishing (or spin gear) for aggressive pike and musky sounds enjoyable.  

I always tell people, there are no guarantees in fishing, but putting the effort in to find a great experience is a necessary step towards learning more. Getting outside and chasing it is the important part.

Summer Swing

The early June heat wave we are experiencing has brought on the mid summer patterns early for us. Topwater for bass has been consistent and entertaining. It’s so much fun knowing that if you land a fly in certain spots, it will get destroyed by a bass waiting to ambush.

2021 Minnesota Opener

Our 2021 Minnesota season is off to a hot start. Stable weather patterns finally brought warm temps to the north woods and the fish were ready to eat. Client Taylor joined Tanner for 2 days floating the river, and went from never casting a fly rod to tangling with quality sized bass on the streamer. Nice work Taylor! The river fishing will only get better from here on out!