Leech Lake Report

I got to spend New Years weekend on the ice with my family.  The kids and I packed up the DreamShak on Thursday afternoon with intension's of fishing Mille Lacs for two days and then heading up to Leech Lake.  However, after checking the ice on Mille Lacs, which was a mess,  and the forecasted winds, I opted to cancel the Mille Lacs portion of my trip and head up the the safer ice on Leech Lake.  As it turned out it was the right call.

With the change of plans we had lot of time on Leech Lake so we decided we would fish Pike, Walleye, Perch and crappies/bluegill if we could find them.  We opted to set up in very shallow water in order to focus our efforts on quality vs quantity.  The kids said they wanted to catch big fish, so that is what we did.  We started the weekend in 9 feet of water with scattered cabbage and prepared for the evening walleye bite.  Being the first big trip of the year it took me a while to get things set up and finally after sitting down to enjoy one of Northerns new 16 Ounce Honey Brown's, it wasn't even a minute and the first rattle reel started to go.  Cole jumped up and was a little over-anxious on the first bite which resulted in a miss and then another miss and then another.  It was obvious the fish weren't overly aggressive but we kept after it and adjusted our presentation some.  We were using big bait, targeting these big fish so you are going to miss a few.  But, we stuck with the program and it paid off.

On the sixth bite of the night I could feel the weight of the fish as it pulled line off the rattle reel and we waited very patiently for this one to eat.  When Cole set the hook we knew it was a good one.  I could tell he was going to need some help so I jumped in to guide the head into the hole.  On the other end of the line was Cole's personal best 27 inch walleye.  What a great start to the weekend and there was a lot of excitement in the house. 

While we did a lot of exploring outside the hard house, Jadyn kept an eye on her lines inside the house.  On day two, while I was out fishing on the ice, Jadyn battled and landed her personal best 33 inch Northern Pike.  I could hear her celebrating in the house and when I came in I found a very nice pike laying on the floor with all the rattle reel line wrapped around it.  There is NO way the fish was getting away as it literally tied itself to the line. Dad was very proud of his daughter!!

Speaking of Pike, we had excellent pike fishing with many fish between 4 and 12 pounds.  For the most part the pike fishing was very, very good.  When you add in a 1 pound 15 ounce crappie Cole caught as well as the 50 or so Jumbo perch we caught, it was a great weekend.  As I said earlier, this trip was not about numbers but overall the size of everything was very good.  The smallest walleye we caught was 22 inches and the biggest was Cole's 27 incher.  I honestly can't think of a better way to spend the New Years weekend then fishing with the family.  Yes, the kids spent some time watching TV and running around on the ice but they spent most of the time fishing, learning to use the Humminbird 385ci in Ice Mode and chasing Tip-up Flags.  This of course gave dad some time to enjoy a few more Northern Beer and just relax.

As always I left the lake with a true appreciation for Leech Lake.  I am constantly amazed at the quality of fish the lake produces.  It is truly a multi-species paradise and one worth checking out if you have not.  The ice for those interested was between 12-15 inches.  I used an ATV to pull out my 20ft DreamShak but used my truck to pull it off.  The ice is clear and strong and I will be driving on from now on.

Oh and yes if you are asking did Cole where that Oregon sweatshirt all weekend, yes he did.  After he caught that big walleye the first night he thought it was lucky so he wore it all weekend.  Apparently it worked because they they looked pretty good in the Bowl game also.