Fishing Report Jeff Sundin, June 30, 2016 - A Relaxing Day on the Lake

Scott Hall and me go back a long way, as near as I can figure, we’ve been friends for at least 25 years.
One day way back when, Scott got in touch with me about doing a radio interview. As the producer of KAXE Radio’s “Morning Show”, his job was to find somebody interesting to talk to about fishing and I agreed to help out. Somehow I must have managed to string my sentences together well enough to be invited back and ever since then, I’ve been a KAXE Volunteer.
Chad Haatvedt came along in, well, I can’t quite recall; but he had a good long run as co-host of the morning program and we’ve become good friends too.
Every so often, we all get together and do a little fishing, like we did yesterday.
Typical of the two most laid back men that I know, their fishing demands were very strict and Scott told me in no uncertain terms; “we want to do whatever you want to do”. I decided that we should go back to the lake I fished on Tuesday and experiment a little bit, try to expand on the patterns I already knew about.
At the landing, I was surprised to see that the surface temperature had fallen since Tuesday. When we left the lake that evening, it was about 67 degrees, but on Wednesday, 64 degrees was the warmest I found during the morning. By late afternoon, the temperature warmed up again and we observed temperatures ranging between 66 and 69 degrees. Those are cool temperatures for the 4th of July weekend, but they were warm enough to encourage fish to be fairly active.
On our way out to the first spot, we rigged up for experiment #1, slip floats set at the depth of about 8 feet. In the clear water, we could easily see Cabbage Weeds from the breakline at 20 feet. The big idea was to push the baits ahead of the boat and try to capture fish before they became aware of our presence.
The idea worked, our first fish was a 24 inch Walleye, then we got a nice Largemouth Bass and just when our optimism peaked, the legion of doom appeared; hordes of Perch ranging in size from 1 to 3 inches. They attacked our bobbers, our baits, everything, it took the fun out of this presentation at this spot, so we moved.
At the second spot, we caught a couple of Smallmouth Bass and another Walleye. There was enough action to validate the concept, but I have to admit, this approach was too slow for me. In my opinion, slip floating the weeds would be a good way to grind some fish out during a tough bite, but if they’re active, I feel better when I cover ground more quickly.
Next we returned to Tuesday’s proven tactic, Lindy Rigging with leeches and night crawlers. This worked well, just like it had the day before. There Walleyes and Smallmouth holding in 22 to 26 feet of water and we’d had enough action, it was time for a break to cook lunch. The only problem was that we couldn’t find a place to do it, the lake, the landing, the parking area; they were all too busy and we decided to fish more and eat later.
As long as we were starting over again, it was a good time to re-tool and try another experiment; “Wiggle Worming the Weeds”. There were just enough breezes to give us a slow drift, which really helps when you’re fishing the wiggle worms. But there wasn’t so much wind that it would cause problems feeling the light weight jigs fluttering around in the Cabbage, the conditions were ideal.
The bait is a 1/16 ounce Lindy Live Bait Jig tipped with a whole night crawler. We cast the lures out about 40 feet and start jiggling the rod tips, not twitching, not hopping, not dragging; wiggling. When you get it right, you can see the tail of your night crawler dancing in a circular motion. The twirling action is what convinces Walleyes to strike, and when this presentation is on, it is deadly. In fact readers who visit frequently know that this is one of my all-time favorite presentations and that’s why I was so delighted when it worked.
We drifted along the outer edges of Cabbage weeds in depths ranging between 18 and 22 feet. Both Walleyes and Smallmouth reacted positively, so did a couple of sunfish and an errant Pike. We tried the wiggle worms again, on a different weedline where there were fewer fish, but they worked well there too.  If I was looking for mixed bag action and heading back to that lake any time soon, the jig and crawler combo would be the first presentation I’d use.
By now, the day had slipped away, we were hungry and it was time to cook dinner. It might not have been the quintessential shore lunch location, but the picnic table at the KAXE studio provided a shady place for a nice relaxing dinner.
After a plate of Walleye and one of Chad’s special home brews, I think it’s safe to say that we were all relaxed out and by today, already looking forward to the next time.

Fishing Report Jeff Sundin, June 29, 2016 - The Pursuit of Mr. Big; Refining the Refineable

An important detail about yesterday’s fishing trip was that we had a goal; we understood that the pursuit Mr. Big was more important than re-visiting familiar territory searching for “eaters”.
In our case, the fish we wanted to catch had to be over 20 inches. That’s because in some circles, you are running the risk of being “shamed” if you catch and release a slot-fish and it is not longer than 20 inches. That “boat rule” was light hearted and fun, in my opinion, it added to the enjoyment of the afternoon.
Along the way, I realized something else, I can see how anybody could fish every day for thirty some years and never get tired of doing it. It’s because you never get the fish figured out, not completely anyway.
Yesterday I said; “Clear water, flighty Walleye and high blue skies are liable to provide me with ample opportunity to discuss the particulars about why Walleyes run and hide from days that most folks would drool over. I hedged my bet by scheduling the trip to run well into the evening and hopefully that will allow us a few hours of good action.”
I can see how somebody might read that as a “negative” statement, but it’s really not. It’s just a matter of understanding how fish react to their environment. Typically, high skies and calm seas do not favor the angler; they usually encourage Walleyes to lay dormant, waiting for a more opportune time to feed.
Prove it to yourself, read the fishing reports from all around the Itasca region and you will see that this thread runs in common through all of them.
Except in this case, the best few hours came at the wrong time, our best fishing was smack dab in the middle of the day, when it should have been tough sledding. Conversely, the closer the sun got to the tree tops, when the fishing should have gotten better, it took longer and longer to entice the next fish into striking. I understand what happened; now I just have to figure out how to fix it.
The larger fish that we were targeting were located on a variety of mid-lake bars and points in water depths of 18 to 28 feet. They weren’t hard to find, we just had to keep moving, watching the Humminbird for another sighting. Frequently, groups of 4 to 12 fish would appear on the screen, we’d drop in and catch a couple, maybe a few, seldom more.
What I do understand is that this is not unusual, except during ideal conditions; only some of these deep fish were ever gonna bite. Many of them are not; these deeper water areas are primarily places to rest, sanctuaries, and not feeding areas. When we catch one, it’s because we’ve placed the bait in front of a neutral fish that was coax able, so enticing that they just can’t resist eating it.

Fishing Report Jeff Sundin, June 28, 2016 - Stabilizing Patterns For Independence Day?

Northern Minnesota weather over the past few days has made fishing interesting to say the least. There’s been some sort of change in the pattern every day and I can’t recall the last time we’ve enjoyed two days of similar weather in a row.
The crazy weather hasn’t stopped the fishing action; in fact some anglers have found isolated local bites that are exceptional. I talked with a friend of mine on Friday who described the Walleye fishing on his favorite lake as “Stupid Good”. An email message from another friend just last night says; “My week up at Winnie flew by.  Fishing was great both in Cutfoot and Winnie.  My time fishing with you is either really paying off, or I got really lucky. We managed to catch fish at any time of the day regardless of sun or wind.  The lucky lure was a pink hook and a night crawler.  We caught fish on the shoreline weed edges and also on the mid-lake humps. Thanks” – Steve
I agree that Winnie has been good this summer and so have some select lakes that were ripe for a great season. But good luck and exceptional fishing skills aside, I do believe that it’s generally fair to say that the weather has forced many of us to work harder than usual during what should have been the “peak” fishing season; that may be about to change.
Looking ahead to forecasts about our upcoming July 4th holiday week, I AM cautiously optimistic. It appears that we are headed for a period of calmer, more stable weather and if you ask me, the arrival of any stable pattern will be very good for fishing.
Now that surface waters have warmed into the high 60 degree range, action style presentations are becoming more effective. On Saturday, Little Joe spinners tipped with night crawlers produced a number of quality fish for us on Lake Winnie. We did not find lots of fish, but we did locate some small schools that have taken up residence in the deeper weeds, now growing in water depths of 12 to 15 feet. As the weeds continue to develop, more fish will move into them and the action will intensify.
On Monday, we fished Bowstring Lake and found a mixed bag of Walleye, Perch and Pike that were aggressive too. Coincidentally, Trails End Resort submitted a fishing report that covers the bases really well, so instead of making you read the same thing twice, just scroll down the page and pick up the info from them as well.
For today, I have my work cut out for me, again. Clear water, flighty Walleye and high blue skies are liable to provide me with ample opportunity to discuss the particulars about why Walleyes run and hide from days that most folks would drool over. I hedged my bet by scheduling the trip to run well into the evening and hopefully that will allow us a few hours of good action.  Smarter than I thought, or out-smarted again? we’ll know soon!  

Marcell Area - Edge of the Wilderness, Frontier Sports, Paul Larson June 24, 2016;

"Fishing in the area has been slowly getting better, despite the strange weather interruptions that have been so common during this month of June.
Crappies are being caught in water depths ranging from four to twelve feet. It appears that some Crappies have not spawned. Anglers are reporting catching fish still holding eggs. Whether they will spawn or not is anybody’s guess.
Bass fishing has been excellent with wacky worms, dark spinner baits seem to be Bass anglers top, go to lures. Top water baits like the LIVE TARGET frog have been producing plenty of action as well.
Walleye have been hit or miss with fish being found anywhere and everywhere. They have however begun to move onto the main lake humps in ten to eighteen feet of water. Cabbage weed beds are still a good bet. Lindy rigs and spinners with night crawlers have been working the best. Anglers pulling cranks have been doing pretty well too.

Fishing Report Jeff Sundin, June 16, 2016

"After spending Tuesday, day 1 of 3, in hot pursuit of Walleyes on Lake Winnie, mixed bag fishing was on our radar screen for Wednesday.
Perch, Walleye and Pike continued to inhabit the shallow weeds and jig and minnow presentations allowed us to gather enough for the evening fish fry, along with topping off the crew's take home larder of Walleye.
Now we're on day 3 and I'm hoping for a lucky break that will lead me to some Crappies. It's been a couple of weeks since I've entertained any Crappie fishermen, so it could be interesting. Whatever I learn, you will be the first to know.
I'm pressed for time this morning, but before I log out, I want to share a report that came over the Fishing Reports FB Page from Carl Michael Parson.
All of us, especially me, dream about the day that we might catch the “Fish of a Lifetime”. I’ve seen it happen a few times and when it does, it’s usual a big surprise.
I’ll bet that Jim Brant was plenty surprised when he dropped his 1/8 ounce jig tipped with a leech into the 65 degree water and pulled out a 12-1/2 inch Bluegill. For anybody who hasn’t fished for Bluegills very much, take my word for it, this is truly a catch of a lifetime, it really is.
For a time, the lucky anglers were suspicious that it might be a record breaking fish, so they brought the monster Bluegill to an official weigh station where it tipped the scales at 2.22 pounds.
Congratulations on a fantastic catch and please do me a favor; sprinkle some of that “lucky dust” on my scrambled eggs this morning!!

Tricky Timing For Walleye During Stormy Weather, Jeff Sundin Fishing Report, June 13, 2016

"With thunderstorms and lighting rumbling over the Itasca Area on Sunday, the timing for catching Walleyes was tricky.
We had just pulled onto a main lake bar, dropped our lines in the water and caught our first fish, a healthy 19 inch "slot Walleye" when our trip was interrupted, almost before it got started by a line of slow moving thunderstorms.
While we waited at the dock, I chatted with a young service man who had been out on the lake before we arrived, the fish were biting he said. He had found Walleyes on a mid-lake hump and was catching those using Lindy Rigs and leeches. He pulled the pin when he saw the sky darken too, but I could tell that he was chomping at the bit to get back onto the lake.
The anxious Walleye fisherman lit a little fire under me too and even before the storms had completely passed, I and my crew were back on the lake, in hot pursuit of our own “honey hole”. I’m glad that we pushed the timing, because while the dark clouds hovered in the area, the winds remained fairly calm. It was that hard to control the boat and that made it easier to focus on finding fishable spots.

Sand Lake June 12, 2016 “Any way the wind blows, doesn’t really matter …”

“Any way the wind blows, doesn’t really matter …”
To me, it looks like Freddie was right; as long as there’s a wind blowing, the Walleye’s will cooperate.
For the past few years, we’ve been talking more and more about Itasca area lakes becoming clearer and their Walleye populations becoming more sensitive to sunshine and calm seas. On Sand Lake this Saturday, we were treated to yet another side by side comparison that drove that point even deeper.
I’d read the weather report and the forecast of calm seas and sunny skies served to make my drive a long one. I knew that the day would be challenging and I was racking my brain for ideas that I hadn’t thought of before, new hiding places where I could scratch out some fish for my crew, the Hinzman’s.
When I arrived at the lake, the surprises were plentiful and pleasant. First, there was a stiff breeze coming out of the northwest, second, the skies were cloudy and the temperature was cool and finally the surface temperatures were ideal, at 66 degrees, it seemed almost assured that some of the fish would be active somewhere.

Family Traditions, 3 Generations Of Skoglunds On "Home Water" Bowstring Lake June 11, 2016

It doesn't happen right away, but if you spend enough years as a fishing guide, sooner or later, you’re gonna realize that there's a point when your relationships with "customers" undergoes a metamorphosis. There are families who grow up fishing with you, take you in as one of their own and let you be yourself whenever you’re with them.
The Skoglund’s are one of the families I’m talking about, there’s no pressure and when we get together, it’s just us guys goin’ fishin’.
Frequent visitors to these reports will surely remember references to fishing trips with Eldon Skoglund, AKA “The Norwegian Hammer”. We go back further than that though, even to the days before Al Gore invented the internet, so lots of our stories are known only to us, at least for now.
The roots of this family tree grow so deep that they lead all the way back to my earliest season as a fishing guide, even before I knew how to fish on Bowstring Lake; that’s part of the point.
Before I knew Eldon, I knew his father in law, Joe Chrz; he’s actually the one who brought me into the family. Once upon I time, Joe bought a cabin on Bowstring Lake, it’s the only cabin anywhere that had, or ever will have a boat dock made out of Walnut, but that’s another story.
If I’m not mistaken, Joe actually knew how to fish a few spots on Bowstring before I ever floated a boat there. Back in those days, I wasn’t quite as busy as I am now, so sometimes I’d give Joe a call and we’d spend a few hours fishing Bowstring; teaching each other. Joe introduced me to David, his son, David introduced me to Eldon and Eldon in turn introduced me to his son’s Jason and John. So now you have it, we’re all caught up.
On Friday, Bowstring Lake seemed like a fitting place to enjoy watching the emergence of another branch of the Skoglund family tree. Joining us in the boat would be Jack Skoglund, who at 10 is the newest member of the annual “Father’s Day” fishing trip.
It wouldn’t be the first time anybody suggested taking a youngster to Bowstring, surely we’d keep him busy catching something, on that lake, we usually do. Luckily, this fishing trip worked out better than usual and it was really a great day to be Jack!
The fishing report isn’t complicated; Surface water temperatures in the shallow water ranged between 61 and 64 degrees.  We fished in the cabbage weeds at 5 to 7 feet of water using 1/8 Lindy Jigs tipped with Fatheads. My instruction to the crew was to use ‘em all up, and they did.
Perch, Pike and a handful of Walleye were sharing the weed beds and we kept busy from starting time until early afternoon. After that, we headed toward the middle and did a bit of “pre-meditated Walleye fishing”. There were small schools of fish using mid lake bars at depths of 22 to 24 feet. The schools of fish were small and under bright skies, easily spooked. We picked up one or two fish at each stop, not bad, but not fantastic either.
I expected the deep water fish to accept night crawlers and leeches, but they didn’t. The same 1/8 ounce jigs that we used in the weeds worked out there too. There were Pike, Walleye and Perch all mixed together on deep structure to, but our Walleye catch rate did improve significantly.
At the end of the day, our annual visit to the Gosh Dam Place for a fish fry which was fantastic as usual.
So there you have it, the beginning of the next tradition and with luck, you’ll be hearing more about them next year.

From The Marcell Area, Frontier Sports, Paul Larson June 10, 2016;

"The Search is on! While some of the larger deep lakes have Crappies just coming into the shallows, most of the lakes in this area have seen a migration of Crappie and Walleye out into the weed beds in water anywhere from five to 13 feet. The weather has certainly had an effect on this relocation.
Post spawn Walleye are usually difficult to locate and I usually have my best results casting into relatively shallow water (4 to 6 feet deep) and working the lure through the weeds and out into deeper water. For this type of fishing I really like using lipless crankbaits. Lures like the LIVE TARGET Golden Shiner or the Baitball rattle bait are a proven favorite. At this time of year, fish in the weeds can be quite aggressive and a loud rattle bait really sets them off. As an added bonus, this type of lure tends to bounce of the weeds due to the lack of a bill and they rarely get hung up. I’ll be using a Savage Gear Sand Eel Slug on a drop shot rig for Walleye this coming weekend. This combination showed great promise for me last weekend and it too rarely got hung up in the weeds. It seemed that everything wanted to eat the Sand Eel last weekend.
The hottest bite going on in this area right now seems to be Bass and Pike. A good number of Smallies over twenty inches were reported last weekend and throughout the week. Largemouth Bass are cooperating as well, with some big fish being caught, most of which were released. People out after Sunfish have been doing very well and a just a reminder, please release the big ones so that they may spawn another day, thereby keeping the gene pool stocked with fish that have a tendency to grow large.
Trout anglers as expected…. are not talking. The weather forecast looks promising for the weekend and it should be a good time to get out there and explore. You never know, you just might find that hungry school of Walleye. Have a fantastic weekend everyone!"

Q&A June 8, 2016 From Rod Heidemann - Cabbage Weeds, Walleyes, and Big Waves;

Referencing the fishing report of June 2, 2016, Rod Heidemann wrote;  “Hi Jeff; So when you are fishing the shallow water,  6 to 8 feet, how do you position the boat & present the jig so that you are not spooking fish? Are you drifting with a drift sock, backtrolling, anchored?”
A) Rod, Fishing in and around Cabbage Weeds encompasses a lot of different scenarios. Over the years, I've used all of the methods that you mentioned, but on this particular occasion, the wind was strong and there were whitecaps blowing into the shallow flat.
In heavy seas, Walleyes move continuously, feeding on baitfish that is dis-oriented by the turbulent water. Under these circumstances, there’s no reason to anchor, and trolling would move the boat too fast for accurate presentations; so controlled drifting is almost always the best approach for me.

Quality vs Quantity; Can You Have Your Walleye and Eat It Too? Fishing Report June 7, 2016

If you do more than a little bit of fishing in the Itasca Area, then I’m sure that you’ve already noticed; selecting a fishing lake that does not have a “protected slot” for Walleye provides no assurance that you will catch and harvest larger fish. In fact, it is a darn good way to ensure catching little fish, ones that are smaller than any slot size anyway.
Conversely, heading for a lake that does have a “protected slot” for Walleye is a great way to find and catch large fish. The problem is that there may not be very many that are legal to harvest.
That should tell you something, and I believe we should all be willing to recognize that we are getting so good at locating, catching and consuming fish, that we really don’t have any choice except to protect a portion of them from our persistent harvest.
Without going overboard about philosophy and politics, it simply means that we have to make choices about our fishing goals. Luckily, for me, there are some folks who love to pursue big fish the same way that I do, the goal doesn’t have to be about consuming fish.

Soaking the Soakable, Day 3 of "Fun with Dick and Paul" - Fishing Report June 4, 2016

For me, it's been an exceptionally interesting few days, especially the time spent "behind the scenes"
For me, it's been an exceptionally interesting few days, especially the time spent "behind the scenes" on the phone and the computer. Most of my correspondence wouldn’t matter to anyone except for a handful of my closest friends, but some one of these days, I’ll figure out how to write it up and we’ll all get a good laugh together. Right now, I’m pressed for time, so I’ll cut to the chase about fishing.
On Thursday, weather conditions were perfect for fishing on Lake Winnie, I was able to execute my game plan and I don’t know how it could have worked out too much better. It wasn’t just us catching fish out there either, in fact almost everyone I’ve talked to had a really good day out there.