Ely Area, Arrowhead Outdoors Fishing Report June 4, 2025
"Walleye • Thanks to another heat wave walleyes are starting to behave a little more normal, for this time of the year. While minnows continue to rain supreme, the slip bobber and leech bite has finally started.
Anglers have been pitching jigs and minnows, paddle tail and minnow baits. Basically anything that looks like a minnow, fished in 3 to 7 feet of the water. Reason for this is that minnows are looking to spawn now. Current areas are a good start, but large boulder flats and rocky shorelines have been the best areas to fish. In the evenings a slip bobber and a juicy leech has been the most effective. Right off the dock and back to shore or right off your campsite after dinner, has been where anglers are catching walleyes under a slip bobber. Gold, pink and firetiger have been the most popular colors this last week.
Smallmouth Bass • With water temps finally getting up into the 60 degree range and smallmouth bass have begun to move up on their beds looking to spawn. You anglers who fish love to fish with Ned rigs, now is your time. Other anglers have been having incredible fishing with pink mepps, wacky worms, topwater, jerk baits. Key areas to fish have been large rocky flats, pretty much anywhere on the lake, as long as it's in 4 to 8 feet of water. Pink, green pumpkin, and orange craw.
Northern Pike • While anglers fishing for pike cooled off this last week, anglers flashing pictures of big pike in the shop didn't. Big pike remain in the shallow bays in 4 to 7 feet of water. Fishing with a large sucker remains the best way to go if you want a fish of a lifetime, but more and more we are hearing that spoons, spinners and buzzbaits are catching good numbers of pike with some big pike sprinkled in.
Panfish • Crappies have rapped up spawning on some lakes or just started on others. Either way anglers should be looking for crappies in the shallow pencil reeds where they find the sand bottoms they need to spawn on. Small hair jigs, tube jigs or crappie minnow, all fished under a bobber, have been very effective. Sunnies too can be found in these same areas by anglers. Small red worms, wax worms or small leeches, fished under a bobber, have been deadly for big sunnies.
Stream Trout • Rainbows have been very active this last week. Anglers fishing from shore have been reporting great fishing mainly during the evening hours, right off the dock. Small red and gold kastmasters have been super effective, but the tried and true nightcrawler, fished 5 to 10 feet under a bobber has been effective too. Anglers fishing in a boat or canoe have been doing good trolling small minnow baits while trolling right along the shoreline. Brighter the bait, the better.
Lake Trout • Lake Trout reports continue to trickle in as more anglers start looking for lakers. Anglers have been finding lakers anywhere from 7 to 80 feet of water. Anglers finding them shallow have been looking for smallies or walleyes when they hooked into a lake trout. Anglers targeting lakers have been trolling with down riggers in 40 to 80 feet of water with large trolling spoons. Anglers fishing from a canoe have been trolling or jigging over deep water (same depth) with smaller spoons, tube jigs or bucktails. Wonderbread, blue jeans and bloody nose have been popular colors for lakers." — Arrowhead Outdoors, 218-365-5358
Wired2Fish June 4, 2025 "Jig Fishing for Bass: Basic and Advanced Techniques"
"Of all the lures in the world in the realm of bass fishing, there’s none more popular than a skirted jig. If you were to ask any professional bass angler on any of today’s circuits, they’d tell you a jig is their number-one fish-catching lure in their boat. It has a record of putting both numbers and big fish in the boat year after year. It’s a lure that has accounted for more fish caught than any other lure on the market today, and for good reason — they flat-out work.
Whether the times are tough and you’re looking for a bite, or it’s on fire and you love feeling that “tick” as they slurp it down, you can always count on a jig to get the job done.
But what exactly is a jig? What does it imitate? How do you work it correctly? How many different types of jigs are there? A lot of anglers ..." Read Article to Learn More >> Jig Fishing for Bass: Basic and Advanced Techniques
Lake of the Woods, LOW Tourism June 4, 2025
"The bite continues to be red-hot on Lake of the Woods, with walleyes and saugers providing plenty of action across many areas! Whether you're targeting shallow sand, deep mud, or rocky structure, fish are active and hungry.
Along the South Shore, the jig bite remains the top producer for walleyes and sauger! Anglers are finding both in a wide range of depths, with the 23 to 28-foot range being especially productive. Walleyes are relating to various forage opportunities, showing up on sand, mud, and rock alike.
The most effective technique continues to be anchoring up or spot-locking and jigging. A 3/8 to 1/2 ounce jig tipped with a frozen emerald shiner is the go-to bait. Don't forget those bright colors in the stained waters of L.O.W. Gold-glow-white, gold-chartreuse, gold-glow-pink, or straight gold are all catching walleyes.
There are still some good size northern pike lingering on the shoreline, and pike are still being caught by unsuspecting walleye anglers. While many have moved into the main lake, some big northerns are still lingering in the shallows, offering an exciting change of pace if you're looking for a fight.
The Rainy River is still yielding some fantastic walleyes! With climbing water temperatures and steady current, a 3/4 ounce jig tipped with a frozen emerald shiner is working well. Most anglers are vertically jigging in deeper holes or just off the main channel. Four Mile Bay continues to be productive, especially when fishing the channel edges and slowing your presentation.
For those looking to cover more water and find active fish, consider switching to spinner rigs tipped with crawlers or trolling crankbaits. If you're up for a fun challenge, try casting crankbaits, swim jigs, or spinnerbaits along the shoreline, around docks, or into the bays for multispecies action.
The sturgeon season is currently closed but will reopen on July 1, 2025. From July 1 through September 30, 2025, anglers with a sturgeon tag are allowed to harvest one sturgeon per calendar year, the legal sizes for harvest must be between either 45 to 50 inches, or over 75 inches in length.
Up at the Northwest Angle, excellent fishing continues at the Northwest Angle! Walleyes are being found in 12 to 24 feet of water, particularly off shoreline structure, points, and shallow reefs. The jig and minnow bite remains strong, with most anglers anchoring up and working rock or sand transitions.
In addition to jigging, trolling crankbaits along shallow shoreline structure in 6 to 9 feet of water is producing walleyes as well as a mixed bag. Points, underwater points and rock rubble areas are holding good numbers of fish. Trolling is a great way to cover water and locate active, feeding fish.
Muskie anglers, the muskie opener is June 21st for both Minnesota and Ontario’s Zone 5. As most muskie anglers know, the lake is healthy for muskies right now. With 14,552 islands, there are plenty of places to spread out and fish." — Lake of the Woods Tourism, (800) 382-FISH
More Recent Fishing Reports
Follow on X • Follow on Facebook • L.O.W 6-4 • Ely MN 6-4 • Sundin 6-3 • Sundin 6-2 • Dick and Paul 5-31 • Mushy Crappies 5-30 • Night Walleyes 5-26 • Lake Winnie 5-25 • Crappies 5-23 • Sundin 5-20 • Winnie-Cutfoot 5-19 • Lake Winnie Season Outlook • Radomski On Walleye Limits • Don't Land A Citation 5-1 • 200 • Sundin 02-24 • MN DNR Rule Changes 02-13 • MN Hall of Fame 01-24 • Charts 1-23-25 • MAPS 1-22-23 • Upper Red Lake 12-8 • Barotrauma Study 1-25-24 • Fish Consumption • Forward Sonar • Panfish Workgroup
June 3, 2025 "A Smoky Afternoon of Fun with Dick and Paul, Day 4"
After 3 days of grousing about not having a chop on the water, I finally got one and soon regretted it!
Despite an improved situation for fishing and catching, the northwest breeze that developed on Monday blew in lots of smoke from the fires burning in Manitoba. Because of threats to Canadian citizens, the fire burning near Flin Flon is getting the most attention, but there are other fires too. The affected areas, north and west of Lake Winnipeg, are massive, and fires are likely to keep burning for a while.
The last time I recall smoke this intense, was when fires were burning near International Falls, and my family was fishing on Rainy Lake. That was maybe 20 years ago, give or take. Looking at the weather forecast, I expect the smoky conditions to persist for a few days before winds calm and then turn southerly again.
In terms of fishing, it was one of those days when there was always something happening. In the morning, conditions were still calm, and the sun shone through a hazy sky. We searched for crappies in shallow water bulrush patches. We did find a few of them, but the fish that were really in there were smallmouth bass. For a time, they were very active and I think we caught upwards of 20 before we moved out into deeper water.
We were looking for 3 walleyes to top off the boy’s limits, and also 3 more fish for our dinner at Gosh Dam Place afterward. So, as the wind first began to blow, and a light chop developed, we got serious about walleye fishing. That was a good idea because on our first drift, at the first spot, we not only caught the half dozen we wanted, but released several others too. When that spot fizzled out, we moved and repeated the experience, catching and releasing several more walleyes.
Presentations were simple, and familiar. For the smallmouth bass, a 1/8-ounce jig head with a 3-inch ripple shad worked well. But many of them also struck our crappie rigs, jigs and minnows set at about 3 feet below clip on bobbers. When we switched over to walleye fishing, we removed the bobbers and used the same 1/8-ounce jigs, tipped with shiner minnows. Slipping with the current, we jigged the breakline from 8 to 14 feet, and found plenty of action.
We were in no hurry to leave the lake, but as the wind intensified, so did the smoke. At the same time, a series of thunderstorms began forming in the area too. So, with nothing left to accomplish, we called it a day and headed for the GDP for dinner. As usual, the fish dinner was excellent, and the service was good.
Today is mostly play day. Unless I can stumble into a good school of perch or maybe find some more crappies, we’re looking for some larger bass, walleye or pike to catch and release. Whatever we do, I’ll fill you in tomorrow. 
— Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Office Cell Call or Text 218-245-9858 or Email on Facebook on X
June 2, 2025 "Fun? (In The Sun) With Dick and Paul"
Today’s images of Dick and Paul prove one thing, there is a “highlight reel” from almost every fishing trip. What the images don’t reveal is how much effort can sometimes go into gathering those highlight images.
On Sunday, there was scarcely a ripple anywhere on the surface of the Deer River area lake we started fishing on. I’d hoped that those conditions would be okay because if I could get lucky, we’d find crappies either in the shallows, working spawning beds, or else in the adjacent cabbage weeds hiding in the shady cover. I knew the odds were against a re-match, but it’s happened before; this lake was once the scene of an excellent day of crappie action for me and the boys. So, hoping to at least partially re-live that experience, we headed straight for “The Crappie Hole.”
First we poked around the cabbage using small jigs tipped with minnows and suspended about 4 below clip on bobbers. There were some small perch, and small pike in the weeds, but no crappies. We moved into the shallow bulrushes next, but did not see, or catch anything there. Next, I tried the deeper outside edges of the cabbage and here, we found more perch and more pike, but still no crappies.
Okay, so the crappie hole didn’t pan out, but maybe we could pick up some walleyes or perch, I thought. We moved out deeper and followed the breakline from about 16 to 20 feet of water. Again, there were small perch, and small pike, still though, nothing to grin about. So, I moved across the lake to check out another weed patch.
The cabbage was green and lush at that location, and on my first cast, a nice size perch smacked my jig. Then there were some smaller perch, lots of smaller pike and also the above average, 35-inch pike that Dick caught. Not long after that, Paul tossed in his 1/8-ounce jig and minnow and picked up a nice fat walleye. Maybe we’re on to something, we believed, so we turned back for another pass. The action was good, but the fish we caught on that pass were almost all smaller than we wanted. There were a lot of pike snipping off our jigs too, and re-tying lures was becoming the main focus of fishing this spot, so it was time to leave it.
The whole point of fishing at this lake was to catch crappies, and since that wasn’t happening, I decided to try a different lake. So, after cleaning the boat and trailer, we drove a short distance to another small Deer River area lake. Also known as a good crappie lake, we’d have a shot at sunfish, walleyes or largemouth bass too.
At our first stop, it looked like things were gonna go our way. Casting into shallow, weedy cover we picked up 3 or 4 crappies right away. They were too small for us, but they were biting, so we tried another spot. Again, the shallow weed edges held fish, and we caught a few more small crappies, and a small bass. Still optimistic, we tried a third spot, and that’s when things went downhill.
In the calm water, hot sunshine seemed to be driving fish further and further into the weedy cover. Before long it was more work than it was worth, snagging and tugging on lily pads and bulrush isn’t that much fun. So, I started looking for fish along the deep breaklines, on some mid-lake bars and points. That strategy produced more small pike, but not anything of interest, so at about 4:30, we headed to my house for a fish fry.
We’ve still got 2 days of fishing left, but we agreed last night that we’d rather have some action, than to keep searching for any certain species for the larder. If we stumble into crappies or perch, we’ll harvest some but if we just catch and release walleye or bass, we’ll be happy with that too. So, that’s today’s plan, find something to do, that is anything that doesn’t require tying on a lot of jigs.
If you believe the weather forecast, our day might be somewhat easier today. Overcast, breezy and chances of rain developing later should work in tandem to get fish moving a little bit. So, with luck, we’ll have a “Fun Filled” day 4, of the spring session of FWDAP and you can find out about that tomorrow. — Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Office Cell Call or Text 218-245-9858 or Email on Facebook on X
June 1, 2025 "Day 2 with Dick and Paul: Fun … For A While"
The lake a 600-acre, dark water, multi-species fishery is one that I usually fish only once each season, last year I visited twice. The lake’s dark water, less than 5 feet visibility, and weedy breaklines offer some protections on sunny, calm days, like yesterday.
I’ve never left this lake with a limit of any one species, but what does usually happen, is that we leave the lake with a handful of larger than average size fish. That works great for multi-day trips like the 5-day session with Dick and Paul because we can harvest a few fish each from several lakes instead of lots of them from any single lake. What I hoped for yesterday was to get a few walleyes for dinner, a few walleyes for larder, maybe some crappies and one decent pike for the smoker.
During the morning, the plan was coming together quite nicely. We caught several walleyes at each stop, many of them small, but a few of them were “eaters” and a few more were the desired 18–20-inch size for the trip home. We caught some nice bass too, not all as nice as the one you see Paul holding here, but they were all chunky, and strong fighters. Panfish were active, and we caught several crappies too, but yesterday, the size structure was not favorable, several 8-to-10-inch crappies were the best we could muster.
Slow trolling while fishing the weed edges using jigs and minnows was the only presentation we used. But I did run into a friend on the lake, and he, with his family were trolling spinners along the weed edges and catching fish too. Truthfully, I’d have given spinners a try, but I’d left all of my ugly Sticks at home and couldn’t get set up with the necessary gear for trolling.
Somewhere around 1:00 PM the conditions caught up to me. Sunshine, calms seas and a large, Saturday crowd combined to cause a slow-down in the action. From then on, we picked up odds and ends but never had another flurry of action. At about 3:30, we discussed options, one of them being to call it quits early, and save some energy for the rest of our trip. That idea didn’t require much of a sales pitch, and within minutes we were headed toward the landing.
Rarely, if ever, have we decided to bag the evening fish fry either. But fueled by Florio’s restaurant’s decision to discontinue their fish dinner with customer supplied walleye, yesterday we decided to bag the fish dinner too.
Apparently, the chain of events which lead to my early arrival home was divine intervention. At about 6:00 PM, our cherished yellow lab, Sandy, had what appeared to be what may have been a stroke. Without anybody in the Grand Rapids area to help, we were forced into an emergency trip to Duluth and at about 8:30 yesterday evening, Sandy drew her final breath. Surrounded by our daughter Joelle, Susan and me, she knew that those who loved her most were with her, wishing her well on her journey home. She died with a smile on her face, and I’ll always remember that moment.
We have been incredibly blessed to have had Sandy in our lives. She was the most gentle and patient dog I’ve ever known. Our grandkids could do anything with, to, and around her without as much as raising an eyebrow. They'd sit on her, rolled around with her on the floor and did whatever else babies could think about doing. She was trustworthy, personified, (well, except for around food on the counter top) and set the standard by which all other dogs will be measured, at least for our family.
For me, regrets about not having more time to take her hunting have nagged at me perennially. But I was blessed by having a dog who never judged me for my shortcomings, despite deserving a much better human. Today, I hope she's back in that field near Morris, MN where we spent her last hunting days together. "Go find 'em Sandy, go find 'em."
If you paused, even for a second and thought about saying a prayer for Sandy, and everyone who will miss her, then you’ve already done it, and for that, I thank you!
Today, I’ll be taking a shot at finding some larger size crappies. Dick and Paul have good memories from a certain Deer River area lake, and maybe we can re-live a few of those, I'll let you know. — Jeff Sundin, The Early Bird Fishing Guide Office Cell Call or Text 218-245-9858 or Email on Facebook on X
Brainerd MN Area Fishing Report June 1, 2025
"Fishing in the brainerd lakes area has been on fire this week.Walleyes have been spread out all over the place in "small pods" consisting of 6 to 8 fish. Walleyes have been in depths ranging from 6 to 18 feet of water. Structures include both areas of mixed weeds, or where there's a hard sand bottom; both have been the top producers.
The fish (I find) on the sand have been larger in size when compared to the walleyes encountered along the weedlines, currently.
This week 90% of the walleyes have been taken on a jig and minnow. Plastics have been working as well and a bobber and crawler has produced a couple fish. With the warm up a big hatch has happened and I will predict that it will soon switch to a leech bite. Until then carry minnows, leeches, and crawlers. Water temps are around 61 degrees on most lakes. Good luck and tight lines " — Joe Billiar, Crooked Hat Guide Service
Wired2Fish May 31, 2025 "[VIDEO] Premium Electronics Mounts: Beatdown Outdoors Walk-Through"
"In this video, Ryan DeChaine walks through how he upgraded his fishing boat using innovative mounting solutions from Beatdown Outdoors. The focus? Total flexibility, rock-solid rigidity, and unmatched accessibility—for any angler, in any position.
Every mount in this build prioritizes adjustability. Beatdown Outdoors offers mounts that rotate, tilt, raise, and lower effortlessly, letting you fine-tune your electronics to match how and where you fish. Whether standing at the bow or seated at the stern, these mounts make it easy to find the ideal viewing angle. You can bring displays closer, shift them out of the way, or set them at just the right height—without tools or hassle. That flexibility means fewer compromises and a better fishing experience for everyone on board.
Rigid Performance That Lasts: While the setup is flexible, the structure is ..." View Video and Learn More >> [VIDEO] Premium Electronics Mounts: Beatdown Outdoors Walk-Through
Spring 2025 "Don't Land A Citation! Avoid These Embarrasing and Sometimes Costly Fishing-Boating Violations"
Every year, I’m amazed by the number of encounters I have with folks who commit innocent, but potentially expensive, fishing violations. Admittedly, many of the violations do not amount to anything like “crimes of the century”, but they can be both embarrasing, and costly. AND, if they’re serious enough to warrant a citation, then they’re serious enough for us to talk about here.
With the assistance of Minnesota DNR Enforcement, Lieutenant Colonel, Robert Gorecki, and Communications coordinator, Joe Albert, I put together a list of the more common offenses anglers make every year. To get assessments from varying geographic regions, Albert consulted with conservation offers (CO-s) from across Minnesota.
One caveat, the list I’m presenting does not cover every conceivable fishing violation, for that, you NEED to ..." Read Full Report >>
May 1, 2025 "Avoid Embarrasing and Costly Fishing and Boating Violations"
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