1. Swanson's Bait and Tackle

    Fishing Report - May 27th
    Fishing over the weekend was great for most of the fishermen out there. As with most Holiday Weekends, the lakes were full of boats, ...more but if you got away from the crowds, fishing was great. With the sunshine walleye were a bit tougher to find than they were last week, but plenty were caught. Crappie and bass fishing was fantastic over the weekend, and we heard a ton of great reports of shallow water action.

    The fishing on Leech has been pretty steady, and we've heard reports of fish caught on anything from shiners to crawlers. They were a touch deeper over the weekend with the sun, but most of the fish were still caught in less than 12 feet. The fish still seem to be schooled up pretty good, and if you can find the fish you can sit on them and pick them all day. Trolling cranks is also still producing in the late evenings.

    Largemouth and smallmouth bass are in their spawn/prespawn patterns right now. They are all very shallow and very aggressive. Bouncing the bottom with tubes, jigs, and dropshot rigs have been working well. We've seen a lot of big fish, and the fishing should remain good for the next couple weeks. They are in the process of spawning so try not to play them out too much and get those big females back so they can finish spawning.

    Crappie fishing has been top notch this week as the fish have really started stacking up in the shallow water. With the warm forecast, things should move along pretty fast though so get out there while it is good! Great reports coming from Ten Mile, Woman, Webb, Pleasant, and Leech. Sunfish are getting ready to move shallow to; this week should bring some of the big gills in.
    Good Luck to all! Tight lines

  2. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    Fishing Report - May 12th
    Pretty good fishing success was reported over the weekend across many of the area lakes. Walleye weren't biting like crazy, but larger ...more fish seemed to be snapping a little better. We heard of many fish caught over 25" over the weekend. Crappie action was pretty decent over the weekend too, but for the most part they've been staging off the edges of the shallow bays. There were also some big pike caught over the weekend as well.
    Despite the lack of shiners and minimal rainbow supply, the minnow bite went on! Fatheads were the name of the game this weekend, and guys pulling crawlers and leeches had success as well though. Get in shallow on these cooler cloudy days; 5'-12' has been most common, but deeper fish are being picked up too. Depends more on the lake to nail down the depth. Leech is always a shallower lake bite, and lakes like Woman and Baby are usually deeper bites.
    Crappie are definitely still off the edges on most lakes getting ready to move into the shallows, but some of the smaller, warm lakes have been producing fish in the shallow structure. Fishermen chasing the crappie found some big fish in those deeper waters though! Slip bobbers and minnows are perfect on those deeper fish because they are a little more concentrated, but once they start hitting shallower water switch up to plastics or minnow tipped jigs to cover ground as they will be more spread out.
    Some of the guys trolling for walleye with bigger crankbaits have been tying into some big pike on Woman, Pine Mountain, and Leech. Dragging sucker minnows has worked well also, and you have a shot at a hog walleye with those bigger sucker minnows. Once we get some warmer water, bombing baits on structure will start working a little bit better.
    Adam and Aaron from Swanson's made it out Sunday night of opening weekend for a bit and were able to tie into a nice fish. (1/16 oz black jig and a nice Swanson's Bait & Tackle fathead - 17' of water) Not a bad way to start off the year! Check out the short video clip below.
    http://youtu.be/4_135AfI7LI

  3. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    The ice fishing traffic has greatly reduced in the last week. Poor ice conditions are preventing many 4-wheelers and larger vehicles from accessing the main ice, ...more and many of the fishermen are hanging it up for the year as a result. Those fishermen that are continuing to go have found great fishing though.
    Panfish have been moving shallow and are snapping really well. We've heard 16' or less, and some lakes they've been right under the ice. Whitefish have been cruising under the ice on Ten Mile, and that can produce some fun action in the early morning hours.
    We will continue to update the ice conditions as the lakes get closer and closer to going out. Right now there is still a lot of ice, and it is just starting to pull away from the edges. Some more sunshine and warmer weather will get things moving pretty rapidly towards open water. Currently we are about 2 weeks ahead of last year, so we can expect to have an on schedule fishing opener if we dodge any long cold snaps.
    Good luck and stay safe on the ice if you choose to go out!

  4. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    Heres a nice perch from a week ago. jigging rapalas are working well right now...

  5. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    Fishing Report - March 31st

    Leech remains one of the jumbo perch hot spots, though the best action has shifted around on the lakes. Fishing pressure seems ...more to have moved the perch into less active areas. We did best this weekend when getting away from the crowds. Many fish in the 10"-12" range cruising 5'-10' in Walker Bay, and out on the points in the main lake. Woman has also been good, and Winni is producing perch though it doesn't seem to be as hot of a bite as Leech.

    We had great success bringing fish in with all sorts of jigging spoons and swimmers. We sized down once we found the fish to get more consistent takes from the perch; they seemed to just peck at the larger stuff. Minnows produced well, and we had great luck on waxworms also.

    Tullibee reports are increasing significantly, though there doesn't seem to be too many people camped out there yet. You have to get out there before mid afternoon as the bite is best the earlier you get. We know of several groups that made it out over the weekend with some buckets full of nice fish. We spend a couple hours out there in the later part of the day on Sunday, and we picked off a few fish, but it was slow going. Earlier is best. The access point is rough, but we had no trouble getting on and off.

    Panfish reports are slower, and the fish we're hearing about are still pretty deep. Seems like they are schooled up tight because you either do very well or catch very few. Be sure to use quick falling jigs, or extra weights because picking as many fish out of a passing school is the difference between a decent day and a great day.

  6. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    The perch reports have slowed down some over the last week. We're not sure if it is weather related or just fishing pressure related. A group of us headed ...more up to Leech on the 23rd and we couldn't find consistent fish in the normal places where everyone had been going, but we eventually tracked them down in low fishing pressure areas. The bite was VERY good, but it was some work to get on the fish. Winni and Woman are in the same boat right now it sounds like. The fish are there and biting, you just have to cover ground to get on them.

    Jigging raps have been a great bait for us on these Jumbos this winter. Normally we use them as an attractor, and you close the deal on live bait, but this year the perch are closing on the Jigging Raps. If they aren't hitting the hooks, just throw a waxie on the treble to focus their hits. The flashy action just does a great job pulling the roaming schools into your zone. Smaller jigs with waxies and minnows work well, but they just seem to be responding faster to the bigger flash.

    Still very few reports on tullibee in the area. Some fish are getting caught, but they have definitely not amped up much at all. You can find them if you really want to hit them, but concentrate on the early mornings. The schools are loose, and you usually only see 1 or 2 at a time. The weather just doesn't want to warm up and get the fish going.

    We have been hearing some great reports on many of the lakes in the area for sunfish and crappie. It had been pretty much restricted to many of the smaller lakes for the last week or two. We started getting more reports for the bays on Leech, Woman, Little Boy, Birch, Pleasant, and Pine Mountain. Early to mid morning for the Gills and evenings are the best for the crappie.

  7. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    Everyone seemed to hunker down for this cold weather we've had over the last week, and we haven't seen too many fishermen. Fishing had been fantastic leading ...more up to this cold spell, and we have had a few reports that it had remained pretty good throughout. With this upcoming warm snap the fishing should fire up again, and the perch and panfish should be feeding actively.

    Things have calmed down since Eelpout weekend, and fishing on Walker Bay seems to be picking back up again after all the noise. We expect that Walker Bay will continue to be a hot spot up on Leech, and Goose Island, Duck Points, Grassy Point, and Kabekona Bay should all be great fishing as well.

    Word on the panfish is that the Crappie are biting well in the mornings and evenings on many of the smaller area lakes. Best bite seems to be late in the evenings just before dark on glow jigs and crappie minnows. Take advantage of the schools of biting fish when they come through. A great combination right now is a bobber setup for a deadstick and work a jig rod to the side; the deadstick will get some of the finicky fish to commit to a bite when the jig stick won't get them.

    Still not much word on the tullibee up on Leech here. Once we get in a consistent warm pattern they should start kicking on. There have been a few guys hitting the holes up there, and they have been bringing in a few in the early mornings. The all-day-bite has not gotten going yet.

    We'll leave the video up another week as this area should be hot coming up this week and weekend. We were in 12' of water in the north side of Walker Bay. Great fishing, but the key is to keep hole hopping to get bigger numbers of fish; they still seem loosely schooled.

  8. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    Another cold week with the occasional warm day to get out on the ice. Fishing has really started to pick up this last week. Last weekend was great fishing, and ...more this weekend so far has been very good. We're expecting great walleye fishing up on Leech Lake over the weekend; they may even be able to track down a few perch.

    Panfishing remained very good over this week, and it hasn't shown signs of slowing down. Good crappie action late in the evenings, and also a great midday sunfish bite. The fish are schooled up and come through in waves, so be ready to take advantage and pop as many fish as you can from one group.

    We've also heard of some big pike getting caught. Upper 30 inch fish on tipups have been caught on some of the bigger lakes like Winni, Woman, and Leech. Haven't heard many reports on the spearing front, but the angling has been great!

  9. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    We have a heat wave hitting the northwoods, we're 9 degrees in the positive right now! Looks like we're going to be hitting the 20s and 30s too so the fishing ...more should start to pick up. We've been pretty slow the last couples weeks, and most fisherman have been heading further north.

    The lakes are all becoming more and more fishable with the cold we've had. Inch thicknesses have improved significantly and slush is disappearing. Most of the action has been up on Leech Lake, but Woman, Birch, and some of the smaller lakes in the area have been starting to produce.

    The most common report we are getting from most everywhere is that you can regularly go out and pick up 1 to 2 walleye a night. Some nights are better than others, but there is decent action most nights. This warmer weather should amp them up some, and fish should start getting a little more active.

    Crappie and panfish are showing up here and there in the deeper water. Most of the fish have been working off the bottom rather than suspending, but we might see a change here in the next few days. Small crappie minnows and waxies should be the ticket. Glow jigs of all types seem to work the best day or night with the darker conditions under the ice with all of the snow.

    As we get a few more fisherman over the next couple days we should get more information on ice and fishing conditions.

  10. Swanson's Bait and Tackle
    - Leech Lake

    Adam R. with a 13 inch crappie caught on a St. Croix Legend Silver 24 inch light action equipped with a Shimano Sahara 500

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We are located in Northern Minnesota in the small town of Hackensack. We have a wide selection of tackle, rods, reels, bait, gift items and convenience ...more items. If you need it, we got it! We take pride in our customer service so stop by today and we'll get you what you're looking for! Tight Lines

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