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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | Has anyone fished leech lately thinking of heading up Saturday |
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Posts: 38
| I was out there last Sunday. Water temp was 73-78. We saw 4 fish. The amount of fishing pressure on each spot was very frustrating. At this point I'm not sure if I would fish it on a weekend again, unless it was my only option. This time of the year the fish will be on both rock reefs and the weed beds. we saw fish on both. |
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Posts: 1288
Location: Walker, MN | I agree with Steveessie, the rocks have gotten pounded over the past month. We are catching some fish but are working very hard for them. Water temps were 77-79 in the afternoons so we were fishing early mornings, but the recent rain cooled things down a few ticks. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | Thanks fo the info |
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| Fished it last week. Caught a 43" off the rocks on Wednesday and 51" off of a large boring flat on Friday. Burning double eight bucktails was the key for me. I have very little experience on Leech and spent very little time on the water.
Edited by Cfollow 8/5/2016 6:07 AM
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Posts: 59
| What part of Lech Lake were you fishing? |
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Posts: 200
Location: Twin Cities | Leech has been very slow this year for us. Fished several weekends and seen only a few fish and only put a small one in the boat. Not sure what we are doing wrong |
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Posts: 92
| Its been decent all season but last couple weeks have been a bit tougher with the fronts and whatnot. i am there every weekend and i can say without a doubt that the pressure has been incredible this year compared to last few. Maybe because metro water is hot? |
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Location: MN | We must have hit it on the right weekend. Fished it last weekend for a day and a half and got 3 and lost one and realistically could have put 5 in the boat but I had a buddy with who is new to muskies and he messed a couple up. Other than one guy teaching his two young kids the fine art of cutting people off the pressure wasn't bad at all. Water temps were 69-77 depending on time of day and location. Found our fish on rocks and rock sand transitions. Never really fished the weeds or reeds because we started contacting fish right away but talked to some guys who were contacting fish in them and saw plenty of boats working them. Moon phases were key for us. |
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Posts: 833
| I'm heading up there for family vacation next week. If anyone would be willing to share some details (PM is fine) I'd be appreciative. General stuff is fine, the chase is the most enjoyable part for me. |
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Posts: 386
| Just got back from a 5 day trip on Leech and it was the best fishing I've ever experienced out there in 13 years. The vast majority of our fish came from sand spots, but they were REALLY shallow...like under 2' most of the time. |
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Posts: 42
Location: North MN | Heading up to Leech Lake this week on Wednesday for a couple days of fishing. Sounds like fish are in a lot of different areas with people getting them on rocks and sand. Planning on throwing mostly double 10's and topwater with a little trolling mixed in during lunch. If anyone has any help or pointers for a guy whose still learning I would really appreciate it. |
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Posts: 386
| You are picking the best days to fish IMO. Weather forecast is showing scattered storms all week and a nasty cold front moving in on friday. My only offer would be to skip the trolling but there's always a chance with a bait in the water. |
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Posts: 92
| Stay shallow.
Edited by Muskydanno621 8/16/2016 6:54 AM
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Posts: 38
| I was on Leech yesterday 4pm till 11pm. Saw 5 fish, all on rocks. The amount of fishing pressure is outrageous on that lake, or at least the areas I was fishing. Most spots had at least 2 if not more boats. Water temps were 73-79. |
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Posts: 386
| Did you have much wind on the rocks yesterday? Seemed pretty calm to me |
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Posts: 233
Location: Iowa | Please take this the wrong way but If your going to whine about the pressure, why get on here and give a report? |
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Posts: 38
| jwelch - 8/18/2016 8:43 AM
Please take this the wrong way but If your going to whine about the pressure, why get on here and give a report?
Guess I didn't realize giving a report (which involves all aspects of being on the water...i.e. fish seen/caught, weather, fishing pressure, spots, etc) is considered "whining". I usually call it observation but to each his own. I would want to know if a lake I was planning to fish was getting pounded by other anglers (esp. if I planned to travel several hour AND had other options). Observation my friend, observation. |
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Posts: 38
| Pat Hoolihan - 8/18/2016 7:39 AM
Did you have much wind on the rocks yesterday? Seemed pretty calm to me
The wind was pretty calm from 4 until about 8:30ish...it picked up from then on with a nice little chop at maybe 5-10mph from the South. Just an observation, not whining  |
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Posts: 386
| Haha, gotcha. I never thought you were one bit, I thought it was a good report. Never done well on the rocks unless it was boiling. |
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Posts: 233
Location: Iowa | Maybe whine was a strong word...... I probably should of said gripe?? You had two posts where you talked about your "observations" on fishing pressure and how frustrating it was in the first one. I totally agree with you, nothing like taking a 15 or 20 mile tour of spots just to find a boat on every one of them. But I'm not on the internet talking about how well I did when I get back from there either.
I think a lot of the people that read fishing reports don't care whether its getting pounded or not, they just read about the action that people are having and that's all they remember.
So you can call it what you want.
Glad its going well up there - two long weeks before I'm able to get back.
Edited by jwelch 8/18/2016 9:38 PM
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Posts: 793
Location: Ames, Iowa | Quick report- the warmup a couple weeks ago created some active fish. Then the storms blew in and the water temp was back to 72. Slowed muskie fishing a lot. Saw fish on weeds and rock and heard they had come into the reeds ( but I can tell you the perch had not gone into the reeds yet, so I doubt the reed bite had started then). Few active follows, no large fish follows. Going back September 15-19.
I have been fishing Leech since 1992, and just got back from a 3 week stay at my place there. Honestly I have never considered the pressure on spots there to be a concern and I would never use the word pounded relative to this lake. The "spots" on Leech are huge compared to other lakes. There are hundreds/thousands of spots there. The two points area is more than 2,000 feet long. That entire west shore going up to the New Campground is more than 4 miles long. I showed up at the Red Rocks last week and there was a boat that came in after us. We started our drift north to south then went back and did it again. That boat was never closer than a quarter mile, drifting behind us. The North Bar is huge and had 3 other boats on it and we never even got close. The west side of Pelican is more than a mile long and the flats go out almost 2,000 feet from the island. Submarine and the Annex is a huge area, almost 100 acres itself. The only tight spot on the main lake is Pipe and Little Pipe. If someone is in the saddle between the islands there, I just hit the 9 foot flat east of the big island or the dropoff to the east. That's a big area too. My son caught a 41 right out in front of Pikedale's swim dock on the east shore last week. Point is, there are big fish everywhere and anywhere on that lake. I have a completely different idea of what pressured means- one boat after another on a smaller area to the point where the fish become negative. Never seen that on Leech. |
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Posts: 38
| I lived and guided on Leech for 4 years. In those 4 years I saw pressure but IMO it wasn't bad at all. I have not been on the lake for the last 7 years and started fishing it again this year. I am comparing what I saw 7 yrs ago with today, so maybe I'm just not use to the amount of fishing pressure compared to what it was those years ago. We hit Pelican reef (3 boats and 1 on red rocks). Went to North Bar, 3 boats, went to both Mokey's...3 boats and 1 boat, went to Big Rock (3 boats), went to Huddles, 3 boats...that;s a lot of pressure to me (but agian I'm comparing it to 7 yrs ago - maybe that's just the norm). Not trying to "whine" or "gripe" or whatever, just my observations compared to what I have seen in the past. I plan to still fish it becaue we know the fish bite when they want too. I'm not saying the fishing pressure is effecting the productivity of the lake, but rather just a little dissapointing to go from spot to spot (long distances) only to find boats on each spots. Like I said, we still saw fish and I was surprised we didn't stick one. |
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Posts: 358
| was up for a couple days as well. I guess I would take the pressure into consideration and definitely have a plan B if you want to fish the main lake spots. Either have some secondary spots or be willing to fish early / late to avoid some of it. Or if the pressure doesn't bother you, just fish through it.
I wish I could say I had all nice occurrences as djwilliams had at Red Rocks, but there as many rude cutoffs than pleasant meetings unfortunately. And I had a couple very nice conversations with folks on the water and l am more than happy to share intel. I actually even showed one family the exact bait I was using as they were having trouble moving fish.
But if / when you are fishing a side of a bar and someone pulls up on the other end and starts fishing towards you, or jumps in front of you, that's just a d!ck move if you ask me. And it gets even better when "that" boat tries to land a medusa on your deck and give you the bird, like your the "issue" lol. takes all kinds.
To me it comes down to efficiency...if your odds go up to contact a fish on secondary spots then be ready to fish them. Right now on Leech I'd say have handful of secondary spots in mind. There are fish on primary spots but with the pressure the windows are small and your not going to get a clean shot at going back to a fish most likely.
If I was going back today...I'd spend more time in the sand. Especially in the morning. |
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Posts: 793
Location: Ames, Iowa | Sounds like I ought to have spent time on sand too. I understand the dick moves thing. Seen em, but for a long time I have had places to myself for the most part except down at Pipe or Kabekona. |
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Posts: 233
Location: Iowa | My family has a place up there for 29 years now, been Musky fishing it for 15. What you describe is terrible pressure to me also. Was it during the week of the Musky Derby? When I was up there in July there were quite a few boats but wasn't quite that bad.
I would say I have a pretty large bubble. Unless they are walleye guys - If someone is on red rock or sub, I don't even stop. If even one is on pelican reef, I'm pretty reluctant to stop unless they are on one end or the other. I have a hard time pulling up even within the length of football field or two and start fishing. Maybe it is the signs of the time and I need to adjust my bubble a little. There have been a few times I fished a lot closer than normal and that was during the frank Schneider when we used to fish it and it drove me nuts fishing like that.
I don't mind sharing information but not on a public forum on the internet. I don't care how big Leech is and how many spots there are - it can get pretty small in a hurry.
Edited by jwelch 8/21/2016 5:45 PM
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Posts: 815
Location: Waukee, IA | You guys think some of the extra pressure is from people trying to fish whatever cool water was left during the prolonged heat? |
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Posts: 92
| Definitely some of it tkuntz. Water temps in my area have been peaking at about 77 this summer but this last weekend with the rain and cool nights dropped to 73 then back to 69 in spots. I dropped my nighthawk probe down in twenty feet of water on friday and got 75.5 degrees from top to bottom.
I have seen many more unfamiliar boats than ever out there this season. Most of them i usually know as regulars, but lots of new faces this year. Reed areas were bumper boats this last weekend out there i can imagine rocks are ridiculous as well. That being said i still think its a far cry from the metro or V traffic even with the increase this year. |
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Posts: 2389
Location: Chisholm, MN | Muskydanno621 - 8/22/2016 7:49 AM
Definitely some of it tkuntz. Water temps in my area have been peaking at about 77 this summer but this last weekend with the rain and cool nights dropped to 73 then back to 69 in spots. I dropped my nighthawk probe down in twenty feet of water on friday and got 75.5 degrees from top to bottom.
I have seen many more unfamiliar boats than ever out there this season. Most of them i usually know as regulars, but lots of new faces this year. Reed areas were bumper boats this last weekend out there i can imagine rocks are ridiculous as well. That being said i still think its a far cry from the metro or V traffic even with the increase this year.
Yeah couldn't have been as bad as V Friday night! 2-3 boats on every spot at moonrise. Makes me want head to mille lacs for some privacy! |
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Posts: 92
| I don't doubt that a bit Kirby! Everytime i start coming up with new four letter words because I've been cut off by someone i remember how bad it truly could be. I could be on Tonka or the V every weekend. Even the traffic on the V in October amazes me. |
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Posts: 38
| I'll be heading to Leech tomorrow afternoon to fish the evening/night bite. I'll let you all know how it goes with fish and traffic. |
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Posts: 386
| Fished Friday afternoon for 6 hours before the majority of the front moved in. I managed 2 fish and didn't see another fish. Traffic was virtually non existent but I fish mostly secondary spots now and avoid community spots unless it's a weekday or the wind pushes people off. |
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Posts: 3
| I know it can depend on weather, but generally, when does Leech experience turnover. |
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Posts: 1288
Location: Walker, MN | yeti75 - 8/23/2016 7:45 PM
I know it can depend on weather, but generally, when does Leech experience turnover.
Walker Bay, Agency Bay, Kabekona Bay and Shingobee Bay typically turn over around October 1st on average. |
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Posts: 38
| Masqui-ninja - 8/24/2016 7:52 AM
yeti75 - 8/23/2016 7:45 PM
I know it can depend on weather, but generally, when does Leech experience turnover.
Walker Bay, Agency Bay, Kabekona Bay and Shingobee Bay typically turn over around October 1st on average.
What Masqu-ninja said. The mainl lake doesn't turnover, or not in my experience as it isn't deep like the other parts of the lake mentioned above. |
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Leech