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Posts: 1828
| I'll do the "In a Nutshell" first: If you were inexperienced on both of these lakes and had to choose Cass or Leech to fish for just a few days spread out in the summer, which would you choose?
I want to get some experience on one of these this year. They're both about an hour from my house. How would you compare the two in these categories:
1) Daytime "bite" vs. low-light "bite" (generally speaking)
2) Weather-dependent bite
3) Seasonal-dependent bite
4) ratio of "good spots" to "bad spots"
I'll expound on those categories to, hopefully, make more sense:
1) I've heard fishing Leech can be equally good all day long. That is, it doesn't necessarily have overall better action after dark. More applicable - it is not a waste of time to fish all day. (I know it's never a "waste of time", but some lakes are almost always WAY better at low-light or after-dark).
2) For example, I've heard that if you want to fish the mid-lake rock reefs on Leech, wait for windy days.
3) Another Leech example - I've heard you're best off waiting until mid-July to fish out here. Not that the fish don't exist in early season, but they're harder to find or catch.
4) I'm wondering if anyone has the impression, or maybe even enough data to say, that either of these lakes have way more "good-looking" spots than actual good-producing spots. This is probably the thing that can be most frustrating fishing a new lake: when there's so much structure that looks great, but there are more subtle things that distinguish the actually-good spots/areas from the seemingly-good spots/areas.
Thanks for any insight. I'm leaning toward Leech because I did slightly scratch the surface last summer, but it's still intimidating as heck. I'm used to fishing small water. |
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Posts: 540
Location: Leech Lake, Walker MN | IMO living here and guiding here 12 yrs the biggest fish in leech are in Walker Bay
Wind is not a big factor no running around just fish it all, all shore line fishin some humps and great cabbage agency narrows is a mazz of structure sand bars and fish were the wind is coming into shore you are in the game all the time and no running around just sayin |
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Posts: 162
Location: Metro, MN | I fish both cass and leech regularly and both are excellent fisheries with trophy muskies and good numbers. I've personally caught more fish out of cass and consider myself very experienced on that body of water, but when I do go to leech, I've had success and have truly seen some absolute giants. I have yet to land one of those 54+ inch fish that reside throughout leech. |
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Posts: 1828
| Thanks a lot, Don. I have yet to get in Walker Bay - hopefully this summer. What you've said gives me confidence, since most of my fishing to date is just on shoreline weeds.
MuskyKarma,
You are the type of person I was hoping would chime in. Which would you say is a better option for someone inexperienced to spend just a few days (not in-a-row) throughout the summer? Like one or two Saturdays in July, and one or two in August. |
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Posts: 162
Location: Metro, MN | I would say the better option would be to fish Leech Lake. Find cabbage beds throughout Walker Bay, Agency Narrows, and Agency Bay. There are always plenty of muskies located throughout with a chance at a trophy fish. Cass is very structurally advanced and takes some time to learn. I wouldn't consider either lake dependent on low light bites, however low light periods have generally produced more action for me on both lakes. Ive also boated several fish and had better success at dark/night bite on leech. Both are very clear lakes and natural colored baits are typically the go-to for me and the later the season, the more the bite picks up for both lakes, at least for me. Hope that helps
Edited by MuskyKarma 3/4/2014 12:44 PM
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Posts: 1828
| That does help, thanks a lot. |
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Posts: 69
| Depends on the day take a look at the last few years of results on the frank Schneider tournament Both lakes spit out numbers and big fish. I think cass is way easier to figure out. I have seen way less but bigger fish on leech.
Edited by northernmn 3/4/2014 10:01 PM
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Posts: 767
Location: Ames, Iowa | I think there's no bad time of the day to fish on Leech. If you want wind there is plenty of it on the main lake, just wait awhile. I prefer the lower-light bite of evening near bullrushes or on the North Bar/Pelican/Pipe Island areas. One thing I have learned over many years is that there are big fish all over this lake. |
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Posts: 1247
Location: Walker, MN | Yep, Leech is like ten lakes in one and there are good sized Muskies all over this lake. As far as early season, find some warmer and more sheltered water and you are golden. Cass is a fun lake to fish though. I always found it easy (or lucky) to put that first fish in the boat on Cass. |
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Posts: 1828
| Thanks for weighing in, everyone. Good info. |
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Cass vs. Leech