August 18th, 2026
***Fishing Report***
Walleye - Trolling continues to be the name of the game for anglers looking to consistently catch walleyes. Anglers continue to find walleyes out on flats in that 15-25ft depth range, with crankbaits on the smaller side like #5 or #7. Perch, purple and firetiger were popular colors for crankbaits. If you're struggling to find walleyes, trolling anglers also found walleye hanging out on sunken islands in similar depths in 15-25ft of water. Anglers fishing out here have mainly been trolling lindy rigs, tipped with a crawler, in gold, orange and perch colors. As with both techniques, some anglers are crushing it on either while other anglers are really struggling. Typical August walleye fishing.
Smallmouth Bass - Smallmouth Bass anglers continue to report excellent fishing for smallies right now. Beetle spins, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, in-line spinners, urchins and whopper ploppers are all catching big numbers of smallies right now. Anglers have been focusing on rivers, river mouths, main lake points with large boulders, around islands and sunken islands, again with big boulders. Biggest key here has been the big boulders. Find big boulders, find the smallies.
Panfish - Crappie and sunfish anglers continue to report excellent fishing for both species. Crappies continue to be found around the thickest stands of cabbage you can find during the day. Anglers have simply been dropping hair jigs or jig/twisters on the shaded side looking for active crappies. As evenings approach, crappies will leave the cabbage and actively searching for food in and around weedbeds. When this happens beetle spins, jig/twister or jig/paddle tail, fished 1-2ft below the surface has been deadly. Sunfish anglers have also been reporting good fishing in the weedbeds. Anglers have mainly been focusing on holes within these weedbeds and weedlines for the sunfish. Red worms fished under a bobber, in these spots, have been deadly!
Stream Trout - Thanks to some cooler days and nights, stream trout reports are really starting to pick up on area stream trout lakes, especially for shore anglers. Several anglers reported catching nice rainbows while floating a crawler about 5-10ft below the surface, during the mornings and evening hours on their favorite lake. Anglers fishing from a boat continue to report easy fishing with cowbells, tipped with a small spoon or small crankbait. Key depth for trolling has been 15-30ft of water, regardless of how deep you are fishing.
Lake Trout - Lake trout anglers also have noticed an uptick in lake trout activity this last week, again likely thanks to cooler daytime and nighttime temperatures starting to cool off the water. Anglers have been finding success trolling large spoons with either dipsy divers or down riggers in that 40-60ft depth range on area lake trout lakes. Anglers fishing from a canoe have been having success vertically jigging large tubes or bucktails while drifting over 40-100ft of water. It’s important to note here that anglers jigging aggressively have been catching the majority of lakers here.
Pike - While still somewhat limited on the numbers of big pike reports, anglers are starting to run into some big pike once again while targeting other species. Locations seem to be mixed between shoreline structure and sunken islands, so depending on the location you are fishing will determine what kind of lures you should be using. If you fishing shorelines, large spoons, buzzbaits, large whopper ploppers have all been very effective. Out on the sunken islands it has been a little different story. Large crankbaits, large swim baits and even large tubes have been triggering big pike.
An angler holds up a nice smallmouth bass caught on an Ely area lake near the BWCA. Mid summer smallmouth fishing has been producing solid fish in the Ely MN area. Swing by Arrowhead Outdoors – voted #1 bait and tackle shop in MN – for fresh bait, jigs, and everything you need to get on the water.