June 11th, 2024

***Fishing Report***

Walleye - After yet another week of high winds, walleye fishing has become more of a hit or miss affair. Anglers catching walleyes continue to catch walleyes with a jig and minnow, paddle tails or lindy rigs tipped with a minnow. Wind blown points, shallow flats and weed beds in 8-12 feet of water have been holding active walleyes. Key times to fish these spots have been early in the day or late in the evening. Gold, orange/black and pink/white have been the hot colors.

Smallmouth - Smallmouth bass are now either on their beds or off and the bite has been heating up fast! Topwater bite on many of the area's best smallmouth lakes has been fantastic right now. Chatterbaits, in-line spinners, Ned rigs and wacky worms have equally been effective on smallies. Anglers should be looking to shallow rocky shorelines and islands, around downed trees for the best bass fishing. 

Crappies - Several reports of dark colored crappies have been reported from several area lakes, so if you know what that means, you know what that means. Simple crappie minnow fished under a bobber has been very effective. 

Pike - With the high winds many anglers seemed out calm bays. Here they found active pike that were more than happy to bite. Anglers pitched heavy spoons, buzz baits and floating a large suckers under a bobber with great success. 

Stream Trout - Stream Trout anglers continue to find active trout cruising shorelines. Warmer water temps have stream trout starting to slide down a little now, so anglers have been setting their baits a little deeper in order to keep catching trout. Laying a crawler on the bottom, with some trout dough to help float it off the bottom has also been very effective. Anglers fishing from a boat have simply been trolling small crankbaits and spoons to catch active trout. 

Lake Trout - Lake trout anglers had a tough week, last week as high winds made it less than enjoyable to be out there. Trolling was the name of the game this last week. Anglers only needed to get their baits down to about 20-30 feet of water to catch trout. Leadcoring medium depth crankbaits and even jerk baits, was effective on lakers. Anglers trolled over deep mud flats, points and around sunken islands.

Family walleye magic! This young angler from Ely, MN proudly holds a nice walleye caught on June 11th, 2024, right in the boat on a BWCA-connected lake. Kid’s grinnin' big in a red hoodie with "S" cap while grippin' the fish by the lip—walleye's golden flanks glow in the sun, dark back mottled, orange fins flared, big eye starin', and mouth showin' the leech hookup. Dad stands behind smilin' proud in a gray hoodie, boat bobbin' on calm blue water with thick pines and rocky shores under a partly cloudy June sky—classic Northwoods family scene. Walleye were hittin' jigs tipped leeches near structure as they fed post-spawn—steady bites and easy keepers. This catch captures the joy: kid's first big one, dad’s pride, scenic boat vibes, and the rush of a great fish. At Arrowhead Outdoors, stock up on premium fishing tackle includin' leeches and jigs for walleye success, plus hunting gear and camping gear for your Ely adventures. Come see us for the gear and tips!