The early sturgeon harvest season opens on Rainy River on Friday (April 24th), and it’s a great bite! If you’ve never hooked into one, now is the time.  Access continues to improve, with Birchdale, Frontier, Vidas, and Wheeler’s Point all open. Not every access is open yet, so it’s worth checking before you make the drive.  Tactics and essential knowledge Water levels climbed a bit this past week but they are on their way down again and still lower than last year.  Lower wate

55" lake sturgeon from Rainy River Lake ice is melting fast and water is already appearing near shore on many lakes.  Some small ponds are already ice free. The sun and wind over the next two days will accelerate this process significantly. While there is still very thick midlake ice, it’s still safe to say the ice will go out earlier than I first thought. Can’t wait that long? Fishing is still hot in South Dakota and on the Mississippi but, while the catch and release walley

See more USGS data by clicking here. While I don’t recommend venturing out on the ice, locally, cold temperatures are doing little to speed up the ice out process!  Detroit Lakes’ anglers are truly in limbo.  Die-hards have open water options, though.  It’s a great time of year to pitch jigs toward shore for ‘eyes on Lake Traverse, and that bite will continue through the month.  There are plenty of accesses open on Rainy River, too.  Birchdale has been open for a couple weeks

This just in, ice is out on Cotton, Detroit, Sallie, and Pelican. The DNR has issued a waiver to allow catch and release on all inland waters open to fishing, but only from a boat. 🎉APRIL FOOLS!!🎉 I've been waiting ALL DAY to type that. The ice fishing season is effectively over in the Detroit Lakes area. There were reports of a foot of water on top of 3 feet of ice up on Lake of the Woods last week. But, there are still plenty of massive pike pics coming through my Face

If you’re still trying to sneak in one more ice trip yet this season, Lake of the Woods might be your best shot. There still appears to be fishable ice in some areas, but access is getting more limited by the day and depends heavily on the resort. There have been reports of up to 1' of water on top of 3' feet of ice in some spots, so be sure to call your resort of choice before making the drive. Closer to home, the warm stretch in the forecast for the Detroit Lakes area wil

We are getting close to that sketchy time of the ice fishing season where anglers must ask themselves, is the juice worth the squeeze?!  Expect sloppy afternoon ice conditions from now on.  Overnight temperatures are still dipping low enough to refreeze small pools of melted ice overnight, and this should be true for the next 10 days or so.  After next weekend, the answer to that question will likely be “no, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze”.  I’ll talk more about ice safety

The ice is still holding strong on many area lakes, with 25”-30” of ice remaining.  The top few inches are honeycombed/cloudy which means there has been some deterioration due to warm weather.  That can turn to slush on warm days too, so I’d wear tall insulated muck boots or any waterproof boots, just in case!  330 Maniac Scott Mackner reported catching crappies and bluegill consistently this past week.  There has been a transition to shallower water, for the most part so tar

The lakes sure look bare, don’t they!  While houses north of Highway 34 can stay on the ice until March 16th, many anglers have safely chosen to remove their houses while they still can.  I urge caution to those north of town, with houses still on the ice.  Once the slush on top of area lakes thaws, it will be much more difficult to remove your house.   On many lakes the ice is still over two feet thick, but it is thinner near areas of running water.  So, while it is worth fi

With walleye and pike season now closed, it’s time to shift our focus to bass and panfish (or tullibee, if that’s your thing). Yes, it is legal to continue fishing for bass, but harvest does not reopen until May 23rd. Another important date to remember is February 28th — the day your Minnesota fishing license expires. It’s easy to overlook. If you plan to hit the ice in March, make sure to renew before heading out. The panfish bite has remained steady over the past few weeks.

As a unique winter storm approaches, anglers should prepare for a sloppy mess over the next few days, until everything freezes up again–especially at public accesses.  This won’t spell the end of the ice fishing season, as there is still a lot of strong ice covering area lakes.  It may get tricky from now on though if we get frozen slush on top of that ice.  If you keep your house on the ice–like me– I suggest you add another block or two beneath it in the next 24 hours to ke

Randy Hunter's monster walleye! Thanks to all of you anglers that braved the wind and the tough bite to make this year’s Poles N Holes Fishing tournament a success.  I met a lot of great anglers who stepped inside the fish houses I had on the ice for a moment to chat, and to warm up!  I look forward to seeing you all again at next year’s derby.   While the fishing was a little tough this past week, the bite should improve soon with consistent mild weather in the forecast.  Bi

Anglers have experienced ups and downs the past week, as fishing stabilizes after extreme cold at the end of January. Bluegills continue to bite all day, both in weeds and basins up to 25’. Big pike are getting aggressive, chasing bluegills in the same depths, and are being caught on large sucker minnows. Schools of crappies can be found suspended and near the bottom with bluegills in a wide range of depths, up to 25’, and suspended in schools in up to 60’ of water. Search ar

The picture is a little blurry, but it's still a must see! Your hand would be trembling too, if you just witnessed your dad pull a 29" walleye out of the lake. 😃 While walleye fishing tends to get tough this time of year, my customers caught the biggest walleyes of the season this past weekend on Little DL. The crappie bite was solid too as it continues to grow to include daylight hours, which is great news!  Waxies continue to catch panfish but medium-sized fathead minnows

Nasty weather really put a damper on the bite this past weekend, and frigid temperatures will persist through this weekend. It’s not all bad news though—fish still bite when it’s cold. In fact, the bite improved for some on Sunday, the coldest day of the week. The most successful anglers had one word for me: tungsten . Tungsten jigs tipped with wax worms helped anglers catch finicky crappies all over Detroit Lake. The bite wasn’t fantastic, but it was steady, and many caught

The bite has been red hot over the past week, with crappies, bluegills, pike, and walleyes all actively feeding. Low-light hours around sunrise and sunset remain the best window for 'eyes and crappies, with the walleye bite often extending until about 9 p.m. Small minnows and waxworms have been top producers, including walleyes hitting spoons tipped with waxies.  On Little Detroit, fish are being caught in and around weedlines in 10–14 feet of water, while other area lakes ar

Happy New Year, anglers! 2026 has been a mixed bag so far—I saw big walleyes caught this weekend, but I was also snubbed by more crappies than I’d care to admit. 😢  Walleyes are still biting after sunset, with the best window between 7–9 pm.  They are roaming weedlines in 10’–15’ on Little Detroit, though others report catching ‘eyes as deep as 22’ on nearby lakes.  A big fathead or small sucker on a deadstick is tough to beat.  The bluegill bite has been phenomenal during d

As 2025 comes to a close, the fishing is heating up!  Ice conditions are variable in the 412 area, with drifts forming in spots.  Ice thickness ranges from 12”-15” on all lakes I’ve fished the past week.  Little Detroit Lake has 15” and it is still very accessible, with both cars and trucks entering and exiting the lake. The public access next to J and K Marina and across from Lakeside restaurant is the only way to enter onto the lake, currently. Bluegills, pike, and bass

Happy holidays to all of you anglers out there!  If you get a chance to head out on the ice the next few days, here are a few tips.  Lake ice varies greatly and many lakes are not safe for driving yet.  Little Detroit is an exception and there have been a handful of trucks and Ice Castles on the lake the past few days.  The ice is 14” thick in most spots on Little DL except for the area near the river and the sandbar.  You owe it to yourself to feel safe so please do not driv

Cold temperatures have caused lake ice to build fast this past week, but snow has presented anglers with challenges.  It is becoming difficult to pull sleds on some lakes, and the sheer weight of the snow is already causing slushy situations in some places.  Wheelers are still able to access many areas, but you must be very careful in areas near running water, where the ice is still dangerously thin.  Ice thickness varies widely from lake to lake, so be very careful out there

Ice fishing has officially begun in the Detroit Lakes area! On Friday, I recorded a consistent 6” on Big and Little Detroit. Today, Little DL is at 8¼”. It’s amazing how fast ice builds when it’s this cold.  South Lida was 5½–6½” on Saturday, and it’s likely near 8” now. There are ice ridges at every Detroit Lake access, which may make getting on a bit tricky.  Unfortunately, snow is piling up and forming hard-packed drifts up to 12” deep. These will grow over the next 24 hou