Detroit Lakes Fishing Report: Extended Edition (8/5/26)

Fishing is good, and now is a great time to get out before the summer passes you by! You'll consistently find walleyes deeper from now through mid fall. Actual depth differs by lake. For example, it may be a little shallower on Detroit and a little deeper on Pelican. We've caught 'eyes as deep as 24' lately. The best part is, you can choose to vertically jig for these fish because they are less likely to spook at that depth. On my boat you'll find jig, drop shot and slip bobber rods. It's a great time to lindy rig too. Dealer's choice!

Let's get into the details, since this is the Extended Edition.

Walleye

Pitching jigs, slip bobbers, and drop shots are all producing right now. Don't feel like you have to pick one — that's why there are multiple rods laying on the deck of my boat. Fish tell you what they want, and they change their minds by the day.

Bait matters more than most anglers think this time of year. Small red tails are the best option right now. That said, suckers and larger fatheads will also get it done, so don't turn around and drive home if the shop is out of redtails.

Pop, pop. Raise and hold. They'll bang it on the drop.

That's it. The mistake I see is anglers fishing vertically is popping the bait and immediately popping it again, never giving the fish a window to eat. The raise and hold is what creates that window. The bite comes on the fall almost every time, so stay tight to your bait as it drops and be ready.

Crappies

The crappie bite has been incredibly fun the past 3 weeks, and it's a great change of pace if the walleye get picky. They're dispersed from 14'-40' right now, which sounds like a lot of water to cover — so here's how I'd narrow it down.

Start at 14'. That's a good baseline when searching. From there, work your way deeper, out to 24'. Over 25' you'll usually find them suspended, but don't get tunnel vision on the suspended fish. We picked off multiple crappie sitting on bottom in 22' this past weekend, and those were good ones.

Use the lightest jig you can get away with. A slower fall keeps your bait in front of the fish longer and looks a lot more natural than something dropping like a rock. A 2-3" minnow or plastic covers both crappies and walleyes right now, so you don't need to overhaul your setup to switch species mid-trip.

Sunfish

Leeches. Simple as that.

Good luck out there!

Want to put this into practice on the water? Book a trip on the Baxstar boat at baxstarfishing.com — it takes less than 5 minutes.