A guide to Minnesota fishing in midsummer: where to look, how to hook 'em

Consider this your fishing update for midsummer — a time when, paradoxically, Minnesota fish-catching generally falls off, particularly for walleyes, but more people go fishing.

The latter is due to an increase in families taking vacations beginning with the July 4th holiday.

Fishing guides have long been aware of the clientele change that occurs from the first wave of anglers they see in their boats — generally groups of guys who fish from mid-May through mid-June — to the types of people they serve starting about now.

"I've been fishing with families the last couple weeks or so,'' said Jon Stolski of Brainerd, a member of the Nisswa Guides League. "Kids like action, of course, so I've been fishing for bass quite a bit lately. Walleye fishing is somewhat slower. But the bass fishing has been phenomenal.''

Walleye fishing always slows at this time of year, as waters warm and intense sunlight penetration drives the state's hallmark fish into deeper waters for longer periods.

The good news, as Stolski indicates, is that bass and panfish generally aren't affected by the midsummer doldrums the way walleyes are.

Stolski, a Brainerd teacher who guides in the summer, recommends that visitors to the Brainerd area — and there are a lot of them this summer — try North Long Lake or any of the lakes in the Whitefish Chain. Walleyes might be tough, but the bait situation has improved a bit, he said, and redtail chubs are the walleye bait of choice if you can find them.

Stolski said fishing in the Brainerd area has been above average this summer, despite the dry and at times hot weather that prevailed across much of the state in June.

Good fishing has been found throughout much of Minnesota this summer, DNR fisheries chief Brad Parsons said.

The best news, Parsons said — in addition to fishing-license sales this summer matching last year's — is that recent cold fronts have cooled many lakes and rivers, reducing heat stress on fish.

Also, Parsons noted, most of Minnesota's major walleye lakes have produced as expected this summer, a relief for anglers and fisheries managers alike.

"Upper Red has been good, and the harvest there so far is about where we expected,'' Parsons said, noting that liberalized walleye limits on the big lake this summer allow anglers to keep five walleyes, with one over 17 inches.

Other good reports have come from Rainy and Kabetogama lakes, where walleye fishing has been good. Mille Lacs had a solid opener and walleye fishing has remained good there "but not crazy good,'' Parsons said, meaning that harvest projections so far are in line with sport anglers' quota for the year.

Guide Billy Dougherty of Dougherty's Rainy Lake Houseboats concurs with Parsons about walleye fishing this summer on Rainy.

"This is probably as good of walleye fishing as Rainy has had in recent history,'' Dougherty said. Ditto, he said, for smallmouth bass fishing on the border lake, which increasingly draws anglers from as far away as Kentucky and Texas.

Headed to Rainy? For walleyes, Dougherty recommends trolling hammered gold spinners with a split shot, moving at 1 mph over midlake humps and reefs. Use live bait or Gulp! minnows for bait, he said.

Closer to the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is producing sunfish for shore and boat anglers, and the bass action is good as well. Meanwhile, the lake's crappies, as usual at this time of year, are suspended, some at about 9 feet down in water twice that deep, or deeper.

"Minnetonka's muskies are suspended, too, with the baitfish,'' said Bob Sonenstahl, who with his brother Tim owns Wayzata Bait & Tackle.

Readers may recall that the Sonenstahls' popular shop in a strip mall on the north side of Hwy. 12 in Wayzata was due to close last fall to make room for a car dealership. Wayzata Bait & Tackle was founded in 1975 by the brothers' dad, Archie Sonenstahl, a Hennepin County Sheriff's detective and avid hunter and angler who owned the business on the side. (Archie Sonenstahl died in 2005 at age 73.)

Last fall's doomsday deadline for the Sonenstahls' business came and went while Wayzata officials negotiated with the car dealer. A few more deadlines have been missed in the months since.

"Now we've heard we're good through Oct. 1,'' Bob Sonenstahl said.

Like other bait dealers around the state, Sonenstahl said Minnesota's bait industry is in trouble. One problem, he said, was that too many trappers captured brood stock to sell during the pandemic, when angler numbers and the demand for bait rose significantly.

"Follow that with two years of drought, then a harsh winter, and a lot of trappers are giving up,'' he said.

Frankies Live Bait and Marine in Chisago City traps a lot of its own bait, so shortages there haven't been as severe this summer as they have been elsewhere.

Reports from Frankies are similar to those from Wayzata Bait & Tackle and other outlets: Walleyes are tougher than they have been to find and catch, but sunfish are capturing the attention of a lot of anglers on Chisago and North and South Center lakes, as are northern pike.

One way to beat the walleye-action-slowing-in-midsummer phenomenon is this: Go as far north as you can. Waters there — say in Lake of the Woods, Lake Vermilion and throughout the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, remain cooler than do waters farther south, and this, along with generally high walleye populations, often yield fairly consistent summering walleye action.

Final notes, especially for Twin Cities anglers:

• Don't have a boat? The DNR has a website page that shows the location of every fishing pier in the state. Check it out here.

• Want to make sure kids catch fish? Check out the list of specially stocked lakes in the metro that can be fished from shore.

• Finally, river fishing generally remains stable for bass, panfish and even walleyes in mid-summer. The DNR has this guide.