In the Brainerd Lakes area we are finding crappies and bluegills in basins/holes of 20-30ft (finding fish suspended in the water column). If fish are near bottom beyond 28-30ft, they will not survive the catch due to barotrauma, so plan to keep all sizes of fish within your legal possession limit if fishing those depths. Jig crappies with 5mm or 7mm Tungsten jigs tipped with a Mister Twister Sassy Stingum or wax worms, 1/16oz Frostee Spoon or glide-bait style lure, such as a Crystal Reaper or Jigging Rap (I’ve had a lot of success with a small tungsten jig with a soft plastic or wax worm too).
The same tactics are working for tullibees/ciscoes. Schools are roaming slowly now, and moving to varying spots is a good idea until you mark fish; unless you plan to sit out the wait for a school to circle through your location. At times, try still fishing without jigging to see if fish are being deterred by the vibrations from jigging. Jig higher in the water column, a good rule of thumb is splitting the depth in half and jigging at that location in the water column as well as jigging within 2-3ft from the bottom. Pluck fish from the top of schools to avoiding scattering the school. Bluegills continue hitting tungsten jigs tipped with the tail end of a Mister Twister Sassy Stingum or wax worm on weed flats or soft bottom areas in those similar locations.
Northern pike are hitting sucker minnows and spoons tipped with a minnow head. Try suspending a sucker minnow or shiner under a tip up/IFishPro in 10-18ft, especially around weeds. Walleyes are still active at low light periods and hitting minnows/livebait presentations or spoons tipped with a minnow head jigged near bottom in 18-26ft of water.
Duston Monson
Hawg Hunters Guide Service
Ph: 320-293-2442
mrhawghunter@hotmail.com
Www.hawghunterzguideservice.weebly.com