The Leech Lake summer bite has been hot this year for everyone’s favorite species, the walleye! This week, we reached out to northern Minnesota guide Brian Brosdahl to get the latest report on this famous walleye factory located in the middle of the state.

Brian runs us through a few of his favorite tactics right now for catch walleyes all across the lake and gives a few tips for keeping your bait clean will fishing during an algae bloom.

Here’s his two cents on the Leech Lake summer bite happening right now and how to target it:

“We’ve been using a lot of spinner rigs paired with a 2 ounce bottom bouncer. The Northland Butterfly Blades are working really well. Crawlers and leeches are great, even minnows are getting bit. Most folks like to use crawlers this time of year, but I like to use minnows behind my blades.

“14 to 18 feet of water has been the primary depth range. They’re still using some of that main lake structure, specifically the furtherest structure off shore, near the deepest holes. A Roach Rig is another simple alternative, paired with a blown-up nightcrawler. You need the bait to float to stay out of the algae on the bottom of some of these spots. There’s a full algae bloom going on right now on the lake.

“Go up to small rock reefs out on the main lake or even in Walker Bay and throw a puppet minnow. The rusty crayfish color has really been the hot one of late. Pitch it out and hop it back to the boat. You’re going to lose a few, so make sure you have a few! Get out to Leech Lake because the fish are biting right now, the water temperatures are fairly cool with these cooler nights, and we’ll see you out there!

Special thanks to Brian Brosdahl on the information. Hopefully you can take a few nuggets from that report and use them to put a few more walleyes in the boat this week or weekend. Now’s a great time to get up to Leech Lake. Summer is almost gone and the walleye are biting!