Minnesota fishing guide Dustin Monson of Hawg Hunterz Guide Service gives his latest Brainerd fishing report on May 8th, 2024.
Brainerd Fishing Report: 5-8-2024
We are approaching the 2024 MN Fishing Opener and the Brainerd Lakes Area has awesome fishing opportunities for many different species of fish! We’ll target walleyes, northern pike, bass (catch and release), inland trout and more.
Stream trout fishing offers additional fishing opportunities in the area.
Crappies: Brainerd Fishing Report
Panfish continue roaming shallow weed flats, channels, bays and areas near pencil reeds in three to ten of water, but the fish have been within a couple feet of the surface.
We found crappies on the edges of weed lines, shallow bays, channels and near the warmest water in the bodies of water we fished.
Anglers can catch crappies on jigs under a float paired with plastics, minnows, or hair. Move the bobber slightly to elicit bites. If they do get finicky crappie minnows are also worth having.
We opt for using Lindy Fatboy Tungsten Jigs and Mister Twister Sassy Stingum plastics or Lindy Hair Jigs to catch our fish on most outings.
Catfish: Brainerd Fishing Report
Anglers are still catching channel catfish in the Brainerd Lakes Area from shore, boat, and fishing piers.
The best areas to catch channel catfish are below the Brainerd Dam/Potlatch, Kiwanis Park, French Rapids, Green Point or Sylvan Dam (Crow Wing River).
The best way to catch them has been a 1-ounce sliding weight about one or two feet above the hook. Pair that with either worms/nightcrawlers, cutbait, deadbait, sucker minnows or chicken liver on about a 1/0 octopus hook.
In a boat, you can often jig for them vertically in holes and behind slack-water breaks in current. I’ll usually let the current determine my jig weight but 1/2-ounce is a good starting point.
When shore fishing, I will often use a medium-heavy spinning rod with a medium to large sized spinning reel spooled with thirty to fifty pound braided line.
Upcoming Walleye Opener: Brainerd Fishing Report
For walleyes, we will search in four to sixteen feet of water on large sand or gravel flats, current areas and first breaks near spawning areas. The first lure of choice will be trolling the Smithwick Rattlin’ Floating Rogue or Perfect 10 Rogue depending on the depth we’re seeing fish at midnight. We’ll longline troll slowly through these areas with our eyes on our electronics looking for schools of fish.
A great 1-2 punch from there includes casting a jig/minnow combo (1/8oz), jig/plastic combo(1/4oz Mister Twister Sassy Swimmer) or twitching stickbaits (Smithwick Rogues). We are starting our traditional adventure at midnight with trolling, then transitioning to those casting locations during the day. Also worth mentioning is pitching a lipless crankbait such as a Booyah One Knocker or ripping a hair jig with a rip/pause/lift/slow drop retrieve.
